The Neuroscientist’s Illusion

Abstract

This article supplements the well-established idea of the clinician’s illusion by pointing to some of the background issues which make the clinician’s illusion possible and introducing the idea of the neuroscientist’s illusion. The neuroscientist’s illusion refers to a series of mistakes made by biologically oriented psychiatrists and neuroscientific researchers, which reveal a discernible pattern. These include a general overstepping of evidence-based findings and a tendency to confuse hoped-for results with actual results. Most clearly, we see a tendency toward optimistic and illusory confirmation of underlying theories that themselves have never been proven and remain unelaborated. Much of this work reveals a decontextualized understanding of social suffering and locates mental illness/social suffering within the individual’s psychology or biology.