Mental illness, of course, is not literally a 'thing' - or physical object - and hence it can 'exist' only in the same sort of way in which other theoretical concepts exist.

Syracuse New York: Syracuse University Press. 2004. James M.

His views on special treatment followed from classical liberal roots which are based on the principles that each person has the right to bodily and mental self-ownership and the right to be free from violence from others although he criticized the "Free World" as well as the communist states for their use of psychiatry and "drogophobia". In 1973 the American Humanist Association named him Humanist of the Year and in 1979 he was honored with an honorary doctorate in behavioral science at Universidad Francisco Marroquín.