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Donaldson was institutionalized because he told his parents that the neighbors were trying to poison him. Although his parents sent him to an asylum for this, Donaldson maintained he was not mentally disturbed.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) assisted Donaldson in attempting to gain his freedom, but in a bizarre way. Although Donaldson wanted nothing to do with medication and shock therapy, he sued the hospital director because he was not receiving treatment. From the data presented, I got the impression that the ACLU used Donaldson for their own ends, which was to strengthen the power of psychiatry.
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One more example: Szasz claims that Mary Calderone, the doyenne of sex education, is actually a sexual authoritarian. He bases this accusation partly on her stated opposition to handing out contraceptives to teenagers. Making a fine art of literalism here, Szasz argues that Calderone must oppose handing out birth control to married nineteen year olds. I think most intelligent readers would asume that by "teenagers" Calderone meant minors.
All this said, the book is entertaining, and makes valid points about the pathologization of sexual behaviour by self-styled "experts". Particularly interesting are passages attacking circumcision, sex change therapy, and the use of porn films in medical schools. Fans of Szasz's potent combination of moral passion and acerbic polemicism will not come away disappointed.
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Szasz is also regarded by some as "the most controversial psychiatrist in the world." He displays the fearless courage to question the most fundamental tenets of the entire "profession" of psychiatry.
Because of the volume of Szasz's writings - some 20 books and over 400 published articles - authors Richard Vatz (professor of rhetoric) and Lee Weinberg (professor of legal studies) have done us a great service by including Sasz's main ideas in one volume. Furthermore, to achieve balance, they've included some important critiques of Szasz's work.
Szasz's first major contention is that "mental illness" is a myth. Szasz does not deny the occurrence of unusual, unconventional, and destructive thought, communication, and behavior - and the resulting suffering - generally included under the "mental illness" umbrella. He does take issue with the semantics: the definitions, who gains from the definitions, and who loses as a result of them.
According to the authors, "To Szasz, the use of strategic metaphors - especially the camouflaged use of such metaphors - deprives humankind of its greatest freedom: autonomy. Unlike religious and democratic political persuaders who claim no false identity and implicitly recognize man's autonomy, psychiatrists present themselves as scientists and explicitly deny the right of autonomy to those whom they choose to define and control."
Szasz claims that as a result of psychiatric definitions, psychiatrits - as well as the political system through them - gain the power to effectively "convict" people, incarcerate them, and subject them to involuntary "drug treatment" and other forms of dehumanization, without trial, judge, or jury.
Another of Szasz's major contentions is that "deviant behavior is freedom of choice." To Szasz, autonomy implies that individuals own their own bodies and should be free to do with them whatever they like, provided they don't harm others. This includes taking drugs and comitting suicide.
In my opinion, one of Szasz's geatest contributions to humanity is his revelation of how words and definitions are used to gain power over others and effectively enslave them. Authors Vatz and Weinberg were remiss in that they did not include a chapter on this topic, particularly seeing that Szasz wrote two books on it: 'The Second Sin' and 'Heresies.'
Also, in my opinion, Vatz and Weinberg are mistaken in the above quote where they say, "Unlike religious and democratic political persuaders who claim no false identity and implicitly recognize man's autonomy..." Many religious leaders demand all kinds of obedience which deny man's autonomy. Some claim special identities with characteristics like "papal infallibility."
Similarly, most political leaders operate in the name of government with the special identity of having the power to solve all kinds of problems mere mortals can't handle. Most political persuaders explicitly deny man's autonomy: "You may not commit suicide"; "You may only put into your body what we permit."
In 'Heresies' Szasz wrote: "This is what poets and politicians, psychotics and psychiatrists, therapists and theologians have in common: they all deal with metaphors that sustain the dignity and lives of some and destroy those of others; and they all deal with metaphors mendaciously..."
Despite this one shortcoming, authors Vatz and Weinberg have done an excellent job in encapsulating Szasz's central ideas in one volume. They handle the closely related issues of personal autonomy and individual responsibility particularly well.
I highly recommend this book, particularly for anyone interested in freedom and its destruction.
Frederick Mann
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Szasz is old thought that has been debunked by current scientific knowledge about the brain.
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As most of his readers already know, Szasz rightly believes that there ain't no such thing as a mental illness. Not as long as we mean "illness" like we mean it when we speak of any "illnesses" except the so-called "mental" ones. What we call mental illness is actually merely a certain kind of (litteraly) /abnormal/ (out of the norm) behaviour.
Schizophrenia is a myth.
A must read for open-minded people not too obsessed with that "libertarian-conservative" sticker...
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Now I am a 30 year old attorney. After 8 tumultuous years I have been diagnosed with Bipolar Depression. I see now how Thomas Szasz's book gave me the intellectual ammunition I needed in support of my prior, ignorant (literally, not pejoratively) views on the subject. I just didn't know. But I didn't allow for the fact that there might be a world of experience beyond what I had dealt with to that point in my life. Now I have found out the hard way. I can't blame people for buying into this book, I did myself. I can only say that if you do find yourself agreeing with this book, suspend judgment until you have met and at least become somewhat acquainted with individuals who are mentally ill or read more books on the subject with an actual open mind, meaning acknowledging that you may not know yet what a mental illness is or what a diagnosed person is dealing with. Of course, this probably would have been beyond me when I was 22 and reading this book. But I'll say it anyway for the one or two exceptional people out there.
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