The Myth of Mental Illness
Thomas Szasz's 1961 argument that mental illness is a metaphor, not a disease.
At a glance
Key ideas
A metaphor, Schizophrenia, Pseudoscience
See all 3Criticism
Robert Kendell, Edward Shorter
See all 2Connections
Also on this page: Key facts · Sources · Related pages
- Szasz argues that what are called mental illnesses are not diseases but problems in living.
- Diagnoses present themselves as science but are judgments that support uses of power.
- Psychiatry, backed by the state, has become a kind of secular religion and a system of social control.
- He concludes that it threatens freedom and dignity.
Why it matters
- It is the founding text of Szasz's critique of psychiatry, and remains the reference point for arguments over psychiatric coercion.
Key facts
- Author
- Thomas Szasz1
- Published
- 19611
- Anniversary
- Szasz marked its 50th anniversary in a 2010 address to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, published in 20111
Key ideas
Criticism
Connections
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Sources
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