Coercion as Cure: A Critical History of Psychiatry [Hardcover]
Author: Thomas Szasz | Language: English | ISBN: 0765803798 | Format: PDF, EPUB
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Understanding the history of psychiatry requires an accurate view of its function and purpose. In this provocative new study, Szasz challenges conventional beliefs about psychiatry. He asserts that, in fact, psychiatrists are not concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of bona fide illnesses. Psychiatric tradition, social expectation, and the law make it clear that coercion is the profession's determining characteristic.
Psychiatrists may "diagnose" or "treat" people without their consent or even against their clearly expressed wishes, and these involuntary psychiatric interventions are as different as are sexual relations between consenting adults and the sexual violence we call "rape." But the point is not merely the difference between coerced and consensual psychiatry, but to contrast them. The term "psychiatry" ought to be applied to one or the other, but not both. As long as psychiatrists and society refuse to recognize this, there can be no real psychiatric historiography.
The coercive character of psychiatry was more apparent in the past than it is now. Then, insanity was synonymous with unfitness for liberty. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, a new type of psychiatric relationship developed, when people experiencing so-called "nervous symptoms," sought help. This led to a distinction between two kinds of mental diseases: neuroses and psychoses. Persons who complained about their own behavior were classified as neurotic, whereas persons about whose behavior others complained were classified as psychotic. The legal, medical, psychiatric, and social denial of this simple distinction and its far-reaching implications undergirds the house of cards that is modern psychiatry. Coercion as Cure is the most important book by Szasz since his landmark The Myth of Mental Illness.
- Hardcover: 293 pages
- Publisher: Transaction Publishers; 1 edition (December 31, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0765803798
- ISBN-13: 978-0765803795
- Product Dimensions: 1 x 6.3 x 9.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,324,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Coercion as Cure is a history of psychiatry through the prism of Dr. Szasz' views, convictions, and moral arguments. The particular advantage of this book is the fact that Dr. Szasz has not only been observing the development of psychiatry for the last 60 years, but actively participated in the events.By Arkadiy Dubovoy
The book is well researched and referenced, the writing style is gripping, and the material is organized reasonably well. There is a large amount of factual historical information, e.g., almost a page-long quotation from President Franklin Pierce's veto on p. 97 is truly remarkable, as well as Cerletti's descriptions of the ECT "discovery" on pp. 129-132.
Overall, I found the book to be well balanced between the presented facts and the author's polemic.
You will not find consistent logical explanations of Dr. Szasz' views on mental illness and modern psychiatry in Coercion as Cure (which would be clearly beyond the scope of the book), but the book is, naturally, based on those views. If you are new to Dr. Szasz' writing, it probably makes more sense for you to start with some of his earlier books, familiarize yourself with the main concepts, and then read Coercion as Cure.
If, on the other hand, you know Dr. Szasz' work and arguments, you will certainly enjoy reading this book.
Everyone should read this book! I have read a number of Dr. Szasz's other books (also highly recommended). In this book he debunks the myth that psychiatry is a legitimate medical science and exposes it for what it is by tracing its history of patient abuse. After reading this book and looking at the many advertisements for psychiatric drugs that I see on TV and in women's magazines, I realized that the current psychiatric drug machine is just part of the history of psychiatry inventing "cures" that don't work and then moving on to other "cures" that don't work. This is especially true for the captives in psychiatric institutions.By E. Mccloskey
I would advise any potential student of psychiatry to read this book critically and consider what it says -- hopefully before enrolling in a medical school. Also, any existing or potential psychiatric patient would find this book enlightening. After reading this book I also question the use of psychiatry in courts and I would question the rights of judges to sentence people to psychiatric "treatment" or even evaluation. Based on the contents of this book, psychiatric "treatment" should be considered a violation of the cruel and unusual punishment clause in the Constitution of the United States.
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