“Thomas Szasz (born April 15, 1920 in Budapest, Hungary) is a psychiatrist and academic. Since 1990 he has been Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York. He is a prominent figure in the antipsychiatry movement, a well-known social critic of the moral and scientific foundations of psychiatry, and of the social control aims of medicine in modern society, as well as of scientism, a term first used by social scientists Karl Popper and Friedrich Hayek. He is well known for his books, The Myth of Mental Illness (1960) and The Manufacture of Madness: A Comparative Study of the Inquisition and the Mental Health Movement (1970) which set out some of the arguments with which he is most associated.”
Personal notes:
I first read Thomas Szasz in an article of his on the libertarian blog LewRockwell.com. I seriously could not believe what I was reading; every one of his ideas resonated a truth I had always known, but simply never heard spoken to me before. I immediately went to my local library, picked up the book “The Myth of Mental Illness” (1960), and began reading it.
Szasz, although a psychiatrist, had a disdain for the growing spirit of his own profession. He saw the term “mental illness” being used as a political tool, a way to stigmatize others and inhibit their freedoms: a truth that has probably existed ever since the birth of human thought. In 1973, the American Humanist Association named him Humanist of the Year.
You can read more of my thoughts on this subject in the article, “Mental Health, Brain Science, and Habits Of Living.”
Some great Thomas Szasz quotes:
“It is easier to do one’s duty to others than to one’s self. If you do your duty to others, you are considered reliable. If you do your duty to yourself, you are considered selfish. ”
“The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.”
“Formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic.”
“If you talk to God, you are praying. If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia.”
This makes me incredibly angry. I am 16 years old and have been on medicine for ADHD since I was very young. I can tell you that when I don't have my medicine, I am miserable. I cannot control myself, because I have a disease. My brain does not function the way it should, and because of my brain malfunction, I cannot control impulses and evaluate actions beforehand. Without my medicine, I am a very unpleasant person to be around. Until you know how it feels to be unable to control your own body and mind, you have no right to say that ADHD, or any mental illnesses, are a myth.
I'm sorry if this upsets you. Keep in mind these are Szasz's views and not necessarily mine. I like to cover a wide range of viewpoints on this blog.
Although – some food for thought – how do you know your experiences without ADHD medication isn't withdrawals? Maybe you have built a dependency on the drug? When you take a heroin addict off of heroin they too will experience an inability to control themselves, because they are so dependent on the drug. Does that mean they needed heroin all their lives to function? I'm not saying you're a heroin addict, but these are some possibilities to consider.
Are this ADHD for life? I mean does the patient have to be dependent to this medicines for life? What are the side effects and adverse reactions?
Crystal
family is the first root of all the solution behind mental illness.
Now it has become a political tool.
This post is interesting as it captures one subject in our society which everybody could relate into, human emotion. I like how Thomas Szasz positions his theories relating to human feelings and emotions. I would love know him more. Great post!
I have found many things in common with a drug addict being a chronic Mental Health Patient. If Szasz is right about Psychiatry being a science of lies and if Mental Illness is a myth; it is my opinion we have a great deal in common except on one point. We tell a drug addict they need to come off the drugs, and we tell a Mental Health Patient to stay on there's. Dr Peter Breggin is right when he says "You drug may be your Problem!" Educate yourself and if you find that treatment does more harm than good for you, get help from someone who will help you come off these Psychotropic drugs gently. Coming off any drug you are dependent on cold turkey can be very dangerous. Dave
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