Thomas Szasz Book order

The human mind abhors the absence of explanation, but full understanding is never possible

In Western thought, suicide has evolved from sin to sin-and-crime, to crime, to mental illness, and to semilegal act. A legal act is one we are free to think and speak about and plan and perform, without penalty by agents of the state. While dying voluntarily is ostensibly legal, suicide attempts and even suicidal thoughts are routinely punished by incarceration in a psychiatric institution. Although many people believe the prevention of suicide is one of the duties the modern state owes its citizens, Szasz argues that suicide is a basic human right and that the lengths to which the medical industry goes to prevent it represent a deprivation of that right. Drawing on his general theory of the myth of mental illness, Szasz makes a compelling case that the voluntary termination of one's own life is the result of a decision, not a disease. He presents an in-depth examination and critique of contemporary anti-suicide policies, which are based on the notion that voluntary death is a mental health problem, and systematically lays out the dehumanizing consequences of psychiatrizing suicide prevention. If suicide be deemed a problem, it is not a medical problem. Managing it as if it were a disease, or the result of a disease, will succeed only in debasing medicine and corrupting the law. Pretending to be the pride of medicine, psychiatry is its shame.

50th Anniversary Edition With a New Preface and Two Bonus Essays The most influential critique of psychiatry ever written, Thomas Szasz's classic book revolutionized thinking about the nature of the psychiatric profession and the moral implications of its practices. By diagnosing unwanted behavior as mental illness, psychiatrists, Szasz argues, absolve individuals of responsibility for their actions and instead blame their alleged illness. He also critiques Freudian psychology as a pseudoscience and warns against the dangerous overreach of psychiatry into all aspects of modern life.

More than fifty years ago, Thomas Szasz showed that the concept of mental illness - a disease of the mind - is an oxymoron, a metaphor, a myth. In this book, he argues that his writings belong to neither psychiatry nor antipsychiatry. They stem from conceptual analysis, social-political criticism, and common sense.

"For more than half a century Thomas Szasz has devoted much of his career to a radical critique of psychiatry. His latest work, Psychiatry: The Science of Lies, is a culmination of his life's work: to portray the integral role of deception in the history and practice of psychiatry." "Szasz argues that the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness stands in the same relationship to the diagnosis and treatment of bodily illness that the forgery of a painting does to the original masterpiece. Art historians and the legal system seek to distinguish forgeries from originals. Those concerned with medicine, on the other hand - physicians, patients, politicians, health insurance providers, and legal professionals - take the opposite stance when faced with the challenge of distinguishing everyday problems in living from bodily diseases, systematically authenticating nondiseases as diseases. The boundary between disease and nondisease - genuine and imitation, truth and falsehood - thus becomes arbitrary and uncertain."--Jacket

Schizophrenia: The Sacred Symbol of Psychiatry examines the concept of schizophrenia and the origins of its classification as a disease. Szasz convincing argues that rather than a medical diagnosis, the word schizophrenia is a symbol employed by psychiatrists as a means of control.

In this polemical response to the controversy about drug use and drug criminalization, Thomas Szasz suggests that governments have overstepped their bounds in labelling and prohibiting certain drugs as dangerous substances and incarcerating addicts in order to cure them. schovat popis

The book presents a compelling argument for the individual's right to choose voluntary death, challenging the legal restrictions that deny this freedom. Thomas Szasz critiques the psychiatric institution's coercive practices, asserting that society's refusal to recognize this choice undermines fundamental liberties. He highlights the inhumane treatment that can arise from such restrictions, advocating for a more compassionate and respectful approach to personal autonomy in matters of life and death.

The book explores the intertwining of medicine and politics in contemporary America, highlighting how behaviors once viewed through moral lenses are now categorized as health issues. It critiques the shift from legal accountability to medical discretion, suggesting that this transformation fosters a system termed "pharmacracy" by social critic Thomas Szasz. The author delves into the implications of this trend, questioning the societal impact of redefining human problems as medical conditions and the consequences of treating judicial matters as health treatments.

Challenging the conventional analysis of the mind, Szasz argues for understanding individuals as moral agents responsible for their actions rather than victims of brain chemistry. He critiques the psychiatric field's misinterpretation of human conflict and coping mechanisms, which he previously addressed in his earlier works. This ambitious book warns against reducing the complexities of consciousness and the mind to mere neuroscience, emphasizing the importance of personal responsibility in the discourse surrounding mental health.