decadent_and_depraved reviewed Psychiatry by Thomas Stephen Szasz
Review of 'Psychiatry' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
What is truly disappointing about this book is that there are legitimate questions surrounding the utility of labeling certain behaviors as illnesses, the models we use to understand human consciousness, and the elitism of psychiatric establishment, but Szasz is way more interested in dishing out the blame, the perceived injustice done onto society by these, so he calls them, "the malingerers" and their enablers who profit from the malingering, and lack of punishment - as if punishment ever improved the function of society. It would seem to me that Szasz knew how to ask questions, but for all the wrong reasons, furthermore, bearing in mind alternatives less than desirable.
Szasz also completely misunderstands what science is. No, it is not the process by which we “discover the truth”, it is the process we use to develop models of understanding which we can then use to do things in a more …
What is truly disappointing about this book is that there are legitimate questions surrounding the utility of labeling certain behaviors as illnesses, the models we use to understand human consciousness, and the elitism of psychiatric establishment, but Szasz is way more interested in dishing out the blame, the perceived injustice done onto society by these, so he calls them, "the malingerers" and their enablers who profit from the malingering, and lack of punishment - as if punishment ever improved the function of society. It would seem to me that Szasz knew how to ask questions, but for all the wrong reasons, furthermore, bearing in mind alternatives less than desirable.
Szasz also completely misunderstands what science is. No, it is not the process by which we “discover the truth”, it is the process we use to develop models of understanding which we can then use to do things in a more efficient manner, therefore, whether mental illness “exists'' or whether it is a “disease” is wholly unimportant as far as truth is concerned. Whether those are the best classification for understanding people’s experience is a whole another conversation and that conversation has to come from the desire to improve the functionality of the field and people’s lives rather than a moral crusade with an intention to blame and ultimately punish.
The whole book is built on rather poor argumentation and anecdotes from history, and they mostly serve to create an undesirable picture of historical figures which Szasz blames for contributing to the institution of psychiatry. I truly have nothing good to say about this book and would recommend reading anything but this.