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anti-psychiatry by Alex Burns (alex@disinfo.com) - December 20, 2000 |
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| Anti-psychiatry is a socio-political movement which rejects the methodologies, medical practices and underlying assumptions of Psychiatry. Proponents have vigorously debated the often dubious role of international pharmaceutical companies in promoting drug therapies like Ritalin, Prozac and Viagra. Unlike Europe which was more in the grip of psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung, America has always been more susceptible to 'technologies of behaviour', and in a changing post-World War II society, openly embraced Electro-Convulsive Therapy, Behaviourism 'stimulus-response' conditioning and other techniques that focused on observable criteria 'out there' rather than Depth Psychology's interpretation of subjective symbols. Anti-psychiatry was coined by David Cooper in 1967, and is generally associated with phenomenological philosophers like Thomas Szasz, Gregory Bateson and R.D. Laing (who denied being part of the movement). The American movement was also a reaction against the commercialization of therapies like Transactional Analysis, which solidified into group-think. During the upheaval unleashed by May 1968, Anti-Psychiatry spread to Milan, Brussels, Paris and other major European cities. The Heidelberg Clinic in West Germany was a notable example of Continental European support of patients' human rights. Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, Anti-psychiatry social experiments took many forms: independent communities (Kingsley Hall); within the confines of a large hospital (Villa 21) and attempted reform of the healthcare system (Psichiatrica Democratia). Guerilla tactics were used by the 'Sozialistisches Patienten Kollectiv' (SPK, a name later used by an industrial music band) and fear of authoritarian despotic institutions was brilliantly captured by Stanley Kubrick's film 'A Clockwork Orange' (1971). This fear yielded the movement some unusual collaborators: Scientologist L. Ron Hubbard fought Electro-Convulsive Therapy vigorously. As a political force, Anti-Psychiatry waned during the 1970s due to the demise of Counter-culture (Marxist and Anarchist) politics; psychatric care industry reform and the popularity of Human Potential Movement therapies. Many of its figures faded from the public view. But with the popularity of drugs like Prozac and Ritalin (and their possible link in incidents like the Columbine High shootings), Anti-Psychiatry is experiencing a resurgence a human rights watchdog. Political influence may be the most chilling yet: activists Fred Newman and Lenora Fulani - who promoted an unusual Marxist therapy and political cult during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s have recently formed an alliance with 2000 campaign presidential candidate Pat Buchanan that may control America's Reform Party. |
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Anti-Psychiatry Links What Is Anti-Psychiatry? Anti-Psychiatry Activism And Psychology Mythos And Logos Radical Psychology Network Anti-Psychiatry Theory For The Liberation Of The Psychiatrically Labeled A White Rose Psychiatric Times Fact, Fiction And Fraud In Modern Medicine Gorilla Lunatics' Liberation Front NoPsychs PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministries Duncan Double: The Anti-Psychiatry Web Site Center For The Study Of Psychiatry And Psychology Philosophy Of Psychiatry Bibliography Anti-Psychiatry Reading Room The Anti-Psychiatry Coalition Support Coalition International's Mindfreedom.org Page Disinformation Dossier On R.D. Laing Disinformation Dossier On Robert Anton Wilson Dissinformation Dossier On PACT With The Devil |
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