Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Reagan deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and the incredible increase of crime in the US [View all]The Time is Now
(86 posts)13. Anybody remember Thomas Szasz?
Another golden egg of libertarianism:
Thomas Stephen Szasz 1920-2012) was a psychiatrist and academic. .... He was 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. His books The Myth of Mental Illness (1961) and The Manufacture of Madness (1970) set out some of the arguments with which he is most associated.[Wikipedia]
Szasz argued that mental illnesses are not real in the sense that cancers are real. Except for a few identifiable brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, there are neither biological or chemical tests nor biopsy or necropsy findings for verifying or falsifying DSM diagnoses", i.e. there are no objective methods for detecting the presence or absence of mental illness.[4]
His views on special treatment followed from libertarian roots which are based on the principles that each person has the right to bodily and mental self-ownership and the right to be free from violence from others, although he criticized the "Free World" as well as the communist states for their use of psychiatry.
A lot of the politics that motivated deinstitutionalization cited Szasz's work. Indeed, much of it grew directly from Szasz's own advocacy, having founded the American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization (AAAIMH) in 1970. Note that this organization and both of his books pre-dated St. Ronnie's reign. The move to deinstitutionalize was well ensconced before 1980. On the other hand, there were clearly abuses in mental facilities during that time, which first gained public airing by, hold for it, Geraldo Rivera when we worked for the local New York City ABC News outlet, and did an exposé on Willoughbrook on Staten Island.
None of which ought to be to be construed as an apology for the most destructive presidency of the 20th century, Harding's and Hoover's notwithstanding.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
51 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
The Reagan deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and the incredible increase of crime in the US [View all]
Sarah Ibarruri
Apr 2014
OP
He appealed to older white Americans who pined for their uncomplicated lives and teens because he
Boomerproud
Apr 2014
#21
And if you're depressed and have no addictions to drugs or alcohol, they have no groups for you
Manifestor_of_Light
Apr 2014
#2
Hmm. Must be miserably bad programs. Here's where the mentally disabled is being treated now
Sarah Ibarruri
Apr 2014
#26
The roots of deinstitutionalization (aka community-based out-patient treatment) are pre-WW2
HereSince1628
Apr 2014
#7
Geraldo on Willowbrook was 1970...Wiseman's doc on Bridgewater (Titticut Follies) was 1967
HereSince1628
Apr 2014
#18
There has been an incredible increase in "mental illness-related" calls to police, not
pampango
Apr 2014
#5
Medicine is heading in a highly customizable direction and it is sorely needed for medicine for
liberal_at_heart
Apr 2014
#19
well of course it would be better if the profits were taken out of it. I'm just saying that
liberal_at_heart
Apr 2014
#30
Untreated mentally ill are dangerous. There are groups such as Scientology, who are against
Sarah Ibarruri
Apr 2014
#29
Thanks to St. Ronnie and his acolytes prison is the new mental health system.
raouldukelives
Apr 2014
#9
The answer for some is institutionalization. Not like that in the Middle Ages, but one in which
Sarah Ibarruri
Apr 2014
#31
What incredible increase? The overall crime rate has been decreasing for the past 20 years.
Spider Jerusalem
Apr 2014
#10
Reagan was the worst President ever, but US crime rates have been falling
Bluenorthwest
Apr 2014
#11
We need better access to psychiatrists, psychologists and medicines, not institutionalization.
liberal_at_heart
Apr 2014
#20
Here's where the mentally ill with no care end up because they commit crimes and end up in prison...
Sarah Ibarruri
Apr 2014
#34
So it not really an overall increase in crime but rather an increase of mentally ill in prisons. Nt
hack89
Apr 2014
#45
Mental illness needs to be treated but many families are not able to afford
Thinkingabout
Apr 2014
#35
Wow, I just looked that up on Amazon, and I'm going to order it. Thank you! It should be
Sarah Ibarruri
Apr 2014
#44