The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct

Thomas S. Szasz

Jul 2011 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

“The landmark book that argued that psychiatry consistently expands its definition of mental illness to impose its authority over moral and cultural conflict.”  — New York Times

The 50th anniversary edition of the most influential critique of psychiatry every written, with a new preface on the age of Prozac and Ritalin and the rise of designer drugs, plus two bonus essays.

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.

Ratings and reviews

I'm reading a chapter from 1960 edition, it bothered me so much as Szasz put forward those "self-evident" justifications. He made his point in regarding mental illness as "problems in living". But I doubted the practicability of an argument over the concept itself and the implication of his idea to clinical settings at all.

About the author

Thomas S. Szasz, M.D., is professor emeritus of psychiatry at the State University of New York in Syracuse, where he has taught since 1956.