The Reality of Mental Illness

Martin Roth author Jerome Kroll author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:25th Jul '86

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The Reality of Mental Illness cover

This book is psychiatry's reply to the diverse group of antipsychiatrists that has made fashionable the view that mental illness is merely socially deviant behaviour.

This book is psychiatry's reply to the diverse group of antipsychiatrists, including Laing, Foucault, Goffman, Szasz and Bassaglia, that has made fashionable the view that mental illness is merely socially deviant behaviour and that psychiatrists are agents of the capitalist society seeking to repress such behaviour. It establishes, by the use of evidence from historical and transcultural studies, that mental illness has been recognized in all cultures since the beginning of history and goes on to explore the philosophical and medical basis for psychiatry's diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. Finally, it tackles two issues where psychiatry has been seen as at odds with the values prevailing in society: involuntary hospitalization and the insanity defence. The Reality of Mental Illness does not pretend to offer simple answers to the complex problems it discusses, but will leave the reader with a much greater understanding of psychiatry's aims, practices and problems.

ISBN: 9780521337618

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 8mm

Weight: 220g

140 pages