Overview

For centuries forced confinement, cruel ‘cures’, political repression and ritualized personal degradation have all been rationalized and justified by appeals to the dogmas of psychiatry. Originally published in 1973 this book, written by one of the twentieth century’s most respected yet controversial psychiatrists, presents a clear picture of the origin and development of modern attitudes toward involuntary psychiatric interventions. The materials Thomas S. Szasz has collected span three centuries and several continents and include works which had never before been translated into English. The result is a thought-provoking mixture of psychiatric history, medical politics, literature and social science. Among the views represented are those of Daniel Defoe, Anton Chekhov, Jack London, James Thurber, Sylvia Plath and Erving Goffman.

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9781041268628

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Reviews

Original Review of The Age of Madness: ‘Dr. Szasz has done psychiatry a service by presenting this collection…’ Myre Sim, The British Journal of Psychiatry Vol 127, Issue 3 (1975).

Author Information

Dr. Thomas S. Szasz (1920–2012) was born in Budapest, Hungary and emigrated to the United States in 1938. He received his undergraduate degree in physics in 1941 and MD degree in 1944, both from the University of Cincinnati, followed by a medical internship at Boston City Hospital, a year of medical residency at Cincinnati General Hospital, psychiatry residency at the University of Chicago, and psychoanalytic training at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis, where he was a Staff member when called to serve at the United States Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. From 1956-1990, he had a distinguished career as Professor of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, where he continued publishing and speaking until his death at age 92. He opposed involuntary psychiatric interventions and argued that what are called mental illnesses are often better described as “problems in living.” His reputation in defense of these principles was launched in 1961 with The Myth of Mental Illness. He authored 35 books, many translated into multiple languages, and hundreds of articles. He is recognized worldwide as one of the most important critics of psychiatric coercion, particularly involuntary hospitalization, and a defender of individual responsibility and freedom. Dr. Szasz received several honorary degrees, including Doctor of Humane Letters from Towson University and Doctor of Science from Upstate Medical University, and many awards, including Humanist of the Year from the American Humanist Association, the Jefferson Award from the American Institute of Public Service, the Mencken Award from the Free Press Association, and the George Washington Award from the American Hungarian Foundation.

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