The Age of Madness: The History of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization Presented in Selected Texts

by Thomas Szasz (editor)

Introduction
Observations on Psychiatric Confinement
Deception and Terror as Cures for Madness
A Lunatics Protest by John Perceval
Madness and Blackness from The American
Madness and Marriage by E.P.W. Packard
Expert Testimony in Judicial Proceedings
The Boodle Gang by S.V. Clevenger
Patient Labour in the British Mental Hospital
Faces in the Water by Janet Frame
Psychiatric Justice in Canada by Harvey Cur
Position Statement on the Medical Treatment
The Moral Career of the Mental Patient
Adjustment to the Total Institution by Byron
The Insanity Bit by Seymour Krim
Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams

Genres: Psychology, Mental Health, Nonfiction, History

393 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Thomas Stephen Szasz (pronounced /sas/; born April 15, 1920 in Budapest, Hungary) was a psychiatrist and academic. He was Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York. He was a prominent figure in the antipsychiatry movement, 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. He is well known for his books, The Myth of Mental Illness (1960) and The Manufacture of Madness: A Comparative Study of the Inquisition and the Mental Health Movement which set out some of the arguments with which he is most associated.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting read, but I will admit to originally purchasing this book for the cover art by Edward Gorey.

[Mel Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very wide-ranging and thought-provoking collection of source material: nonfiction and fiction, from 1728 to 1973, from many countries, by some outstanding writers. Each piece, and the collection as a whole, is contextualized by Thomas Szasz.

Szasz's unifying thesis may perhaps be summarized with a sentence from the introduction: "I hold that as in the Age of Faith, political power was the monopoly of Church and State, so in the Age of Reason, it is the monopoly of Science and State." It was Szasz's lifelong concern that psychiatry and psychology not be used as cover for abusing the rights of individuals or getting rid of undesirable people or ideas in society, and that current psychiatric theories and methodologies not be exalted as religious absolutes.

There are some absolute gems of primary documents here, clearly valuable for historical discussions. For instance, the story of the woman (E.P.W. Packard) who was committed to an asylum in the 1860s in Illinois by her pastor husband for not believing in the doctrine of election. This autobiography encompasses the issues of religion, women's rights, marriage, and mental illness. The pleading letter of a father who was tricked into "committing" his daughter into indentured servitude offers a glimpse into that ugly component of America's past.

But there's more. Erving Goffman's article "The Moral Career of the Mental Patient" discusses the construction of a life narrative by the mental health workers. He shows that often the mental health worker's goal is to build a long narrative of failure to justify incarceration or treatment, but that it is in the best interest of the patient's independence to build a positive narrative. I found this discussion provocative with respect to other human fields outside of mental illness--teaching and parenting for instance. In what ways can those of us working with people build positive, but still honest and accurate, narratives?

Below are a sampling of quotes which characterize the tone of the book.

"It would be superfluous to dwell here on the fact that mental illness in America has become a staggering problem. Conceivably, one day, any deviation from the mores and customs of the majority, by an individual, could lead to his being classed as mentally ill, thereby making him eligible for hospitalization. --Byron G Wales

"insanity today is a matter of definition, not fact"--Seymour Krim

"The pathological interpretation of human nature has become a style in our period. . . and has come to mirror the fears, anxieties, and values of those currently in positions of social authority more often than the person who is being gutted."--Seymour Krim

“Insanity? The mental processes of a man with whom one disagrees, are always wrong. Where is the line between wrong mind and sane mind? It is inconceivable that any sane man can radically disagree with one's most sane conclusions.”--Jack London

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays about psychiatric abuse and forced institutionalization introduced and edited by the libertarian psychoanalyst Thomas S. Szasz, M.D.

[chris]

note to self (pg 28)

[Kevix Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

many famous authors and people who are part of the modern csx movement from before 1970