Thomas Szasz Takes on HisCritics

Is mental illness an insane idea?

Jacob Sullum from the May 2005 issue

(Page 3 of 3)

That limitation should give Torrey pause in light of the concerns he expressed in his 1974 book The Death of Psychiatry, quoted in Szasz Under Fire. He argued that "it is better that we err on the side of labeling too few, rather than too many, as brain diseased. In other words, a person should be presumed not to have a brain disease until proven otherwise on the basis of probability. This is exactly the opposite of what we do now as we blithely label everyone who behaves a little oddly 'schizophrenic.' Human dignity rather demands that people be assumed to be in control of their behavior and not brain diseased unless there is strong evidence to the contrary."

While the identification of schizophrenics may be less casual today than it was three decades ago, psychiatric labels have multiplied since then, and a significant part of the population is still forcibly treated, whether in mental hospitals, through outpatient commitment, or in drug treatment programs fed by the criminal justice system. In other words, there is still a need to guard against invasions of liberty justified in the name of mental health. The approach Torrey suggested seems about right to me, although much hinges on what counts as "strong evidence" of brain disease. Szasz continues to make a powerful case that a psychiatric diagnosis is not enough.�

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