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A Psychologist Reports on Thomas Szasz's Influence SGOXXX10.1177/2158244014551715SAGE OpenBreeding 551715research-article2014 Article SAGE Open October-December 2014: 1 –12 Practicing Szasz: A Psychologist Reports © The Author(s) 2014 DOI: 10.1177/2158244014551715 on Thomas Szasz’s Influence on His Work sgo.sagepub.com John Breeding Abstract Thomas Szasz died on September 8, 2012. With his death, many of us, not enough, are left with deep concern about his legacy and the continuing influence of his ideas. This one man’s ideas have directly or indirectly influenced my ongoing work as a psychologist. Specific areas that I will discuss below include power and language, issues of coercion, and psychiatry and the law. I will also discuss deeper and subtler influences regarding language, as well as the effect of Szasz as a model of precision and clarity, persistence, and courage. Finally, given that I am a professional counselor, and that Szasz worked for decades as a psychoanalyst, I want to discuss his ideas about counseling per se and how they have affected my own work. I hope that my experience will have a small positive effect in keeping alive and in play the profoundly important ideas of this great man. Keywords Thomas Szasz, psychiatry, behavioral sciences, psychology, social sciences, forensic psychology, counseling, ethics, religious studies, humanities, psychiatry and the law Introduction I have been involved in the so-called mental health field for about 40 years now. My first job after graduating from Thomas Szasz died on September 8, 2012. With his death, college with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1975 was many of us, not enough, are left with deep concern about his in a residential treatment center for children, and in 3 years I legacy and the continuing influence of his ideas. Here I dis- learned about the systematic drugging of children even then, cuss some of the myriad ways this one man’s ideas have at least in the institutions with which I became familiar. Like directly or indirectly influenced my ongoing work as a psy- Szasz in his choice of a residency in psychiatry, I went on to chologist. I hope that my experience will have a small posi- choose graduate school in psychology because I wanted to tive effect in keeping alive and in play the profoundly work with people, and with awareness that “mental health” important ideas of this great man. professionals were ethically challenged. I knew there were Tom Szasz died at age 92. He became a medical doctor at problems with the profession I was entering, but was not age 24 and chose a psychiatric residency for at least two rea- nearly as clear as Szasz in my understanding of the sons. He wanted to train in psychoanalysis and he already profession. had an agenda: I barely knew Szasz at the time. I had heard of The Myth of Mental Illness, and when I finally read that classic, I Strange as it may sound, just as I wanted to go to medical school understood the main point, but got bogged down in his game to learn medicine, not to practice it, I served a psychiatric residency to qualify as a psychiatrist and be eligible for training theory analysis of human behavior and lost interest. As a in psychoanalysis, not to practice psychiatry. I felt that I would child of the 1960s, I gravitated to the work of the British rather earn a living as a psychoanalyst than as an internist; that I psychiatrist R. D. Laing—a man who Szasz abhorred (Szasz, would then have more leisure and opportunity to pursue my 2008a)—and read many of his books. Laing’s writing was intellectual—literary, social, political—interests, and that the helpful in offering a radical criticism of standard psychiatric role of psychoanalyst would provide a platform from which I ideology and practice, especially as a fresh buffer and coun- could perhaps launch an attack on what I had long felt were the terweight to the mainstream teachings of the university and immoral practices of civil commitment and the insanity defense graduate school I attended. So by the time I became a psy- [emphasis added]. (Schaler, 2004, p. 18) chologist in 1983, I knew enough to be concerned about my Szasz became a psychiatrist with the thought of launching an attack on psychiatry that would end or at least signifi- Corresponding Author: cantly reduce the use of civil commitment and the insanity John Breeding, 5306 Fort Clark, Austin, TX 78745, USA. defense. He stayed true to this goal until he died. Email: [email protected] Creative Commons CC BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specifiedDownloaded on the from SAGE by guest and on OpenJune 4, 2016Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm). 2 SAGE Open profession. I think I had the idea, however, that I could be a both lamented his passing, Baughman shared with me his counselor, reject the medical model of “mental illness,” and frustration about the fact that some of his best allies seemed somehow be separate from the dehumanization that Laing to be devoting a lot of time and energy to “alternative treat- wrote about. ments,” mostly nutritional, of things like so-called attention Very early on as a counselor, that fantasy died. As client deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which Fred has after client came in already hurt by prior experiences at the always called a total fraud (Baughman, 2006). It also brings hands of my fellow “mental health professionals,” the pro- to mind what Szasz (1976) said in his book, Schizophrenia: found question of how to be ethical in a largely unethical The Sacred Symbol of Psychiatry, after pointing out chemist profession gained a harsh immediacy. It became clear that Linus Pauling’s (1901-1994) claim that schizophrenia was the only way to remain in my profession would be to focus curable by “megavitamin therapy”: “We assume that Pauling my activist energies, formerly mostly in the realm of peace accepts his psychiatric colleagues’ dictum that what they call and justice issues related to militarism, as a dissident psy- schizophrenia is schizophrenia—a posture that ill becomes a chologist. It seemed to me that even my progressive allies, scientist of his stature” (p. 109). Baughman’s lament vali- who seemed clear about so many forms of social and eco- dates the need to do all we can to prevent Szasz’s ideas from nomic injustice, had a huge blind spot when it came to psy- disappearing in Orwell’s “memory hole.” chiatric oppression, so I thought I might be a bridge between Here is a summary from Lexicon of Lunacy on the rele- the general progressive movement and the folks that I vant distinction: referred to as the mental health liberation movement. In any event, like Szasz when he chose a psychiatric residency, I In short, no psychiatric diagnosis is, or can be, pathology-driven; now had an agenda. By reading psychiatrist Peter Breggin’s instead, all such diagnoses are driven by nonmedical (economic, (1991) Toxic Psychiatry, I learned more about the harmful- personal, legal, political, and social) factors or incentives. ness of psychiatry’s biological treatments. Accordingly, psychiatric diagnoses do not point to pathoanatomic My study of Szasz has allowed me to gain some of his or pathophysiological lesions and do not identify causative agents—but rather refer to human behaviors. Moreover, the clear vision, and cut through the mystification and obfusca- psychiatric terms used to refer to such behaviors allude to the tion that passes as psychiatric today. His influence comes plight of the denominated patient, hint at the dilemmas with primarily from his writing but also indirectly through the which patient and psychiatrist alike try to cope as well as exploit, influence on me of specific students of his work. and mirror the beliefs and values of the society that both inhabit. The core of Szasz’s work is about liberty and responsibil- (Szasz, 1993b, p. 9) ity. Specific areas that I will discuss below include power and language, issues of coercion, and psychiatry and the law. Seeing and understanding that the concept of mental ill- I will also discuss deeper and subtler influences regarding ness is a metaphor, and that psychiatric diagnoses are based language, as well as the effect of Szasz as a model of preci- strictly on behavior, is vital to clear thinking. Nevertheless, it sion and clarity, persistence and courage. Finally, given that often makes little difference to individuals who are hurting, I am a professional counselor, and that Szasz worked for anxious, or depressed, and want medical or financial help or decades as a psychoanalyst, I want to discuss his ideas about social support—likewise, probably even more so, to those counseling per se, and how they have affected my own work. who want someone else to get “help.” They generally do not know that a series of writers, most recently Gary Greenberg The Myth of Mental Illness (2013), have thoroughly exposed the politics and invalidity of the diagnostic manual (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Tom Szasz was the clearest thinker and writer that I have of Mental Disorders [DSM]) of the American Psychiatric known; his influence has been to help me see and think more Association. Similarly, they frequently do not really care clearly, especially in regard to my work. It began with The about the scientific validity of the chemical imbalance or bad Myth of Mental Illness (Szasz, 1961); despite the ongoing gene that qualifies them, or the troubling or troubled one they massive denial of the undeniable—that the concept of mental want to get “help” for.
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