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Critical Perspectives in Psychiatry: Anti- and Critical Psychiatry

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Examining Mental Health through Social Constructionism

Part of the book series: The Language of Mental Health ((TLMH))

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Abstract

This chapter introduces two movements influencing societal opinions of the medical profession and its involvement with those who experience mental distress: anti-psychiatry and critical psychiatry. To contextualise the influence of these movements, we provide an overview of the contributors and the key arguments. We demonstrate how critical psychiatry has, generally at least, moved to accept psychiatry as a discipline, while maintaining its critical position of how that discipline operates in a modern society. To consider the relevance of some of the key points, we also attend to other modern influences on psychiatry, such as consumerism, and the idea that patients should be more actively involved in decisions about their healthcare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    Michelle O’Reilly

  2. Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

    Jessica Nina Lester

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  1. Michelle O’Reilly
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Readings of Interest

Readings of Interest

  • Hopton, J. (2006). The future of critical psychiatry. Critical Social Policy, 26, 57–73.

  • Rissmiller, D., & Rissmiller, J. (2006). Evolution of the antipsychiatry movement into mental health consumerism. Psychiatric Services, 57(6), 863–866.

  • Szasz, T. (2010). Psychiatry, anti-psychiatry, critical psychiatry: What do these terms mean? Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, 17(3), 229–232.

  • Timimi, S. (2002). Pathological child psychiatry and the medicalisation of childhood. New York: Bruner-Routledge.

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O’Reilly, M., Lester, J.N. (2017). Critical Perspectives in Psychiatry: Anti- and Critical Psychiatry. In: Examining Mental Health through Social Constructionism. The Language of Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60095-6_4

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