Critical Psychiatry: Challenging the Biomedical Dominance of Psychiatry

Abstract

The first modern use of the term ‘critical psychiatry’ was probably in Critical psychiatry: The politics of mental health, an edited book by David Ingleby (1980a). This book has recently been reissued by Free Association Books (2004). The new publisher’s blurb suggests that far from being merely a historical document, the book is powerfully relevant to mental health services today. The book makes a strong plea for critical thinking about the conceptual foundations of psychiatry, about its social role, and about the issues of power surrounding mental illness.