Anti-psychiatry

Originally a movement that merely opposed involuntary treatment and drugging of patients; Anti-psychiatry is a broad movement that opposes psychiatry or elements of Psychiatry.

History

The term "anti-psychiatry" was first used by David Graham Cooper in Psychiatry and Anti-psychiatry.

Important theorists

Some known theorists who have been associated with the anti-psychiatrist movement are:

• David G. Cooper, Ronald D. Laing, Aaron Esterson (in Great Britain)
• Thomas S. Szasz, Erving Goffman (in the USA)
• Félix Guattari, Michel Foucault (in France)
• Franco Basaglia (in Italy)
• Theodoros Megalooikonomou (in Greece)

Besides Thomas Szasz, who claimed the political label of a "liberal humanist", it has been a common feature of anti-psychiatrist figures to adhere to Marxist or anarchist left.