Am J Psychiatry 1977; 134:979-983
Copyright © 1977 by American Psychiatric Association
Revolutions and the rights of man
GM Carstairs
The author describes the dialectical struggle in psychiatric treatment
between those who advocate maximum liberty in the management of the
mentally disordered and those who believe such patients will benefit more
from firm guidance and discipline. He uses illustrations from British
psychiatric history to illustrate this struggle. He also points out and
discusses two current challenges to psychiatry worldwide: the
unconstructive hostility of the various schools of antipsychiatry and the
political abuse of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, particularly in the
USSR.
