Topic: (Anti) Psychiatry, Photography, Book, Ronnie Laing

[LT]

Any FWrs interested in the anti psychiatry movement will undoubtedly enjoy this book by Dominic Harris.

He's managed to track down some of the residents of the infamous Kingsley Hall commune to out together a photo/prose essay on the past and present effect of Laings vision of alternative psychiatric care.

You can get a preview in this guardian article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2012/sep/02/residents-kingsley-hall-rd-laing?INTCMP=SRCH

Or buy the eBook here: http://www.dominicharris.co.uk/recent.html

And all on LF film

[Late Developer]

I've heard of the movement, Leon, but I can't say I know much about it. Wasn't the argument that the accepted "broad" definitions of mental illnesses were actually causing inappropriate / damaging treatments and damaging patients further?

Mind you, the suggestion that the centre was rife with wild parties, drugs, etc. doesn't seem (to me at least) to be providing much in the way of structured analysis or therapy either. Still, as I say, not a subject I know much about. Hopefully, a topic with which I'll ever come face to face either.

The portraits are striking but I can't help feeling slightly voyeuristic when looking at them. I'm not suggesting that the issue or anyone suffering from mental (or any other form of) illness should be shut away from public view - but it's a challenging subject and perhaps something we could do well to begin to understand.

I might well download the PDF version. Thanks for posting this as it's very thought provoking.

[LT]

RD Laing, Thomas Szasz, Franco Basaglia, Frantz Fanon ... all part of the deconstruction of the medical model of mental illness.

It was a fascinating time. Laing tried to use psychoactive substances in a therapeutic way, interesting, but mostly misguided I think. Ultimately, the medical won out, but there are still a few residual hippies applying the social model ... I reckon there's room for both - apart from the acid, that should stay locked away.

I'm definitely going to DL the ebook.  RD Laing is a bit of a hero of mine.

I dont think the pics are any more voyeuristic than any documentary photos. Bearing in mind these are not people who have a permanent lack of capacity to consent - they clearly wanted to be interviewed for the book, and the photos went along with that I guess.

L.