Psychiatric Slavery - Paperback

by Thomas Szasz (Author)

In Psychiatric Slavery, Dr. Thomas Szasz delivers a powerful indictment of coercive mental health practices and their close ties to the American legal system. Challenging the widely held belief that the landmark Supreme Court case O'Connor v. Donaldson marked a victory for civil liberties, Szasz argues that it instead legitimized the state's power to confine individuals under the guise of psychiatric care.
Through rigorous analysis, Szasz reveals how courts, hospitals, and mental health professionals collaborate to strip citizens of autonomy, turning psychiatry into a tool of social control. At the heart of this work is the chilling story of Kenneth Donaldson, who was involuntarily committed to a Florida asylum for 14 years without meaningful treatment.
Provocative and uncompromising, Psychiatric Slavery forces readers to confront unsettling questions about freedom, justice, and the moral foundations of involuntary hospitalization.

Author Biography

Thomas Szasz is the author of over six hundred articles and twenty-four books. He was a practicing psychiatrist and is a professor of psychiatry emeritus at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York.