Thomas Szasz

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Thomas Szasz

Thomas Szasz (pronounced /ˈsɑːs/; April 15, 1920 – September 8, 2012) was a Hungarian-American psychiatrist and academic. He was a prominent figure in the anti-psychiatry movement, and his criticisms of psychiatry and psychiatric institutions were influential in shaping public perceptions of mental health treatment.

Etymology

The surname "Szasz" is of Hungarian origin, and it means "Saxon". It is a common surname in Hungary.

Biography

Thomas Szasz was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1920. He emigrated to the United States in 1938, where he studied at the University of Cincinnati and the Chicago Medical School. He later became a professor of psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.

Szasz was known for his criticism of the moral and scientific foundations of psychiatry, which he saw as a form of social control. He argued that mental illnesses are not real in the same way that physical illnesses are, but are instead socially constructed concepts used to label and control people who behave in ways that society finds unacceptable.

Related Terms

  • Anti-psychiatry: A movement that opposes the mainstream psychiatric model and challenges the concept of mental illness.
  • Psychiatry: The branch of medicine focused on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.
  • Social constructionism: A theory in sociology that suggests that many of the categories we take for granted as natural or inherent are actually socially constructed.

See Also

External links

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