Knotted: R.D. Laing and Psychiatry

Abstract

This paper focuses on R. D. Laing’s published views on mental illness and the theme of clinicism within psychotherapy. It argues that Laing consistently avoided confronting the question ‘Does mental illness exist?’ and leaves the reader uncertain as to what his position is. It argues his position is less clear than is generally supposed, and considerably less clear than that of Thomas Szasz, for whom mental illness does not exist and whose position the author believes to be correct.