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Just the facts, please

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Thomas James Reilly
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The Psychiatrist , Volume 35 , Issue 8 , August 2011 , pp. 314
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2011

Edward Shorter’s riposte to ‘The myth of mental illness’ cuts through the redundant reasoning of Szasz, in some style. Reference Shorter1,Reference Szasz2 Shorter succeeds by contrasting the notions of mental illness in the 1960s with modern science of the brain. In doing so, he also highlights the progression of psychiatry during this period. Unfortunately, his argument is undermined by unscientific claims. How many suicides resulted from anti-psychiatry? How many are due to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest? Shorter says ‘many’. If this is based on evidence, a reference should be cited. If not, why include conjecture in an otherwise excellent commentary?

References

1 Shorter, E. Still tilting at windmills: Commentary on … The myth of mental illness. Psychiatrist 2011; 35: 183–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 Szasz, T. The myth of mental illness: 50 years later. Psychiatrist 2011; 35: 179–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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