Portrait Of The Psychiatrist As A Young Man: The Early Writing And Work Of R.d. Laing, 1927-1960. (international Perspectives In Philosophy And ... Perspectives In Philosophy & Psychiatry)

"RD Laing remains one of the most famous psychiatrists of the last 50 years. In the 1960s he enjoyed enormous popularity and received much publicity for his controversial views challenging the psychiatric orthodoxy. He championed the rights of the patient, and challenged the often inhumane methods of treating the mentally ill. Based on a wealth of previously unexamined archives relating to his private papers and clinical notes, Portrait of the Psychiatrist as a Young Man sheds new light on RD Laing, and in particular his early formative years - a crucial but largely overlooked period in his life. The first half of the book considers Laing's intellectual journey through the world of ideas and his development as a psychiatric theorist. An analysis of his notebooks and personal library reveals Laing's engagement not only with psychiatric theory, but also with a wide range of other disciplines, such as philosophy, literature, and religion. This part of the book considers how this shaped Laing's writing about madness and his evolution as a clinician. The second half draws on a rich and completely unexplored collection of Laing's clinical notes, which detail his encounters with patients in his early years as a psychiatrist, firstly in the British Army, subsequently in the psychiatric hospitals of Glasgow, and finally in the Tavistock Clinic in London. These notes reveal what Laing was actually doing in clinical practice, and how theory interacted with therapy. The majority of patients who were to appear in Laing's first two books, The Divided Self and The Self and Others have been identified from these records, and this volume provides a fascinating account of how the published case histories compare to the original notes. There is a considerable mythology surrounding Laing, partly created by himself and partly by subsequent commentators. By a careful examination of primary sources, Allan Beveridge, both a psychiatrist and an historian, examines the many mythological narratives about Laing and provide a critical but not unsympathetic account of this colourful and contradictory thinker, who addressed questions about the nature of madness which are still being asked today. This book will be of interest to mental health workers and social historians alike as well as anybody interested in the philosophy of psychiatry"-- Read more... Abstract: Portrait of the Psychiatrist as a Young Man explores one of the most famous and controversial figures in the history of psychiatry - R.D. Laing. In particular, it sheds new light on his early formative years - a crucial but largely overlooked period in his life. Read more... Cover 1 Contents 10 Introduction 14 Part I: Laing and theory 22 1 Portrait of the psychiatrist as a young man 1927–1960 24 Early years 25 School days 29 Medical school 33 Beginning as a doctor 41 The British Army 47 Gartnavel Royal Mental Hospital 52 The Southern General Hospital 53 London 54 2 Portrait of the psychiatrist as an intellectual: Laing’s early notebooks, personal library, essays, papers, and talks 59 The quest to be an intellectual: the notebooks 60 Leaving medical school: what path to follow? 65 Laing’s library 67 Medical school: first public pronouncements and early writings 71 Early papers 78 3 Laing and psychiatric theory 85 History of psychiatry 85 Psychiatric theories 90 Later psychiatric theories 106 Later psychotherapeutic approaches to schizophrenia 112 4 Laing and existential phenomenology 122 Introduction 122 Existentialism 123 Laing and individual existential thinkers 128 Phenomenology 149 Existential-phenomenological psychiatry 152 Laing on existential analysis 156 5 Laing and religion 163 Religious upbringing 164 Doubts as an adult 170 Religion and science, psychoanalysis, psychology, philosophy, and psychiatry 173 6 Laing and the arts 179 William Blake 181 Gerard Manley Hopkins 182 Dostoyevsky 185 Chekhov 193 Kafka 194 Camus 195 Artaud 197 The Unquiet Grave 199 Other writers 200 Part II: Laing and practice 204 7 Laing in the Army 206 Army psychiatry 207 The Army reports 209 Dream analysis 212 An instance of the Ganser syndrome 213 Peter/‘David’ 214 8 Gartnavel Hospital and the ‘Rumpus Room’ 220 The historical background to Gartnavel Hospital 220 Laing at Gartnavel 223 Background to the ‘Rumpus Room’ experiment 224 The refractory ward 228 The ‘Rumpus Room’ as seen by Laing 231 Staff meetings 234 The larger staff discussion meetings 235 The ‘Rumpus Room’ results 238 Reflections 240 9 Individual patients at Gartnavel 245 Mrs C. 245 Miss M. 246 Miss L. 247 Miss A. 247 Betty 248 Magda 250 The coldness of death 252 The ghost of the weed garden 259 ‘Julie’ in The Divided Self 263 10 Laing at the Southern General Hospital 270 Southern General case conferences 270 Outpatients 280 Child psychiatry 287 Laing as a conservative revolutionary in clinical practice 290 11 Laing in London 292 Mr B. 293 Diana 294 David 296 Billy 301 Group psychotherapy 303 From the clinical notes to the published report 305 12 The Divided Self 307 Early drafts 307 Manuscript 310 The book 312 Laing on The Divided Self 317 Responses to The Divided Self 318 Critique 320 How Scottish was R.D. Laing? 326 Laing’s influence on Scottish culture 332 Aftermath 334 Concluding remarks 338 References 341 Primary sources 341 Secondary sources 343 Unarchived sources 356 Index 358 A 358 B 358 C 359 D 360 E 361 F 362 G 363 H 363 I 364 J 364 K 365 L 365 M 366 N 366 O 367 P 367 R 368 S 369 T 370 V 371 W 371 Y 371 Z 371
RD Laing remains one of the most famous psychiatrists of the last 50 years. In the 1960s he enjoyed enormous popularity and received much publicity for his controversial views challenging the psychiatric orthodoxy. He championed the rights of the patient, and challenged the often inhumane methods of treating the mentally ill.

Based on a wealth of previously unexamined archives relating to his private papers and clinical notes, Portrait of the Psychiatrist as a Young Man sheds new light on RD Laing, and in particular his early formative years - a crucial but largely overlooked period in his life. The first half of the book considers Laing's intellectual journey through the world of ideas and his development as a psychiatric theorist. An analysis of his notebooks and personal library reveals Laing's engagement not only with psychiatric theory, but also with a wide range of other disciplines, such as philosophy, literature, and religion. This part of the book considers how this shaped Laing's writing about madness and his evolution as a clinician. The second half draws on a rich and completely unexplored collection of Laing's clinical notes, which detail his encounters with patients in his early years as a psychiatrist, firstly in the British Army, subsequently in the psychiatric hospitals of Glasgow, and finally in the Tavistock Clinic in London. These notes reveal what Laing was actually doing in clinical practice, and how theory interacted with therapy. The majority of patients who were to appear in Laing's first two books, The Divided Self and The Self and Others have been identified from these records, and this volume provides a fascinating account of how the published case histories compare to the original notes.

There is a considerable mythology surrounding Laing, partly created by himself and partly by subsequent commentators. By a careful examination of primary sources, Allan Beveridge, both a psychiatrist and an historian, examines the many mythological narratives about Laing and provide a critical but not unsympathetic account of this colourful and contradictory thinker, who addressed questions about the nature of madness which are still being asked today.

This book will be of interest to mental health workers and social historians alike as well as anybody interested in the philosophy of psychiatry.

La 4e de couv. indique : "RD Laing remains one of the most famous psychiatrists of the last 50 years. In the 1960s he enjoyed enormous popularity and received much publicity for his controversial views challenging the psychiatric orthodoxy. He championed the rights of the patient, and challenged the often inhumane methods of treating the mentally ill. Based on a wealth of previously unexamined archives relating to his private papers and clinical notes, Portrait of the Psychiatrist as a Young Man sheds new light on RD Laing, and in particular his early formative years - a crucial but largely overlooked period in his life. The first half of the book considers Laing's intellectual journey through the world of ideas and his development as a psychiatric theorist. An analysis of his notebooks and personal library reveals Laing's engagement not only with psychiatric theory, but also with a wide range of other disciplines, such as philosophy, literature, and religion. This part of the book considers how this shaped Laing's writing about madness and his evolution as a clinician. The second half draws on a rich and completely unexplored collection of Laing's clinical notes, which detail his encounters with patients in his early years as a psychiatrist, firstly in the British Army, subsequently in the psychiatric hospitals of Glasgow, and finally in the Tavistock Clinic in London. These notes reveal what Laing was actually doing in clinical practice, and how theory interacted with therapy. The majority of patients who were to appear in Laing's first two books, The Divided Self and The Self and Others have been identified from these records, and this volume provides a fascinating account of how the published case histories compare to the original notes. There is a considerable mythology surrounding Laing, partly created by himself and partly by subsequent commentators. By a careful examination of primary sources, Allan Beveridge, both a psychiatrist and an historian, examines the many mythological narratives about Laing and provide a critical but not unsympathetic account of this colourful and contradictory thinker, who addressed questions about the nature of madness which are still being asked today. This book will be of interest to mental health workers and social historians alike as well as anybody interested in the philosophy of psychiatry." "RD Laing remains one of the most famous psychiatrists of the last 50 years. In the 1960s he enjoyed enormous popularity and received much publicity for his controversial views challenging the psychiatric orthodoxy. He championed the rights of the patient, and challenged the often inhumane methods of treating the mentally ill. Based on a wealth of previously unexamined archives relating to his private papers and clinical notes, Portrait of the Psychiatrist as a Young Man sheds new light on RD Laing, and in particular his early formative years - a crucial but largely overlooked period in his life. The first half of the book considers Laing's intellectual journey through the world of ideas and his development as a psychiatric theorist. An analysis of his notebooks and personal library reveals Laing's engagement not only with psychiatric theory, but also with a wide range of other disciplines, such as philosophy, literature, and religion. This part of the book considers how this shaped Laing's writing about madness and his evolution as a clinician. The second half draws on a rich and completely unexplored collection of Laing's clinical notes, which detail his encounters with patients in his early years as a psychiatrist, firstly in the British Army, subsequently in the psychiatric hospitals of Glasgow, and finally in the Tavistock Clinic in London. These notes reveal what Laing was actually doing in clinical practice, and how theory interacted with therapy. The majority of patients who were to appear in Laing's first two books, The Divided Self and The Self and Others have been identified from these records, and this volume provides a fascinating account of how the published case histories compare to the original notes. There is a considerable mythology surrounding Laing, partly created by himself and partly by subsequent commentators. By a careful examination of primary sources, Allan Beveridge, both a psychiatrist and an historian, examines the many mythological narratives about Laing and provide a critical but not unsympathetic account of this colourful and contradictory thinker, who addressed questions about the nature of madness which are still being asked today. This book will be of interest to mental health workers and social historians alike as well as anybody interested in the philosophy of psychiatry"-- Provided by publisher Machine generated contents note: Part I 1. Portrait of the psychiatrist as a young man 1927-1960 2. Portrait of the psychiatrist as an intellectual. Laing's early notebooks, personal library, essays, papers, and talks 3. Laing and psychiatric theory 4. Laing and existential-phenomenology 5. Laing and Religion 6. Laing and the Arts Part II 7. Laing in the Army 8. Gartnavel Hospital and the 'Rumpus Room' 9. Individual patients at Gartnavel 10. Laing at the Southern General Hospital 11. Laing in London 12. The Divided Self.