The Psychology Book (47 page)

and tackles specific problems more

a person’s present behavior.

as “insight.” For example, a man

directly in order to achieve quicker

who grieves for an abnormally long

results. But he also felt that for any

1938
B.F. Skinner introduces

time after his partner leaves him

therapy to succeed, it must offer the

“radical” behaviorism, which

might come to realize that he has

patient a supportive relationship. ■

does not accept that thinking,

deep issues with abandonment,

perception, or any other kind

because his mother left him when

of unobservable emotional

he was a child. But a number of

activity can trigger a particular

therapists have concluded that

pattern of behavior.

insight may be unnecessary to

counter emotional pain, and some,

AFTER

including Watzlawick, have claimed

Anybody can
be
happy, but

1958
American psychiatrist

that it can make a patient worse.

to
make
oneself unhappy

Leopold Bellak sets up a brief

Watzlawick famously stated he

needs to be learned.

therapy clinic, where therapy

could not think of a single case in

Paul Watzlawick

is limited to a maximum of

which someone changed as a result

five sessions.

of a deepening understanding of self.

The belief that understanding past

1974
US psychotherapist

events helps to shed light on present

Jay Haley publishes

problems is based on a “linear” view

Uncommon Therapy
,

describing Milton Erickson’s

See also:
B.F. Skinner 78–85 ■ Elizabeth Loftus 202–07 ■ Milton Erickson 336

brief therapy techniques.

150

MADNESS NEED NOT

BE ALL BREAKDOWN

IT MAY ALSO BE

BREAK-THROUGH

R.D. LAING (1927–1989)

IN CONTEXT

Mental illness is
not

Psychosis
is a valid

APPROACH

biological
; it is developed

and understandable

Anti-psychiatry

through
difficult

expression of distress
.

social interactions
.

BEFORE

1908
Swiss psychiatrist

Eugen Bleuler coins the term

“schizophrenia” to refer to the

splitting of mental functions.

1911
Sigmund Freud proposes

Psychiatry wrongly

Mental illness should be

that schizophrenia is purely

stigmatizes
mental illness

valued as a
cathartic and

because it
does not

psychological, though it

transformative
experience.

conform
to social norms.

cannot be treated with

psychoanalysis.

1943
French philosopher

Jean-Paul Sartre introduces

Madness need not be all

the distinction between the

breakdown. It may also be

true self and the false self.

break-through.

1956
Gregory Bateson, British

social scientist, defines a

“double bind” as an emotionally

in dire circumstances. It was from

distressing dilemma in which

A
t the end of the 19th

century, the notion that

this context that R.D. Laing emerged

all the potential resolutions

mental illness was

as the preeminent icon of a new

lead to negative consequences.

different in degree—rather than

cultural trend.

in kind—from the psychological

AFTER

suffering of normal people began

Biology and behavior

1978
CT brain scans reveal

to gain acceptance. Sigmund Freud

Like Freud, Laing challenged the

physical differences between

suggested that neurosis and

fundamental values of psychiatry,

chronic schizophrenics and

normality are part of the same

rejecting its focus on mental illness

non-schizophrenics.

scale, and that anyone is capable of

as a biological phenomenon and

succumbing to mental disturbance

highlighting the significance of the

PSYCHOTHERAPY 151

See also:
Emil Kraepelin 31 ■ Sigmund Freud 92–99 ■ David Rosenhan 328–29

social, cultural, and familial

also hinder the ability to think, and

influences that shape personal

as a result interfere with the natural

experience. Although he never

process of true recovery.

denied the grim reality of mental

illness, his views were in stark

Approach to schizophrenia

contrast to the accepted medical

Laing’s main work centers on the

basis and practice of psychiatry.

understanding and treatment of

Laing’s work calls into question

schizophrenia—a serious mental

the validity of psychiatric diagnosis

disorder characterized by severe

on the grounds that the accepted

disruptions in psychological

process of diagnosing mental

functioning—and on explaining it

R.D. Laing

disorders does not follow the

to ordinary people. Schizophrenia,

traditional medical model. Doctors

he says, is not inherited, but is

Ronald David Laing was born

in Glasgow, Scotland. After

perform examinations and tests to

an understandable reaction to

studying medicine at Glasgow

diagnose physical illness, whereas

unlivable situations. He applies

University, he became a

psychiatric diagnosis is based on

social scientist Gregory Bateson’s

psychiatrist in the British

behavior. According to Laing, there

theory of the “double bind,” in

Army, developing an interest

is also an inherent problem in

which a person is put into situations

in working with the mentally

diagnosing mental illness based on

where he or she faces conflicting

distressed. He later trained at

conduct, but treating it biologically

expectations, and every action

the Tavistock Clinic, London,

with drugs. If a diagnosis is based

leads to negative consequences,

England. In 1965, Laing and a

on behavior, then so too should be

resulting in extreme mental distress.

group of colleagues created the

the treatment. He argues that drugs

Philadelphia Association and

Illness as breakthrough

started a radical psychiatric

Laing was revolutionary in viewing

project at Kingsley Hall,

the abnormal behavior and

London, where patients and

confused speech of schizophrenics

therapists lived together.

as valid expressions of distress. For

Laing’s erratic behavior

and spiritual preoccupations

him, psychotic episodes represent

in later life led to a decline in

attempts to communicate concerns,

his reputation. As he was

and should be seen as cathartic

unable to develop a workable

and transformative experiences

alternative to conventional

that could lead to important

medical treatment, his ideas

personal insights. Laing accepts

are not generally accepted by

that these expressions are difficult

the psychiatric establishment.

to comprehend, but he explains

Yet his contributions to the

that this is merely because they

anti-psychiatry movement,

are wrapped in the language of

particularly in family therapy,

personal symbolism, which is only

have had a lasting impact. He

meaningful from within. Laing’s

died of a heart attack in 1989.

drug-free psychotherapy tries

to make sense of a patient’s

Key works

symbolism by listening in an

1960
The Divided Self

attentive and empathetic spirit.

Shakespeare’s King Lear
is an

1961
The Self and Others

This is based on the belief that

iconic example of a man driven mad

1964
Sanity, Madness and

by difficult circumstances. In Laing’s

people are healthy in their natural

the Family

view, Lear’s madness is an attempt to

state, and that so-called mental

1967
The Politics of Experience

return to his natural, healthy, state.

illness is an attempt to return to it. ■

152

OUR HISTORY

DOES NOT DETERMINE

OUR DESTINY

BORIS CYRULNIK (1937– )

IN CONTEXT

APPROACH

You can feel

...and

crushed and

Positive psychology

continue to

inadequate
...

suffer
.

BEFORE

1920s
Freud says that early

Bad things

trauma negatively impacts

happen.

an infant’s brain and can

override any genetic, social, or

psychological resilience factor.

You can

...and
move

accept the

forward
with

1955–95
A longitudinal study

challenge
...

your life.

by psychologist Emmy Werner

following traumatized children

into adulthood suggests that

one-third of the population

tends toward resilience.

1988
John Bowlby asks for

a study of resilience.

W
hen tragedy strikes, unable to cope, somehow they

some people are

are able to deal with painful

devastated. Unable to

circumstances and move on.

summon their coping mechanisms,

Boris Cyrulnik is interested

AFTER

they fall into deep depression or

in this difference of reaction. To

despondency, sometimes losing

find out why some people are so

2007
The UK government

hope and even the will to carry

deeply affected, while others are

starts the UK Resilience

on. They may become entirely

seemingly able to “bounce back,”

Programme in schools.

preoccupied with the disaster

he has devoted his career to the

2012
The American