Read on Twitter
The basic jist of this book goes something like:
Sometimes the dynamics of a family force a member of that family into impossible double- triple- and quadruple-binds, where no action, no thought, no belief fits in with the prevailing dynamics and counterdynamics…
Sometimes the dynamics of a family force a member of that family into impossible double- triple- and quadruple-binds, where no action, no thought, no belief fits in with the prevailing dynamics and counterdynamics…
In some of these cases, it affects the family member (usually the child, who’s mind is developed within the constraints of these binds) such that they are unable to cope with, or even find a hold on, consensus reality. This is the cause of some amount of severe mental illness.
When I was going through college and talked about Laing with some psych students and profs, they bucked pretty hard whenever the ideas that family affect mental health were brought up.
Which shocked me, cuz I thought that was both common sense, and a basic tenet of most psych.
I was given the impression that these kind of ideas had been debunked, disproven, thrown into the bin, and I should stop reading RD Laing.
I was given the impression that these kind of ideas had been debunked, disproven, thrown into the bin, and I should stop reading RD Laing.
Which only started to make sense after I read “The Mind Fixers,” by Anne Harrington
The summary of the relevant section is basically:
families got sick of psychoanalysts blaming them for everything. So in the ~70s, Family-of-Mentally-Ill groups made alliances with pharmaceutical groups to push the narrative that the brain is just a chemical vat.
families got sick of psychoanalysts blaming them for everything. So in the ~70s, Family-of-Mentally-Ill groups made alliances with pharmaceutical groups to push the narrative that the brain is just a chemical vat.
If something is wrong with the kid, it’s because of a freak accident of chemistry (which can be conveniently fixed with chemistry), and not because of anything about the family.
There were good reasons for this. Psychoanalysts had gone pretty wild with the family-blaming.
There were good reasons for this. Psychoanalysts had gone pretty wild with the family-blaming.
So it needed to be reined in—but… obviously a ton is missing if you remove family effects from your psychological models.
And the above Laing book (Sanity, Madness, and the Family) was an unfortunate casualty of that era where Family advocate groups basically purged…
And the above Laing book (Sanity, Madness, and the Family) was an unfortunate casualty of that era where Family advocate groups basically purged…
…from the universities and profession anyone who made noises about the family being a factor in mental illness/health.
Soooo… fuck that, I’m gonna thread some Laing books as I get time in the next couple days and weeks.
Not deep reads, just re-skims of some of his books I’ve read before
Not deep reads, just re-skims of some of his books I’ve read before
