Laing's Psychiatric Schizophrenic Healing Autobiography Wisdom

By Donald Lewis


When it comes to writers familiar with psychiatry and theory, the late Ronald David Laing was one of the best. For, Laing had a lot of experience in the area even after having to repeat a series of college exams. In a partial psychiatric schizophrenic healing autobiography wisdom, madness and folly, Laing suggests that the failure was due to remarks made at a university function rather than actual test scores on a number of tests.

Laing was a Scottish psychiatrist whom wrote entirely on the topic of psychosis and schizophrenia. In fact, the psychiatrists has received a number of film and book credits whether related to personal work or, the work of others. Most often, the body of work attributed to Laing is based on the unorthodox treatments and community built for clients with which the psychiatrist worked over the course of a lifetime.

While most of Laing's views ran counterclockwise to others in the field, the psychiatrist's treatments were often successful. As such, Laing continued to use the nonconventional treatments throughout a long and at times, challenging career. In most cases, Laing believed that seeing feelings which clients found to be disturbing or detrimental were actually real experiences. As such, by removing those experiences, clients could be healed without the need for more conventional forms of treatment.

While labeled as anti-psychiatry, Laing rejected such labeling. At the same time, most had already labeled the psychiatrist a conservative free thinker. In large part, this label was due more to political affiliations rather than the unorthodox practice provided numerous clients as a psychiatrist.

The 2017 film, Mad to Be Normal focuses on Laing's unconventional work in the field of psychiatry. The film portrays the psychiatrist in the 1960s revealing the approach Laing took with regards to the unique community built for clients and unorthodox treatments provided at the time. While this is the case, this is just one of the many films in which the psychiatrist played a part. Whereas, there have been a number of books including the autobiography in which readers can learn a great deal more about Laing, life and the unconventional wisdom placed on society at large during a life well lived.

Even as a child, Laing was thought to be clever, competitive and precocious whether related to reading, writing, sports or music, Laing often took the road less traveled. A road which eventually led to the Royal College of Music, then later, the University of Glasgow. It was at the latter where the young Laing failed the exams, then spent six months working in a mental ward before retaking and passing the exams.

During studies at Glasgow, the student set up a club related to the Socratic Oath, acquiring Philosopher Bertand Russell as president. While successful at setting up the club, Laing failed the first set of exams. Then, after serving as an assistant in mental health ward for 6 months, returned and retook and passed the exams.

Ultimately, while Laing continued to pursue this direction in the field of psychiatry, colleagues continued to reject the ideology presented by the psychiatrist. For, most disagreed with the overwhelming opposition Laing held toward electroshock, insulin shock therapy and medication. Still, Laing moved on providing unorthodox treatment to those whom shared in the same ideology, philosophy and theoretical beliefs and continued to reject the so-called norm when it came to ongoing and more conventional treatments.




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