Wisdom, Madness and Folly (Canongate Scottish Classics)

Rating:
Summary: Laing's writing style is easy & colloquial.
Review: I read this about 10 years ago & have recently read it again. Laing's writing is easy & colloquial, more like conversation than some exercise with a thesaurus. Laing reviews the state of psychiatry today (1985) & reviews the events in his life that helped shape his iconoclastic views of medicine & society. He eschews the term "anti-psychiatry," seemingly preferring not to name or "institutionalize" his process & praxis for psychiatry. By the end of this book, Laing & his views seem incredibly human & humane, & one wonders, Why aren't all psychiatrists like Laing? Early on, Laing cites the changing psychiatric view in Italy; the new edition of WM&F coincides with the 20th anniversary of Italy's law 180, which pretty much altered the way psychiatric services are dispensed & which was promoted by both doctors & patients, proving that the camaraderie among patient & staff that Laing longed for was possible.