Without context, the title of the book (the subject of this thread), could understandably be upsetting.
I learned recently that I have the lessor version of bipolar disorder and I’m comfortable in that truth and I am learning more about it and myself daily as a result of it. However, almost ironically I’ll say, in having learned this about myself, I took the time to objectively investigate this author at a Wikipedia level and in doing so, came to actually appreciate the positions laid out in the work and respect the cultural and periodic voice of the author when he wrote the book (1960’s, Hungarian born).
The author is a libertarian medical doctor (psychiatrist). In a very summarized way, he postulates that psychological labels are a method of controlling and stigmatizing those with neurological or psychological abnormalities. We are learning more now than ever about how various abnormalities exist in the physical sense, meaning neurological or mental or hormonal differences from the mean population, and as such new information in which to treat and supplement them, which is information that simply was not at the author’s disposal at the time of writing. It’s worth a read and puts a lot of perspective into being this way and how those treating these conditions can approach them.
Thanks, Eli.