In recent decades ideological battles have raged over how the history of
psychiatry should be interpreted. Should the emergence of psychiatry in the
late 18th century be seen as the triumph of the Enlightenment, ushering in a
rational approach to mental illness and overturning the primitive and often
barbaric ideas of previous eras? Or should the rise of psychiatry be seen in
a more sinister light? Does it represent the extension of the state into the
lives of its citizens, controlling and policing the disaffected and
discontented? Are psychiatrists benign humanitarians or agents of
oppression? Should the historical narrative be one of progress, as
psychiatry steadily extends its knowledge of mental illness and develops
more and more effective therapy? Or is the reverse true: has the advent of
psychiatry been a calamity for the mad?