The interconnection of freedom and care: antipsychiatry in search of social justice

Abstract

This paper explores the radical critique of traditional psychiatry from the perspective of antipsychiatry, highlighting how this practice, often perceived as the treatment of mental illness, can be seen as an instrument of social injustice. Psychiatry has historically contributed to the exclusion and marginalization of individuals considered "abnormal," enforcing social norms and perpetuating control over those who do not fit the economic and social expectations of the capitalist system. In dialogue with Michel Foucault, Ronald D. Laing, David Cooper, and Jean-Paul Sartre, this text argues that psychiatry functions as a mechanism of silencing and normalization, dehumanizing patients by reducing them to mere symptoms of mental illness and denying their subjectivity and dignity. In contrast, antipsychiatry emerges as a response to the management of madness, proposing a social justice capable of recognizing the value and significance of the experiences of those labeled as mad. Challenging the social norms and stigmas imposed by hegemonic psychiatry, antipsychiatry promotes broader inclusion and a deeper understanding of the human condition. The politicized approach to mental health, which emphasizes solidarity, comradeship, and empathy, goes beyond an individual curative perspective and instead touches on social transformation, breaking with the power relations that perpetuate oppression and alienation in traditional psychiatric treatment.