Talk:Ronald David Laing

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Contents

[edit] Early Childhood

Why is there no reference to his childhood other than his existentialist reading list? I've read certain accounts detailing his father's violent outbursts and his mothers' compulsive behaviour. I don't have the knowledge to write a section on it, but maybe someone should because if such events did occur, they would definitely have affected his later life. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.35.4.130 (talk) 22:20, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

This article claims that Laing was not anti-psychiatrist. I would like to know why is his name in the "Anti-Psychiatry" article?

This is how Anti-psychiatry is described on Wikipedia:

"Anti-psychiatry refers to a post-1960s configuration of groups and theoretical constructs hostile to most of the fundamental assumptions and practices of psychiatry. Its igniting influences were Michel Foucault, R.D.Laing and Thomas Szasz."

How can it be that such different authors such as Michel Foucault, R.D.Laing and Thomas Szasz are being put on the same level?

This is completely wrong and the article is a total nonsense.--Justana (talk) 11:29, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Educational Setback

I've added the fact that he failed his medical exams on first attempt. I do not have the exact citation for this at present (save for a few websites which can be googled) but it is detailed in Adrian Laing's biography which is already listed as a source on the page. You can of course change the wording, but I think it is very important to have this fact included, as the information that he was not a particularly competent student counts against the attempt to paint him as some kind of medical visionary overthrowing the profession from within which I see from a lot of people with anti-psychiatric bias and which seems... occasionally hinted at within this article. So; my motives for adding it are not NPOV but I think it counteracts a non-NPOV bias in its omission. It is true, succinct information about Laing which some readers (here I use myself as an example) might consider relevant in forming an impression about him. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.232.243.176 (talk) 13:24, 29 March 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Media Reference?

This episode of 'Waking the Dead', 'Double Bind', makes a few oblique references to RD Laing but veers off into murder and LSD psychotherapy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/wakingthedead/episodeguide_series6_story5.shtml

Someone else can be the judge... --Strangelyanonymous (talk) 23:51, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

I don't think that the picture at the top purportedly of Laing is actually Laing. He wrote a book called Knots, so it would be a cute play-on-whatever, but I don't think that it's him.

Er... it looks like him facially and matches exactly what his hair looked like at about the phase in his life the photograph would have had to be taken (the pattern of graying and the pattern of balding, compare with the image on Philwebb) and it is claimed it was taken by the uploader in a plausible location where Laing would have been often. Perhaps you could clarify your reasons for thinking it isn't Laing. I never met the man, but the image on wikipedia looks remarkably consistent with every other extant picture of him which I have access to and at the moment your argument would appear to be 'it can't be him because he's reading a book on knots which is something we know he did'. That said, I don't think the picture we have of Alex Jensen is a picture of Alex Jensen, I think if you look closely you'll see it's clearly Robin Williams. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.232.243.176 (talk) 13:34, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I came to this site seeking information on his theory of knots, so it would be nice if the article addressed this theory also. Thanks71.132.132.0 (talk) 08:27, 5 December 2007 (UTC)


[edit] References

I've added the request for more references. In particular it seels to me that the sections on his views on mental illness are nor referenced. It would be good to have something more on opposing views. The only link is internal to "critics" but not to critics of Laing. Perhaps the article should get labelled fro NPOV.

LookingGlass 17:52, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Axel Jensen

The newly added bit about Axel Jensen seems like a stuck-on fact that doesn't contribute anything important to understanding Laing and seems out of balance in his short biography. Seems to me like it should be taken out. What's the argument for keeping it in? Jeremy J. Shapiro 07:32, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

The argument could be that they were very close friends and that Axel Jensen mentions 'Ronny' in several of his books. Also Laing and Kingsley Hall is mentioned in the biography of Axel Jensen as a great help for him in a period of depression. Perhaps this fact could be added to the biography part, self-motivating its presence? We could also presume that the short biography of Laing will be lengthened subsequently, and that this merely is a part of a final result.--Profero 12:53, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Demons

To me it makes no sense to have a wikilink to the word "demon". "Demon" is used here as a metaphor, and probably should not be used in an encyclopedia to refer to psychological or other personal problems, it's more of a literary and colloquial term. Since the demon article doesn't even discuss the personal problems listed here for Laing, and since there's no quotation from Laing indicating that he thought of these things as demons such that a link to the demon article would be appropriate, there's no justification for the link. I think I will change the article to something like "personal problems" to eliminate this problem. Jeremy J. Shapiro 19:07, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Pov sentence

I changed self-reference and this clearly pov sentence:

He fails, however to get to the bottom of the problem and find a way out for his patients. Freud, by comparison, recognises the repressive effect of society, especially in his later works like 'Civilization and Its Discontents', but seeks to strengthen the patient's ability to cope with this. Neither of these men appeared willing to tackle the issue of good and bad family, or society, nexus.

—Cesar Tort 00:34, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Psychiatric diagnosis

I added material on Laing's view of the psychiatric diagnosis, content of which I took from his "The Politics of the Family and Other Essays." Laing defined the medical model as "that set of procedures in which all doctors are trained." I am implying that the popular shibboleth that mental illness is just like any other disease is a logical fallacy, because it isn't diagnosed in the same manner as other diseases, although I realize that this is comparable to saying that a bloody knife inadmissible as evidence is no longer a bloody knife. 138.162.128.43 12:44, 16 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] in See also

At present, the article reads: 'Mary Barnes - Famous schizophrenic who wrote a book on her experiences with '
With what? Sorry, forgot to sign. --Shirt58 12:22, 2 November 2006 (UTC)