Vol. 6, No. 1 - Psychiatric Survivor Archives of Toronto

1~JThis book, long awaited by thepsychiatric inmates' liberationmovement, was well worth the wait.In his book, Lapon opens a chapterin the history of Nazi Germany thathas been closed for forty years: thesystematic slaughter of over 300,000mental patients in Germany andacross Europe, a tragedy that shouldbe indelibly etched in theconsciousness of humanity. Just asthe Jews spend Holocaust Day inspecial remembrance of six milliondead, so should we in the movementobserve a day of mourning for thisslaughter in the name of racial purity.Lapon shows how the massmurder of "mental patients" bypsychiatry in Nazi Germany and inthe United States was a harbinger oflater extermination of Jews and othervictims of Nazi persecution.The author also documents linksbetween the American eugenicsmovement and Nazi atrocities in the"treatment" of psychiatric inmates,the mentally handicapped and otherdisadvantaged groups. SocialDarwinism in the United Statesbespeaks the rotteness at the core ofthis so-called science.But the book is more than a historyof Nazi and American atrocities. It isan eclectic compilation of biography,political analysis, and history of theanti-psychiatry movement, includinga revealing description of .30 Phoenix Risingincarceration in a psychiatric ward,which shows how the "mentalhealth" system works.Both inmates and ex-inmates willbe interested in this book, whichalso covers the means used byGerman-trained psychiatrists topractice in the United States, achronolgy linking psychiatry andeugenics, and a history of the antipsychiatrymovement. There are alsosections which would particularlyinterest ex-inmates, including acritique of alternative therapies andan analysis of "mental health"workers.This book is a valuable addition tothe anti-psychiatry reading list.However, it remains to be seen ifpsychiatrists and "mental health"professionals are willing to have theireyes opened to this sorry chapter intheir history and their ongoingexistence.~:§'-'~-0 Q)'-'>0­J:>CDSTILL SANEPersimmon Blackbridgeand Sheila Gilhooly;photographs by KikuHawkesPress Gang Publishers,Vancouver, B.C., 1985, 101pp., paper ($12.95)by Lilith FinklerFrequently, individuals who"review," critically analyze andevaluate, do so under the guise ofOBJECTIVITY. They unconsciouslyinternalize the values and attitudes ofthe status quo, and do notacknowledge them publicly, as theycomment upon books, records,plays, et cetera. They presume nobias or personal involvement. I,however, do not pretend suchimpartiality. I am one of the "crazydykes" to whom the book "Stilll