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“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

(Emily Dickinson)

Prominent psychiatric critic dies.

Thomas Szasz, M.D., whose books argued that psychiatrists had too much power, died this month at the age of 92. Beginning in the 1960s, Szasz railed against involuntary treatment and reliance of the courts on psychiatric opinions and treatment rather than criminal prosecution and imprisonment. In addition, he helped found and for many years lent his name and support to the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a Scientology offshoot that has called for the "eradication" of psychiatry. Szasz made some valid points, but he went too far by asserting that people should be held accountable for their behavior and even permitted to commit suicide even if their mental state makes them temporarily unable to care for themselves. The development of effective drugs and greater legal safeguards against involuntary hospitalization rendered most of his criticisms obsolete, but his writings remain a rallying point for psychiatric critics. [Carey B. Dr. Thomas Szasz, psychiatrist who led movement against his field, dies at 92. The New York Times Sept 11, 2012] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/health/dr-thomas-szasz-psychiatrist-who-led-movement-against-his-field-dies-at-92.html?smid=tw-nytimeshealth&seid=auto

(from quackwatch.org Consumer Health Digest)

Ars Poetica