I’ll weigh in on neo’s side here.

Back in the day I read Szasz, R.D. Laing and followed the anti-psychiatry movement. It was part of the zeitgeist then, which emerged vividly into the public consciousness with “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

Szasz certainly was influential in that debate and even once testified in Congress:
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His books The Myth of Mental Illness (1961) and The Manufacture of Madness (1970) set out some of the arguments most associated with him. In 1961, Szasz testified before a United States Senate committee, arguing that using mental hospitals to incarcerate people defined as insane violated the general assumptions of the patient–doctor relationship, and turned the doctor into a warden and keeper of a prison.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Szasz#Separate_psychiatry_and_the_state
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The final decisions on mental hospitals came down to money, power, and politics. However, if one ascribes to Breitbart’s maxim, “Politics is downstream from culture,” Thomas Szasz played his part — for better or for worse.

“SAFE SPOT” like a mental checklist when boarding transit:

S Sit near Safety in numbers: Prioritize areas with groups, especially women or families, to deter isolation.

A Avoid backs to threats: Choose Angle-facing seats (forward or side) for better visibility and less exposure from behind.

F Favor quick Flight paths: Position near exits, doors, or high-traffic spots for easy escape if needed.

E Evaluate your Environment: Scan and assess fellow passengers for any red flags before committing to a seat.

S Stay Situational: Keep alert, limit distractions, and use tech like apps for added awareness.

P Project Presence: Maintain confident posture to signal you’re not an easy target.

O Opt for Oversight: Seek seats near cameras, conductors, or well-lit areas for monitored protection.

T Trust your Tingle: If instincts say move, relocate immediately—no second-guessing.

Most Important: Move; don’t second-guess your gut.

https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/on-black-violence-woke-lies-and-right
“My teeth hurt even to write this. But we need to face it honestly.”

It’s the culture.

Whether Szasz was correct about mental illness and de-institutionalization is a separate question. He was, however, very influential at the time in the de-institutionalization movement. He was not the only player, of course, but he was an important player in the political sense.

I don’t know how old you are, but I’m old enough to remember and I was already following it quite closely.

At the time, Szasz became a very famous and influential force. I recall the era quite well. See this:

Szasz penned his early writings at a time when more than a half a million Americans were locked up in state mental hospitals—many of them for life. Abuses of psychiatric commitment were common. Basic civil liberties of mental patients were denied. These realities led Szasz, along with George Alexander and sociologist Erving Goffman, to form in 1970 an organization named the American Association for the Abolition of Involuntary Mental Hospitalization.

Historians of psychiatry note that Szasz’s early work, in part, led to the mass deinstitutionalization of psychiatric patients in the 1960s and 1970s and to a broader legal recognition of their rights and civil liberties.

He certainly didn’t do it singlehandedly, but he was extremely influential.