Heroes and villains: making sense of the history of psychiatry.
OBJECTIVE
To review two seemingly contradictory accounts of the history of psychiatrists and psychiatry and outline some thoughts on integrating these differing views.


METHODS
The context of these two accounts is given in a brief overview of the historiography of medicine and psychiatry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with illustrative examples, in particular looking at the practically useful distinction between the traditional and social history of psychiatry.


CONCLUSIONS
Understanding how and why these two currents of psychiatric history differ allows one to derive and integrate useful insights from both.
Berks
John
J
Auckland Community Alcohol and Drug Service, Auckland, New Zealand. john.berks@waitematadhb.govt.nz
D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000266:history*; D012926:Social Control, Formal