The threat to political dissidents in Kennedy's approach to mental illness.

From a psychiatrist's point of view, the definition of mental illness put forth by Ian Kennedy in his 1980 Reith Lectures on medical ethics is far too narrow. Clare rejects Kennedy's diagnostic criteria of dangerousness, helplessness, or subjective distress; he argues that the diagnosis of mania should be based on identifiable signs of psychological dysfunction that impair autonomy and responsibility. Kennedy's definition of mental illness, which embraces dangerousness and non-conforming behavior, invites the misuse of psychiatry to label and control political dissidents.