Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
1Laing·ian Pronunciation:
'la[ng]-E-&n Function:
adjective : of, relating to, or characteristic of R. D. Laing or hispsychological doctrines
Laing /'la[ng],/ Ronald David (1927–1989), British psychiatrist. Laing began psychoanalytic research at London's Tavistock Institute ofHuman Relations in 1960. From his clinical experiences there and previously at other psychiatric clinics he developed radical and controversial theories of psychosis and psychoanalysis. His theoriescentered on the belief that mental illnesses (such as schizophrenia) are an individual's natural and often therapeutic response to the stress and constraints imposed upon him by family and society.
