Hamlet and psychiatry intertwined

Objectives: This article considers selected landmarks in the history of psychiatry and their impact on Hamlet productions, including Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholia, Emil Kraepelin’s manic-depression, Freud’s oedipal complex and R.D. Laing’s ‘divided self’. Additionally, this article considers the way Shakespeare’s Hamlet has influenced the course of psychiatry. Conclusion: The linkages between psychiatry and Hamlet have existed since the 17th century, and perhaps Shakespeare’s Hamlet should have a place on every psychiatrist’s shelf.