Some context: Thomas Stephen Szasz ( SAHSS; Hungarian: Szasz Tamas Istvan [sa:s]; 15 April 1920 - 8 September 2012) was a Hungarian-American academic, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He served for most of his career as professor of psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York.
The "Therapeutic State" is a phrase coined by Szasz in 1963. The collaboration between psychiatry and government leads to what Szasz calls the therapeutic state, a system in which disapproved actions, thoughts, and emotions are repressed ("cured") through pseudomedical interventions. Thus suicide, unconventional religious beliefs, racial bigotry, unhappiness, anxiety, shyness, sexual promiscuity, shoplifting, gambling, overeating, smoking, and illegal drug use are all considered symptoms or illnesses that need to be cured. When faced with demands for measures to curtail smoking in public, binge-drinking, gambling or obesity, ministers say that "we must guard against charges of nanny statism." The "nanny state" has turned into the "therapeutic state" where nanny has given way to counselor. Nanny just told people what to do; counselors also tell them what to think and what to feel. The "nanny state" was punitive, austere, and authoritarian, the therapeutic state is touchy-feely, supportive - and even more authoritarian.  According to Szasz, "the therapeutic state swallows up everything human on the seemingly rational ground that nothing falls outside the province of health and medicine, just as the theological state had swallowed up everything human on the perfectly rational ground that nothing falls outside the province of God and religion." Faced with the problem of "madness", Western individualism proved to be ill-prepared to defend the rights of the individual: modern man has no more right to be a madman than medieval man had a right to be a heretic because if once people agree that they have identified the one true God, or Good, it brings about that they have to guard members and nonmembers of the group from the temptation to worship false gods or goods. A secularization of God and the medicalization of good resulted in the post-Enlightenment version of this view: once people agree that they have identified the one true reason, it brings about that they have to guard against the temptation to worship unreason - that is, madness.  Civil libertarians warn that the marriage of the state with psychiatry could have catastrophic consequences for civilization. In the same vein as the separation of church and state, Szasz believes that a solid wall must exist between psychiatry and the state.
What does therapeutic state refer to?
A: a system in which disapproved actions, thoughts, and emotions are repressed ("cured") through pseudomedical interventions.
Some context: Brooks & Dunn is an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of Tim DuBois. Before the foundation, both members were solo recording artists. Brooks wrote number one singles for John Conlee, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Highway 101; both he and Dunn also charted two solo singles apiece in the 1980s, with Brooks also releasing an album for Capitol Records in 1989.
Brooks & Dunn have also contributed to several soundtracks and compilation albums. In 1994, they recorded "Ride 'em High, Ride 'em Low" for the soundtrack to the 1994 film 8 Seconds, and a cover of "Corrine, Corrina" in collaboration with Asleep at the Wheel for a tribute album to Bob Wills. Both of these cuts peaked at number 73 on the country charts while "Rock My World" was climbing. In early September 1994, the duo collaborated with Johnny Cash on a rendition of his song "Folsom Prison Blues" for the album Red Hot + Country, a charity album made by the Red Hot Organization to benefit AIDS awareness. Also that year, they covered "Best of My Love" on the Eagles tribute album Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles. They covered Bob Seger's "Against the Wind" for the soundtrack to the cartoon King of the Hill; this rendition charted at number 55 in late 1999 based on unsolicited airplay. They also recorded "Keep On Swinging", which Brooks wrote with Five for Fighting, for the soundtrack to the 2006 animated film Everyone's Hero. Finally, they collaborated with Mac Powell on "Over the Next Hill" from the soundtrack to the 2008 film Billy: The Early Years, and took the song to number 55 on the country charts.  Dunn has sung guest vocals on other artists' songs, including Lee Roy Parnell's mid-1994 cover of the Hank Williams song "Take These Chains from My Heart" (from Parnell's album On the Road), "Try Me" on Trisha Yearwood's 2005 album Jasper County, "Raise the Barn" on Keith Urban's 2006 album Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing, and Ashley Monroe's 2006 single "I Don't Want To", which reached number 37 on the country charts. He also sang duet vocals with Carlene Carter on a cover of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash's "Jackson" for the 2007 tribute album Anchored in Love: A Tribute to June Carter Cash. In 2011, he covered Gary Stewart's "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)" for the soundtrack of the film Country Strong, and contributed duet vocals to Cledus T. Judd's parody of "God Must Be Busy", titled "Garth Must Be Busy".  Dunn and Dean Dillon co-wrote Shenandoah's 1994 single "Darned If I Don't (Danged If I Do)" and the track "She Wants Me to Stay" on David Kersh's debut album Goodnight Sweetheart. He also co-wrote "Don't Leave" on Toby Keith's 2003 album Shock'n Y'all with Keith, and Reba McEntire's 2010 single "I Keep On Loving You" with Terry McBride. Brooks & Dunn co-wrote "Steady as She Goes" on Wade Hayes' debut album Old Enough to Know Better and "Our Time Is Coming" (originally an album cut from Hard Workin' Man) on his second album On a Good Night, while Dunn co-produced his 2001 album Highways & Heartaches.  In January 2006, Brooks succeeded Bob Kingsley as the host of the radio countdown show American Country Countdown, while Kingsley moved to his own show, Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40. Brooks received an Academy of Country Music nomination for National On-Air Radio Personality in 2010, and again in 2011. Later that same year, he made his acting debut in an independent film called Thriftstore Cowboy. In 2011, he starred in a second film, The Last Ride.
When did they embark on their solo careers?
A:
Dunn has sung guest vocals on other artists' songs, including Lee Roy Parnell's mid-1994 cover of the Hank Williams song "Take These Chains from My Heart" (