In this blog I look at the functions of the mental health system as they relate to the economic and social structure of society using Marx’s economic framework. I conclude that the mental health system is essentially a system of care and control, that is legitimated by the concept of mental illness and that plays…
Original article: Vincenzo’s commentary: Part 1 Part 2 For those who have not read my original article, it traces the social functions of the mental health system and its relationship to Capitalism. It suggests the principal functions of this system consist of the public provision of care for those who cannot care for themselves, and…
Summary My historical study of the Essex asylum, just outside London, which was recently published in Psychological Medicine, finds that those who were admitted showed significant disturbances of behaviour or evidence of organic disease. Almost two thirds of those who had psychological, as opposed to organic, disorders were discharged recovered or improved (mostly recovered). The…
We are told that long-term antipsychotic treatment reduces the risk of someone having a ‘relapse’ of schizophrenia or psychosis. What ‘relapse’ actually refers to in the studies that are supposed to establish this has not been examined though. Our recent study of relapse definitions, published in Schizophrenia Research, shows that there is no consistent or…
I am often asked about alternative ways of helping people with severe mental disorder, especially psychosis. This guest blog by Antoine B.-Duchesne and Sarah Pham describes one such facility in Quebec. It is founded on psychoanalytic principles, but provides a holistic form of care that aims to promote community integration and help people find meaning:
Joanna Moncrieff 