Readings

Question 1

Braslow ~ Psychosis Without Meaning

Answer 1

• Braslow critiques the shift in American psychiatry (1950s-1970s) from psychodynamic approaches to biological reductionism and reliance on psychotropic drugs
• This shift, along with the dismantling of state hospitals and deinstitutionalization, has limited psychiatry’s ability to address broader social and psychological suffering

Question 2

Rose ~ Expert of The Soul

Answer 2

• Psychological expertise has become a form of social authority that permeates various aspects of life: ranging from individual self-governance to the administration of groups and organizations
• Unlike professionalism, psychological expertise doesn’t monopolize practice but instead empowers others to think and act like psychologists, providing a rational and ethical framework for decision-making
• This expertise helps authorities and institutions manage human behavior in a calculable and predictable way, aligning with broader trends in capitalist and democratic systems while shaping private and public life

Question 3

Barker - Mindfulness Meditation

Answer 3

• Mindfulness meditation, (popularized by Kabat-Zinn and integrated into Western medicine through practices like Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)), has gained significant traction for promoting well-being
• However, while it offers a mind-body approach to healing and resists some trends in medicalization, it also reinforces self-surveillance and individual responsibility for health

Question 4

Clark ~ Medicalization of Global Mental Health

Answer 4

• Global mental health (GMH) movement has increasingly medicalized mental health by framing it as a biological issue, primarily addressed through biomedical treatments
• This narrow approach overlooks the social, cultural, and structural determinants of mental health, often imposing Western concepts on diverse cultural contexts
• Critiques this trend for over-emphasizing individualistic solutions, such as medication, while ignoring broader social factors and the risks of over-diagnosis, particularly in low- and middle-income countries

Question 5

Esposito/ Perez ~ Neoliberalism & the Commodification of Mental Health

Answer 5

• Neoliberalism has led to the commodification of mental health by promoting a market-driven ideology that normalizes the medicalization of human life
• Mental health issues are increasingly viewed and treated as individual problems that can be resolved through pharmaceutical interventions, rather than addressing broader social, economic, and cultural contexts
• This shift reflects neoliberal values that emphasize individualism, consumerism, and personal responsibility, while downplaying the social and structural causes of mental distress