Readings Flashcards
Scull ~ Psychiatry & Social Control
- Concept and treatment of insanity shifted from a vague, socially defined notion to a medically diagnosed condition, leading to the rise of asylums and the professionalization of psychiatry
- Often masked new forms of social control, using “moral treatment” and institutionalization to enforce conformity
Wright ~ Getting Out of The Asylum
- The rise of asylums was driven more by family needs, social changes, and legislative action than by the medicalization of insanity
- Families playing a central role in admissions and discharges as asylums became a practical response to industrialization’s stresses and shifting social norms.
Braslow ~ Psychosis Without Meaning
Modern psychiatry’s shift from holistic, socially informed care to a narrow focus on biological reductionism and psychopharmacology, driven by deinstitutionalization and economic pressures, has failed to address the broader social, psychological, and experiential dimensions of mental illness, leading to inadequate care for vulnerable patients
Rose ~ Expert of The Soul
Psychological expertise, by permeating various aspects of life, serves as a subtle yet powerful tool for governing individuals and groups in liberal democratic societies, aligning personal autonomy with broader social norms through rational, calculable, and ethical frameworks
Barker ~ Mindfulness Meditation
- Mindfulness meditation has gained significant traction for promoting well-being
- 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
- This focus on internal causes of illness often overlooks broader social and systemic factors, positioning mindfulness both as a challenge to and a reinforcement of medicalization
Horton ~ Launching New Movement for Mental Health
- Increase financial support and prioritize mental health globally
- Decentralize and integrate mental health into primary care systems
- Train more mental health workers in mental health services
- Strengthen public health perspective in mental health
- Develop measurable indicators to track progress at country level
Clark ~ Medicalization of Global Mental Health
- 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
- A more holistic, locally-informed approach is needed to address global mental health challenges
Neoliberalism & the Commodification of Mental Health
- 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
- Approach reduces mental health to a market commodity and aligns concepts of normalcy and well-being with market demands, ultimately neglecting the deeper social dimensions of mental health
McLoughlin ~ The Goldwater Rule
While the Goldwater Rule upholds psychiatric ethics by preventing speculative diagnoses of public figures, it faces criticism for restricting psychiatrists’ contributions to public discourse, especially in cases where psychiatric insights could inform public understanding or address potential threats to public safety
Mills ~ Global Psychiatrization & Psychic Colonization
- Global mental health (GMH) initiatives perpetuate colonial power structures by framing social suffering as individual mental illness, promoting Western psychiatric models and pharmaceutical interventions in the Global South, while marginalizing local knowledge systems and socio-political understandings of distress
Metzl & McLeish ~ Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, American Firearms
- The dominant narrative linking mental illness to gun violence is misleading, as it oversimplifies the causes of mass shootings, reinforces social stereotypes, and distracts from addressing broader systemic and structural factors that drive gun violence in American society
Holmes & Murray ~ Civilizing The Barbarian
- Behaviour Modification Programs (BMPs) in forensic psychiatry prioritize control and normalization of patients’ behavior over their autonomy and well-being, raising significant ethical concerns about coercion, loss of personal identity, and the role of institutional power
Beeker et al. ~ Psychiatrization of Society
- Argues that psychiatrization of society is a multifaceted and global phenomenon driven by both professional and grassroots forces
- While it can increase mental healthcare access, it risks overmedicalizing everyday life, leading to overdiagnosis, resource misallocation, and the neglect of severe MH needs
Timimi ~ McDonaldization
- Neoliberalism and the biomedical approach to childhood mental health have led to the medicalization and commodification of children’s behaviors, promoting quick-fix solutions (like psychiatric diagnoses and medications) over culturally sensitive, holistic, and resilience-based approaches to child development
Rosenbaum & Liebert ~ Reframing the Conversation on College Student Mental Health
- Argue that the current framework of MH in colleges is overly focused on symptom relief and objective functioning, undermining subjective experiences
- Advocate for a reframed, complex dialogue that acknowledges ambiguity, encourages exploration of mental worlds, and strengthens community involvement
