Psychiatry in Context: Experience, Meaning & Communities

This book examines the central role of contexts in understanding psychosis and distress. The contexts in which we all exist, historical, cultural, social, political, economic and interpersonal, shape and give meaning to our lives for good or for bad. Scientific research confirms how contexts of adversity such as trauma, abuse, and racism can lead to psychosis. Thomas argues that if we are to prioritise the role of values and ethics in mental health care we must engage actively with the contexts of patients' lives rather than focus on the endlessly fruitless search for the biological origins of distress and increasingly technological approaches to its management. After careful examination of the problems of psychiatric diagnosis, treatments, scientific models of madness, and neuroscience, Thomas goes on to demonstrate how contextual factors are central to mental distress. He proposes that the opportunities we have through narrative, to talk about our experiences and the contexts in which they are embedded, play a vital role in the task of making sense of our lives, in health, when distressed, or when overwhelmed by psychosis.

Table of Contents:
Preface Section 1: The Problems of the Technological Paradigm Chapter 1 Psychiatry in Crisis Chapter 2 The Problem of Diagnosis in Psychiatry Chapter 3 The Problem of Physical Treatment in Psychiatry Section 2: Science and Contexts of Psychosis Chapter 4 Scientific Models of Psychosis 1: The Moral implications of Childhood Adversity Chapter 5 Scientific Models of Psychosis 2: Racism, Psychiatry and the Experience of Black People Section 3: On Neuroscience and Narrative Chapter 6 Why (Neuro)science is Incapable of Explaining the Experiences of Psychosis Chapter 7 Narrative Psychiatry: A Basis for Stories in Psychiatric Practice Section 4: Stories in and of Clinical Practice Chapter 8 Two Stories of Loss and Sadness Chapter 9 Danni's Story: Voices and Trauma in a Secure Unit Chapter 10 Brian's Story: Young, Black and Mad Section 5: Communities, Solidarity and Meaning Chapter 11 Resisting Psychiatry: The Rise of the Service User/Survivor Movement Chapter 12 New (and Old) Paths to Meaning and Healing in Psychosis Chapter 13 Community Development and Diversity in Psychiatric Practice Section 6: Conclusions Chapter 14 The Future of Psychiatry References

About the Author :
Philip Thomas worked as a full-time consultant psychiatrist in the NHS for over twenty years. He left clinical practice in 2004 to write. He has published over 100 papers mostly in peer-reviewed journals, latterly in philosophy and its relevance to madness and society. He is well known for working in alliance with survivors of psychiatry, service users and community groups, nationally and internationally. Until recently he was chair of Sharing Voices Bradford, a community development project working with Black and Minority Ethnic communities. He was a founder member and until 2011 co-chair of the Critical Psychiatry Network. His first book, Dialectics of Schizophrenia was published by Free Association books in 1997. He has co-authored two other books, including 'Postpsychiatry' with Pat Bracken.

Review :
Wise, accessible and humane critique of psychiatry, by a psychiatrist. Essential reading for all those concerned with the future of psychiatry. Jacqui Dillon, researcher, campaigner, international speaker and trainer. Chair of Hearing Voices Network. Editor, Models of Madness (2013)