Destigmatising mental illness? : professional politics and public education in Britain 1870-1970 / Vicky Long.

  • Long, Vicky, 1978-
Date:
2014
  • Books

About this work

Description

This historical study of mental healthcare workers' efforts to educate the public challenges the supposition that public prejudice generates the stigma of mental illness. Drawing on extensive archival research, this book argues that psychiatrists, nurses and social workers generated representations of mental illness which reflected their professional aspirations, economic motivations and perceptions of the public. Sharing in the stigma of their patients, healthcare workers sought to enhance the prestige of their professions by focussing upon the ability of psychiatry to effectively treat acute cases of mental disturbance. As a consequence, healthcare workers inadvertently reinforced the stigma attached to serious and enduring mental distress. This book makes a major contribution to the history of mental healthcare, and critiques current campaigns which seek to end mental health discrimination for failing to address the political, economic and social factors which fuel discrimination. It will appeal to academics, students, healthcare practitioners and service users.

Publication/Creation

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2014.

Physical description

xiv, 256 pages ; 23 cm.

Bibliographic information

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Psychiatrists and their patients : mirrored narratives of sanity and madness -- Insecure professionals and the public -- Challenging the stigma of mental illness through new therapeutic approaches -- Mad, bad and dangerous to know? Men, women and mental illness -- 'The personal touch' : voluntarism, the public and mental illness -- 'The public must be wooed and enticed with entertainment and buns' : healthcare professionals and the BBC.

Languages

Where to find it

  • LocationStatus
    History of Medicine
    PP.T.41
    Open shelves

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Identifiers

ISBN

  • 9780719085819