Thanks, Rebecca and also thanks to others for their messages. I was
bemoaning the rapid advancement of technology last week when I was
tripping over the cords of students' laptops in the classrooml; but
it's great to be able connect with like-minded folks in a flash.
I have an article called "The Abused Mind: Feminist Theory, Psychiatric
Disability, and Trauma" which appears in _Hypatia. It is used in
disability studies and cultural studies courses; I wish it, or
something similar, was used more in health care ethics courses. I have
another article on the topic of women and "personality disorders" which
appears in the journal _Social Alternatives_. However, unfortunately,
all the scholarly articles that are critical of the diagnosis of
personality disorder have had little effect on actual health care
practice, especially "borderline personaity disorder" which women are
rampantly diagnosed and insulted with.
We really need to find more ways to bridge feminist mental health
theory with health care practice. A mental health ethicist here in
Vancouver runs mental health cafes, but those who attend are mostly
psychiatric survivors, and not health professionals. There is a film
venue hosted by a psychiatrist but he is using it as a way to simply
promote psychiatry rather than deep, layered reflection. I really felt
concerned about parents of diagnosed children looking for direction and
told that medication and support groups for people with the same
diagnosis--a consolidation of psychiatric diagnoses--is the only
answer. I did offer to help facillitate but, not surprisingly, was
turned down; I and others can at least, though, veer the discussions
into more "healthful" directions; for example, why do we have a
diagnostic category "asperger's" and not "obsessive-compulsive bullying
disorder"?--why medicalize common victims of aggression and not
aggressors? Feminist psychologist Paula Caplan has a brilliant book
called _They Say You're Crazy_ in which she discusses her proposed
diagnostic category of "Delusional Dominating Personality Disorder" for
inclusion in the DSM; the book provides an inside look at the political
and bullying processes underlying revisions of the DSM.
To promote mental health ethcs in my health care ethics classes, I have
students do an exercise where they transform thin, clinical narratives
about a variety of health care issues into thick, empathetic
narratives. I got this idea from a chapter on narrative ethics in the
text _Toward A Moral Horizon_ by Janet L. Storch et all. I have a
collection of thin narratives that I use. I would be happy to share the
file if folks are interested.
Best, Andrea Nicki
---- Original Message ----
From: Rebecca Garden <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Fri, Jul 3, 2009 10:33 am
Subject: Re: mental health ethics
Hi Andrea,
I'm not a medical ethicist (I do medical humanities, that is I use
literature, film & literary theory and criticism to teach med and
nursing
students about the socio-cultural aspects of illness & disability,
although
I have some training in bioethics & teach in bioethics courses).
Anyway,
your email is an excellent call. Not only because of cases like Ashley,
I
think that feminist bioethicists could learn more about & from
disability
studies and disability rights, and, in particular, about the social
model of
disability. In fact, I think that that model extends to all conditions
treated in medicine.
Below I've copied a few links to mad movement/psychiatric survivor
groups
you're likely familiar with (but perhaps others on the list aren't).
They
both have links to articles. You might also want to look at Brad
Lewis's
Moving Beyond Prozac, DSM, and the New Psychiatry: The Birth of
Postpsychiatry.
http://theicarusproject.net/
http://www.mindfreedom.org/
For those not familiar
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