This volume uncovers the roots of electroshock in America, an outgrowth of western patriarchal medicine with primarily female patients, with a new epilogue bringing the research up to the present.

In the past, our ideas of psychiatric hospitals and their history have been shaped by objects like straitjackets, cribs, and binding belts. These powerful objects were often used as a synonym for psychiatry and the way psychiatric patients were treated, yet very little is known about the agency of these objects and their appropriation by staff and patients. By focusing on material cultures, this book offers a new perspective on the history of psychiatry: it enables a narrative in which practicing psychiatry is part of a complex entanglement in which power is constantly negotiated. Scholars from different academic disciplines show how this material-based approach opens up new perspectives on the agency and imagination of men and women inside psychiatry.

Electroconvulsive Therapy is widely demonized or idealized. Some detractors consider its very use to be a human rights violation, while some promoters depict it as a miracle, the "penicillin of psychiatry." This book traces the American history of one of the most controversial procedures in medicine, and seeks to provide an explanation of why ECT has been so controversial, juxtaposing evidence from clinical science, personal memoir, and popular culture. Contextualizing the controversies about ECT, instead of simply engaging in them, makes the history of ECT more richly revealing of wider changes in culture and medicine. It shows that the application of electricity to the brain to treat illness is not only a physiological event, but also one embedded in culturally patterned beliefs about the human body, the meaning of sickness, and medical authority.

Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane is a staple of the Batman universe, evolving into a franchise comprised of comic books, graphic novels, video games, films, television series and more. The Arkham franchise, supposedly light-weight entertainment, has tackled weighty issues in contemporary psychiatry. Its plotlines reference clinical and ethical controversies that perplex even the most up-to-date professionals. The 25 essays in this collection explore the significance of Arkham's sinister psychiatrists, murderous mental patients, and unethical geneticists. It invites debates about the criminalization of the mentally ill, mental patients who move from defunct state hospitals into expanding prisons, madness versus badness, sociopathy versus psychosis, the "insanity defense" and more. Invoking literary figures from Lovecraft to Poe to Caligari, the 25 essays in this collection are a broad-ranging and thorough assessment of the franchise and its relationship to contemporary psychiatry.

Doing psychiatry engages with the history of European psychiatry in the second half of the twentieth century through a close and fresh look at the practices that contributed to reshape the mental health field. Case studies from across Europe allow readers to appreciate how new ‘ways of doing’ contributed to transform the field, beyond the watchwords of deinstitutionalisation, the prescription of neuroleptics, centrality of patients and overcoming of asylum-era habits. Through a variety of sources and often adopting a small-scale perspective, the chapters take a close look at the way new practices emerged and at how they installed themselves, eventually facing resistance, injecting new purposes and contributing to enlarging psychiatry’s fields of expertise, therefore blurring its once-more-defined boundaries.

In the late 1970s, South African mental institutions were plagued with scandals about human rights abuse, and psychiatric practitioners were accused of being agents of the apartheid state. Between 1939 and 1994, some psychiatric practitioners supported the mandate of the racist and heteropatriarchal government and most mental patients were treated abysmally. However, unlike studies worldwide that show that women, homosexuals and minorities were institutionalized in far higher numbers than heterosexual men, Psychiatry, Mental Institutions and the Mad in Apartheid South Africa reveals how in South Africa, per capita, white heterosexual males made up the majority of patients in state institutions. The book therefore challenges the monolithic and omnipotent view of the apartheid government and its mental health policy. While not contesting the belief that human rights abuses occurred within South Africa’s mental health system, Tiffany Fawn Jones argues that the disparity among practitioners and the fluidity of their beliefs, along with the disjointed mental health infrastructure, diffused state control. More importantly, the book shows how patients were also, to a limited extent, able to challenge the constraints of their institutionalization. This volume places the discussions of South Africa’s mental institutions in an international context, highlighting the role that international organizations, such as the Church of Scientology, and political events such as the gay rights movement and the Cold War also played in shaping mental health policy in South Africa.

Meet the challenges of mental health nursing—in Canada and around the world. Optimized for the unique challenges of Canadian health care and thoroughly revised to reflect the changing field of mental health, Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing for Canadian Practice, 4th Edition, is your key to a generalist-level mastery of fundamental knowledge and skills in mental health nursing. Gain the knowledge you need to deliver quality psychiatric and mental health nursing care to a diverse population. • Discover the biological foundations of psychiatric disorders and master mental health promotion, assessment, and interventions for patients at every age. • Explore current research and key topics as you prepare for the unique realities of Canadian clinical practice. • Gain a deeper understanding of the historical trauma of Aboriginal peoples and its implications for nursing care. • Online Video Series, Lippincott Theory to Practice Video Series: Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing includes videos of true-to-life patients displaying mental health disorders, allowing students to gain experience and a deeper understanding of mental health patients.

The Routledge History of Madness and Mental Health explores the history and historiography of madness from the ancient and medieval worlds to the present day. Global in scope, it includes case studies from Africa, Asia, and South America as well as Europe and North America, drawing together the latest scholarship and source material in this growing field and allowing for fresh comparisons to be made across time and space. Thematically organised and written by leading academics, chapters discuss broad topics such as the representation of madness in literature and the visual arts, the material culture of madness, the perpetual difficulty of creating a classification system for madness and mental health, madness within life histories, the increased globalisation of knowledge and treatment practices, and the persistence of spiritual and supernatural conceptualisations of experiences associated with madness. This volume also examines the challenges involved in analysing primary sources in this area and how key themes such as class, gender, and race have influenced the treatment and diagnosis of madness throughout history. Chronologically and geographically wide-ranging, and providing a fascinating overview of the current state of the field, this is essential reading for all students of the history of madness, mental health, psychiatry, and medicine.

This two-volume encyclopedia examines the social, cultural, and political dimensions of mental illness in America. Americans are becoming more cognizant of the importance of mental wellness as incidents of bullying, random shootings, and eating disorders pervade our society. This comprehensive resource provides an expansive overview of mental health and illness in the United States, analyzing the current state of the health care system, and objectively examining the therapies and treatment options traditionally recommended by the medical community. Mental Health Care Issues in America: An Encyclopedia covers major mental disorders, theories, and treatments; delves into major advances and ongoing controversies in the field; and shares the most current research on the subject in varied disciplines, including ethnic studies, criminal justice, education, and social work. Each entry features a clear definition of the issue along with a brief review of its history. Additionally, the author situates the material within the mental health field, as well as within society in general. Organized alphabetically, topics include advocacy, legal issues, media portrayals of psychological disorders, and homelessness and mental illness.

Few mental illness treatments are more reviled in the public mind than Electroconvulsive Shock Therapy. However, in reality, ECT is a safe and effective treatment for cases of clinical depression and catatonia that are unresponsive to drug therapy. Also, unlike drugs, ECT has relatively few side effects. The authors argue that it is time for this historically stigmatized procedure to be reevaluated. The authors make a strong case for greater professional and public attention to the procedure's benefits, offering historical coverage of ECT-related movements, legislation, public and practitioner sentiment and the introduction of competing treatments. This volume will not only garner the interest of mental health professionals, but will call on policy makers and ethicists to examine its arguments.