Societies appear to be subject, every now and then, to periods of moral panic. A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests; its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media; the moral barricades are manned by editors, […]
10 Jan
I’m putting up a link here to my review of two books on the crisis in psychiatry — which has just appeared in the latest International Socialism journal in the UK — so that people can write comments and I can reply. The books are: Ethan Watters, Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche (Free Press, 2010) Gary […]
05 Jun
When the pressures of modern society become too great for a person, when one’s chemical dynamic becomes such that they are unbalanced, that they cease painting within the lines, they come to us. These are the people that society would prefer just go away — the shadow people. The shadow people that project upon us […]
07 Nov
Comments Off on Left Flank in London
Tad and Elizabeth are both presenting conference papers at this year’s Historical Materialism conference, held in Central London later this week. UK readers can register for the conference here.
24 Sep
Comments Off on The McGorry-Hickie reform controversy: Why has mental health become so political?
Yesterday one of Australia’s most prominent psychiatrists, Professor Ian Hickie, wrote an op-ed piece in the SMH titled, “Ignore the critics, public need to back fresh start in mental healthcare”. It is part of a growing controversy around the Gillard government’s apparent big boost to mental health funding in this year’s Budget, in particular around the adoption of […]
04 Mar
Comments Off on Drugs! Drugs! Drugs!
As the state election skulks closer, it seems clear the NSW Greens will not be actively campaigning on their Drugs and Harm Minimisation policy in the community or the media. Their silence makes obvious that they have determined to stay mum on the question, despite the policy being one democratically endorsed by the membership after […]
09 Nov
Comments Off on Beyond anti-psychiatry? The politics of mental illness
Me in today’s Overland Journal blog, on the crisis in psychiatry: Biological psychiatry is currently facing pervasive challenges to its hegemony. Mental illness has gained massive recognition and medical treatments for such disorders are virtually ubiquitous. At the same time, the field is beset by scandals around kickbacks from drug companies, embroiled in divisive arguments over its […]
19 Oct
My article from Monday’s Crikey. The scary part was finding out that patients in other states have even more limited rights to automatic review of detention. When I was a junior doctor in Queensland I was turned off psychiatry training in part because of the non-existent external review processes for detained patients… and back then […]
14 Aug
Comments Off on Worse than the cure? The hollowness of Australia’s preventative health agenda
For too long the system has focused on treating people after they become unwell, and this has resulted in vast social and economic costs associated with chronic disease. —Commonwealth Government response to the Report of the National Preventative Health Taskforce, May 2010 “Prevention” has become the health reform buzzword du jour, accepted at all points […]
21 Jan
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