This Way Madness Lies , by Mike Jay, explores the meaning of madness, or mental illness, through the prism of the institution that defined it: the asylum. Combining the perspectives of doctors and patients, artists, social commentators and reformers, it tells the story of…
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Lulu Miller reports for America’s National Public Radio (NPR): “At the center of Geel, a charming Belgian town less than an hour’s drive from of Antwerp, is a church dedicated to Dymphna, a saint believed to have the power to cure mental disorders. It’s a medieval…
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This book is edited by Prof. Tania Luhrmann & Jocelyn Marrow, and published by the University of California Press (October 2016). The publishers say: “Schizophrenia has long puzzled researchers in the fields of psychiatric medicine and anthropology. Why is it…
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In this book (a 1964 abridged edition of a book published in 1961) Michel Foucault: “… examines the archaeology of madness in the West from 1500 to 1800 – from the late Middle Ages, when insanity was still considered part…
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“To hear oneself speak is maybe the minimal definition of consciousness.” The Café’s website says: “The designation “Hearing Voices Café” actually applies to every well-patronised coffee shop. At the same time, the phrase “hearing voices” is also associated with the…
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By Steven Morgan, as published on Mad in America : “I left the American South with a Jesus on my shoulder. My new world, a leftist college out West, did not take so kindly. Beliefs that earned me friends and community at home…
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The PsyBlog says: “Materialism is a dirty word. It also gets a bad rap in psychology. Studies consistently show that people who agree with statements like ‘You will buy things just because you want them,’ tend to be: Less satisfied with…
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This book explores the overlap between transliminal (“going beyond the threshold”) / spiritual experiences and psychosis. In doing so it looks a different ways of acquiring knowledge – e.g. the subjective and experiential, as contrasted with that gained through ‘objective’…
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The BBC has reported (April 2016) that: “Some researchers believe psychedelic drugs could be used to treat a whole range of conditions. But will cultural stigmas stand in the way? Mention LSD and you might think of the 1960s counterculture…
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This article by Douglas Alexander in The Guardian begins: “People often ask me, “Do you miss being an MP?” My answer is always a bit of a curate’s egg. I certainly miss being in government – where you can make…
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