This is an exciting collection of writings by people who have experienced mental distress. It includes accounts of psychiatric treatment, psychotherapy and alternative treatments; life in mental institutions and moves into the community; self-help methods and work to improve mental health services. Moving, sometimes funny and often dramatic, the pieces are written by some of the key activists in the mental health survivors' movement, as well as by people best known as writers and poets and others who, for a period of time, have been caught up with mental distress and have something original to say.
By:
Jim Read,
Jill Reynolds
Imprint: Macmillan
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 235mm,
Width: 155mm,
Spine: 14mm
Weight: 364g
ISBN: 9780333678503
ISBN 10: 0333678508
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 20 November 1996
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Adult education
,
General/trade
,
A / AS level
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction PART ONE: EMOTIONAL DISTRESS AND ITS CAUSES Introduction Agoraphobia: Letting Go; P. Mason Afraid to Live and Afraid to Die; R.B. A Survival Story; P. Bremner Silent Scream; M. Ross Finger Pickin' Good; L. Thorn Thro' a Glass Darkly; 'a Psychiatric Nurse' I've Lost My Innocence; Nicki The Pressure of Being a Human Chameleon; V. el Khalifa Unplanned Journey; D. Friel McGowin PART TWO: PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT Introduction Two Accounts of Mental Distress; M. O'Hagan Mania; B Howard Schizophrenia From the Inside; R. Jameson Challenging Loss of Power; P. Campbell ECT is Barbaric; L. Taylor Choosing ECT; R. Perkins The Right to be Informed; C.McIntosh Prozac Really isn't That Great; E. Wurtzel PART THREE: LIFE AS AN IN-PATIENT Introduction Thunk Among the Jolly Bunks; L. Irvine Ward; M. O'Higgins Why We Run for Cover; Anon. By Definition; W. Lindsay Therapy Room; W. Lewis Stay Calm and Charm Them; L. Hart I Wanted to Scream and Shout; J. Laing An Utter Disaster; K.H. Label Removed but Scar Remains; J. Bell PART FOUR: MOVING INTO THE COMMUNITY Introduction Jane Writing from the Pastures: Paying the Penalty, I Can Get About, There's Nothing You Can Do; Anon. Don't Go Back; W. Lindsay The Sanctuary in North London; M. Henderson A Second Chance for Life; J. Tugwell Clive Alienation; J. Meredith Nutter to Normal; J. Read A Comparative Study of Application Forms for Housing Benefit and an American Express Card; P. Good PART FIVE: THERAPY AND SELF HELP Introduction Time, Faith and Encouragement; R. Caplin Healing Through Creativity; C. Hambrook Obsessed; M. Sangster Neurotics at War; D. Wigoder One-To-One; Margery Reflections on Therapy; B. Taylor Eleventh Contributor; L. Pembroke PART SIX: WORKING FOR CHANGE Introduction What We Want From Mental Health Services; J. Read What Users Want From Mental Health Crisis Services; P. Campbell Now is Your Chance to Help Undo Some Wrongs; V. Lindow Becoming Fully Ourselves; J. Wallcraft We Can Still Find a Way to be Heard; S. King Listening in the Asylum; M. Nettle Who Do You Represent? Shaking Hands with the Devil; Beeforth Having Space to Talk and Think; T. Simpson What Has Disability got to do with Psychiatric Survivors?; P. Beresford, G. Gifford and C. Harrison
Reviews for Speaking Our Minds: An Anthology of Personal Experiences of Mental Distress and its Consequences
'This is a profoundly moving collection of testimonies to the ability of the human spirit not only to endure and survive but to learn and teach from the depth of experience... This book could be a powerful force for change.' - Lisa Haywood, Vice-Chair of National Mind and user of the mental health system 'The overall effect of this book is to give a picture of the real world of real people that contrasts so vividly with what goes for knowledge within traditional psychiatry. Sign, symptoms, psychopathology and diagnosis, the bread-and-butter of psychiatry, all acquire new meanings in the light of the insights that emanate from the chapters in this book. I wish this book had been around at the time I was training to become a psychiatrist. It should be compulsory reading for all mental health professionals before they are let out into the world. And if this happens... who knows... we may even get a mental health service that is geared to dealing with people rather than illness.' - Suman Fernando, Consultant Psychiatrist
