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Questioning the Medical Model of 'Psychosis'

Madness Contested | 03.06.2013 20:33 | Anti-racism | Health

The article questions the dominant medical model used to understand experiences such as hearing voices, suspiciousness and unusual beliefs. The attached articles start to outline alternative ideas, which connect these experiences to what has happened and is occurring in a person's life.

Generic media Understanding Voices - application/msword 563K

Generic media Understanding Delusions - application/msword 562K

Generic media Making Sense of Paranoia - application/msword 563K

Generic media Discrimination and Unusual Experiences - application/msword 557K


How we understand ourselves and how distress arises is crucial to the form of society we live in and how people in distress are supported and helped. The current understanding of mental distress views it as an outcome of a genetic and biological abnormality, which requires fixing through the technologies of psychiatric drugs and cognitive interventions. This model sees the problem as residing within the person, either as a chemical imbalance or cognitive distortion; however this model has been disputed and contested for decades. Alternative models consider the person as connected to the world around them and therefore a person's experiences only understandable in relation to society.

The attached Clinical Psychology Bite-size articles share ways to make sense of unusual experiences, which are grounded in a person's life experiences, such as discrimination. Traditional models of mental distress ask: What is wrong with you? Instead we should be asking: What has happened to you? What are your hopes and goals?

PLEASE NOTE: The content of Bite-Size express the opinions of the authors and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the Trust. They have been previously made freely available through e-mail distribution, but hopefully can find wider distribution here.

Madness Contested
- e-mail: madness.contested@gmail.com

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09.06.2013 12:58

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NEW Textbooks (c/o Arron Swartz)

0521516811.Cambridge.University.Press.Essential.Clinical.Immunology.Jan.2009.pdf
0521604087.Cambridge.University.Press.Essential.Psychiatry.Oct.2008.pdf
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0521687268.Cambridge.University.Press.Neuroethics.Challenges.for.the.21st.Century.Aug.2007.pdf
0521689597.Cambridge.University.Press.Society.and.Psychosis.Apr.2008.pdf
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0521835178.Cambridge.University.Press.Bipolar.Disorders.Mixed.States.Rapid.Cycling.and.Atypical.Forms.Nov.2005.pdf
0521883253.Cambridge.University.Press.Bioviolence.Preventing.Biological.Terror.and.Crime.Sep.2007.pdf
0521862884.Cambridge.University.Press.Memory.In.Autism.Theory.and.Evidence.Jul.2008.pdf
0195059417.Oxford.University.Press.USA.Awareness.of.Deficit.after.Brain.Injury.Clinical.and.Theoretical.Issues.Jan.1991.pdf
0195182790.Oxford.University.Press.USA.Handbook.of.Positive.Psychology.Mar.2005.pdf
0195313836.Oxford.University.Press.USA.Prescriptions.for.the.Mind.A.Critical.View.of.Contemporary.Psychiatry.Jun.2008.pdf
0195314271.Oxford.University.Press.USA.Neuroscience.of.Rule-Guided.Behavior.Oct.2007.pdf
0195324250.Oxford.University.Press.USA.How.Can.the.Human.Mind.Occur.in.the.Physical.Universe.Aug.2007.pdf
0195331729.Oxford.University.Press.USA.Brain.Landscape.The.Coexistence.of.Neuroscience.and.Architecture.Dec.2008.pdf
0195368746.Oxford.University.Press.USA.Before.Prozac.The.Troubled.History.of.Mood.Disorders.in.Psychiatry.Oct.2008.pdf
0195372883.Oxford.University.Press.USA.The.Overflowing.Brain.Information.Overload.and.the.Limits.of.Working.Memory.Nov.2008.pdf
0195381157.Oxford.University.Press.USA.The.Central.Nervous.System.Mar.2010.pdf
0198508611.Oxford.University.Press.USA.Essentials.of.Human.Nutrition.Jun.2002.pdf
0198509987.Oxford.University.Press.USA.Molecular.Biology.of.the.Neuron.May.2004.pdf
0198569645.Oxford.University.Press.USA.Motor.Cognition.What.Actions.Tell.to.the.Self.Aug.2006.pdf
0199215391.Oxford.University.Press.USA.Did.My.Neurons.Make.Me.Do.It.Philosophical.and.Neurobiological.Perspectives.on.Moral.Responsibility.and.Free.Will.Aug.2007.pdf
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An Atlas of DEPRESSION - David S. Baldwin
An Atlas of SCHIZOPHRENIA - Martin Stefan
Anxiety Disorders An Introduction to Clinical Management and Research - Eric J.L. Griez
Attacking Anxiety and Depression
Bipolar Disorder - Mario Maj
CLASSIFICATION OF DEVELOPMENTAL LANGUAGE DISORDERS Theoretical Issues and Clinical Implications - Ludo Verhoeven
Dementia 2nd Ed - Mario Maj
Depressive Disorders 2nd Ed - Mario Maj
Disasters and Mental Health - Mario Maj
Early Detection and Management of Mental Disorders - Mario Maj
Eating Disorders - Mario Maj
Handbook of Eating Disorders 2nd Ed - Janet Treasure
Handbook of Personality Disorders Theory and Practice - Jeffrey J. Magnavita
Mind, Meaning, and Mental Disorder The nature of causal explanation in psychology and psychiatry, 2nd Ed - Derek Bolton
Mood Disorders A Handbook Of Science And Practice - Mick Power
Pain And Depression An InterDiscipinary Patient-Centered Approach - M.R. Clark
Personality Disorders - Mario Maj
Personality Disorders in Modern Life 2ND ED - THEODORE MILLON
Phobias - Mario Maj
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ISSUES AND CONTROVERSIES - GERALD M. ROSEN
Schizophernia 2nd ed - Mario Maj
The Adolescent with Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD) - Amanda Kirby
The Economics Of Gender And Mental Illness - Dave Marcotte
The Gale Encyclopedia Of Mental Disorders - ELLEN THACKERY
The Handbook of Memory Disorders 2ND ED - Alan D. Baddeley
Brain Facts A PRIMER ON THE BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM - THE SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE
Brain, Vision, Memory - Charles G. Gross
Clinical Neuropsychology A Practical Guide to Assessment and Management for Clinicians - Laura H. Goldstein
Computational Explorations in Cognitive Neuroscience - Randall C. O'Reilly
Elements of Molecular Neurobiology 3d ed - C. U. M. Smith
Foundations Of Physiological Psychology 6th ed - Neil Carlson
Fundametals Of Human NeuroPsychology - Bryan Kolb
Handbook Of Functional Neuroimaging Of Cognition 2nd ed - Roberto Cabeza

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