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A social history of serious mental illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2020

Brendan Daugherty Open the ORCID record for Brendan Daugherty [Opens in a new window] ,
Katherine Warburton Open the ORCID record for Katherine Warburton [Opens in a new window]  and
Stephen M. Stahl
Brendan Daugherty*
Affiliation:
School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network, New South Wales, Australia
Katherine Warburton
Affiliation:
California Department of State Hospitals, Sacramento, California, USA Department of Psychiatry, University of California Davis, Davis, California, USA
Stephen M. Stahl
Affiliation:
California Department of State Hospitals, Sacramento, California, USA Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, University of California, Riverside, California, USA Psychiatry Department, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
*
*Address correspondence to: Brendan Daugherty, BMed, MPM, Grad Cert FMH, FRANZCP, Cert Child Adol Psych, Cert Forensic Psych, Post Office Box 150, Matraville, NSW 2036, Australia. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Despite medical, technological, and humanitarian advances, the criminalization of those with serious mental illness continues. This is not an isolated phenomenon. The benefits of treatment reform and innovation are difficult to maintain or sometimes outright harmful. Across time and geography, the care of those with serious mental illness tends towards maltreatment, be it criminalization or other forms of harm. We present a social history of serious mental illness, along with the idea that the treatment of serious mental illness is a Sisyphean task—perpetually pushing a boulder up a hill, only for it to roll down and start again. The history is provided as a basis for deeper reflection of treatment, and treatment reform, of those with serious mental illnesses.

Keywords

psychosishistorysocialmental healthcriminalizationmaltreatmentSisyphusserious mental illness
Type
Perspectives
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 25 , Issue 5 , October 2020 , pp. 584 - 592
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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