History of Mental Health and Mental Illness

This chapter provides a brief history of mental health and mental illness, giving particular attention to how the notions of normality–abnormality have been made ‘real’ in and through language. More specifically, we provide some context for the social construction of the boundaries of normality and social deviance (as it has been coined) by providing context of the history of the asylum and treatments for those considered to be experiencing mental illness, and we juxtapose these against a contemporary view. This chapter makes reference to some of the influential voices across time, paying attention to notions of power and coercion and how historical views have shaped our language in describing mental distress.

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Commentary on ‘Mental Health Across the Globe: Conceptual Perspectives from Social Science and the Humanities’ Section

Introduction: The Social Construction of Normality and Pathology

Introduction: The Disease Model of Mental Health: A System in Crisis

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Authors and Affiliations

1. University of Leicester, Leicester, UK Michelle O’Reilly
2. Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA Jessica Nina Lester

1. Michelle O’Reilly

Readings of Interest

Readings of Interest

• Bone, C., & Marchant, N. (2016). A critical discursive perspective on psychiatric hospitals. In M. O’Reilly & J. N. Lester (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of adult mental health: Discourse and conversation studies (pp. 459–478). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Porter, R. (1997). The greatest benefit to mankind: A medical history of humanity from antiquity to the present. London: Harper Collins Publishers.
• Porter, R. (2002). Madness: A brief history. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Shorter, E. (1997). A history of psychiatry: From the era of the asylum to the age of Prozac. New York: Wiley.

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O’Reilly, M., Lester, J.N. (2017). History of Mental Health and Mental Illness. In: Examining Mental Health through Social Constructionism. The Language of Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60095-6_2

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• DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60095-6_2
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