“…Ive written and published such and such, blah blah blah…. It would be very valuable to me personally to be a part of the Mad Studies course as it would provide me with important opportunities to bring together my collected thoughts on mental health and continue to be a part of a vibrant critical mental health movement. Read more…
This is a collection of photos showing the work which was brought together that made the Mad World Exhibition in 2017. You can read about the ideas by following THIS LINK. The exhibition held at its heart a space where questioning of attitudes to mental health, mental illness, madness and identity was encouraged particularly in light of the Psychiatric Survivors Movement which legitimately challenges and drives forward understandings today.
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In July 2017 Asylum Magazine for democratic psychiatry had it’s 30th anniversary and hosted a conference in Manchester. Over a day a number of presentations and discussions took place examining various aspects of psychiatry, mental health and madness. Roy Bard, a mental health campaigner, gave a rousing presentation during this which you can see here.
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Come along to Gallery One at St Margaret’s House (3rd Floor, St. Margaret’s House, 151 London Road, Edinburgh, EH7 6AE) from 6.30pm for the opening of the Mad World art exhibition and a series of short presentations. Exhibition then open every day until 8pm from 30th September to 15th October
Please come and help us celebrate the 30th anniversary conference of ‘Asylum Magazine for Democratic Psychiatry’ in the community and promote the ideas which it has represented over the many years it has been running. Asylum magazine is 30 years old now and year after year it has been a platform for people who have had something critical to say about psychiatry. Read more…
Asylum Magazine, which promotes dialogue and debate about mental health and psychiatry, comes out four times a year. The title, ASYLUM, was chosen for its original etymological meanings – through Latin from Greek to English – of a refuge, a right not to be seized. Asylum – which publishes all kinds of writing, including poetry and prose – has a long history of promoting alternative and challenging perspectives on mental health. Read more…
The 30th anniversary of Asylum magazine for democratic psychiatry is happening this year and a conference is taking place in the University of Manchester. The theme of the conference is Action and Reaction. Hundreds of delegates are traveling from all over the world to talk about various aspects and ideas, ethics and findings of mental health on the 28th of June. It is a momentous occasion for a very important platform for ideas. Read more…
Electro Convulsive Therapy is one of those psychiatric treatments that has a strong hold on public imagination. One Flew over a Cuckoos Nest is iconic in its use of ECT as a treatment. The image of a patient being tied by and given electric shocks is hard to shake, brutality and force are ideas associated with this treatment. Inextricably tied to the profession of psychiatry it is born out of experiments with electricity and in abattoirs.
The image of the ‘mad person’ being subdued is powerful, it signals punishment for deviance. It plays on our fear of physical retribution. It is present in films, we have all seen a film where an agitated person was brought in kicking and screaming and given electric shocks only to be subdued. Read more…
This is an interview with Sonia Soans, part of the Asylum magazine collective which is a platform for democratic psychiatry. Having experience in clinical psychology and teaching in India, she has focused her study on gendered representations of addiction. Having recently finished her PhD in Manchester, she regularly contributes to critical psychiatry as she helps bring together the new editions of Asylum magazine. Read more…