Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A Plea for Change

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Trauma and Madness in Mental Health Services

  • 538 Accesses

Abstract

The problems inherent in medicalized formulations and treatment of emotional distress and the paternalistic, authoritarian behavior of mental health professionals are consistently criticized by individuals with lived experience, and all of the participants, to be harmful and re-traumatizing. This includes the use of multiple, high-dose psychotropic drugs, hospitalizations, compulsory “treatment” orders in the community, medicalized language and framing of emotional experience, coercion, and so on. Service users describe experiences of force and coercion in mental health services as akin to imprisonment, being ambushed, and feeling terrorized. Conversely, individuals experiencing psychological or spiritual crises often describe this period as one fueled by a search for meaning and purpose. The system as a whole, however, is not built on a respect for the subjective and experience-based expertise of the service user; rather, it is predicated on an authoritarian form of social control and coercive practices. This chapter explores these practices and their impact.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allen, M., & Smith, V. F. (2001). Opening pandora’s box: The practical and legal dangers of involuntary outpatient commitment. Psychiatric Services, 52(3), 342–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjornestad, J., Bronnick, K., Davidson, L., Hegelstad, W. T. V., Joa, I., Kandal, O., … Johannessen, J. O. (2017). The central role of self-agency in clinical recovery from first episode psychosis. Psychosis, 9(2), 140–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/17522439.2016.1198828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boevink, W. (2006). From being a disorder to dealing with life: An experiential exploration of the association between trauma and psychosis. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 32, 17–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boevink, W. (2012). Towards recovery, empowerment and experiential expertise of users of psychiatric services. In P. Ryan, S. Ramon, & T. Greacen (Eds.), Empowerment, lifelong learning and recovery in mental health: Towards a new paradigm. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breggin, P. R. (2008). Medication madness: A psychiatrist exposes the dangers of mood-altering drugs. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • British Psychological Society. (2013). Division of Clinical Psychology position statement on the classification of behaviour and experience in relation to functional psychiatric diagnoses: Time for a paradigm shift. Retrieved from http://dxrevisionwatch.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/position-statement-on-diagnosis-master-doc.pdf

  • Burstow, B. (2017). Psychiatric drugging of children and youth as a form of child abuse: Not a radical proposition. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 19(1), 65–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calton, T., Ferriter, M., Huband, N., & Spandler, H. (2008). A systematic review of the soteria paradigm for the treatment of people diagnosed with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 34(1), 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbm047

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caplan, P. J. (1995). They say you’re crazy: How the world’s most powerful psychiatrists decide who’s normal. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cartwright, C., Gibson, K., Read, J., Cowan, O., & Dehar, T. (2016). Long-term antidepressant use: Patient perspectives of benefits and adverse effects. Patient Preference and Adherence, 10, 1401–1407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chung, D., Ryan, C., Hadzi-Pavlovic, D., Singh, S., Stanton, C., & Large, M. (2017). Suicide rates after discharge from psychiatric facilities: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry, 74(7), 694–702. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.1044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, O. (2005). How do we recover? An analysis of psychiatric survivor oral histories. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 45(3), 333–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corin, E., Thara, R., & Padmavati, R. (2004). Living through the staggering world: The play of signifiers in early psychosis in South India. In J. H. Jenkins & R. J. Barrett (Eds.), Schizophrenia, culture and subjectivity: The edge of experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deacon, B. J. (2013). The biomedical model of mental disorder: A critical analysis of its validity, utility, and effects on psychotherapy research. Clinical Psychology Review, 33, 846–861.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dell, P. F. (1998). Axis II pathology in outpatients with dissociative identity disorder. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders, 186, 352–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dillon, J. (2013, March). Just saying it as it is: Names matter; Language matters; Truth matters. Clinical Psychology Forum No. 243: British Psychological Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellason, J. W., Ross, C. A., & Fuchs, D. L. (1996). Lifetime axis I and II comorbidity and childhood trauma history in dissociative identity disorder. Psychiatry, 59, 255–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenton, W. S., Mosher, L., Herrell, J. M., & Blyler, C. R. (1998). Randomized trial of general hospital and residential alternative care for patients with severe and persistent mental illness. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 516–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleischhacker, W. W., Kane, J. M., Geier, J., Karayal, O., Kolluri, S., Eng, S. M., … Strom, B. L. (2014). Completed and attempted suicides among 18,154 subjects with schizophrenia included in a large simple trial. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 75(3), e184–e190. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.13m08563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, S., Brand, S. L., Burt, S., Boden, Z. V., & Benson, O. (2013). Understanding treatment non-adherence in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: A survey of what service users do and why. BMC Psychiatry, 13(1), 153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, D. (2011). The heterogeneity of “major depression”. World Psychiatry, 10(3), 226–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gotzsche, P. C. (2015). Deadly psychiatry and organised denial. Denmark: People’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, T. K., Stoneking, B. C., Humphreys, K., Sundby, E., & Bond, J. (2008). A randomized trial of a mental health consumer-managed alternative to civil commitment for acute psychiatric crisis. American Journal of Community Psychology, 42, 135–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halpin, E., Kugathasan, V., Hulbert, C., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., & Bendall, S. (2016). Case formulation in young people with post-traumatic stress disorder and first-episode psychosis. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 5(11), 106. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm5110106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrow, M., & Jobe, T. H. (2007). Factors involved in outcome and recovery in schizophrenia patients not on antipsychotic medications: A 15-year multifollow-up study. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 195(5), 406–414.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrow, M., Jobe, T. H., & Faull, R. N. (2012). Do all schizophrenia patients need antipsychotic treatment continuously throughout their lifetime? A 20-year longitudinal study. Psychological Medicine, 42(10), 2145–2155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Healy, D. (2012). Pharmageddon. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Healy, D., Herxheimer, A., & Menkes, D. B. (2006). Antidepressants and violence: Problems at the interface of medicine and law. Public Library of Science Medicine, 3(9), e372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hjorthoj, C. R., Madsen, T., Agerbo, E., & Nordentoft, M. (2014). Risk of suicide according to level of psychiatric treatment: A nationwide nested case-control study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 49, 1357–1365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofer, F. X., Habermeyer, E., Mokros, A., Lau, S., & Gairing, S. K. (2015). The impact of legal coercion on the therapeutic relationship in adult schizophrenic patients. PLoS ONE, 10(4), e0124043. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0124043

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huber, C. G., Schneeberger, A. R., Kowalinski, E., Frohlich, D., von Felten, S., Walter, M., … Lang, U. E. (2016). Suicide risk and absconding in psychiatric hospitals with and without open door policies: A 15-year observational study. Lancet Psychiatry, 3(9), 842–849.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Human Rights Council. (2009, December). Thematic study by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the structure and role of national mechanisms for the implementation and monitoring of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (A-HRC-13-29). Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General. Retrieved from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Disability/Pages/ThematicStudies.aspx

  • Karon, B. P. (2000). Effective psychoanalytic therapy of schizophrenia and other severe disorders. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kisely, S. R., Campbell, L., & Preston, N. J. (2011). Compulsory community and involuntary outpatient treatment for people with severe mental disorders. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD004408.pub3

  • Large, M., & Ryan, C. J. (2014). Disturbing findings about the risk of suicide and psychiatric hospitals. Journal of Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 40(9), 1353–1355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd-Evans, B., Slade, M., Jagielska, D., & Johnson, S. (2009). Residential alternatives to acute psychiatric hospital admission: Systematic review. British Journal of Psychiatry, 195, 109–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucire, Y. (2016). Pharmacological iatrogenesis: Substance/medication-induced disorders that masquerade as mental illness. Epidemiology, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.4172/2161-1165.1000217

  • McHugh, R. K., Whitton, S. W., Peckham, A. D., Welge, J. A., & Otto, M. W. (2013). Patient preference for psychological vs. pharmacologic treatment of psychiatric disorders: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 74(6), 595–602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McWade, B. (2016). Recovery-as-policy as a form of neoliberal state making. Intersectionalities: A Global Journal of Social Work Analysis, Research, Polity, and Practice, 5(3), 62–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mead, S., & Copeland, M. E. (2000). What recovery means to us: Consumers’ perspectives. Community Mental Health Journal, 36(3), 315–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendez, J. E. (2013, March). Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. 22nd session of the Human Rights Council, Agenda Item 3, Geneva.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metzl, J. M. (2010). The protest psychosis: How schizophrenia became a black disease. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moilanen, J., Haapea, M., Jaaskelainen, E., Veijola, J., Isohanni, M., Koponen, H., & Miettunen, J. (2016). Long-term antipsychotic use and its association with outcomes in schizophrenia – the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. European Psychiatry, 36, 7–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moncrieff, J., Cohen, D., & Porter, S. (2013). The psychoactive effects of psychiatric medication: The elephant in the room. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 45(5), 409–415. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2013.845328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, T. J., & Furberg, C. D. (2017). The harms of antipsychotic drugs: Evidence from key studies. Drug Safety, 40(1), 3–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueser, K. T., Lu, W., Rosenberge, S. D., & Wolfe, R. (2010). The trauma of psychosis: Posttraumatic stress disorder and recent onset psychosis. Schizophrenia Research, 116, 217–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, R., McGuinness, D., Bainbridge, E., Brosnan, L., Felzmann, H., Keys, M., … Higgins, A. (2017). Service users’ experiences of involuntary hospital admission under the Mental Health Act 2001 in the Republic of Ireland. Psychiatric Services, 68(11), 1127–1135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, R. M., Quattrone, D., Natesan, S., Van Os, J., Nordentoft, M., Howes, O., … Taylor, D. (2016). Should psychiatrists be more cautious about the long-term prophylactic use of antipsychotics? The British Journal of Psychiatry, 209(5), 361–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newnes, C. (2016). Inscription, diagnosis, deception and the mental health industry. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ostrow, L., Jessell, L., Hurd, M., Darrow, S. M., & Cohen, D. (2017). Discontinuing psychiatric medications: A survey of long-term users. Psychiatric Services, 68(12), 1232–1238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Read, J. (2004). The invention of ‘schizophrenia’. In J. Read, L. Mosher, & R. P. Bentall (Eds.), Models of Madness. East Sussex: Brunner-Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Read, J., & Arnold, C. (2017). Is electroconvulsive therapy for depression more effective than placebo? A systematic review of studies since 2009. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 19(1), 5–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, M. (2013). Alternatives to outpatient commitment. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 41(3), 332–336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schizophrenia Commission. (2012, November). The abandoned illness: A report by the Schizophrenia commission. Retrieved from https://www.rethink.org/media/514093/TSC_main_report_14_nov.pdf

  • Seikkula, J., Alakare, B., & Aaltonen, J. (2011). The comprehensive open-dialogue approach in Western Lapland: II. Long-term stability of acute psychosis outcomes in advanced community care. Psychosis, 3, 192–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skodol, A. E., Gunderson, J. G., Pfohl, B., Widiger, T. A., Livesley, W. J., & Siever, L. J. (2002). The borderline diagnosis I: Psychopathology, comorbidity, and personality structure. Biological Psychiatry, 51(12), 936–950.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sledge, W. H., Tebes, J., Rakfeldt, J., Davidson, L., Lyons, L., & Druss, B. G. (1996). Day hospital/crisis respite care versus inpatient care, Part 1: Clinical outcomes. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 1065–1073.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steadman, H., Gounis, K., Dennis, D., Hopper, K., Roche, B., Swartz, M., & Robbins, P. (2001). Assessing the New York city involuntary outpatient commitment pilot program. Psychiatric Services, 52(3), 330–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tandon, R. (2014). Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5: Clinical implications of revisions from DSM-IV. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 36(3), 223–225. https://doi.org/10.4103/0253-7176.135365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Lancet Psychiatry. (2017). Psychiatry unlocked. The Lancet Psychiatry, 4(4), 261. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(17)30081-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, P., & Longden, E. (2013). Madness, childhood adversity and narrative psychiatry: Caring and the moral imagination. Medical Humanities, 39(2), 119–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Os, J. (2016). “Schizophrenia” does not exist. BMJ, 352. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i375

  • Wardenaar, K. J., & de Jonge, P. (2013). Diagnostic heterogeneity in psychiatry: Towards an empirical solution. BMC Medicine, 11(1), 201. https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-11-201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitaker, R. (2010). Anatomy of an epidemic: Magic bullets, psychiatric drugs and the astonishing rise of mental illness. New York, NY: Broadway Paperbacks.

    Google Scholar 

  • Widiger, T. A., & Spitzer, R. L. (1991). Sex bias in the diagnosis of personality disorders: Conceptual and methodological issues. Clinical Psychology Review, 11(1), 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wunderink, L., Nieboer, R. M., Wiersma, D., Sytema, S., & Nienhuis, F. J. (2013). Recovery in remitted first-episode psychosis at 7 years of follow-up of an early dose reduction/discontinuation or maintenance treatment strategy: Long-term follow-up of a 2-year randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry, 70(9), 913–920. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.19

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York, NY, USA

    Noël Hunter

Authors
  1. Noël Hunter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Hunter, N. (2018). A Plea for Change. In: Trauma and Madness in Mental Health Services. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91752-8_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation