Judiciarization of people suffering from mental illness: A critical analysis of the psychiatric–judicial interface

Author(s):  
Etienne Paradis‐Gagné ◽  
Jean Daniel Jacob
2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Fernandez ◽  
James A. Gillespie ◽  
Jennifer Smith-Merry ◽  
Xiaoqi Feng ◽  
Thomas Astell-Burt ◽  
...  

Objective Australian mental health care remains hospital centric and fragmented; it is riddled with gaps and does little to promote recovery. Reform must be built on better knowledge of the shape of existing services. Mental health atlases are an essential part of this knowledge base, enabling comparison with other regions and jurisdictions, but must be based on a rigorous classification of services. The main aim of this study is to create an integrated mental health atlas of the Western Sydney LHD in order to help decision makers to better plan informed by local evidence. Methods The standard classification system, namely the Description and Evaluation of Services and Directories in Europe for Long-term Care model, was used to describe and classify adult mental health services in the Western Sydney Local Health District (LHD). This information provided the foundation for accessibility maps and the analysis of the provision of care for people with a lived experience of mental illness in Western Sydney LHD. All this data was used to create the Integrated Mental Health Atlas of Western Sydney LHD. Results The atlas identified four major gaps in mental health care in Western Sydney LHD: (1) a lack of acute and sub-acute community residential care; (2) an absence of services providing acute day care and non-acute day care; (3) low availability of specific employment services for people with a lived experience of mental ill-health; and (4) a lack of comprehensive data on the availability of supported housing. Conclusions The integrated mental health atlas of the Western Sydney LHD provides a tool for evidence-informed planning and critical analysis of the pattern of adult mental health care. What is known about the topic? Several reports have highlighted that the Australian mental health system is hospital based and fragmented. However, this knowledge has had little effect on actually changing the system. What does this paper add? This paper provides a critical analysis of the pattern of adult mental health care provided within the boundaries of the Western Sydney LHD using a standard, internationally validated tool to describe and classify the services. This provides a good picture of the availability of adult mental health care at the local level that was hitherto lacking. What are the implications for practitioners? The data presented herein provide a better understanding of the context in which mental health practitioners work. Managers and planners of services providing care for people with a lived experience of mental illness can use the information herein for better planning informed by local evidence.


2021 ◽  
Vol XII (3) ◽  
pp. 289-290
Author(s):  
B. Vorotynskiy

The author's dissertation, published by the Moscow Psychiatric Clinic, is devoted to the clinical development of the issue of the independence of acute paranoia as a separate form of mental illness. Dr. Gannushkin is trying to solve this question partly on the basis of his own observations, partly through a critical analysis of cases that were observed by other authors, both Russian and foreign.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-106
Author(s):  
Vladimir Zakharov

Madness in life, philosophy, and art are different phenomena. In medicine, a madman is an insane person and a patient, in philosophy he is a sage, in literature — a poet. Doctors treat the patient, philosophers and poets admire the freedom of his thought and creativity. Problems arise when doctors turn into literary critics, and critics diagnose literary heroes. An absurd situation emerges when doctors diagnose those who are inherently unable to express a complaint, answer questions, undergo tests or pass a clinical examination. The article offers a critical analysis of the topic of insanity in the St. Petersburg-themed short novels by Pushkin, Gogol, and Dostoevsky, and offers a response to the question of which parts of their works belong to the poetic sphere, and which — to psychiatry. Pushkin and Gogol contributed to the poetic development of the theme of insanity, Dostoevsky revealed insanity as a mental illness where “higher meaning” manifests itself. All of these authors clearly defined the boundaries of troubled and healthy consciousness. Dostoevsky completed the transition from the poetic to the realistic interpretation of madness in Russian literature. A variety of concepts of insanity has been recognized in art, and there has been a creative competition between individual interpretations of this subject.


BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S294-S294
Author(s):  
Anna Sutton ◽  
Ross Overshott

AimsThe aims of this project were to assess how well the Netflix drama 13 Reasons Why portrayed suicide, in terms of both accuracy and safety, and to discuss the potential effect this could have on viewers.BackgroundPsychiatric content within dramatic media can have measurable effects on the population, such as reinforcing stigma around mental illness. Given the show's focus on a character's suicide, the most serious effect here would be suicide contagion.Guidelines and regulations for the portrayal of suicide in media are in place to protect those who might be vulnerable to suicide contagion.MethodWe formed our own pro-forma of 42 criteria using existing guidelines written for both news and dramatic media. These criteria were formatted into positive and negative pairs; positive being instances of guidelines being followed, negative as guidelines being broken. These were further organised into 7 categories.Each episode of seasons 1-2 was then assessed against the criteria. Cumulative instances of guidelines being followed or broken were compared within and between seasons. Context of each instance was taken into account by the primary researcher, and we also highlighted instances of exceptional breach of these guidelines.ResultThe results showed an over-all breach of the guidelines, with no significant improvement between the seasons. Some categories of criteria, such as “asking for help” and “mental health”, were portrayed well overall. Other categories, such as “blame”, performed extremely badly.The most significant breach was the graphic suicide scene at the end of the first season, which completely disregarded Samaritans’ guidelines.ConclusionThe breaching of guidelines in this show was overwhelming. In terms of severity, although there were some positive themes running through the seasons, there were also worrying instances of guidelines being completely disregarded. This led to the conclusion that the producers of the show did not take their responsibility to young, vulnerable viewers seriously regarding the dangers around portraying suicide.Suggestions from this study are that more guidelines around suicide are needed specifically for dramatic media, and that existing guidelines should be conflated and have stronger implementation by regulators. This implementation should potentially include overseas providers such as Netflix. Ethically, a significant challenge here is maintaining balance between safety and allowing artistic licence.


Film Matters ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 21-31
Author(s):  
Sam Lawson

This article provides a critical analysis of three films by filmmaker Brian De Palma: Dressed to Kill (1980), The Black Dahlia (2006), and Passion (2012). De Palma uses both the thematic tropes of film noir (psychosis, sexual deviance, doubling, etc.) and its stylistic conventions (chiaroscuro lighting, urban environments, etc.) to capitalize on the LGBTQ+ community, using them to create a spectacle of difference for his viewing audience. De Palma panders primarily to heterosexual spectators by using LGBTQ+ women to entertain/titillate audiences via the conventions of noir, thereby suggesting that these women are intrinsically tied to mental illness as a result of their sexual deviance. The analysis of Dressed to Kill will focus on issues of transgender representation, whereas the analyses of The Black Dahlia and Passion will address the representation of lesbianism/bisexuality.


2006 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Wynne

This article is a digest and critical analysis of Thomas Szasz’s oeuvre based on his better known works. His position is represented by four statements, three of which are discussed in this article; the second was discussed by this author in a review of Szasz’s The Meaning of Mind published in Vol.7(2) of this journal. The four statements are: (1) All disease is underlain by tissue pathology. Without that pathology we do not face disease but only the actions of people that disturb us; (2) The mind is a fiction; (3) Mental illness is therefore a myth, and psychiatric diagnoses are bogus contrivances; and (4) Individuals are moral agents responsible for their behavior, and psychiatry is a fraud and a fake medical specialty.


2014 ◽  
Vol 205 (6) ◽  
pp. 423-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick W. Corrigan

SummaryAlthough hope is key to recovery, might the course of some people's mental illness be so severe that false promise is offered? This paper unpacks considerations and, after a critical analysis, concludes hope is still central to healing and personal well-being.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document