Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

SummaryThis article examines the short story Metamorphosis by the enigmatic Czech writer Franz Kafka, whose work has been the subject of extensive critical discussion. His writings have been seen in the context of existentialism, Jewish mysticism and as a warning of the advent of totalitarianism. Kafka has attracted the attention of psychoanalysts and psychiatrists, who have maintained that his life and work manifest evidence of unresolved Oedipal issues and of schizoid personality. Metamorphosis is open to a multitude of interpretations, but a potentially fruitful approach is to see parallels between the predicament of the story's main character, Gregor Samsa, and that of people with severe mental illness. The story highlights the fate of those who are judged to be different by society and how issues of alienation, impaired communication and rejection arise.

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Older people with enduring or recurrent severe mental illness (graduates): A literature review

Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0790966700009964 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 151-155 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Margo Wrigley ◽

Bernadette Murphy ◽

Martin Farrell ◽

Brendan Cassidy ◽

Jim Ryan

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Literature Review ◽

Older People ◽

Severe Mental Illness ◽

Literature Search ◽

Psychiatric Disabilities ◽

Vulnerable Group ◽

Community Based ◽

Psychiatric Institutions ◽

The Subject

AbstractObjectives: To review the literature on older people with enduring or recurrent severe mental illness with an onset earlier than 65 years (graduates) and, in particular, to look at the specific features and needs of this group.Method: A Medline literature search produced 41 relevant papers and reports on the subject.Results: There are a substantial number of older people with severe mental illness and the number will rise in line with increased longevity. As they age these patients' psychiatric disabilities are compounded by medical and social problems. The move to community based care has largely ignored the needs of graduates who were previously cared for in psychiatric institutions.Conclusion: There is an urgent need to plan and develop adequate services for this vulnerable group.

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“Coming into Presence” as Mentally Ill in Academia: A New Logic of Emancipation

Harvard Educational Review ◽

10.17763/haer.82.4.u1m8g0052212pjh8 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 82 (4) ◽

pp. 491-510

Author(s):

Rochelle Skogen

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Severe Mental Illness ◽

Mentally Ill ◽

Assistant Professor ◽

University Professors ◽

The Subject ◽

The Impact

In this article Rochelle Skogen takes up the subject of university professors diagnosed with severe mental illness and asks why so little is known about these individuals. As an assistant professor who suffers from bipolar disorder, Skogen discusses the impact of stigma on a professor's decision to either disclose or conceal her illness. While it appears that most mentally ill academics choose to hide their diagnoses—perhaps believing that concealment will keep them free of stigma—Skogen argues that such thinking is but an illusion of freedom, because it is based on an emancipation that depends on the “goodwill” of would-be emancipators. Skogen depicts her own journey of “coming into presence” as a process of subjectification rooted in Jacques Rancière's theory of a new logic of emancipation, as interpreted by Bingham and Biesta.

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