MIND, anti-psychiatry, and the case of the mental hygiene movement’s ‘discursive transformation’

Toms, Jonathan (2020) MIND, anti-psychiatry, and the case of the mental hygiene movement’s ‘discursive transformation’. Social History of Medicine, 33 (2). 622–640. ISSN 0951-631X

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Abstract

During the 1970s the National Association for Mental Health (NAMH) re-labelled itself MIND, becoming a rights-based organisation, critiquing psychiatry and emphasising patients’ citizenship. Its transformation has been coloured by attributions of the influence of anti-psychiatry. This article argues that the relevance of anti-psychiatry has been over-simplified. It examines MIND’s history as part of the psychiatric strategy known as mental hygiene. This movement’s agenda can be understood as paradigmatic of much that anti-psychiatry renounced. However, building on the sociologist Nick Crossley’s description of the interactional nature of Social Movement Organisations in the psychiatric field, this article shows that a ‘discursive transformation’ can be deduced in core elements of mental hygienist thinking. This transformation of discourse clearly prefigured important elements of anti-psychiatry, and also fed into MIND’s rights approach. But it must be appreciated on its own terms. Its distinctiveness under MIND is shown in its application to people with learning disabilities.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: anti-psychiatry,mind,mental hygiene,social movements,medicine (miscellaneous),history,sdg 3 - good health and well-being ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2701
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of History
Related URLs:
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 07 Dec 2018 15:30
Last Modified: 25 May 2023 11:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/69217
DOI: 10.1093/shm/hky096

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