Being Human: Reflections on mental distress in society

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This volume attempts to shed a new and different light on the intersections between mental health, mental distress and society, without offering any programmatic methodology or declaration of intent. An array of critical voices from across various disciplines in the humanities (including philosophy, psychiatry, psychology, history and literature) are brought to bear upon the subject of mental distress as a form of life that appears within particular social and cultural environments.

Being Human provides a powerful statement of the importance of thinking through the humanities for any non-reductive understanding of the meaning of mental distress, and gives compelling insights on a range of problems including; the understanding and representation of mental distress, the history of symptoms and critiques of psychiatry, and what a critical practice within mental health care means. At the heart of this collection lies a concern with the experience of mental distress as central to any understanding of what it means to be human. The book will be of interest to all those involved in the wider mental health field, including, academics, practitioners, service users and families and carers. Students and academics working within the humanities as a whole, particularly those interested in the experience of mental distress, will find this volume to be a key point of entry for current issues of debate.