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Introduction to Madness Studies (PSYC349) Fall 2018

Giovanni Abrignani (1899 – 1977), LA SPADA DI ZORRO Collection De L’Art Brut - Lausanne, Switzerland

Day/Time: Thursdays, 7:10 – 10:00 pm Location: Judd Hall 113 Instructor: Dr. Sarah Kamens Email: skamens@wesleyan.edu Office: Judd Hall, Room 400A Office Hours: Wednesdays, 3:00 – 5:00 pm or by appointment Course description: What does it mean to be "mad"? Are all mad people mentally ill? In recent years, just as clinical psychologists and psychiatrists have honed their technico-scientific infrastructures for studying and classifying psychopathology, a nascent academic discipline called "madness studies" has emerged. Madness studies aims to interrogate and diversify discourse about unusual, extreme, and distressing mental states, as well as to reclaim languages about madness that are viewed as inappropriate and stigmatizing. This course explores the recent history of madness studies as an academic discipline, charting its relationship to historical shifts in mental health research and practice, as well as to related interdisciplinary arenas such as disability studies, liberation psychology, and the philosophy of psychiatry. We examine the rise of consumer, survivor, and ex-patient (C/S/X) movements, exploring differences among those who identify as having mad pride and mental illness. With particular focus on first-person accounts of lived experience, readings cover issues of epistemic and social justice in mental health discourse. Throughout the course, students attend to pluralistic ways of understanding and studying madness, including biopsychiatric, psychosocial, spiritual, and indigenous approaches. Students with disabilities: Wesleyan University is committed to ensuring that all qualified students with disabilities are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in and

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benefit from its programs and services. To receive accommodations, a student must have a documented disability as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and provide documentation of the disability. Since accommodations may require early planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact Disability Resources as soon as possible. If you believe that you need accommodations for a disability, please contact Dean Patey in Disability Resources located in North College, room 021, or call 860- 685-5581 for an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations. More information is available at http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/disabilities/index.html Human experiences: When we talk about “madness,” “mental distress,” and “mental illness,” we learn about a range of human experiences that include distressing or unusual mental states. As we will learn this semester, distressing and unusual psychological experiences overlap with “normal” experience rather than being qualitatively distinct from it, and it is common to recognize some of these experiences in yourself or in other people you know (e.g., family or friends). It is also normal for reading and discussing these topics to sometimes bring up uncomfortable thoughts or feelings. Some students may find certain topics to be particularly difficult or unsettling, and in such situations it is often helpful to strategize with me and/or seek support. Throughout the semester, we will be reading and hearing from people who offer first-person accounts of different types of human experiences. We will also be discussing the meanings of disclosing these experiences –and of identifying as mad, mentally ill, neurodivergent, etc.– in different social contexts and spaces. Some of this material might lead you to consider disclosing your own experiences, or those of others you know, such as family or peers. Students are not required or expected to share personal or family experiences in class or through assignments. You may share if you choose, but before doing so, it is important to think through the various meanings of disclosing personal or family experience. If you are thinking about doing so, please (1) read and complete the HOP workbook for college students (http://comingoutproudprogram.org/images/HOP_college_workbook_FINAL.pdf), which includes worksheets for contemplating the pros and cons of disclosure, and (2) make an appointment to discuss with me in office hours beforehand. After class each week, I will be available until 10:20 pm to talk with any students who have questions or concerns about the material. I am also available during office hours and by appointment. Students can also seek private and confidential support at Wesleyan Counseling and Psychological Services (http://www.wesleyan.edu/caps/). Office hours: Students are welcome and encouraged to visit during office hours or by appointment. Emailing in advance to schedule a time will reduce the likelihood of waiting. Feedback and questions: Moodle allows for the submission of anonymous (or non-anonymous) feedback and questions about the course. I welcome your thoughts, reflections, and/or ideas at any point in the semester. Please note that I am unable to respond to comments and questions submitted anonymously. Moodle: Please check the course Moodle regularly. Important announcements such as

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changes to the syllabus will be communicated via Moodle. Class materials, surveys, and other activities will also be posted on Moodle throughout the semester. Readings: It is important to come to class prepared to discuss the readings. All readings can be found on the course Moodle. Attendance and class participation: Attendance in each full class is mandatory, and participation in class discussions, activities, and guest-speaker dialogues constitutes a substantial portion of the course grade (see breakdown below). If there are extenuating circumstances that prevent you from attending a class, please notify me as soon as possible and provide written documentation of the reason for your absence. Students are responsible for submitting assignments and for learning the material for each class regardless of an absence. Guest speakers: Madness scholars seek to draw attention to the plurality of views and opinions about madness, mental illness, and mental health. For this reason, we will have a series of guest speakers who will visit the course to talk about their work, either in person or virtually via video conference. Students are encouraged to actively participate in discussions with the guest speakers. Please come to class prepared with at least two questions for each guest speaker. Weekly forum reflections: Each week, students will contribute to an ongoing group discussion about the readings via Moodle. Students can post one to four paragraphs of reflections on any reading assigned for the upcoming class. Reflections are not graded on content; each reflection is worth 1% of the course grade if submitted on time. Reflections are due by 7 pm on the Monday before the class in which the readings will be discussed. Quizzes: Two quizzes will address some of the topics from our readings. The quizzes are not comprehensive; I will provide tips about each quiz the week beforehand. Papers: Students will complete one mid-semester paper and one final paper. The mid-semester paper (six to eight pages in length) will focus on one first-person account or service-user movement; detailed instructions will be provided in class and posted on Moodle. The second paper (six to 10 pages in length) can be on any topic related to madness; students must have their topics approved before writing. All manuscripts must adhere to the American Psychological Association (APA) 6th edition style manual. Please submit your papers via Moodle by 7 pm on the due date. For each day that a paper is late, 10% of the total grade for that assignment will be deducted. Presentation: During one class this semester, you will present on one assigned reading for that week. Students can sign up for a specific date and reading via Moodle. Please note that readings listed in italics on the schedule (below) cannot be used for presentations. The presentation should (1) summarize your chosen article or chapter, (2) discuss the relationship between the reading and other readings for the course, and (3) offer concrete suggestions for future research, interventions, or actions. Each presentation will be 20 minutes long, with an additional 10 minutes of class discussion.

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Extra credits: There will be at least two opportunities to obtain extra credits this semester. The first is attendance at the Yale University RebPsych “Rebellious Psychiatry: Where Mental Health Meets Social Justice” Conference on Friday, September 28 (https://medicine.yale.edu/psychiatry/rebpsych/). Students planning to attend must sign up via Moodle on or before September 17. You must post an additional reflection about your experiences at the conference on the class forum by October 4 in order to receive the extra credits. The second extra-credit opportunity will be announced later in the semester. Academic resources: Peer tutors are available through the Dean’s Peer Tutoring Program (https://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/resources/peertutoring/). Peer advisors are also available for questions about registration and academic resources (https://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/resources/peeradvisors/index.html). Students interested in assistance with writing are encouraged to request a tutor or mentor at the Wesleyan University Writing Workshop (http://www.wesleyan.edu/writing/writingworkshop/Tutoring/index.html). Grading: Below is the grading breakdown for each assignment/requirement:

Assignment/requirement

Percentage Further breakdown

Weekly reflections 12% 1% per week; pass/fail for reflections submitted on time

Quizzes 20% 10% each

Presentation 10% 3% summary, 3% relationship with other readings, 3% future directions, 1% Q&A

Mid-semester paper 20%

Final paper 25% Attendance and participation

13%

Extra credit 8% 4% per opportunity At the end of the semester, your final grade will be calculated as follows: A+ 98.3% C- 71.7% A 95.0% D+ 68.3% A- 91.7% D 65.0% B+ 88.3% D 61.7% B 85.0% E+ 58.3% B- 81.7% E 55% C+ 78.3% E- 51.7% C 75.0% F 45%

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Class Schedule

Class Schedule Recent changes in purple

Class date

Other due dates

Topic(s) Readings due Assignments due

9/6 What is “madness”? Syllabus review

9/10 Reflection 1 Presentation sign-up on Moodle

9/13 Madness in history Madness studies

Foucault (1965/1988) Fulford et al. (2006) LeFrançois et al. (2013) Spandler & Anderson (2015) Spandler & Barker (2016) Starkman (1981/2013)

Brief survey (on Moodle)

9/17 Reflection 2 (Optional) Sign up for RebPsych

9/20 The ‘psy’ disciplines Guest: John Strauss

Freud (1901) Keshavan et al. (2011) Kurtz (2016) Strauss (2017) Pies (2015)

9/24 Reflection 3

9/27 9/28

Experts by experience Guest: Richard Youins RebPsych (extra credit)

Britz (n.d.) Byrne et al. (2018) Deegan (1996) Kalathil & Jones (2016) King (2007) Longden (2013 – watch video)

Quiz 1

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10/1 Reflection 4

10/4 C/S/X movements

Dubrul (2014) Jones & Brown (2013) Kapp et al. (2013) Browse websites: ASAN (2018) HVN (2018) Icarus Project (2018) Mad in America (2018) Mindfreedom (2018) NAMI (2018)

10/8

Reflection 5

10/11 Diagnosis and labeling Virtual guest: Dr. Whitaker

BPS handout (2018) Hacking (2006) Pavlo et al. (2018) Robbins et al. (2015) Szasz (1960) Whitaker (in press) Browse: NAMI personal stories

10/15 Reflection 6

10/18 Psychosis and extreme states Optional: Jones & Shattell (2014) Noll (2011)

Mid-semester paper

10/22 Fall break – no reflection due

10/25 The philosophy of psychiatry Virtual guest: Nev Jones

Dobbs (2017) Fulford et al. (2004) Haslam (2002) Jones et al. (2016) Sass (1992)

10/29 Reflection 7

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11/1 Cultural and indigenous approaches Guest: Kirsten Maclean

Joseph (2015) Kalweit (1989) Luhrmann et al. (2015) Watters (2010) Optional: Good & Subandi (2004) Myers (2010)

Quiz 2

11/5 Reflection 8

11/8 Peer frameworks Psychosis and extreme states Guest: Jazmine Russell

Andersen et al. (2018) Kalathil (2013) BPS (2017 – abbreviated version) Laing (1960) NAMI (2015) Optional: Selten et al. (2013) Voronka (2017)

Final paper topic proposal

11/12 Reflection 9

11/15 Mad politics and political madness Eberl (1939-1945/2010) Grigorenko (1969-1970/2010) H. (1949/2010) Lichtenberg et al. (2003) Metzl & Roberts (2014) Lee (2017)

Final paper topic approval

11/19

Reflection 10

11/22 Thanksgiving break – no class

11/26 Reflection 11 11/29 Epistemic and social justice

Virtual guest: Emily Cutler Costa et al. (2012) Crichton et al. (2017) Cutler (2018) Fanon (1952/2008)

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Flynn (2014) Luhrmann (2016) Metzl & Hansen (2014)

12/3 Reflection 12

12/6 Mad scientists and mad doctors Guest: Anthony Pavlo

Burston (2018) Goffman (1961) Kriss (2013) Luhrmann (2000)

12/13, 7 pm

Final paper

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Full List of Readings

Andersen, J., Altwies, E., Bossewitch, J., Brown, C., Cole, K., Davidow, S., … Weber, C. L. (2018). Mad

resistance / mad alternatives: Democratizing mental health care. In S. J. Rosenberg & J. Rosenberg

(Eds.), Community Mental Health: Challenges for the 21st century, third edition (pp. 19-36). New

York, NY: Routledge.

BPS (2014). Understanding psychosis and schizophrenia. British Psychological Society Division of

Clinical Psychology. Retrieved from https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/Public%20

files/rep03_understanding_psychosis.pdf

BPS (2018). The power threat meaning framework: Summary. British Psychological Society

Britz, B. (n.d.) Hearing voices with Berta Britz. Available at https://oc87recoverydiaries.org/

hearing-voices-with-berta-britz/

Burston, D. (2018). Psychiatry, anti-psychiatry, and anti-anti-psychiatry: Rhetoric and reality.

Psychotherapy and politics international. Available at https://onlinelibrary.

wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppi.1439

Byrne, L., Stratford, A., & Davidson, L. (2018). The global need for lived experience

leadership. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 41(1), 76-79. doi:10.1037/prj0000289

Costa, L., Voronka, J., Landry, D., Reid, J., Mcfarlane, B., Reville, D., & Church, K. (2012).

“Recovering our Stories”: a small act of resistance. Studies in Social Justice, 6(1), 85-101.

Crichton, P., Carel, H., & Kidd, I. J. (2017). Epistemic injustice in psychiatry. Bjpsych Bulletin, 41(2), 65-

70.

Cutler, E. S. (2018). In defense of victimhood. Radical abolitionist: A cognitive literary blogspace. Retrieved from https://www.radicalabolitionist.org/radical-abolitionist/2018/6/5/in-defense-of-

victimhood

Deegan, P. (1996). Recovery as a journey of the heart. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 19(3),

91-97.

DuBrul, S. A. (2014). The Icarus Project: A counter narrative for psychic diversity. Journal of the Medical Humanities, 35, 257-271.

Eberl, I. (2010). Documents on the "T-4" and "14f13" Programs. In G. Eghigian (Ed.), From madness to mental health: Psychiatric disorder and its treatment in Western Civilization (pp. 299-303).

Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Original work published 1939-1945.

Fanon, F. (2008). Black skin, white masks. (Trans. R. Philcox). New York, NY: Grove Books.

Original work published 1952.

Foucault, M. (1988). The insane. In Madness and civilization (pp. 65-84). New York, NY:

Random House. Original work published 1965.

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Flynn, G. (2014). Gone girl: “Cool girl” monologue. Available at https://genius.com/Gillian-

flynn-gone-girl-cool-girl-monologue-movie-annotated

Fulford, K. W., Stanghellini, G., & Broome, M. (2004). What can philosophy do for

psychiatry? World Psychiatry, 3(3), 130–135.

Fulford, K. W. M., Thornton, T., & Graham, G. (2006). A brief history of mental disorder. In

Oxford Textbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry (pp. 144-159), New York, NY: Oxford University

Press.

Freud, S. (1901). Psychopathology of everyday life. In J. Strachy & A. Freud (Trans. & Eds.),

The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. London, UK:

Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis.

Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. New York, NY: Random House.

Good, B. J., & Subandi, M. A. (2004). Experiences of psychosis in Javanese culture: Reflections on a

case of acute, recurrent psychosis in contemporary Yogyakara, Indonesia. In J. H. Jenkins & R. J.

Barrett, Schizophrenia, culture, and subjectivity: The edge of experience (pp. 167-195). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Grigoenko, P. (2010). Records in the case of Pyotr Grigoenko (1969-1970). In G. Eghigian, (Ed.), From madness to mental health: Psychiatric disorder and its treatment in Western civilization (pp. 317-

328). Original work published 1969-1970

H., T. (2010). An experience of psychosis in post-World War II Germany. In G. Eghigian (Ed.), From madness to mental health: Psychiatric disorder and its treatment in Western civilization (pp. 299-

303). Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Original work published 1949.

Hacking, I. (2006). Making up people. London Review of Books, 16, 23-26. Available at

https://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n16/ian-hacking/making-up-people

Harper, D., & Speed, E. (2012). Uncovering recovery: The resistible rise of recovery and

resilience. Studies in Social Justice, 6(1), 9-26.

Haslam, N. (2002). Kinds of kinds: A conceptual taxonomy of psychiatric categories. Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, 9, 203-217.

Hearing Voices Network (2018). Hearing Voices Network website. Available at

https://www.hearing-voices.org

Icarus Project. (2017). Madness & oppression: Paths to personal transformation and collective liberation. Available at https://theicarusproject.net/wpcontent/uploads/2017/10/

MadnessAndOppressionGuide-compressed.pdf

Jones, N., & Brown, R. L. (2013). The absence of psychiatric c/s/x perspectives in academic

discourse: consequences and implications. Disability Studies Quarterly, 33(1). Available at:

http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/3433/3198

Jones, N. & Shattell, M. (2014). Beyond easy answers: Facing the entanglements of violence and

psychosis. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 35, 809-811.

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Joseph, A. J. (2015). The necessity of an attention to Eurocentrism and colonial technologies: An

addition to critical mental health literature. Disability & Society, 30(7), 1021-1041.

Kalathil, J. (2013). Hard to reach? Racialised groups and mental health service user

involvement. Mental Health Service Users in Research: Critical Sociological Perspectives, 121-

133.

Kalathil, J., & Jones, N. (2016). Unsettling disciplines: Madness, identity, research, knowledge.

Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, 23(3/4), pp. 183-188.

Kalweit, H. (1989). When insanity is a blessing: The message of shamanism. In S. Grof & C.

Grof (Eds.), Spiritual emergency: When personal transformation becomes a crisis (pp. 77-97).

Los Angeles, CA: Jeremy P. Tarcher.

Kapp, S. K., Gillespie-Lynch, K., Sherman, L. E., & Hutman, T. (2013). Deficit, difference, or

both? Autism and neurodiversity. Developmental Psychology, 49(1), 59-71.

Keshavan, M. S., Nasrallah, H. A., & Tandon, R. (2011). Schizophrenia, "just the facts" 6.

Moving ahead with the schizophrenia concept: From the elephant to the mouse.

Schizophrenia Research, 127, 3-13.

King, C. (2007). They diagnosed me a schizophrenic when I was just a Gemini. 'The other

side of madness.' In M. C. Chung, K. W. M. Fulford, & G. Graham, Reconceiving schizophrenia

(pp. 11-28). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Kriss, S. (2013). Book of Lamentations. The New Inquiry. Available at https://thenewinquiry.

com/book-of-lamentations/

Kurtz, M. M. (2015). A brief history of the treatment of schizophrenia. In Schizophrenia and its treatment: Where is the progress? (pp. 59-84). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Laing, R. D. (1960). The divided self. New York, NY: Penguin books.

Lee, B. X. (2017). The dangerous case of Donald Trump: 27 psychiatrists and mental health experts assess a president. New York, NY, US: Thomas Dunne Books.

LeFrançois, B. A., Menzies, R., & Reaume, G. (2013). Introducing mad studies & Part 1. In B.

A. LeFrançois, R. Menzies, & G. Reaume (Eds.), Mad matters: A critical reader in Canadian mad studies (pp. 1-26). Toronto, Canada: Canadian Scholars Press Inc.

Lichtenberg, P., Vass, A., & Heresco-Levy, U. (2003). Politics and psychopathology in an Arab-Israeli

patient. Psychiatry, 66, 360-363.

Longden, E. (2013). The voices in my head. Ted Talk. Available at https://www.ted.com/talks/

eleanor_longden_the_voices_in_my_head

Luhrmann, T. M. (2016). The culture of the institutional circuit in the United States. In T.

Luhrmann & J. Marrow (Eds.), Our most troubling madness: Case studies in schizophrenia across cultures (pp. 153-167). Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

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Luhrmann, T. M. (2000). Of two minds: An anthropologist looks at American psychiatry. New York, NY:

Random House.

Luhrmann, T. M., Ramachandran, P., & Tharoor, H. (2015). Differences in voice-hearing experiences of

people with psychosis in the USA, India and Ghana: Interview-based study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 206, 41-44.

Mad in America (2018). Mad in America website. Available at https://www.madinamerica.com

Metzl, J. M. (2009). The protest psychosis: How schizophrenia became a black disease. Boston,

MA: Beacon Press.

Metzl, J. M., & Hansen, H. (2014). Structural competency: Theorizing a new medical

engagement with stigma and inequality. Social Science & Medicine, 103, 126-133.

Metzl, J., & Roberts, D. E. (2014). Structural competency meets structural racism: race,

politics, and the structure of medical knowledge. American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, 16, 674-690.

Mindfreedom (2018). Mindfreedom website. Available at http://www.mindfreedom.org

Myers, N. L. (2010). Culture, stress and recovery from schizophrenia: Lessons from the field

for global mental health. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 34(3), 500–528.

http://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-010-9186-7

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https://www.nami.org

Noll, R. (2011). American madness: The rise and fall of dementia praecox. Cambridge, MA: Harvard

University Press.

Pavlo, A. J., Flanagan, E. H., Leitner, L. M., & Davidson, L. (2018). Can there be a recovery-

oriented diagnostic practice? Journal of Humanistic Psychology, OnlineFirst before print.

Available at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022167818787609

Pies, R. W. (2015). Serotonin: How psychiatry got over its “high school crush.” Psychiatric Times. Available at http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/blogs/couch-crisis/serotonin-how-

psychiatry-got-over-its-high-school-crush?rememberme=1&ts=19092015

Preston-Shoot, M. (2007). Whose lives and whose learning? Whose narratives and whose

writing? Taking the next research and literature steps with experts by experience.

Evidence & Policy, 3, 343-259.

Robbins, B. D., Karter, J. M., & Gallagher, K. (2015). Big pharma(kos): The stigmatized

scapegoat of medicalisation and the ethics of psychiatric diagnosis. Psychotherapy Section Review, 56, 84-96.

Russo, J., & Beresford, P. (2015). Between exclusion and colonisation: Seeking a place for mad

people’s knowledge in academia. Disability & Society, 30(1), 153-157

Selten, J., van der Ven, E., Rutten, B. F., & Cantor-Graae, E. (2013). The social defeat

hypothesis of schizophrenia: An update. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 39, 1180-1186.

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Shorter, E. (1997). A history of psychiatry [excerpts]. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Spandler, H., & Anderson, J. (2015). Unreasonable adjustments?: Applying disability policy to

madness and distress. In Spandler H., Anderson J., & Sapey B. (Eds.), Madness, distress and the politics of disablement (pp. 13-26). Bristol, UK; Chicago, IL, USA: Bristol University Press.

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Spandler, H., & Barker, M-J. (2016). Mad and queer studies: Interconnections and tensions [Web

log post]. Mad Studies Network. Available at https://madstudies2014.wordpress.com

/2016/07/01/mad-and-queer-studies-interconnections-and-tensions/

Starkman, M. (2013). Mad people’s history, evolving culture, and language. In B. A. LeFrançois,

R. Menzies, & G. Reaume (Eds.), Mad matters: A critical reader in Canadian mad studies (pp.

27-38). Toronto, Canada: Canadian Scholars Press Inc.

Strauss, J. S. (2017). Uncertainty theory: A powerful approach to understanding psychiatric

disorder. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes, 80, 301-308

Sass, L. (1992). Madness and modernism: Insanity in the light of modern art, literature, and thought. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Szasz, T. (1960). The myth of mental illness. American Psychologist, 15, 113-118

Voronka, J. (2017). Turning mad knowledge into affective labor: the case of the peer support

worker. American Quarterly, 69(2), 333-338.

Watters, E. (2010). Crazy like us: The globalization of the American psyche. New York, NY: Free Press.