DOCSLIB.ORG

The Ingrebourne Centre (1954-2005) Vicissitudes in the Life of a Therapeutic Community

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Ingrebourne Centre (1954-2005) Vicissitudes in the Life of a Therapeutic Community The Ingrebourne Centre (1954-2005) Vicissitudes in the Life of a Therapeutic Community by Dr Thomas Michael Harrison A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). History of Medicine Institute of Applied Healthcare Research College of Medical and Dental Sciences University of Birmingham September 2018 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Acknowledgements This thesis is the culmination of many years of interest in therapeutic communities. During that time I have met with, and learned from, many hundreds of individuals. It is with regret that only a few of those can be mentioned here. My first thanks have to go to Craig Fees, archivist at the Planned Environment Therapy Trust, who has been a friend, supporter, advisor and mentor through both this piece of work and my previous study of the Northfield Experiments. It was he who stimulated this research when he informed me of the Richard Crocket Archive that had recently been collected by the Trust. My two supervisors Professor Jonathan Reinarz and Dr Leonard Smith have stoutly read through numerous drafts of chapters as they were worked and reworked. Their comments and advice have been invaluable in helping me move from being a retired-clinician-historian to a historian who was a clinician. Two groups of people offered their time to talk about their experiences. As their contributions were anonymous I have decided not to name them here. This is unfortunate as their help was invaluable and without it there would be no thesis. The first were a number of nurses and doctors whom I had known in the Birmingham area who were able to describe life in the mental hospitals of the 1950s to the 1980s. The second were the people who had been at the Ingrebourne, and three hospital managers under whose ambit the Centre came. All gave openly of their time, hospitality and trust. Many have responded to correspondence since I met with them, and in particular have taken the time to read the penultimate draft of the completed thesis. One I can mention by name and that is Andrew Roberts whose insights and comments have profoundly influenced my understanding of the experience at the Centre. Then there are people whose advice and knowledge have given me great assistance. In particular Dr David Millward helped me understand his friend Dr Richard Crocket, and nursing historian Professor Peter Nolan shared his knowledge of mental hospital nursing and commented on my chapter relating to this subject. Finally, none of this would have come about without the continuing loving support of my wife, Jane. Her patience and comments have been invaluable. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... Chapter 1: Living in Groups: Introduction to the Rationale and Methodology of the Research. ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1. Introduction: Therapeutic Communities and the Social Human ....................................... 1 2. The Project and Rationale ................................................................................................................. 2 3. Theoretical Background ................................................................................................................... 17 4. Methodological Issues ....................................................................................................................... 23 5. Framework of the Thesis ................................................................................................................. 29 Chapter 2: ‘Strange Therapeutics’: Reform in British Mental Health Services 1950- 1970 .................................................................................................................................................. 31 1. Stasis and Reform in Post-Second World War Psychiatric Hospitals ............................. 31 2. Emerging from Despondency: Reform in British Mental Health Services 1950-1970 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 59 3. Utopian ideals and Mundane Reality: Mental Hospitals in the Era of Anti-psychiatric critiques 1959 to 1979 .......................................................................................................................... 82 4. Stasis and Change................................................................................................................................ 91 Chapter 3: Oily Rags in the Corridor: Permissiveness and the Evolution of the Therapeutic Community at Ingrebourne. ............................................................................. 92 1. Changing the Culture: Introduction ............................................................................................. 92 2. The First Years: 1954 to 1960........................................................................................................ 93 3. From ‘a Golden Age’ to Despondency: The Ingrebourne Centre 1960 to 1975. ...... 113 4. Ingrebourne 1965-1975 ................................................................................................................ 137 5. The First Twenty Years: a Brief Reflection. ........................................................................... 142 Chapter 4: ‘Anybody spoke’: Transitional Emotional Spaces ..................................... 144 1. The Evolution of Transitional Spaces and Ingrebourne ................................................... 144 2. Silence and Spontaneity: The evolution of the therapeutic community concept. ... 144 3. A Mish-Mash of Relationships: Therapeutic Spaces at Ingrebourne ........................... 171 4. Boundaries and Compassion ....................................................................................................... 207 4 Chapter 5: ‘And then some splitting started appearing’: Later years at the Ingrebourne Centre ................................................................................................................... 209 1. The Rise of the Economic Patient and the Decline of Trust............................................. 209 2. ‘If We Were to Fight for Survival’: Decline and Fall. ........................................................... 221 3. ‘A Fight for Survival’. ....................................................................................................................... 239 Chapter 6: A Transitional Therapeutic Community: Caring, Compassion and Containment in Psychiatric Care. ......................................................................................... 241 1. ‘Empathy and Rapport of a Therapeutic Kind’? ................................................................... 241 2. ‘The Vigil and the Gift’: Care, Compassion and Containment. ......................................... 243 3. ‘Great Tranquillity Was Everywhere Prevalent’: Care, Compassion and Control in the History of British Mental Hospitals. ....................................................................................... 248 4. Care and Compassion in the Therapeutic Community. ..................................................... 252 5. Compassion, care and ‘customers’ ............................................................................................ 254 Bibliography: ................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. 1 Chapter 1 Living in Groups: Introduction to the Rationale and Methodology of the Research We talked it out in the group, an’ I guess the actual patients became part of the therapy (ex-resident of the Ingrebourne Centre commenting in 2015)1 1. Introduction: Therapeutic Communities and the Social Human That man is a social animal is a truism that has worn thin with repetition, yet its extensive implications are rarely fully understood. George Mead, the American philosopher and psychologist, argued that ‘I’ exists only in relationships to another, albeit the ‘other’ might be the repository of memories, experiences and sensations that constitutes ‘me’.2 This counter-intuitive understanding places relationships at the heart of consciousness and argues that it cannot exist in their absence. Variations on this theme have been postulated by numerous others from the psychoanalyst Fairbairn to the French philosopher Merleau- Ponty.3 From a biological point of view Dr Ian McGilchrist, a psychiatrist writing on neuroscience, adopts a similar stance, asserting that there is no need to create a link between each of us, ‘because although individual we are not initially separated, but intersubjective in our consciousness.4 1 This comment reflects the experience of one interviewee INGCE24, interview,2015, 4. All quotes heading up chapters
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Inscribed 6 (2).Pdf
    Inscribed6 CONTENTS 1 1. AVIATION 33 2. MILITARY 59 3. NAVAL 67 4. ROYALTY, POLITICIANS, AND OTHER PUBLIC FIGURES 180 5. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 195 6. HIGH LATITUDES, INCLUDING THE POLES 206 7. MOUNTAINEERING 211 8. SPACE EXPLORATION 214 9. GENERAL TRAVEL SECTION 1. AVIATION including books from the libraries of Douglas Bader and “Laddie” Lucas. 1. [AITKEN (Group Captain Sir Max)]. LARIOS (Captain José, Duke of Lerma). Combat over Spain. Memoirs of a Nationalist Fighter Pilot 1936–1939. Portrait frontispiece, illustrations. First edition. 8vo., cloth, pictorial dust jacket. London, Neville Spearman. nd (1966). £80 A presentation copy, inscribed on the half title page ‘To Group Captain Sir Max AitkenDFC. DSO. Let us pray that the high ideals we fought for, with such fervent enthusiasm and sacrifice, may never be allowed to perish or be forgotten. With my warmest regards. Pepito Lerma. May 1968’. From the dust jacket: ‘“Combat over Spain” is one of the few first-hand accounts of the Spanish Civil War, and is the only one published in England to be written from the Nationalist point of view’. Lerma was a bomber and fighter pilot for the duration of the war, flying 278 missions. Aitken, the son of Lord Beaverbrook, joined the RAFVR in 1935, and flew Blenheims and Hurricanes, shooting down 14 enemy aircraft. Dust jacket just creased at the head and tail of the spine. A formidable Vic formation – Bader, Deere, Malan. 2. [BADER (Group Captain Douglas)]. DEERE (Group Captain Alan C.) DOWDING Air Chief Marshal, Lord), foreword. Nine Lives. Portrait frontispiece, illustrations. First edition.
    [Show full text]
  • European Studies Research Institute Centre for Contemporary History
    Treating and Preventing Trauma: British Military Psychiatry during the Second World War Nafsika Thalassis EuropeanStudies Research Institute Centre for ContemporaryHistory and Politics University of Salford, Salford, UK Submitted in Partial Fulfilment for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, October 2004 Table of Contents Acknowledgments iv Declaration Vi List of Abbreviations Vii Abstract Viii Introduction I Chapter 1: Trauma, Psychiatry and the Military c. 1860-1939 15 Introduction 15 Five disorders of the I 9th century 17 Psychiatry, Psychology and Social Medicine 1900-1918 34 Shell-shock 1914-1918 38 Intelligence Testing 53 The inter-war years 1918-1939 54 General Psychiatry 1918-1939 57 Conclusion 66 Chapter 2: The Administration of psychiatric services 67 Introduction 67 Preventionand Specialisation in the Army MedicalServices 70 Morale 72 The Army MedicalDepartment 74 The Directoratefor the Selectionof Personnel 82 Psychiatristsand the TavistockClinic 83 Psychiatryand Preventive Medicine 85 Oppositionand Patronage 90 Conclusion 99 Chapter 3: Selection of Personnel 102 Introduction 102 Currenthistoriography 104 Section1: Men in the Ranks 107 The introductionof new selectionprocedures 107 The purposeof personnelselection III The Reportof the British War Office Committeeof Enquiryinto Shell Shock 115 Factorsthat facilitatedthe adoptionof intelligencetests 119 Section2: The Officers 124 Selection 124 Validation 129 Meritocracy? 131 PsychologicalDefeat? 136 Conclusion 138 Chapter 4: Sutton Emergency Hospital 1940-1942 140 Introduction 140 Sutton1940-1942 142 ii Conclusion 152 Chapter 5: Psychiatry in the Theatres of War 153 Introduction 153 The Middle EastForce and the Historyof the MedicalServices 160 HaroldPalmer in Tripoli, 1943 170 AmericanPsychiatrists in Algiers, 1943 177 Italy, 1944 180 Conclusion 187 Chapter 6: Northfield Military Hospital 1942-1945 191 Introduction 191 The Setting 192 The First Northfield experiment 198 The SecondNorthfield Experiment 205 S.H.
    [Show full text]
  • Tidings, There Is an Insert Giving Details of Our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 16Th April
    THE TEDDINGTON SOCIETY NEWSLETTER T I D I N G S Helping to make Teddington even better Number 160 Spring 2013 Contents: Letter from the Chair From the Editor 2 This post-Christmas period always seems a bit of an anti-climax with Membership matters 3 continued dark mornings and evenings and the prospect of more rain, Buildings of Townscape Merit 3 snow and ice to come. However, the Teddington Society's January party is always a cheerful occasion which, at the time of writing this, we can look Teddington Station anniversary 4 forward to. Last week I went with Sheena Harold on a conducted tour of Teddington Lights Up 2012 5 the refurbished splendours of Strawberry Hill - all clean and gilded and sparkling. They have also planted hundreds of trees in the gardens (open Reports from the Groups 6 to the public) and a sensory garden. It is apparently now a popular venue Society plays Santa 10 for weddings and, although technically outside Teddington, we hope to establish closer ties in future. Tedd. School Community Awards 10 Below you will see a notice of "Situations Vacant". We are looking for Teddington Police Liaison Group 11 additional members of the Executive Committee to assist particularly with secretarial support but generally because we seem to be involved in Farmers Market 11 additional projects such as the Teddington Village Fair and could do with 100 years of shopping 12 more willing hands! Housebound Library Service 13 Jenny Hilton Totally Locally 13 New Members 13 Annual General Meeting Business Exchange 14 With this edition of Tidings, there is an insert giving details of our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 16th April.
    [Show full text]
  • London Metropolitan Archives Saint John's
    LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES Page 1 SAINT JOHN'S HOSPITAL, BATTERSEA AND NORMANSFIELD HOSPITAL H29 Reference Description Dates NORMANSFIELD HOSPITAL Administration: correspondence of Langdon-Down family Mary Langdon-Down's Correspondence H29/NF/A/01/001 Letters from correspondents with names 1881 Aug beginning BOA-BY. Box no.1. Sections for A -1882 Dec -BL are now empty. 156 items, including letters from a theatrical scene painter and letters from Harrow School concerning her son 1 box H29/NF/A/01/001/A Letters from correspondents with names 1882 beginning NA-PY. Includes letters to the architect, Plumbe 1 file H29/NF/A/01/002 Letters from correspondents with names 1881 Jul-1883 beginning T-Z. Original label missing. 654 Jul items, including letters from James Sherwood Westmacott concerning bust of John Langdon -Down 1 box H29/NF/A/01/003 Letters from correspondents with names 1881 Aug beginning H-K. Box no.8 -1883 Oct 1 box H29/NF/A/01/004 Letters from correspondents with names 1881 Aug beginning E-G. Box no.14 -1884 Jul 1 box H29/NF/A/01/005 Letters from correspondents with names 1882 Dec beginning C-D. Box no.XV -1884 Jul 1 box H29/NF/A/01/006 Letters from correspondents with names 1881 Aug beginning L-M. Box no.XVI -1884 Jul 1 box H29/NF/A/01/007 Letters from correspondents with names 1882 Dec beginning R-S. Box no.XVII -1884 Jul 1 box H29/NF/A/01/008 Letters from correspondents with names 1882 Dec beginning A-B.
    [Show full text]
  • Education and Politics in the British Armed Forces in the Second World War*
    PENELOPE SUMMERFIELD EDUCATION AND POLITICS IN THE BRITISH ARMED FORCES IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR* Several eminent Conservatives, including Winston Churchill, believed that wartime schemes of education in the Armed Forces caused servicemen to vote Labour at the Election of 1945. For instance, R. A. Butler wrote: "The Forces' vote in particular had been virtually won over by the left- wing influence of the Army Bureau of Current Affairs."1 So frequently was this view stated that ABCA became a scapegoat for Tory defeat.2 By no means all servicemen voted. 64% put their names on a special Service Register in November 1944, and 37% (just over half of those who registered) actually voted by post or proxy in July 1945, a total of 1,701,000. Research into the Election in the soldiers' home constituencies, where their votes were recorded, suggests that they made little difference to the outcome of the election.3 But the Tories' assumption that servicemen voted Labour is borne out. McCallum and Readman indicate that their vote confirmed, though it did not cause, the swing to Labour in the con- stituencies, and those with memories of the separate count made of the servicemen's ballot papers recall that it was overwhelmingly left-wing, e.g., Labour in the case of Reading, where Ian Mikardo was candidate.4 * I should like to thank all those who were kind enough to talk to me about their experiences on active service or in the War Office, some of which have been quoted, but all of which have been helpful in writing this paper.
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Synopsis – the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto
    Historical Synopsis – The Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto The initial version of this brief account of the Department of Psychiatry’s origins and founding (web- published, 2004) ranged from 1845 to 1925. This updated synopsis extends the account, as a convenient chronological marker, to the Department’s centenary year, 2007-08. A more substantial focus remains on the pre-history and early history, since those eras were lived before the life experiences of most of us, and have not been documented to the same extent as the more recent events in the life of our Department. Psychiatry’s Origins It was 1908 and the Mimico Asylum’s Medical Superintendent, Dr. Nelson Beemer, was adamant. The University of Toronto (U. of T.) could call its newest department “Psychiatry” if it wished, but he had been an Extramural [hospital-based] Professor of Mental Diseases in the Medical Faculty for five years, and favoured that title. President Robert Falconer, in place of the ailing Dean of Medicine, had consented and the newly-ensconced Department head, Professor C.K. Clarke (who as Beemer’s Queen Street counterpart had held the same title) recognized that this was a minor point of semantics. Falconer reported back to Clarke that, “I put before [Beemer] the fact that the department would be run on psychiatric lines under your direction… He assured me he would be willing to cooperate with you on the matter…”1 They were in basic agreement that, as Clarke later defined for a general readership: “A psychiatrist is one who studies and treats diseases of the mind.”2 Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Sequential Assessment Department for Education
    SEQUENTIAL ASSESSMENT DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION/BOWMER AND KIRKLAND LAND OFF HOSPITAL BRIDGE ROAD, TWICKENHAM, RICHMOND -UPON- THAMES LALA ND SEQUENTIAL ASSESSMENT On behalf of: Department for Education/Bowmer & Kirkland In respect of: Land off Hospital Bridge Road, Twickenham, Richmond-upon-Thames Date: October 2018 Reference: 3157LO Author: PD DPP Planning 66 Porchester Road London W2 6ET Tel: 0207 706 6290 E-mail [email protected] www.dppukltd.com CARDIFF LEEDS LONDON MANCHESTER NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE ESFA/Bowmer & Kirkland Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 4 2.0 QUANTITATIVE NEEDS ANALYSIS ....................................................... 5 3.0 POLICY CONTEXT .............................................................................11 4.0 SEQUENTIAL TEST METHODOLOGY .................................................17 5.0 ASSESSMENT OF SITES .....................................................................22 6.0 LAND OFF HOSPITAL BRIDGE ROAD ................................................55 7.0 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................57 Land at Hospital Bridge Road, Twickenham, Richmond-upon-Thames 3 ESFA/Bowmer & Kirkland 1.0 Introduction 1.1 This Sequential Assessment has been prepared on behalf of the Department for Education (DfE) and Bowmer & Kirkland, in support of a full planning application for a combined 5FE secondary school and sixth form, three court MUGA and associated sports facilities, together with creation of an area of Public Open Space at Land off Hospital Bridge Road, Twickenham, Richmond-upon- Thames (the ‘Site’). Background 1.2 Turing House School is a 5FE 11-18 secondary school and sixth form, which opened in 2015 with a founding year group (Year 7) on a temporary site on Queens Road, Teddington. The school also expanded onto a further temporary site at Clarendon School in Hampton in September 2018, and plans to remain on both of these temporary sites until September 2020.
    [Show full text]
  • The Langdon Downs and Normansfield
    THE LANGDON DOWNS AND NORMANSFIELD Richard Husband Dr John Langdon Down (1828-1896) was born the youngest of six children in Torpoint, Devon. His father was in business as a druggist, grocer and linen draper and the family lived over the shop. In 1847 John passed the Pharmaceutical Society's examinations and in 1853 entered the London Hospital Medical School. He qualified as a doctor and became Medical Superintendant at the Royal Earlswood Asylum for Idiots in 1856, a post he held until 1868. In 1859 he was elected Assistant Physician at the Royal London Hospital and then upon his resignation in 1868 commenced in practice at 38 Welbeck Street, London W. In 1881, he moved to larger premises nearby at 81 Harley Street. He bought the White House, soon to be renamed Normansfield on the borders of Hampton Wick and Teddington in 1868 which, following his experiences at Earlswood, became a Private Home for the "care, education and treatment of those of good social position who present any degree of mental deficiency". The White Dr John Langdon Down House came with five acres of grounds and soon after purchase, adjoining properties were added so that the establishment eventually extended to 43 acres. In 1879 the Normansfield theatre was opened which served both as an entertainment centre and a church. From an initial 19 patients in 1868, Normansfield had 145 patients by the time Dr John Langdon Down died suddenly in 1896. Throughout this period, he remained Medical Superintendent and his wife Mary, whom he had married in 1860, acted as Administrator.
    [Show full text]
  • THE COUNCIL and OFFICERS, 1940 41. Officers. Non-Official Members
    THE COUNCIL AND OFFICERS, 1940 41. Officers. President. —-THOMAS C. GRAVES, B.Sc., M.D., F.R.C.S. , T. LINDSAY, M.D., F.R.C.S.E., D.P.M. (South-Eastern). J. F. W. LEECH, B.A., M.D., B.C11., D.P.M. (South-Western). Vice-Presidents and H. D O VE COR.MAC, M.B., M.S., D.P.M. (S'orthern and Midland). Divisional Chairmen D. CHAMBERS, M.A., M.D., Ch.B., F.R.C.P.E. (Scottish). I C. B. MOLONEY, M B., Ch.B.N.U.L, D.P.M. (Irish). \ C. J. LODGE PATCH, -U.C., L. R.C.P.&S.Ed., L.R.F.P.S.Glas. (Indian). President-Elect.— A. A. W. PETRIE, M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.S.Eu. Ex-President.— A. HELEN BOYLE, M.D., L.R.C.I’.&S. Treasurer.— GEORGE WILLIAM SMITH, O .B.E., M.B. Hon. General Secretary.— W. GORDON MASEFIELD, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.P.M. Registrar.—H. G. L. HAYNES, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. Hon. Librarian.— J . R. WHITYVELL, M.B. South-Eastern.— R. M. MACFARLANE, M.D., Ch.B., D.P.H., D.P.M. South-Western.— S. E. MARTIN, M.B. Divisional Northern and Midland.—J. IVISON RUSSELL, M.D., F.R.F.P.S.G. Secretaries '' < „ i J w - M- McALISTER, M.A., M.B., Ch.B., F.R.C.P.E. Secretaries , Scothsh. | c A CR1CHL 0 \V, M.B., Cn.B. Irish.—PATRICK MORAN, M.B., B.Ch., D.P.M.
    [Show full text]
  • Nsc503 Course Title: Mental Health and Psychiatric
    NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA COURSE CODE: NSC503 COURSE TITLE: MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHIATRIC NURSING III COURSE CODE: NSC503 (4 CREDIT UNIT) COURSE TITLE: MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHIATRIC NURSING III Course Writers: Dr. J A Afolayan COURSE REVIEWER: DR E C Ndie Programme Co-ordinator: DR E C NDIE (H O D) COURSE GUIDE Contents Introduction The Course Course Aims Course Objectives Working through the course Course Material Study Units Text Books Assessment Tutor Marked Assignment Pen- On- Paper end of Course Examination Summary References/Further Readings 1.0 Introduction This course focuses on building on knowledge of psychosocial development from childhood to adulthood and the understanding of human behavior in health and illness and the knowledge acquired from NSC 314 (Mental Health Nursing and Psychiatric Nursing I) and NSC 412 (mental health and psychiatric nursing II) It is designed to equip the students to completely employ nursing process and evidence base nursing practice in the development of nursing care of Psychiatric clients. The course will expose the students to specific mental health issues related to substance abuse, therapeutic modalities in dynamics of human behaviours in the application of interventions and the concept and practice of community mental health nursing. 2.0 What you will learn in this course The overall aim of NSC 503: Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing III is to enable you build on what you have learnt in Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing I and II as this course advanced on the previous one. Some of the topics covered in this unit includes Substance Abuse, Alcoholism, Epilepsy, Therapeutic Modalities in Psychiatry, Crisis Intervention, Community Mental Health Nursing, Legal Aspects of Mental Health Nursing, History Taking of Psychiatric Patients, Electro-Convulsive Therapy, Occupational and Recreational Therapies, Rehabilitation and Psychiatric Pharmacology.
    [Show full text]
  • The Medical Model Vol. 2: Entering the Labyrinth: Balancing Care and Risk in Clinical Services Vol
    The Consumers’ Atlas to Mental Health CONVERSATION STARTERS Vol. 1: The Medical Model Vol. 2: Entering the labyrinth: Balancing care and risk in clinical services Vol. 3: Stigma: The precarious balance between social and personal identity Vol. 4: Where mental health is made: Personal autonomy and social regulation Vol. 5: Mad Studies Vol. 6: Musings about the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS): Are we in or out? Vol. 7: Holding ourselves together in time and space: Living in community Vol. 8: In the news: The wider context of mental health and illness Compiled by Merinda Epstein in partnership with Jacques Boulet The Consumer’s Atlas to Mental Health Published by Our Community Pty Ltd Melbourne Victoria Australia © Our Community Pty Ltd This publication is copyright. Apart from any fair use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be produced by any process without permission from the publisher. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction should be addressed to: Our Consumer Place PO Box 354 North Melbourne 3051 Victoria, Australia Please note: The views expressed in this guide are not necessarily the views of all partners in the Our Consumer Place initiative. While all care has been taken in the preparation of this material, no responsibility is accepted by the author(s) or Our Community, or its staff, for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies. The material provided in this guide has been prepared to provide general information only. It is not intended to be relied upon or be a substitute for legal or other professional advice. No responsibility can be accepted by the author(s), funders or publishers for any known or unknown consequences that may result from reliance on any information provided in this publication.
    [Show full text]
  • Types of Communication About Delusions Among People with Psychosis
    Types of Communication about Delusions among People with Psychosis (A multi-centre cross sectional interview and record study) A Quantitative and Qualitative Research A thesis submitted to the School of Medicine, Cardiff University, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Medical Doctorate (Psychiatry) by Dr. Karam A Fadhli MBBS, MSc, DPM, DPsych Supervised by Professor Pamela J Taylor MBBS, MRCP, FRCPsych, FMedSci & Professor Marianne van den Bree BSc, MSc, PhD Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University Abstract Background: Delusions are common in psychosis, defined as fixed, false beliefs. Some studies, however, have found that they may be less fixed than previously thought, possibly changing in response to talking about them. Relatives of people with psychosis or clinical staff often ask how to respond to them when they talk about their delusions, but no available advice appears to be evidence based. Aims: To review evidence on everyday communication about delusions and find out how people with delusions talk about them with others, taking three perspectives (patients, their nominated relatives and clinicians) and to construct a model for communication in relation to the delusion according to each party independently. Methods: 36 patients were engaged in semi-structured interviews about their mental state generally (Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale) and their delusion (Maudsley Assessment of Delusions Schedule). Each patient was asked to nominate a relative and a professional to whom s/he spoke about the delusion. Relatives and staff were interviewed by different researchers. Results: Most patients reported speaking to others about their delusion and nominated an informant.
    [Show full text]