Why is it so tempting to understand spirituality / religion as counter to our conception of mental health, both in terms of its causality and its therapeutic restoration?

Camilia Kong seeks to provide a philosophical diagnosis of the problem through Taylor’s discussion of the ‘immanent frame’ in Western modernity, and in so doing, provide the conceptual space for enriching understanding of divergent explanatory frameworks of mental disorder and cognitive disability in other sociocultural contexts.

Part of the London Lecture Series 2023-24 | “Madness and Mental Health"

Since the 1970s, psychiatry has been in the grip of a paradigm I call ‘madness-as-dysfunction’. In this view, mental disorders happen when something inside the person isn’t working as it should, or is ‘broken.’

In his previous work, Justin Garson has identified an alternate paradigm, which he calls ‘madness-as-strategy,’ which sees mental illness in terms of purpose, adaptation and function. In this lecture, Justin contrasts these frameworks and outlines their implications for research, treatment and stigma.

Part of the London Lecture Series 2023-24 | “Madness and Mental Health"

Is mad life possible? Constrained by everyday mentalism, and controlled by various forms of psychiatrization of our biographies, we ask – can we live the lives we dream rather than dreaming that we live?

Jasna Russo looks at the processes of knowledge making on what is considered madness and our ability to address each other in the second person, as you and me. Erick Fabris revisits a life of activism, from mutual aid to identity politics, and asks if Mad culture is possible in our time.

Part of the London Lecture Series 2023-24 | “Madness and Mental Health"