One prominent idea in the modern media is that madness and creativity are linked, but this notion is not new and seems to have originated with the Greek thinker Socrates… Read more »

Modern understandings of asylums, mental disorder, and psychiatry are strongly influenced by the medicalised identities portrayed in film. This podcast sets out some examples of the interaction between sociology, psychiatry,… Read more »

In the current block of podcasts, we are exploring how psychiatry has been portrayed in the mass media, and the ways in which literature, art, film, television and the internet… Read more »

The depiction of mental illness in the press has always been highly selective.  On the plus side were public relations pieces about public asylums in the local or regional press… Read more »

Perceptions of madness and those who care for it have always been shaped by representations in mass media. Nowadays we have radio and television as well as the internet and… Read more »

The last two podcasts have shown how mad people are different before the law. Psychiatry has certain legal privileges in how it handles patients. The implications of these two facts… Read more »

Historical fiction, when underpinned by rigorous research and an informed understanding of context, can be a useful way to explore individual issues.  As the subject of this week’s podcast is… Read more »

All parts of Britain and Ireland had laws to safeguard the physical welfare and supervise the management of the finances, of adults with a mental illness or impairment. These laws… Read more »

For centuries the development of psychiatry was shaped by social norms, political climates, and legal frameworks. This block of podcasts examines psychiatry’s relationship with the law, both from a sufferer’s point of… Read more »

What do the doctors of tomorrow think about mental illness and psychiatric care?  Rab Houston reflects on a recent visit to a leading Scottish medical school. A couple of weeks… Read more »

The place of nursing staff in psychiatric care past (and present) remains under-researched. Yet patients’ day-to-day lives were profoundly affected by those in regular contact with them. Until formal training… Read more »

A landmark in the formation of psychiatry came in the middle of the twentieth century. After centuries of sometimes heated disagreements between practitioners, professional associations and non-governmental bodies developed criterion-based… Read more »

In this week’s podcast, we return to mental medicine, setting out the forces behind the emergence of psychiatry: the rise of asylums, professional associations, research publications, and specialist training. These… Read more »

The structure of mental health medicine I outlined last time is a late twentieth century innovation. Until the mid-nineteenth century it is probably better to talk, not of a stratified… Read more »

Modern psychiatric care is structured into a system of provision which mainly provides care in the community. Understanding the neat modern categories throws into relief the complex, multi-layered medical marketplace… Read more »

Psychiatry has always been influenced by perspectives from non-medical disciplines and these have in turn changed how the wider society looks at mental medicine. This podcast examines critical perspectives associated… Read more »

The great age of the asylum was between 1850 and 1950, yet even then there were voices raised to question the role and effectiveness of large-scale instititions. This podcasts asks… Read more »

A remarkable shift in the care of the mad occurred between 1800 and 2000: from almost no asylums to – almost no asylums.  How and why this happened is the… Read more »

How do we account for the rise and decline of asylums? When we think about the history of psychiatry we probably envisage Victorian lunatic asylums. Large institutional buildings that can… Read more »

This podcast carries on from last week’s, asking: Were Bethlem’s staff negligent and cruel? Did it do little to cure its inmates? The conclusion is that Bethlem was for centuries… Read more »