title: 'Listen to my madness': understanding the experiences of people with serious mental illness.
abstract: This article explores the salience of disability theory for understanding the experiences of people with serious mental illness. Drawing on data from a focus group study, we suggest that users experience both impairment (as embodied irrationality) which can, in itself, be oppressive, and also have to manage their lives within a largely disabling society. We outline some of the strategies adopted by users to manage their situation and ensure they access and receive health services, and illustrate how these are a result of the complex relationship between disability and impairment. We suggest that using a framework of the social model of disability provides a useful way of understanding and making sense of the experience of users with serious mental illness.
authors.affiliation: Department of Primasry Care and General Practice, Medical School, University of Birmingham, UK. H.E.Lester@bham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lester
authors.forename: Jonathan Q
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Tritter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011287:Prejudice; D012649:Self Concept; D012938:Social Perception; D012944:Social Support; D012962:Sociology, Medical; D013222:State Medicine; D013240:Stereotyping