Madness as disability.
How does society imagine mental illness? Does this shift radically over time and with different social attitudes as well as scientific discoveries about the origins and meanings of mental illness? What happens when we begin to think about mental illness as madness, as a malleable concept constantly shifting its meaning? We thus look at the meanings associated with 'general paralysis of the insane' in the nineteenth century and autism today in regard to disability. In this case study we examine the claims by scholars such as the anthropologist Emily Martin and the psychiatrist Kay Jamison as to the relationship between mental illness, disability and creativity. Today, the health sciences have become concerned with mental illness as a form of disability. How does this change the meaning of madness for practitioners and patients?
Emory University, Atlanta, USA slgilma@emory.edu.
Sander L
SL
Gilman
D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000266:history* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000145:classification / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000266:history* / Q000628:therapy; D009494:Neurosyphilis / Q000266:history; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000266:history; D014481:United States
Autism; bipolar disease; disability; madness