Product Description

Pure Madness explores the tensions between themes of care and control in our mental health policy. Building each chapter around personal interviews, the author looks at the political, medical, legal and community viewpoints.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3223150 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Professor Graham Thornicroft, Head of Community Psychiatry Section, Institute of Psychiatry
'...required reading for anyone interested in mental health.'

Review

'This controversial book will shock the mental health world. It will be warmly welcomed by those who think that the mentally ill are scandalously neglected. It will also provoke the antagonism of many actively involved in field, both as providers and users of services. It will leave no-one indifferent. Jeremy Laurance paints a vivid and harsh portrait of how mentally ill people are treated in Britain today. It is quite simply required reading for anyone interested in mental health.' - Professor Graham Thornicroft, Head of Community Psychiatry Section, Institute of Psychiatry

'Comprehensive, easy to understand, accurately reflecting the needs and perspectives of those with mental health difficulties, this book has qualities that the mental health services it describes desperately lack.' - Nurturing Potential

'The blood, sweat and tears that went into producing the book are evident. The author's personal encounters, observing mental health professionals in action, and the stories of staff and service users, allow the reader to empathise with the people involved and the issues they face. In sum, a compelling and intellectually stimulating book, full of passion and insight.' - Erin Whittingham, Healthmatters

From the Author
This book is the account of an investigation into the state of mental health care in Britain, A large part of it is devoted to reportage in which I have tied to convey what it is like to receive, and to provide, services for people with mental problems. The book is therefore impressionistic and anecdotal – it is not an academic study of the mental health system. There are many who could – and have performed that task better than I.

The subject first caught my attention twenty years ago when I came across a table of charitable giving showing cancer close to the top and mental health near the bottom. I wondered why cared of the mind should rank so much lower tan the cared of the body. The position is the same today. The cancer charities are followed closely by the animal charities. We give more to dogs than to those with mental problems.

During research for the book I visited services in Bradford, Camden, Croydon, Hackney, Norfolk, and North Birmingham. I joined ward rounds, went out with crisis teams, witnessed people being sectioned and watched a consultation in the street. I found many examples of good and innovative practise described in the second half of the book – but, overall, the picture is a lot gloomier than a civilised nation ought to tolerate. It is not just a question of resources. It is a question of culture, too.

I owe a particular debt to those people with mental problems who gave of their time and discussed painful, intimate and distressing issues with me. They deserve a better deal than they are currently getting from the mental health services and I am convinced that the best way to delivery it is to involve them more fully in determining what kind of support they receive. I hope this book helps them achieve that.

Customer Reviews

Excellent
I totally disagree with the reader from Slough; this book is not meant as a kind of self-help guide to coping with mental health problems. This book is a hard-hitting critique of the role of policy and the media in propagating the (erroneous) relationship between mental health problems and violence. The book does examine some well-known users of mental health services but only as a vehicle to critique current mental health policy and practice. I recommend this book to all those who are interested in mental health issues and those who want to read about the oppression caused by mental health policy, the media and public attitudes for people with mental health issues.

Welcome to reality
Having experienced mental health issues from the perspective of a carer I was intrigued to listen to the points of view put across by the author. Without going in to too much depth he convayed the difficulties associated with mental heath by those effected, the carers and the medical profession. It makes for fascinating reading and lets you know that you're not alone in this world and that there are others going through the same tribulations. It gave me many new ideas and perspectives on how to deal with the issues that I have dealt with in the past and continue to have to deal with. I now have a better handle on how those effected by mental health issues feel.