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‘Listen to my madness’: understanding the experiences of people with serious mental illness
Author(s) -
Lester Helen,
Tritter Jonathan Q.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9566.2005.00460.x
Subject(s) - mental illness , salience (neuroscience) , embodied cognition , irrationality , psychology , mental health , social model of disability , sociology of health and illness , psychiatry , cognitive psychology , health care , epistemology , rationality , philosophy , economics , economic growth
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.