Runciman, 2013. Postpsychiatry's Challenge to the Chemical Treatment of Mental Distress

[Ariel]

Not sure I'm posting this in the right place -- am following the logic that an academic dissertation falls in the research category. 

 

"Postpsychiatry's Challenge to the Chemical Treatment of Mental Distress" is psychologist Olga Runciman's 2013 master's thesis from the Department of Psychology at the University of Copenhagen.

https://psycovery.com/images/Postpsychiatrys-challenge-Olga-Runciman-2013.pdf

 

The link above is copied directly from psychologist Olga Runciman's professional website, as is the presentation below (I've made a few edits to the latter for clarity, fixed typo, etc.): 

 

Why Postpsychiatry

 

Postpsychiatry does not seek to find solutions within psychiatry. Instead they advocate we should be moving beyond psychiatry, encouraging an acceptance that not all human problems can be explained within an illness paradigm.

 

Postpsychiatry questions the paradigm of recovery which in psychiatry is often viewed from a perspective of a reduction or lessening of intensity of symptoms. Instead they promote supporting that it is the person herself who defines his recovery.

 

I am critical of the medical model and psychiatric medication aligning myself with critical and postpsychiatry. For an in-depth look at why, you are welcome to download my thesis which describes this.

 

Seven people labeled schizophrenic participated in qualitative interviews, giving voice to their experience of taking psychiatric medication. Three accept medication, two doubt its efficacy, and two are off medication completely. The voices of the interviewees introduce a world of context, meaning and understanding and show that madness is multifaceted and complex but understandable. The narratives of their medication experiences challenge the current psychiatric belief system.

 

 

Link to clinical psychologist and psychotherapist Olga Runciman's professional website, psycovery, where I found all of the above: https://psycovery.com/index.php/en/about-psycovery