1st Edition

Mental Illness and the Body Beyond Diagnosis

By Louise Phillips Copyright 2006
208 Pages
by Routledge

208 Pages
by Routledge

208 Pages
by Routledge

Using real life case studies of people experiencing mental illness, this book identifies how bodily presentation of patients may reflect certain aspects of their ‘lived experience’. With reference to a range of theoretical perspectives including philosophy, psychoanalysis, feminism and sociology, Mental Illness and the Body explores the ways in which understanding ‘lived experience’ may... Read more

Preface  1. Introduction  2. Lived Experience  3. Bodily Inscription  4. Women Speaking  5. Unspoken Distress  6. Psychosis  7. The Practitioner's Body  8. The Patient's Body  9. Developing Practice

Biography

Louise Phillips is a lecturer in Mental Health at City University and a mental health nurse. She has practiced for the past 18 years in a variety of settings including elderly care, the voluntary sector and the NHS. Immediately before starting her academic career, she worked for a number of years as a Community Psychiatric Nurse in the King’s Cross area of London. In addition to her nursing qualification she has a BA in European Cultural History and completed her PhD on approaches to the body and mental illness at the university of Kent at Canterbury in March 2003.

This book will prove useful to any student of social theory attempting to grapple with diverse critical positions, and uses interesting case examples to illustrate how theory could be applicable. Jayati Das-Munshi South West Lambeth Community Mental Health Team. London UK