Voices from the Inside Readings on the Experiences of Mental Illness

by Karp, David A.; Sisson, Gretchen E.

• ISBN13: 9780195370454
• ISBN10: 0195370457
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-07-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

One of sociology's most important missions is giving voice to those whose experiences are typically otherwise blunted, marginalized, or simply ignored. Featuring memorable, first-person accounts of mentally ill individuals, Voices from the Inside: Readings on the Experiences of Mental Illness allows students to connect directly with real-life "experts" who know mental illness all too intimately. This unique anthology addresses a variety of central topics surrounding mental illness, including suicide, hospitalization, the meanings of medication, the experiences of caregivers, and the stigma attached to mental illness. Each section of readings opens with a "sensitizing" introduction that outlines key questions, specific matters for student consideration, and ways in which social scientists approach relevant substantive issues. The thought-provoking discussion questions following each set of readings are designed to foster vibrant class discussion. Comprehensive enough to be used throughout a course--but brief enough to be combined with other supplementary materials or a full-scale textbook--Voices from the Inside is ideal for upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses on the sociology of mental health and illness. It can also be used in courses in medical sociology, social work and mental health, nursing and mental health, and abnormal psychology.

Author Biography

David A. Karp is Professor of Sociology at Boston College. His books include Is It Me or My Meds? Living with Antidepressants (2006); The Burden of Sympathy: How Families Cope with Mental Illness (OUP, 2000); and Speaking of Sadness: Depression, Disconnection, and the Meanings of Illness (OUP, 1996), which received the Charles Horton Cooley Award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction.:
Gretchen E. Sisson is is an advanced doctoral student in the Boston College Sociology Department and an alumna of Amherst College.

Table of Contents

Each Part opens with an Editors' Introduction

Giving Voice to the Mentally Ill

The Illness Experience

An Unwelcome Career

Flights of the Mind

The Eden Express

The Center Cannot Hold

The Auto Accident That Never Was

Denial and Addiction

Caregivers Speak

Everything Falls Apart

In Sickness and in Health

Hospitalization

The Looney Bin Trip

The Quiet Room

The Meanings Of Medication

Prozac Diary

Teens Talk

The Reality Of Suicide

No Time to Say Goodbye

The Stigma of Mental Illness

To Tell or Not to Tell

Depressives in the Lounge

In The Community

The Ninth Floor

9 Highland Road

Recovering

Undercurrents

Wasted

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