This volume attempts to shed a new and different light on the intersections between mental health, mental distress and society, without offering any programmatic methodology or declaration of intent. An array of critical voices from across various disciplines in the humanities (including philosophy, psychiatry, psychology, history and literature) are brought to bear upon the subject of mental distress as a form of life that appears within particular social and cultural environments. "Being Human" provides a powerful statement of the importance of thinking through the humanities for any non-reductive understanding of the meaning of mental distress, and gives compelling insights on a range of problems including; the understanding and representation of mental distress, the history of symptoms and critiques of psychiatry, and what a critical practice within mental health care means.At the heart of this collection lies a concern with the experience of mental distress as central to any understanding of what it means to be human. This book will be of interest to all those involved in the wider mental health field, including, academics, practitioners, service users and families and carers.Students and academics working within the humanities as a whole, particularly those interested in the experience of mental distress, will find this volume to be a key point of entry for current issues of debate.

About the Author
Alastair Morgan is a senior lecturer at the University of Manchester, UK. He has worked in the mental health field for a number of years, and is also a trained philosopher with a particular interest in Critical Theory and the philosophy of T.W. Adorno. His publications include Adorno's Concept of Life (Bloomsbury Press), and he is co-author of Values and Ethics in Mental Health: An exploration for practice ( Palgrave MacMillan, forthcoming, 2015).

Reviews
As a mental health professional who struggles to practice within a culture and mental health services in which the dominant discourses revolve around the medical model, it is immensely refreshing to read a range of voices from across several professional disciplines (e.g. philosophy, psychiatry, psychology, history and literature) that are keen to understand mental distress in a different and more holistic way. Actually, it is refreshing, simply, to read of an attempt to create spaces to think and 'reflect in an atmosphere of genuine enquiry and dialogue' (Morgan p1). This commitment to thinking and dialogue in a spirit of openness and exploration made a significant impact on me. Rachel Freeth, Psychiatrist, Ipnosis No 33, 2008.



Book Information
ISBN 9781906254063
Author Alastair Morgan
Format Paperback
Page Count 213
Imprint PCCS Books
Publisher PCCS Books
Weight(grams) 350g