Shunned: Discrimination against People with Mental Illness

by Graham Thornicroft

Overview

People with mental illness commonly describe the stigma and discrimination they face as being worse than their main condition. Shunned presents clearly for a wide readership information about the nature and severity of discrimination against people with mental illness and what can be done to reduce this.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198570981
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/24/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	322
Product dimensions:	9.22(w) x 6.28(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Graham Thornicroft is Professor of Community Psychiatry, and Head of the multi-disciplinary Health Service Research Department at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London. He is a Consultant Psychiatrist and is Director of Research and Development at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. He chaired the External Reference Group for the National Service Framework for Mental Health in England. His areas of research expertise include: stigma and discrimination, mental health needs assessment, the development of outcome scales, cost-effectiveness evaluation of mental health treatments, and service user and consumer participation in mental health research. He is the author of 19 books and over 160 scientific papers.

Table of Contents

Introduction1. Close to home: family, housing and neighbours2. Getting personal: friendships, intimate relationships and childcare3. It's not working: discrimination and employment4. By a process of exclusion: discrimination in civil and social life5. Harmful helpers: discrimination in health and social care6. Profiting from prejudice: mental illness in the media7. Danger or disinformation: the facts about violence and mental illness8. 'Why try?' Self-stigmatisation, avoidance and withdrawal9. From stigma to ignorance, prejudice and discrimination10. What works to reduce discrimination? Challenges for service users11. What works to reduce discrimination? Challenges for everyone

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Steven T Herron, MD (CPI/Assurance Health and Wellness)
Description: Exploring the personal nature of psychiatric illness, this book examines both professional and lay perceptions of mental health disorders, often using powerful personal accounts from individuals living with and through the experience.
Purpose: In an effort to educate the community about the discrimination individuals with mental illness face, the author shares both enlightening research from many "cultured" societies and personal experience from over 20 years treating psychiatric illness in the United Kingdom.
Audience: While educational and illuminating for anyone who has a relative or friend suffering from a mental health disorder, this book is remarkably revealing about the professions treating these individuals, and is invaluable for those in the mental health community, including social workers, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, and case managers.
Features: This author addresses issues confronted by those with psychiatric diagnoses on a daily basis. Some of these include relationships with family, spouses, children, and friends, interactions with the healthcare system and social supports, experiences in the workplace, and media coverage of mental illness, to name a few. Each chapter is extensively referenced, and the author has included his suggestions for reducing the discrimination faced by individuals with psychiatric illnesses.
Assessment: Those treating individuals with mental illnesses should not be surprised by the suggestion that these people routinely suffer discrimination and alienation based on their diagnoses. Yet, when personalized and illustrated to reveal the human aspect of their struggles, the practices become more real and disturbing to the reader. What is even more troubling is research suggesting mental health professionals, those supposedly working for and with these individuals, share many of the same perceptions and attitudes as those who are not as educated about the conditions. Anyone treating people with psychiatric conditions should read this book to provide a greater understanding of the challenges those with mental illness face day after day.

Doody's Review Service

"Anyone treating people with psychiatric conditions should read this book to provide a greater understanding of the challenges those with mental illness face day after day."—Doody's

"An important contribution to the literature in an area of concern that is likely to receive increasing attention. If you are interested in discrimination or are building a library on key mental health issues, this book will be a very timely and valuable resource."—Open Mind

"This is an excellent text that should be part of required reading for all social and health care professionals. Shunned is overflowing with research, quotes and other material that make it an invaluable resource to have on the bookshelf."—British Journal of Social Work

"Shunned presents a detailed, well referenced account of the issues associated with discrimination against people with experience of mental illness."—Like Minds

"Shunned provides a comprehensive look at stigma, prejudice, and discrimination against persons with mental illnesses. It is well written and easy to read. The references, including Internet sites, are extensive. The many personal anecdotes add poignant reality to the documented research information. The book should be ready by anyone who is concerned about the status, conditions, and rights of persons with mental illnesses and particularly by policy and decision makers who have the opportunity to make changes in the many negative and discriminatory ways in which mentally ill persons are treated."—Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

"Thornicroft has great skill in addressing the various manifestations of stigma...The reader is left hopeful about the future of stigma."—Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

"My choice for the best resource on this subject [the issue of stigma and discrimination against people with mental disorders] is Shunned. This superb book is a labour of love arising out of the author's compassion for people with serious mental disorders. The author combines photographs, narratives of experiences of people with mental disorders, and analysis of the causes and strategies to combat stigma and discrimination in a remarkably frank and insightful book. Essential reading for anyone who wonders why the is still such little response to the unacceptably large unmet need for care for people with mental disorders."—Health and Policy Planning

"...cogent and provocative analysis of the ways in which discrimination, prejudice and stigma affect the lives of people with mental illness. Thornicroft has written one of the most important books on the subject of stigma and discrimination to emerge in the last few years. It is to be recommended to all those involved in mental health care, practitioners, students, advocates and consumers alike, and all who have a social conscience that may be ready to turn to action."—Metapsychology Online

From the Publisher