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Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'
Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche by Ethan Watters
1 review
magzanilla's review against another edition
reflective
3.0
It had some enlightening examples of western psychiatry assuming mental health would be the same worldwide and imposing their analysis+assumptions onto other cultures of what is "right" + "possible" + "healthy thus good", and the dire consequences of that (like psychiatry being used for modern colonialism). Especially, of the 1980s to early 2000s.
And it can be a good introduction into the topic of psychiatric criticism through the perspective of cultural sociology and psych. Especially, for confronting biases in the western bio-medical psychiatric model and its modern successors. As often, nuanced acknowledgements of past and present psychiatry-as-a-tool-of-control is lacking in mainstream discussions.
However, the author's model of cultural mental illness theories and social-pool-of-symptoms, while worth considering - especially as a jumping off point in the Mad Sciences; can be misused very easily to dismiss identities and mental health experiences, despite the "intent" being the exact opposite. As well as failing to acknowledge other aspects in cultural pressure beyond whats obvious to him.
Ethan Watters as an author and psychiatrist, later on has shown to have regressive ideas on different topics.
Such as with Dissociative disorders and abuse victims. Partly due to the cultural phenomenons of The Recovered Memory Movement after the Satanic Panic. But going to another extreme in response to "mass hysteria" as he calls it, is a failure of an analysis.
And this context beyond this particular book itself, alongside the book failing to go deeper on its analysis - heavily docks our impression of it when it comes to the logical conclusion of these models and beliefs if not considered critically.
And it can be a good introduction into the topic of psychiatric criticism through the perspective of cultural sociology and psych. Especially, for confronting biases in the western bio-medical psychiatric model and its modern successors. As often, nuanced acknowledgements of past and present psychiatry-as-a-tool-of-control is lacking in mainstream discussions.
However, the author's model of cultural mental illness theories and social-pool-of-symptoms, while worth considering - especially as a jumping off point in the Mad Sciences; can be misused very easily to dismiss identities and mental health experiences, despite the "intent" being the exact opposite. As well as failing to acknowledge other aspects in cultural pressure beyond whats obvious to him.
Ethan Watters as an author and psychiatrist, later on has shown to have regressive ideas on different topics.
Such as with Dissociative disorders and abuse victims. Partly due to the cultural phenomenons of The Recovered Memory Movement after the Satanic Panic. But going to another extreme in response to "mass hysteria" as he calls it, is a failure of an analysis.
And this context beyond this particular book itself, alongside the book failing to go deeper on its analysis - heavily docks our impression of it when it comes to the logical conclusion of these models and beliefs if not considered critically.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Ableism, Colonisation, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, and Physical abuse
Minor: Suicide
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