Madness, Distress and the Politics of Disablement

"An enjoyable and thought-provoking introduction to the relationship between mental health problems and disability." Critical Social Policy

"Significant and a must for undergraduates and postgraduates in the fields of sociology, social theory and social policy." Disability and Society

"A rewarding and frequently compelling read that does not shy away from grappling with the uncertainties surrounding its field of inquiry." LSE Review of Books

"'Distress', 'disability', 'impairment', 'madness', 'recovery' – all are stress tested for their meanings and their options for social activism rehearsed. This is an invaluable book for students of the perennialy contested topic of mental health." David Pilgrim, Liverpool University

"This text brings together insights from critical disability studies, mad studies and politicised analyses of mental health to develop a theoretical, empirical and activist response to wider conditions of disablement. The authors clearly demonstrate the potency of theory and the centrality of activism and this book will be of interest to anyone interested in developing politics in a time of austerity" Dan Goodley, Sheffield University

Helen Spandler is Reader in Mental Health at the University of Central Lancashire and part of the Asylum magazine collective.

Jill Anderson coordinates the Mental Health in Higher Education project, works freelance and is a doctoral student at Lancaster University.

Bob Sapey is a founder member of CCrAMHP (Critical and Creative Approaches to Mental Health Practice) and a supporter of the Hearing Voices Network.

Foreword ~ Jenny Morris;

Introduction ~ Bob Sapey, Helen Spandler and Jill Anderson;

Part One: Disjunctures between disability and madness;

Unreasonable adjustments? Applying disability policy to madness and distress ~ Helen Spandler and Jill Anderson;

What we talk about when we talk about disability: making sense of debates in the European user/survivor movement ~ Jasna Russo and Debra Shulkes;

Inconvenient complications: on the heterogeneities of madness and their relationship to disability ~ Nev Jones and Timothy Kelly;

Unsettling impairment: mental health and the social model of disability ~ William J Penson;

Part Two: Theorising distress and disablement;

Towards a socially situated model of mental distress ~ Jerry Tew;

The Capabilities Approach and the social model of mental health ~ Jan Wallcraft and Kim Hopper;

Psycho-emotional disablism in the lives of people experiencing mental distress ~ Donna Reeve;

Part Three: Applying social models of disability;

Psycho-emotional disablism, complex trauma and women’s mental distress ~ Shelley Briggs and Fiona Cameron;

Linking ‘race’, mental health and a social model of disability: what are the possibilities? ~ Frank Keating;

Social models of disability and sexual distress ~ Meg John Barker and Alex Iantaffi;

The social model of disability and suicide prevention ~ Helen Spandler interviews David Webb;

Part Four: Universalising disability policy;

Advancing the rights of users and survivors of psychiatry using the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ~ An interview with Tina Minkowitz;

UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: out of the frying pan into the fire? Mental health service users and survivors aligning with the disability movement ~ Anne Plumb;

The global politics of disablement: assuming impairment and erasing complexity ~ China Mills;

Disabilities, colonisation and globalisation: how the very possibility of a disability identity was compromised for the ‘insane’ in India ~ Bhargavi V Davar;

Part Five: Meeting places;

Neurodiversity: bridging the gap between the Disabled People's Movement and the Mental Health System Survivors' Movement? ~ Steve Graby;

Distress and disability: not you, not me, but us? ~ Peter Beresford;

'It’s complicated': blending disability and mad studies in the corporatising university ~ Kathryn Church;

Solidarity across difference: organising for democratic alliances ~ Mick McKeown and Helen Spandler;

Beyond the horizon: the landscape of madness, distress and disability ~ Jill Anderson, Helen Spandler and Bob Sapey.