What a psychiatric diagnosis means – and what it doesn’t mean
With stigma and misunderstanding surrounding mental health, it’s vital to know the benefits and limits of a formal diagnosis
by Awais Aftab
History and philosophy of mental health
What we lose by being overly scientific about healthcare
Empirical studies tell us about treatment outcomes, but they overlook the cultural dynamics that can help us feel better
by Ana Todorović
Does embracing local customs help immigrants feel at home?
Moving from Belgrade to Toronto, learning the social ‘rules’ fostered my sense of belonging. But there’s an important caveat
by Ljiljana Radenović
In psychoanalysis, nostalgia was a sickness. It needn’t be
Nostalgia was, in Freud’s day, an illness steeped in the past. Today, it can be a joyful emotion that reframes the future
by Agnes Arnold-Forster
Why was a laughing woman seen as lethal, not least to herself?
When early cinema weaponised the sight of women’s laughter, it borrowed from flawed psychiatric ideas about female hysteria
by Maggie Hennefeld
Mental health is not an individual matter, but a political one
Decades ago, pioneering research linked mental illness and economic deprivation. It’s time to take the implications seriously
by Matthew Smith
Can we diagnose suffering without knowing a person’s history?
Human bodies and mental states are always transforming. How can the DSM portray the full range of human suffering?
by Christos Tombras
Philosophy can help us connect, even in the face of psychosis
How phenomenological tools can help foster a relationship of true listening between clinicians and people with psychosis
by Rosa Ritunnano & Kasim Qureshi
A broad definition of trauma is useful; an open-ended one isn’t
Trauma encompasses a variety of experiences and manifests in many ways. But there are risks to stretching the concept too far
by Ahona Guha
Mental disorders aren’t diseases, they’re networks of symptoms
Mental disorders are usually seen as the causes of symptoms. In the network perspective, symptoms are causes themselves
by Richard J McNally
Brainwashing has a grim history that we shouldn’t dismiss
Scientific research and historical accounts can help us identify and dissect the threat of ‘coercive persuasion’
by Joel E Dimsdale
One woman’s six-word mantra that has helped to calm millions
Ahead of her time, yet largely ignored by psychiatry, Claire Weekes taught millions of readers how to overcome anxiety
by Judith Hoare
Frantz Fanon and the crisis of mental health in the Arab world
Where is Frantz Fanon’s postcolonial ‘new man’ to be found in the persistence of psychiatric institutions in the Arab world?
by Joelle M Abi-Rached
Beliefs have a social purpose. Does this explain delusions?
Beliefs have a social purpose. To understand delusions, let’s focus on why they’re so often about other people
by Anna Greenburgh
See faces in the clouds? It might be a sign of your creativity
Long considered a sign of mental illness, ‘pareidolia’ or seeing patterns in randomness might be a useful measure of creativity
by René Müri & Nicole Göbel
Chinese philosophy has long known that mental health is communal
The early Chinese philosophers knew that a healthy mind comes from a harmonious community, not a matter for individuals alone
by Alexus McLeod