Madness Radio: Schizophrenia and Black Politics Jonathan Metzl
First Aired 0-0- Duration: 52:03
How did the definition of schizophrenia change during the civil rights and Black Power era of the 1960s? Why did a disease primarily affecting withdrawn white housewives suddenly become focused on angry and "paranoid" African American men instead? Psychiatrist and historian Jonathan Metzl, author of The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease, discusses racism and social control in psychiatric diagnosis, and how Black protest was turned into a mental disorder. http://bit.ly/byOeIw, jmetzl(at)umich(dot)edu
- Rt/Ctrl-clck download
- 7686 downloads
- 199 plays
- 2 comments
Creative Commons copyright
beautifully done. thanks to you both.
A quick footnote on Jonathan's fascinating research.
Haldol, which he mentions is an "anti-psychotic" neuroleptic tranquilizer widely used at the Ionia hospital on incarcerated Black protesters, is the same drug that was used in the Soviet Union on political dissidents.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Plyushch
There's also evidence its use in Russia is returning:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR200609...
This drug is still in widespread use in the US; over the years I have noticed it tends to be used with people who have extreme trauma histories and histories of conflict with their families and service providers; who are poor; and more frequently are people of color.
Share your comment