What might it mean to attempt to figure theatre as thought? More specifically, what possible relations hold between theatre and epistemology - that area of philosophy concerned with theories of knowledge? This study is a series of cross-disciplinary engagements that seek to articulate some of the relations between theatre, performance, and epistemology, to investigate performance as a 'deployed logic' in relation to those disciplines concerned with discovering and generating knowledge. For some thinkers in the continental tradition, the very thought of writing about the relations between performance and the anachronistic; hasn't the idea of 'performance' undermined most of the central tenets of the discourse concerned with knowledge and the Real, with truth and falsity? This, of course, remains an open question, one pursued in this work. The thesis draws on a diverse series of wide-ranging examples in order to relate the inquiry to current work being done in philosophy and performance studies, but notes the theoretical incompleteness of studies relating theatre and performance to conceptions of knowledge.It attempts to fill a void in the literature by offering analyses that think the relations between dramatic and philosophical activity. In short, it hopes to re-open the dialogue between performance and epistemology by showing how philosophy regularly attempts to expunge its foundational elements from its imaginary. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Bibliography: leaves 233-306. A study of the phenomenon of somatization as it occurs in the primary care setting. The phenomenon was studied in terms of aspects of illness behaviour and risk of psychiatric morbidity. It is suggested that abnormal illness behaviour in the form of somatization may be an important factor in the non-recognition of mild non-psychotic psychiatric illness in the primary care setting. The results of the study indicate that an assessment of the patients' attitudes and beliefs about symptoms, and an exploration of psychosocial issues, may lead to a better understanding of why the patients have sought help, and may lead to early identification and appropriate treatment of somatizing behaviour and the psychiatric morbidity underlying such behaviour.

The aim of this qualitative research project was to investigate the phenomenon of spirituality within occupation as encountered by six people who have all experienced mental illness. A Heideggerian phenomenological philosophy was utilised as the theoretical background. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with each participant, which were transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using a hermeneutic, circular process. Eight themes arose from the investigation. Firstly, the experience of spirituality is diverse and each person has his or her idiosyncratic understanding of what spirituality is. Secondly, spirituality is experienced as a journey that changes across time. The third theme notes that spirituality is vitally important to the study participants, so much so, that participants??? spirituality saved them from suicide and filled their lives with meaning and purpose. The fourth theme is recognition that there are ???spiritual occupations??? that are designed to directly access one???s spirituality. Fifth is that spirituality is a form of being which provides the meaning to purposeful doing and that therefore spirituality can make even ???ordinary??? occupation spiritually meaningful. Theme six is that spirituality is not only important on an individual level, but that social and community dimensions of spirituality are also essential. Theme seven finds that mental illness provided the ???wake-up message??? that ???called??? each participant to a spiritual life. The final theme is that spirituality helps the participants cope with living with mental illness. The thesis concludes that spirituality is an indispensable part of each participant???s life. Spirituality has both irrevocably changed participants??? lives and allowed them find personal meaning in their lives that is life-sustaining and life-enhancing. The findings also reveal that spirituality can be related to occupation both theoretically and practically. Given that spirituality was found to be life-saving and life-sustaining and that it can be conceptualised as an essential dimension of occupation, it is argued that spirituality is an issue of high importance to occupational therapists. However, since some occupational therapists may not feel comfortable or knowledgeable enough to discuss spirituality in practice (Collins, Paul and West-Frasier 2001; McColl 2000) it is noted that this topic area forms an emergent frontier for occupational therapy. As a pioneer area of practice, further research and investigation into this fascinating and mysterious realm is recommended. / thesis (MApSc(OccupationalTherapy))--University of South Australia, 2003.

This research explores areas of contention in the mental heath field in Australia through a qualitative analysis of voices and practices that can broadly be seen as talking with and talking back to psychiatry. The thesis is informed by key shifts in thinking that underpin postpsychiatry and analyses a set of materials through an interpretive lens of reading psychiatry against the grain (Bracken & Thomas, 2005; Lewis, 2006). In particular, it examines a failed ethics application to conduct research with people diagnosed with a mental illness, an anti-stigma campaign, the practices of some prominent mental health organisations in Australia, a conversation with two members of an emerging consumer/survivor network in Australia, and a television documentary and online discussion forum about an antidepressant medication. The research draws from discourse analytic methods and concepts from social movement framing research to identify factors shaping conformity and resistance to psychiatric doxa in the Australian mental health field. The research identifies the discursive repertoires that characterise the mental health field as a "game" in which competing perspectives vie for recognition. In relation to research ethics committees, the thesis argues that deference to clinical expertise is a potential barrier to cultural studies of psychiatry and a more inclusive agenda in mental heath research and practice. Some practices for ethics committees to consider when reviewing research that involves people who may have been diagnosed with a mental illness are proposed. The research also identifies problematic features of anti-stigma campaigns that direct their efforts toward protecting and promoting the discourse of biomedical psychiatry. A critique of this type of campaign is offered in relation to perspectives from postpsychiatry and social constructionism. On the basis of this research, it is argued that organisations that champion "mental health literacy" are limited in their ability to give voice to the goals and priorities of those who are calling for a more open, reflexive and democratic debate in mental health. The central argument of this thesis is that elevating first-person and postpsychiatry perspectives is necessary in order to interrogate and address the dominance of the medical model in psychiatry and its consequences.

Although attitudes toward stigmatised groups are difficult to change, education programs and opportunities that promote direct contact with people who have experienced mental illness have demonstrated success in increasing mental health literacy and reducing stigma surrounding mental illness. The present study examined the effectiveness of a mental illness education program directed at adolescents and the factors influencing its impact. A sample of 694 students (251 males, 443 females), aged between 11 and 19 years, across 13 public and private high schools and colleges throughout the ACT was obtained. Students completed self-report questionnaires relating to stigma, mental health knowledge and help-seeking intentions before and after participating in the education program and their results were compared with a control group. Students participating in the program also completed measures of empathic concern and affect immediately following the program. Results indicated the program was effective in decreasing stigma and increasing knowledge and intentions to seek help. The impact of knowledge, empathy, affect, and similarity to program presenters, on program outcomes was also examined. While the results showed that the combination of contact and education was effective in promoting attitude change, suggestions for improving the impact of the program are discussed.

<p>Syftet med studien var att genom intervjuer med personal inom socialpsykiatrin ta reda på deras upplevelser av stigmatiseringstendenser och mediabild i relation till personer med psykisk ohälsa och till sig själva som yrkespersoner. Tidigare forskning visar på stigmatisering, diskriminering och mediapåverkan i samband med psykisk ohälsa. En meningskategorisering av insamlat intervjumaterial fann mönster i intervjuerna beträffande individsyn, stigmatiseringsuttryck, mediapåverkan samt generell okunskap om psykisk ohälsa. Resultatet bekräftar tidigare studier om okunskap och mediapåverkan samt motsäger delvis tidigare forskning gällande diskriminering av psykiatripersonal. Resultatet visar även hur personalen inom socialpsykiatrin upplever att stigmatiseringen kan minskas utifrån ökad kunskap om psykisk ohälsa och medvetenhet om varje människas värde.</p>

The following qualitative research study examined visual and thematic depictions of mental disorder in mainstream American film from 1988 to 2010. The research was an extension of an earlier investigation on portrayals of psychological disability in Hollywood movies (Levers, 1988, 2001). The theoretical and historical grounding for the project included Sander Gilman's (1982) scholarship on madness in the pictorial arts, the history and treatment of mental disorder over the course of time, social constructionism and the media, and research on media depictions of mental illness. The author employed two content analysis instruments (Levers, 1988, 2001) to record the appearance of icons, stereotypes, and positive portrayals of mental illness in 14 feature-length American films, which contain scenes of psychiatric hospitalization. Each film became a case study, and for each case, the author included content analysis findings, plot and character summaries, and discussion on mental disorder representation through images, speech, and themes. The multiple cases culminated in a filmography, which can be a resource for individuals interested in, and concerned about, the nature in which mental disorder is portrayed in popular, contemporary movies. The results from this study indicate that iconic and stereotypical representations of mental disorder have remained consistent since Levers' (1988, 2001) inquiries. The author identified 60 of 61 icons listed on the Icons of Madness viewing rubric (Levers, 1988, 2001) and all stereotypes and positive portrayals on the Thematic Portrayals of Mental Disorder viewing rubric (Levers, 1988, 2001). More specifically, the four most commonly depicted icons and the top five stereotypes were the same in both the present and Levers' (1988, 2001) studies. The one notable difference between these and Levers' (1988, 2001) results was the increased frequency of positive portrayals of mental illness; more positive portrayals occurred in this investigation as compared to Levers' earlier research. New icons, stereotypes, and positive portrayals of mental disorder not originally listed on the viewing rubrics were identified, too. The author discusses the present findings in light of future research possibilities, counselor education, and client advocacy. / School of Education; / Counselor Education and Supervision (ExCES) / PhD; / Dissertation;

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Germanic Languange, March 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Syftet med denna beskrivande litteraturstudie var att belysa sjuksköterskors attityder gentemot patienter med psykisk ohälsa. En litteratursökning genomfördes och 12 vetenskapliga artiklar valdes ut till det slutliga resultatet. Resultatet visade att sjuksköterskorna hade en rädd attityd, en stressad attityd, en osäker attityd, en säker attityd samt en diskriminerande attityd gentemot patienter med psykisk ohälsa. Samhällets stigmatiserade syn på psykisk ohälsa påverkade sjuksköterskorna negativt i deras yrkesroll då de kunde utveckla en rädd, osäker och diskriminerande attityd.  Kunskap och erfarenhet om psykisk ohälsa var något som resultatet visade förbättrade sjuksköterskornas bemötande och gav dem en säker attityd. Sjuksköterskornas arbetsmiljö som i dagens samhälle kan innebära stress och nedskärningar leder till en negativ och stressad attityd samt en sämre patientrelation. Information och utbildning om psykisk ohälsa är något som författarna till föreliggande studie anser är av stor vikt för att minska den stigmatiserande och diskriminerande attityden hos sjuksköterskor. Slutsatsen av denna studie visar på att sjuksköterskornas attityder gentemot patienter med psykisk ohälsa är av både positiv och negativ karaktär som grundas i dagens samhälles stigmatiserade syn, kunskapsbrist samt sjuksköterskornas livserfarenheter och värdegrunder. / The aim of this descriptive literature review was to illuminate nurses´ attitudes towards patients with mental illnesses. A literature search was performed and 12 scientific articles were chosen which form the basis of this report. The result of this study shows that nurses had five main attitudes, a frighten attitude, a stressed attitude, an unsecure attitude, a confident attitude and a discriminating attitude towards patients with mental illnesses. Nurses´ attitudes towards patients with mental illness are affected by society's stigmatized view of people with mental illnesses. Nurses´ attitudes towards patients with mental illnesses include fear, insecurity and discrimination. Knowledge and experience of patients with mental illnesses resulted in more confident attitudes towards these patients and improved their interaction with them. Nurses work in a more stressful environment than previously, partly due to economic strains on health care leading to staff reduction which affects nurses´ relationships with their patients negatively. Information and education about mental illnesses is something which the authors of this study believe is of great importance in order to reduce the stigmatization and discriminating attitude held by nurses towards patients with mental illnesses. The conclusion of this study shows that nurses´ attitudes towards patients with mental illnesses are of both negative and positive character which origins in society’s stigmatized view, lack of knowledge and the nurses experiences in life and their values.

Syftet med studien var att genom intervjuer med personal inom socialpsykiatrin ta reda på deras upplevelser av stigmatiseringstendenser och mediabild i relation till personer med psykisk ohälsa och till sig själva som yrkespersoner. Tidigare forskning visar på stigmatisering, diskriminering och mediapåverkan i samband med psykisk ohälsa. En meningskategorisering av insamlat intervjumaterial fann mönster i intervjuerna beträffande individsyn, stigmatiseringsuttryck, mediapåverkan samt generell okunskap om psykisk ohälsa. Resultatet bekräftar tidigare studier om okunskap och mediapåverkan samt motsäger delvis tidigare forskning gällande diskriminering av psykiatripersonal. Resultatet visar även hur personalen inom socialpsykiatrin upplever att stigmatiseringen kan minskas utifrån ökad kunskap om psykisk ohälsa och medvetenhet om varje människas värde.