In all my years of studying Psychology I am always struck by how mental illness is often the first explanation that is ascribed to most behaviour. The history leading up to the formal diagnosis is often forgotten. creating disorder is more social process than a clinical one. I have challenged notions of biology before however my stance is best summed up by Richard Bentall- "Throughout
the history of psychiatry, the idea that schizophrenia and related conditions are genetic diseases has been treated
as an axiom, rather than a hypothesis."
Here is the abstract I am presenting at the Psychology of Women's Section Conference
Mental disorders are increasingly being
looked at through clinical framework. The production of mental disorders is
dependant upon social and historical factors. Location and gender interact with
each other to produce disorders which are sometimes given a clinical status.
Diagnosis in India is not merely dependent on clinical classifications. Women’s
alcohol and drug consumption is tied to their sexuality, tethered to
nationalistic discourse about ideal Indian femininity.
Women’s alcohol and drug use is often
viewed as an anti national/maternal resistance leading to public violence. Bollywood
films are a source of data to observe how cinematic violence often mirrors
everyday violence against women and vice versa. Examining discourse in films
and incidents of gender violence arguments of western corruption,
representations of ‘deviant’ women
are used on screen as tropes to caution against trespassing the boundaries of
national decorum. Nationalism,
gender and madness collide to create clinical disorders and social strategies
of control.
No comments:
Post a Comment