Book review: Grinker RR. No one is normal: how culture has created the stigma of mental illness. Porto Alegre: Arquipélago; 2024Nobody’s normal: how culture created the stigma of mental illness
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25118/2763-9037.2024.v14.1229Keywords:
Mental health, Psychiatry, Social stigma, cultural antropology, cultureAbstract
According to Roy Richard Grinker, author of the book Nobody's Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Disorder, the stigma does not stem from our biology; it emanates from our culture. It is a process that we acquire within our communities, and we can alter what we impart. However, only by understanding the history of stigma can we target the social forces that initially engendered it, bolster those that diminish it, and declare 'enough' to the numerous barriers that obstruct so many from accessing care.
Book Summary
Introduction: the escape from Bendlam
Part 1. Capitalism
- Every man for himself
- The invention of mental disorder
- The divided body
- The divided mind
Part 2. Wars
- The fates of war
- Meeting Freud
- War is good
- Norm and Normman
- From the forgotten war to Vietnam
- Post-traumatic stress disorders
- Expectations of the illness
Part 3. Body and mind
- Revealing secrets
- A disease like any other?
- “Like a magic wand”
- When the body speaks
- A bridge between body and mind in Nepal
- The dignity of risk
Conclusion: on the spectrum
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References
Grinker RR. Ninguém é normal: como a cultura criou o estigma do transtorno mental. Porto Alegre: Arquipélago; 2024.
Weber CAT, Juruena MF. Paradigmas de atenção e estigma da doença mental na reforma psiquiátrica brasileira. Psicol Saude Doenças. 2017;18(3):640-56. http://dx.doi.org/10.15309/17psd180302 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15309/17psd180302
Corrigan PW, Penn DL. Lessons from social psychology on discrediting psychiatric stigma. Am Psychol. 1999;54(9):765-76. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.54.9.765 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066X.54.9.765
Weber CAT. Residenciais terapêuticos: o dilema da inclusão social de doentes mentais. Porto Alegre: EdiPUCRS; 2012.
Martin D. Abordagem antropológica em saúde mental: deslocamentos conceituais para ampliar o debate. In: Weber CAT. Residenciais terapêuticos: o dilema da inclusão social de doentes mentais. Porto Alegre: EdiPUCRS; 2012. p. 18-36.

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