Diagnostic Labels

Is a 'psychotic' crisis inside one person's mind -- or does it happen between people, in their relationship? Can therapy untangle the web of madness by addressing the family, providers, and entire social network? Smith College social worker and Fullbright scholar Mary Olson discusses the innovative work of Jaakko Seikkula's Open Dialog Approach in Finland, which has achieved dramatic success helping people through extreme states labeled 'psychosis' and 'schizophrenia' -- while relying much less on medication and hospitalization. http://bipolarblast.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/alternative-for-psychosis/, brassworks.millriver(at)gmail(dot)com

What is the mad movement's best response to science? How is mad pride different from gay pride? Do we want to become equal with "normal" people -- or challenge the idea of normal itself? What about suffering and the risk of romanticizing madness? Icarus Project organizer, psychiatrist, and theorist Bradley Lewis, author of Moving Beyond Prozac, DSM, and the New Psychiatry: Birth of Postpsychiatry, discusses the identity politics of madness. www.theicarusproject.net, www.nyu.edu/gallatin/about/bios/bradley_lewis.html

Is depression a result of poverty? How can community development and economic empowerment affect mental health? Psychology professor Alisha Ali discusses the dangers of turning social problems into medical disorders, including bias in diagnosis, limits of "cultural competency" and "anti-stigma" initiatives, and the experiences of immigrant women. http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/faculty_bios/view/Alisha_Ali

Harvard University faculty Paula Caplan, author of They Say You're Crazy: How The World's Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who's Normal and editor of Bias In Psychiatric Diagnosis. Paula was on one of the writing committees for the DSM and offers an insightful perspective on the politics behind psychiatric pseudo-science. She discusses mental disorder labeling, including bipolar and post-trauma stress disorder, from a feminist perspective. www.psychdiagnosis.net http://paulajcaplan.net