Nature and Narrative: An Introduction to the New Philosophy of Psychiatry (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry)

Nature and Narrative is the launch volume in a new series of books entitled International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry. The series will aim to build links between the sciences and humanities in psychiatry.
Our ability to decipher mental disorders depends to a unique extent on both the sciences and the humanities, science provides insight into the 'causes' of a problem, enabling us to formulate an 'explanation', and the humanities provides insight into its 'meanings' and helps with our 'understanding'. Psychiatry, if it to develop as a balanced discipline, must draw on input from both of these spheres.
Nature(for causes) and Narrative(for meanings) will help define the series as a whole by touching on range of issues relevant to this 'border country'. With contributions form an international star-studded cast, representing the field of psychiatry, psychology and philosophy, this volume will set the scene for this new interdisciplinary field.
This will be of interest to all members of the mental health team as well as to philosophers, social scientists, and bioethicists.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Patricia E. Murphy, PhD(Rush University Medical Center)
Description:This book brings together a collection of articles from international scholars who address philosophical concerns related to psychiatry. Although this sounds like an impractical endeavor, the philosophical focus on mind and meaning is eminently of value for clinicians.
Purpose:Fortunately, this is the first offering in a series in which a growing group of international scholars brings to the conversation of care for those with mental illness, the aspect of meaning making in the context of mental illness on the part of the patient. The book establishes as a referent Karl Jaspers' attempt at the beginning of the 20th century to bring narrative to the science of psychiatry.
Audience:This book should be required for continuing education of clinicians so that they would have to take the time to sit down and enjoy it. The educated consumer of mental health services would also appreciate this thought-provoking perspective to understanding the mind.
Features:In recent years, medicine in the United States has presented extraordinary possibilities of understanding genetic and neurobiological underpinnings of mental illness. Without denying the advantages of this knowledge, the authors offer a dialectic about the person as meaning maker in the context of culture and interpersonal dialogue. Even for a person whose brain malfunctions, the mind uses compensatory strategies to make meaning. A philosophical approach to mind leads to an empathic approach to care.
Assessment:Hopefully, this book offers the beginning of a new dialogue in the area of psychiatry in the U.S. which recently has been forced to focus on medication and symptoms. An excellent collection from thinkers in countries long steeped in philosophy, this book offers insight and intellectual challenge giving a broader context to the work we do with persons who experience mental suffering.