Epistemic Justice in Mental Healthcare

This open access book explores epistemic justice in mental healthcare, bringing together perspectives from psychologists, psychiatrists, philosophers, activists, and lived experience researchers. Through eight chapters, authors identify threats to the agency of people who hear voices, experience depression, have psychotic symptoms, live with dementia, are diagnosed with personality disorders, and face serious mental health issues while receiving palliative care. Considering the power asymmetries in clinical interactions, where patients are vulnerable and healthcare professionals are uniquely placed to offer support, this book reaffirms the importance of recognizing patients as agents and collaborators. Topics covered include trust in the therapeutic relationship, dignity at the end of life, the social dimension of health, stigma in an acute ward, the harm caused by biases and stereotypes, the role of clinical communication, and the promise of digital health. Students, academic researchers, practitioners, as well as mental health charities will benefit from this timely collection.

This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access Discusses mental health issues in youth and elderly, addressing threats to epistemic justice in each life stage Advocates for patients' involvement as a key tool to reach epistemic justice in mental healthcare Features entries from clinicians, psychologists, lived experience advisors, and philosophers

Autorentext

Lisa Bortolotti is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, UK, affiliated with both the Philosophy Department and the Institute of Mental Health. She is a philosopher of the cognitive sciences with special interests in agency and mental health. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Philosophical Psychology (Taylor and Francis), and the author of Delusions and Other Irrational Beliefs (OUP 2009), The Epistemic Innocence of Irrational Beliefs (OUP 2020), and Why Delusions Matter (Bloomsbury 2023). With Palgrave she published Delusions in Context (2018), an edited collection on delusions with contributions by clinicians, lived experience researchers, psychologists, and philosophers, also available Open Access.

Inhalt

Chapter 1:Being understood: epistemic injustice towards young people seeking support for their mental health.- Chapter 2:Challenging stereotypes about young people who hear voices.- Chapter 3:Reacting to demoralization and investigating the experience of dignity in psychosis: reflections from an acute psychiatric ward.-Chapter 4:Comparing depression and borderline personality disorder diagnoses through the lens of epistemic injustice.-Chapter 5:Resisting perceptions of patient untrustworthiness.- Chapter 6:Preserving dignity and epistemic justice in palliative care for patients with serious mental health problems.- Chapter 7:Promoting good living and social health in dementia.- Chapter 8:Ameliorating epistemic injustice with digital health technologies.