Rethinking Mental Health and Disorder

This volume presents cutting-edge work at the interface of feminist theory and mental health. Building on the success of their acclaimed Personality and Psychopathology, which called into question traditional models of health and disorder, Mary Ballou and Laura S. Brown have invited a stellar array of contributors to continue the vital process of feminist theory building and critique. The book outlines compelling theoretical approaches--including postmodern, constructivist, relational-cultural, and feminist ecological perspectives--that go beyond simply inserting analyses of gender, culture, and other contextual factors into existing paradigms. Also examined are specific areas of distress and disorder about which new feminist understandings have been developed in the past decade. Shedding new light on such conditions as depression, PTSD, psychosis, somatoform disorders, and premenstrual syndrome, chapters address critical questions about how disorders are diagnosed, who gets labeled as sick, and how treatment is conceptualized and delivered.