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Author Millard, Chris, 1983-

Title A history of self-harm in Britain : a genealogy of cutting and overdosing / Chris Millard, Wellcome Trust Medical Humanities Research Fellow, Queen Mary, University of London, UK
Published Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, 2015
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Description 1 electronic resource (ix, 268 pages)
Series Mental health in historical perspective
Mental health in historical perspective.
Contents Introduction: self-harm from social setting to neurobiology -- 1. Early twentieth-century self-harm: cut throats, general and mental medicine -- 2. Communicative self-damage: war, NHS and social work -- 3. Self-harm becomes epidemic: Mental Health (1959) and Suicide (1961) Acts -- 4. Self-harm as a result of domestic distress -- 5. Self-harm as self-cutting: inpatients and internal tension -- Conclusion: the politics of self-harm: social setting and self-regulation
Summary "This book is open access under a CC BY license and is the first account of self-harming behaviour in its proper historical and political context. The rise of self-cutting and overdosing in the 20th century is linked to the sweeping changes in mental and physical health, and wider political context. The welfare state, social work, Second World War, closure of the asylums, even the legalization of suicide, are all implicated in the prominence of self harm in Britain. The rise of 'overdosing as a cry for help' is linked to the integration of mental and physical healthcare, the NHS, and the change in the law on suicide and attempted suicide. The shift from overdosing to self-cutting as the most prominent 'self-damaging' behaviour is also explained, linked to changes in hospital organization and the wider rise of neoliberal politics. Appreciation of history and politics is vital to understanding the psychological concerns over these self-harming behaviours"-- Provided by publisher
Analysis self-harming behaviour
historical context
political context
self harm
Britain
overdosing
self-cutting
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 244-261) and index
Notes English
Description based on print version record; resource not viewed
In OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks). OAPEN
Subject Self-mutilation -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century
Self-injurious behavior.
Self Mutilation
Psychiatry and Psychology
Social & cultural history -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
Illness & addiction: social aspects -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
Care of the mentally ill -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
British & Irish history -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain.
HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century.
HISTORY / Social History.
MEDICAL / Mental Health.
MEDICAL / Psychiatry / General.
Self-injurious behavior
Self-mutilation
Social & cultural history -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
Illness & addiction: social aspects -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
Care of the mentally ill -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
European history -- United Kingdom, Great Britain.
History.
Great Britain
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2018655086
ISBN 9781137529626
1137529628
9781137529633
1137529636