Mind State and Society 1960-2010

This event will take a detailed look at the history of mental health and psychiatry in British society between the years of 1960-2010. Focusing on what happened to public mental health services during this time.

Public experiences of mental health issues will be examined, along with those who were affected by individuals such as; family, other informal carers, formal carers and mental health professionals within the broader social context.

Topics include:  

• Review the social history of psychiatry and mental health during 1960-2010
• The mutual influence between psychiatry and social change during 1960-2010
• Investigate the experiences of mental health service users and their informal carers during 1960-2010, and relate this to professional and societal aspirations at the time
• To offer an opportunity to clinicians, historians, policymakers to reflect and enhance sensitivity to mental health service users and their informal carers' needs, experiences and preferences

The half-century of 1960-2010 is a hugely interesting and distinct period in the history of Britain. This time period is characterised by increasing dominance of ideologies of social liberalism, free markets and practices of economic neo-liberalism and globalisation - it also coincides with de-institutionalisation and community care in mental health care. 

It has been argued that we have now moved into a new era of meta-community psychiatry. In the last decade, the explosion of big data and new social media has brought us to a radically different phase, perhaps a 4th industrial revolution?