Queer and Trans Madness: Struggles for Social Justice

Description

This book urges those invested in social justice for 2SLGBTQ people to interrogate the biomedical model of mental illness beyond the diagnoses that specifically target gender and sexual dissidence. In this first comprehensive application of Mad Studies to queer and trans experiences of mental distress, Pilling advances a broad critique of the biomedical model of mental illness as it pertains to 2SLGBTQ people, arguing that Mad Studies is especially amenable to making sense of queer and trans madness. Based on empirical data from two qualitative research studies, this book includes analyses of inpatient chart documentation from a psychiatric hospital and interviews with those who have experienced distress. Using an intersectional lens, Pilling critically examines what constitutes mental health treatment and the impacts of medical strategies on mad queer and trans people. Ultimately, Queer and Trans Madness: Struggles for Social Justice explores the emancipatory promise of queer and trans madness, advocating for more resources to respond to crisis and distress in ways that are non-coercive, non-carceral, and honour autonomy as well as interdependence within 2SLGBTQ communities.  Acknowledgments Contents 1 Introduction: Queer and Trans Madness: Struggles for Social Justice Language: Sexuality and Gender Identity Language: The Biomedical Model of Mental Illness Language: Madness and Mental Health Mental Distress Is Real Organization of the Book References 2 Reclaiming the Lunatic Fringe: Toward a Mad-Queer-Trans Lens Race, Sexuality, and Gender Nonconformance in Psychiatric Knowledge Production and Practice LGBTQ Resistance to Psychiatric Diagnoses: A Single-Issue Politic Intersectional Resistance to Psychiatric Oppression Toward a Mad-Queer-Trans Lens Queer Madness:: Mad Queerness4 Queer Madness Mad Queerness White Supremacy and Heteronormativity in Psychiatric Chart Documentation Practices Mad Queer Considerations of Care References 3 Expanding the Struggle Against Queer and Trans Pathologization: Challenging Biomedicalism Making Oneself Intelligible: The Importance of Language Challenging the Mind/Body Dichotomy Challenging the Mad/Sane Binary Resisting the Pathologization of Marginalized Groups Making Sense of Mental Distress Through Psychiatric Diagnosis Resisting Diagnosis A Mad-Queer-Trans Lens: Resisting Individualization and Understanding Social Context References 4 The Biomedical Model in Practice I: Encounters with Mental Health Care Practitioners Power Dynamics in Relationships Informed by Biomedicalism “Going Back to Gender and Sexuality 101”: Practitioner Lack of Knowledge About Gender Identity and Sexuality Racism in Mental Health Care Colonialism in Mental Health Care Individualizing Distress Through Pathologizing Sexualities Pathologizing Sexuality: Diagnosing Promiscuity Pathologizing Gender Identity Biomedical Methods of Managing Mental Distress: Medication as “Corrective” Tacit Coercion in Decision-Making About Psychiatric Medication References 5 The Biomedical Model in Practice II: Psychiatric Inpatient Chart Documentation on Trans and Non-Binary People Demographics Institutionalized Cisnormativity in Health Care Cisnormative Institutional Practices for Capturing Patient Demographics The Basics: Correct and Respectful Language Incorrect and Inconsistent Use of Pronouns Deadnaming: Denying Trans Subjectivity and Self-Determination Pathologizing (Trans)Gender: Cisnormative and Transmisogynist Patient Descriptions Pathologizing Trans and Non-Binary Life: Individualizing Structural Inequities Pathologizing Survival: Reconfiguring Experiences and Effects of Marginalization as Delusions and Paranoia Why Does It Matter? References 6 Creating Social Change: The Emancipatory Promise of Queer and Trans Madness Shifting the Paradigm: Allyship and Advocacy in Service Provision Shifting the Paradigm Requires Structural Change De-Medicalized, Non-Carceral, Non-State Interventionist Responses to Queer and Trans Madness The Radical Potential of Collective Care and Mutual Aid Intra-Community Oppression in Toronto and Winnipeg Responding to Crisis: Resisting Coercion and Carcerality Trans Lifeline Suicide Intervention for Weirdos, Freaks, and Queers (Carly Boyce) Mad Queer Organizing Strategies (Elliott Fukui) Project LETS References Appendix Methods: Queer and Trans Madness (Study One) Qualitative Interviewing Demographics Ethical Research Practice Methods: Cultural Representations of Gender in Psychiatric Narratives (Study Two) Retrospective Chart Review Demographics References Index