Mad studies - Wikipedia
Mad studies is a field of scholarship, theory, and activism about the lived experiences, history, cultures, and politics about people who may identify as mad, mentally ill, psychiatric survivors, consumers, service users, patients, neurodivergent, and disabled. Mad Studies originated from consumer/survivor movements organized in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and in other parts of the world. The methods for inquiry draw from a number of academic disciplines such as women's studies, critical race studies, indigenous epistemologies, queer studies, psychological anthropology, and ethnography.[1] This field shares theoretical similarities to critical disability studies, psychopolitics,[2] and critical social theory. The academic movement formed, in part, as a response to recovery movements, which many mad studies scholars see as being "co-opted" by mental health systems.[1] In 2021 the first academic journal of Mad Studies, The International Journal of Mad Studies, was launched.
However, while the disability movement included Mad individuals, physical disabilities were centered, particularly in developing Disability Studies.[10] This becomes more apparent in the centering of impairment versus disability. According to Disabled Peoples' International, impairment refers to "the functional limitation within the individual caused by physical, mental or sensory impairment," where disability refers to "the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the normal life of the community on an equal level with others due to physical and social barriers."[11]: 5 People with mental health conditions may feel the language of impairment does not apply to their experience.
Further, though lay individuals with mental health conditions may dislike the language of madness, they also do not feel the social model of disability adequately represents their needs and struggles.[12]
