PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS CARFULLY! For this assignment, you will write a 1400-1700 word (double-spaced with standard margins and 12 pt. Times New Roman font, this works out to be about 6 pages) historical and cultural analysis of one of the following psychiatric diagnoses from the DSM-V (2013): – Body Dysmorphic Disorder 300.7 (F45.22) – Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia) 300.23 (F40.10) – Bulimia Nervosa 307.51 (F50.2) – Binge Eating Disorder 307.51 (F50.8) – Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder 625.4 (N94.3) – Gambling Disorder [312.31 (F63.0)] – Oppositional Defiant Disorder 313.81 (F91.3) – Intermittent Explosive Disorder 312.34 (F63.81) – Somatic Symptom Disorder 300.82 (F45.1) – Hypersomnolescence Disorder 780.54 (G47.10) In order to successfully complete this writing assignment, you will need: The DSM-V (download the full PDF here: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/viewer.html?pdfurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.website-editor.net%2F30f11123991548a0af708722d458e476%2Ffiles%2Fuploaded%2FDSM%&clen=31965300&chunk=true) Lecture notes from Class #6 Ian Hacking’s Mad Travelers: Reflections on the Reality of Transient Mental Illnesses (See especially Ch. 1 – “The First Fuguer” – and Hacking’s discussion of what he refers to as the “ecological niche” [2002:13]) I HAVE ATTACHED THIS READING! 2 peer-reviewed articles of your choice related to your chosen disorder Your paper should include the following: [1 page maximum] What is this Disorder? What are its defining features/characteristics? [1 page maximum] Was your chosen Disorder new to the DSM in the manual’s current version (5)? If so, how was its inclusion justified? If not, how has it changed from previous versions? (In other words, this section should provide a brief history of the Disorder as it has appeared in the DSM.) [~4 pages, thus the bulk of your work] Consider the social, cultural, political economic, institutional and demographic conditions which have, in your opinion, made your chosen disorder a recognized “way of going mad” in North America today. In order to do this, you will: Use Ian Hacking’s discussion of the ecological niche in Mad Travelers: Reflections on the Reality of Transient Mental Illnesses (Chapter 1) as a model for your analysis. Briefly: In his discussion of what he calls mad travelling in 19th century France, Hacking proposes the metaphor of the “ecological niche” to speak about a mental illness which “appears at a time, in a place, and later fades away” (1998:1). Like the complex of elements that shape an ecosystem, he suggests that there are a number of medical, institutional, demographic, cultural and phenomenological vectors that facilitate a particular “way of going mad.” While the system of medical taxonomy is an important factor facilitating a particular illness, he says, it is not sufficient, on its own, to explain the actions of patients. In addition to fitting into a medical taxonomy, Hacking argues that the illness must be observable or legible as a disorder of some kind, it must exist on an axis of cultural valuation running from the romantic to the pathological, and it must provide “some release [for its sufferers] that is not available elsewhere in the culture in which it thrives” (1998: 2). Draw upon your knowledge (however extensive!) of North American culture and society (and ideals of personhood, behaviour, beauty, order, emotional regulation, etc.) in order to construct the “ecological niche” in which your chosen Disorder has flourished. Consider: What is the “ideal” personality/behaviour set that exists in the negative space of your chosen disorder? What are the underlying assumptions about normalcy and the behaviour of “normal people” that are being challenged by people diagnosed with your chosen Disorder?
