José Guimón Boeken

Negative moral judgements seem to have been a constant fixture in the way societies and cultures have regarded groups displaying deviant behavior. This is particularly true of the mentally ill. Stereotypes are most ingrained for mental pathologies with heightened visibility in society, such as schizophrenia. Preconceived notions about danger, occult powers and mysterious malevolence which hover over the illness, contribute to the total debasement of the patient. Persons suffering from other forms of mental illness are stigmatized to a lesser degree. But the threat is real that labeling will extend to every endeavor linked to mental illness: care facilities, professionals, therapies in general and psychotropic medication in particular. Lay belief in the existence of important side-effects to this medication and public fears about the risk of addiction form the basis of very restricted, or even hostile, attitudes towards it and result in weak compliance. Inversely, psychotherapy now seems widely accepted and different forms of intervention have contributed to de-stigmatizing psychiatric illness and to stop the exclusion of patients. This book is of interest not only to psychiatrists, but also to mental health workers, psychologists, social scientists and social workers who wish to alter common precepts and prejudices regarding psychiatric disorders.

This publication provides a critical overview on some research mainly conducted in Paris and Geneva. It aims to review the neurophysiological basis of body perception and schema in health and sickness, as well as widely accepted psychotherapeutic procedures based on corporality. Psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychomotor therapists, psychotherapists and neurologists will find a wealth of information in this book that has until now been unavailable in English scientific literature.