Did you know?
In the United States, almost half of adults (46.4 percent) will experience a mental illness during their lifetime.
Dr. Grinker is a cultural anthropologist specializing in ethnicity, nationalism, and psychological anthropology, with topical expertise in autism, Korea, and sub-Saharan Africa. He is also editor-in-chief of the journal Anthropological Quarterly and author of the recent release “Nobody’s Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness.”
In this episode we discuss the fluidity of diagnostic labels, the significance of the “spectrum,” how culture has shaped modern psychiatry, the illusion of normality, stigma’s role in discrimination, autism, and other topics.
====================
0:00 Intro
02:15 What is cultural anthropology?
4:40 Dr. Grinker’s history of travel
6:48 Psychiatric classifications are subject to change
8:36 Dr. Grinker’s story with his grandfather
10:36 The benefits of thinking of psychological disorders as a “spectrum”
13:57 “Oh, I’m a little OCD”
17:10 Normality is just a statistical construct
22:04 Mental illness, conformity, and capitalism
24:43 Mind-body split
28:39 Electroconvulsive therapy
31:22 How society used to think about men and women
35:13 Politicians said freed slaves would go insane
36:01 Science can become a servant of culture
38:02 Remote work is changing people’s lives
39:34 Sex-workers in Germany learning how to work with the mentally ill
40:47 Dr. Grinker’s most surprising experience researching the book
42:51 The story of “The Scarlet Letter”
44:32 Dr. Grinker’s thoughts on autism rates
48:15 The genetic variations that lead to autism
52:02 De Novo mutations
53:41 Dr. Grinker’s story about his daughter’s graduation speech
56:36 Self-stigma
59:23 How can we continue to break down stigma?
1:02:28 One final question
1:03:37 Wrap-up
====================
References:
“Nobody’s Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness” by Roy Richard Grinker
https://amzn.to/3ddb1e5
“Far From the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity” by Andrew Solomon
https://amzn.to/2QhOdkD
====================
To help make a difference, follow us for weekly episodes!
Search for books by our guests on our website and sign up for the “Rising Weekly” to receive a Friday email “where we enrich episodes”.
If you believe our podcast has ever shifted your perspective, please share it with someone you know and rate us.
Thank you so much for tuning in and we welcome you back to our next episode.
====================
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/risinglaterally/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RisingLaterally
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rising-laterally/id1524717120
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hbMEHVOZJVMdCZBhthTIh
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaIDpt943-sihvPBxX7oXaw
