Mind the gap: MIND, the mental hygiene movement and the trapdoor in measurements of intellect

Abstract

Background The National Association for Mental Health adopted the ‘brand name’ MIND as part of its transformation into a campaigning pressure group at the turn of the 1970s. This article examines the historical antecedents to key statements made by the organisation at this time regarding the relationship of mental health with, what was then called, ‘mental handicap’. Methods The National Association is placed within the historical context of the movement for mental hygiene. The article traces how the movement theorised mental health as critically related to intellect and emotionality. Results The movement relegated people deemed ‘mentally deficient’ from therapeutic policies based on family relationships believed to promote mental health. However, a late 1950s experiment known as the Brooklands study subverted this discrimination. This was paradoxical since it built on mental hygiene theorising. Conclusions Theorisations of the relationship between intellect, emotion and mental health are still potentially discriminatory.

Stress and Fear

“… 90 The suggestions presented in Tables 1 and 2 offer a structured approach for health care teams based on available evidence. 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125…”

“…Practice mental hygiene in parallel with physical one (during hand washing, donning/doffing). The concept of “mental hygiene” is a historically “loaded” term that refers to the mismanagement of patients, 119 but it can have a different application in the context of critical care. Clearing your mind of previous patient interactions before entering a new patient’s room is important, recognizing that a patient’s perception is primarily affect-based 15 and they may be more in tune to your emotional state than to the medical terms you use to communicate what is happening.…”

From autonomy to relationships: productive engagement with uncertainty

“…Yet a balance needs to be struck between acknowledging past abuse and honouring past achievements. Toms' (2010) analysis of the Brooklands study shows how professionals in the UK took responsibility for harnessing a moment of conceptual change; they created a radically new perspective about, and possibilities for, children (and, arguably to a lesser degree, adults) with ID.…”

Mental Hygiene: What It Is, Implications, and Future Directions

“…Mental illness was framed as a detriment to society and threatened the well-being of healthy people. During the war, it was alluded that entire nations were capable of exhibiting symptoms of mental illness (Toms, 2010), making them dangerous and threatening. Post war, the mental hygiene movement lost its momentum.…”

“…Post war, the mental hygiene movement lost its momentum. A few decades later, the assessment and treatment of mental illness became commonplace, with its impetus stemming from new research into mental disorders (Toms, 2010) and the deinstitutionalization movement of the 1950s and 1960s (Rodrigues et al, 2016).…”