Dear readers of H-Madness,

Two pieces of news that may be of interest to the community:

1) Relaunch of History of Psychiatry
Following the retirement of German E. Berrios, History of Psychiatry has undergone a significant transformation. The journal now appears under a new title, with a newly constituted Advisory Board and a redesigned cover.

Readers interested in the journal’s renewed orientation are invited to consult the short editorial “History of Psychiatry: Madness, Culture, Science”, which outlines these changes and the directions the journal aims to pursue. The editorial is available in open access at the following link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0957154X261425766

2) New article on medicine and psychiatry in the GDR
An article by Felicitas Söhner et al., “Between healing and repression: The role of medicine and psychiatry in Hohenschönhausen prison as reconstructed from memories”, has just been published online-first. The abstract of the article is provided below.

“Between 1960 and 1985 efforts to reform psychiatry took place in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). Although to differing degrees, these efforts showed parallel approaches, for example with regard to negotiations on coercion or the participation of mentally ill people. Oral history interviews conducted with contemporary witnesses from both states suggested changes in the direction of the reform of psychiatry and progress in social participation during the period. Contrasting historical sources with the interviews reveals a dissonance that can be understood in terms of discourse theory. Initial results indicate a convergence, across different political systems, toward improving social participation. Future research would benefit from cross reading this study’s results with other sources”.

Link to the article:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0957154X261427322