''The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease'' is a 2010 book by the psychiatrist

Jonathan Metzl Jonathan Michel Metzl (born December 12, 1964) is an American psychiatrist and author. He is the Frederick B. Rentschler II Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University, where he is also Director of the Center for Medicine, Heal ...

(who also has a Ph.D. in

American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Schol ...

), and published by Beacon Press, covering the history of the 1960s

Ionia State Hospital Michigan State Asylum may refer to any number of early mental institutions in the state. Michigan became a state in 1837 and five years later accepted that the principal caring for the mentally afflicted was a state problem. In 1848 a joint resolut ...

, located in

Ionia, Michigan Ionia is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Ionia County, Michigan, United States. The population was 13,378 at the 2020 census. Every July it hosts what is said to be the world's largest free-admission fair. The city is mostly within ...

, and converted into the

Ionia Correctional Facility The Ionia Correctional Facility (ICF), also known as "I-Max" after its maximum security housing units, is a U.S. state prison located in Ionia, Michigan. The prison was opened in 1987 and consists of five maximum security level V housing units and ...

in 1986. The book describes the facility one of America's largest and most notorious state

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

s in the era before

deinstitutionalization Deinstitutionalisation (or deinstitutionalization) is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health services for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability. In the la ...

. Metzl focuses on exposing the trend of this hospital to diagnose

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s with

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...

because of their

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

ideas. He suggests that in part the sudden influx of such diagnoses could be traced to a change in wording in the

DSM-II The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langua ...

, which compared to the previous edition added "hostility" and "aggression" as signs of the disorder. Metzl writes that this change resulted in

structural racism A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

. The book was well reviewed in ''

JAMA ''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of biom ...

'', where it was described as "a fascinating, penetrating book by one of medicine's most exceptional young scholars." The book was also reviewed in the ''

American Journal of Psychiatry ''The American Journal of Psychiatry'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of psychiatry, and is the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association. The first volume was issued in 1844, at which time it was k ...

'', ''

Psychiatric Services ''Psychiatric Services'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal publishing research on psychiatry. It is published by the American Psychiatric Association and is edited by Lisa Dixon. The journal was founded in 1950 by Daniel Blain, APA's ...

'', ''

Transcultural Psychiatry ''Transcultural Psychiatry'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the fields of cultural psychiatry, psychology and anthropology. The journal's editor-in-chief is Laurence J. Kirmayer (McGill University). The Associate Edi ...

'', ''

Psychiatric Times ''Psychiatric Times'' is a medical trade publication written for an audience involved in the profession of psychiatry. It is published monthly by MJH Associates and is distributed to about 50,000 psychiatrists monthly. The download of the journa ...

'', '' The American Journal of Bioethics'', '' Social History of Medicine'', ''

Medical Anthropology Quarterly ''Medical Anthropology Quarterly'' (MAQ) is an international peer-reviewed academic journal published for the Society for Medical Anthropology, a section of the American Anthropological Association, by Wiley-Blackwell. It publishes research and ...

'', ''

Journal of African American History ''The Journal of African American History'', formerly ''The Journal of Negro History'' (1916–2001), is a quarterly academic journal covering African-American life and history. It was founded in 1916 by Carter G. Woodson. The journal is owned and ...

'', '' Journal of Black Psychology'', '' Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine'', and ''The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture''.

References

External links

The Protest Psychosis
video recording of talk by Metzl aired on January 13, 2010, by CSPAN-2's

Book TV ''Book TV'' is the name given to weekend programming on the American cable network C-SPAN2 airing from 8 a.m. Eastern Time Sunday morning to 8 a.m. Eastern Time Monday morning each week. The 24-hour block of programming is focused on non-ficti ...

(90 minutes)
Interview with Metzl about the book
by Christopher J. Lane on '' Psychology Today''
Interview with Metzl
on

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that ...

radio, February 12, 2010
How the Black man became schizophrenic
blog post on the book by

Karen Franklin Karen Franklin is an American forensic psychologist. For her doctoral dissertation, she conducted research on anti-gay violence.James Brooke, October 14, 1998, The New York TimesHomophobia Often Found In Schools, Data Show Accessed July 26, 2014 ...

on ''Psychology Today''
Schizophrenia as Political Weapon. The disease turned from a benign illness to a violent disease in the 1960s, just as black men joined protests against racism.
article and interview with Metzl in ''

The Root "The Root" is a song by American recording artist D'Angelo. It is the eighth track on his second studio album, ''Voodoo'', which was released on January 25, 2000, by Virgin Records. "The Root" was recorded and produced by D'Angelo at New York's ...

'' by Felicia Pride
The protest psychosis
– Essay by Metzl from June 9, 2010, in ''

Michigan Today , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

'', summarizing the book's ideas.
Audio interview
with Metzl on "New Books in African American Studies" (44 minutes)
Metzl discusses his book on ABC Radio National's All In The Mind program (30 minutes)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease 2010 non-fiction books American history books Books about African-American history History books about medicine Political abuses of psychiatry Social problems in medicine History of psychiatry History of civil rights in the United States Beacon Press books History of Michigan Ionia County, Michigan English-language books Books about schizophrenia

See also

References

External links