Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-94d59 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T09:19:44.005Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Sexuality and Mental Illness: A small group approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Ian Medley
Affiliation:
Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Great Western Road, Glasgow
Anne R. Douglas
Affiliation:
Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Great Western Road, Glasgow
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The issue of sexuality and the mentally ill provokes an uneasy reaction in many people. The lay person possesses inaccurate notions, for instance, about the level of sex drive or the expression thereof. Public interest and anxiety was recently fuelled by the case of Jeanette, the mentally handicapped woman for whom sterilisation was requested. Less understandable is the reaction of the more informed carers of the mentally ill. Being in such a position of responsibility raises a challenge, though the usual attitudes are of either ambivalence or denial. It was not then without some reservations that we organised a group for young people with psychotic conditions, with the aim of tackling sexual issues in relationships.

Type
Articles
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1988

References

1 Chakraborti, D. (1987) Sterilisation and the mentally handicapped. British Medical Journal, 294, 794.Google Scholar
2 Arieti, S. (1974) Interpretation of Schizophrenia. London: Crosby Lockwood Staples. p. 46.Google Scholar
3 Small, I. & Small, J. (1976) Sexual behaviour and mental illness. In The Sexual Experience (eds. Sadock, B. J., Kaplan, H. I. and Freedman, A. M.). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.