Introducing a series of reflections on different cultural and disciplinary perspectives through which madness is observed, experienced, examined and treated. This book explores the role of history in explaining madness; lay people's understanding of psychic disorder as 'mental suffering', academic philosophical discourses compared and woven together with personal experiences of madness; madness as a subtext to conflict, precariousness and struggle for identity; the globalisation of the depression 'industry'; the notion of intent in suicide; specific interpretations of classical works of...