In the early to mid-1970s, there was a problematization of the term 'ex-patient' because it was seen as embracing the medical model by defining individuals by their status as patients. Additionally, the term 'ex-patient' by using the term 'patient' was seen as not capturing the violence of forced commitment to asylums. Groups like Madness Network News promoted the use of the term ex-psychiatric inmate for individuals who had been in asylums. The terms psychiatric client, psychiatric consumer, and psychiatric survivor also came about. 

Move Away from Ex-Patient

Ex-patient was used as a term starting in the 1970s by individuals in the growing ex-patients movement. The term was used at the time because of how madness and mad as derogatory terms were not yet reclaimed. It was used as an identity to indicate individuals who have previously been 
patients in asylums or other mental health systems.

Prior to the beginning of the c/s/x movement in the 1970s there were earlier patients who engaged in activism toward similar goals of the c/s/x movement. Two of the earliest examples are in 1868. In 1868 Elizabeth Packard published several books and pamphlets that detailed her forced commitment, at the hands of her husband, to the Jacksonville Insane Asylum in Jacksonville, Illinois. Packard went on to found the Anti-Insane Asylum Society. Around a similar time, in Massachusetts, Elizabeth Stone, who was forcibly committed to an asylum by her husband, tried to form public solidarity around stopping the unjust commitment and incarceration of individuals who were deemed insane.

Early Ex-Patients Movement

Also called psychological disorders, these are disorders rooted in mental thought patterns that impair the person's functioning, with specific disorders having their own disgnostic criteria. 

Mental Disorders/Mental Illnesses

Chamberlin, Judi: The Ex-Patients' Movement: Where We've Been and Where We're Going. Journal of Mind and Behavior 11:323-336, 1990

The Ex-Patients' Movement: Where We've Been and Where We're Going

Ex-patient

- Anxiety disorders
- Mood disorders 
- Psychotic disorders
- Personality disorders
- Eating disorders
- Sleep disorders
- Addiction
- Adjustment disorders

Categories of mental disorders/mental illnesses

Psychopathology is a term with a dual meaning. It refers to the scientific study of psychological disorders, which includes investigating their symptoms, etiology (causes), and potential treatments. Concurrently, the term can also describe the manifestation of a psychological disorder itself, meaning the abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that indicate its presence.

Psychopathology

Characteristics associated with a lower likelihood of developing a mental illness/disorder.
- Biophysical 
- Psychological 
- Social 
- Spiritual 

Protective Factors

Various health and life outcomes of mental disorders/mental illnesses. 

Mental Disorders/Mental Illnesses Outcomes

Anxiety Sensitivity (AS) describes the fear of anxiety-related symptoms that are often accompanied by hyperarousal, pain, stomach distress, and racing thoughts. Individuals experience physical and social fears alongside concerns for mental capability.

Anxiety Sensitivity

In this study, researchers collected data on healthy eating barriers which impact individuals suffering from mental illness. They found that participant's barriers towards a healthy lifestyle were modifiable and suggested helpful intervention techniques. 

Healthy Eating in Persons with Serious Mental Illnesses: Understanding and Barriers

The cause of comorbid Anxiety and Depression is debated within the scientific community. Adolescents experience comorbidity of Anxiety and Depression at rates ranging from 15.9%-61.9%.  

Comorbidity of Anxiety and Depression in Youth

Gender Dysphoria is characterized by the subjectively experienced distress that arises from the mismatch between gender identity, or internally felt sense of gender, and assigned sex at birth.

Gender Dysphoria

An emerging field which seeks to identify which dietary components are truly important for mental health, including in psychiatric disease, as well as to whom,
under which circumstances and at which specific dosages these nutritional interventions have preventative and therapeutic efficacy.

Nutrition Psychiatry

Factors that predispose adults and children to develop a mental disorder
- Biological 
- Psychological 
- Social 
- Spiritual 
- Cultural

Risk Factors for Developing a Mental Disorder

Neurological disorders are a specific type of disorder that occurs as a result of injury or trauma to the brain or central nervous system, consisting of the spinal cord and the connected nerves. Neurological disorders can impair movement and speech to various degrees, depending on the intensity and the specific type of neurological disorder. Neurological disorders can also occur as a result of genetic abnormalities and infections. Specific neurological disorders include cerebral palsy, ADD, and conversion disorder.

Neurological Disorders

References for Neurological Disorders

The term of psychiatric survivor comes from the c/s/x movement and is meant to position individuals as survivors of the psychiatric system and psychiatric industrial complex.

Psychiatric Survivor

The term psychiatric consumer originated at the 1985 Alternatives Conference and was chosen to represent individuals who receive care from mental health and psychiatric services. It was chosen in part because it was meant to signify that patients have, or ideally should have, a choice of services and treatment.

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