Wei-Hsiang Liao

Psychiatrist (Taiwan) | PhD student @McGillU | Research: cultural psychiatry, anthropology & mental health in East Asia and beyond | @BUSPH @NCKU_official alum.

[Wei-Hsiang Liao @wh_liao]

Glad to write this book review of Desperate Remedies for @tw_reporter_org. Across two centuries of psychiatric treatment, one question keeps returning: what should we do when we do not know enough, but doing nothing is not an option?

[報導者 The Reporter @tw_reporter_org]

＃書評【從腦葉切除到藥物控制，200年精神醫學治療史的大哉問：我們如何在「知道得還不夠多」時展開行動？】 https://t.co/I6xfhj4dtS

人為什麼會憂鬱、會瘋狂？當精神疾病發生，如何治癒？這是精神醫學始終未解之謎。

20世紀，細菌學、外科和實驗醫學發展之際，精神醫學也試圖在人體尋找病灶。美國精神科醫師亨利．柯頓（Henry Cotton）深信精神疾病來自局部感染，並在此假說下展開治療——拔牙、切除扁桃腺、結腸和其他器官，若病人死去或病情沒有改善，卻被解釋成感染可能藏在別處，於是手術處置愈來愈激烈⋯⋯

這樣現在看來荒謬、違反人權的療法，為何在當時能不斷進行甚至被視為科學進步？

鑽研醫學社會史與精神醫學史的學者安德魯．史考爾（Andrew Scull）考證大量第一手資料，在《孤注一治》書中回顧精神醫學200年來對治療的追尋，看懷抱理想建立的精神病院為何成為監禁虐待的陰暗所在、從不同年代療法與理論看見精神醫學歷史某種重複——「每一代都以為自己終於找到關鍵，使前一代的確信顯得粗糙，但不久又被掃進時代的垃圾桶。」

精神科醫師廖偉翔指出，《孤注一治》藉由精神醫學想要治好病人過程中造成的失敗與傷害，揭示人們把「有限」認識擴張成「完整」解釋的危險之處。

這對於臨床工作者是很重要的提醒，然而，困難在於，精神醫學很難等到完全理解疾病以後才開始治療；因此，如何在知道得還不夠多時展開行動，正是這本書留給當代讀者的問題。

廖偉翔也分享更多精神醫學相關的讀物，從哲學、文化與醫療研究等更多視角提供思辨：有時候，治療的成敗除了取決於技術本身，也取決於疾病在一個地方被理解的樣貌。

[Wei-Hsiang Liao @wh_liao]

I am glad to share my new correspondence published in @LancetGH.

Engaging with recent discussions on global health inclusivity, I reflect on the structural absence of Taiwan in the WHO system through the lens of epistemic injustice.

https://t.co/J8GDey7avq

[George Ikkos @gikkos1]

Open Access "Psychiatry after Kraepelin" has been published today 🙏 for excellent contributions @AllenFrancesMD @FemiMind @JRBneuropsiq @awaisaftab @BeresfordPeter @mariusturda and 🙏 @rcpsych (HoPSIG, PhilSIG) and 🙏@subodhdave for advance review https://t.co/hqdjpnqnUL

[Rosa Ritunnano @RRitunnano]

Very interesting reflections from a cross-cultural perspective on our recent paper on Delusions as Embodied Emotions in The Lancet Psychiatry

https://t.co/LndYzQMUyv

[Wei-Hsiang Liao @wh_liao]

Enjoying the thoughtful discussions on my recent piece in @TheLancet Psychiatry. Building on @RRitunnano & colleagues' excellent study, I add a cultural-ecosocial perspective, tracing how local moral worlds shape the embodied experience of psychosis.
https://t.co/7kDOMoelKo

[Wei-Hsiang Liao @wh_liao]

I’m happy to share that my book review of Healing and the Invention of Metaphor: Toward a Poetics of Illness Experience by Laurence Kirmayer has been publish in @TheBJPsych

https://t.co/GGL2c5K7lJ

[Allen Frances @AllenFrancesMD]

Psych disorders never occur in a vacuum- the patient's life situation always influences causation/diagnosis/symptom duration/treatment choice/outcome.

We explain why "Context Diagnosis" is as important as DSM/ICD labels- & should be part of every psych evaluation.

Free access:

[Wei-Hsiang Liao @wh_liao]

My review of @HarryYJWu’s Mad by the Millions is now published on @somatosphere. It explores how global mental health, colonial legacies, and institutional politics have shaped psychiatric categories.

https://t.co/m3Q7DFrnb4

[Wei-Hsiang Liao @wh_liao]

David Nutt argues that to revive innovation in psychiatry, clinicians must reclaim a central role through real-world Bayesian research, systematic off-label data collection, and open reporting of unexpected treatment benefits. | @TheBJPsych - https://t.co/W8wyKLrunU

[Wei-Hsiang Liao @wh_liao]

@ranielwy @BrownPsychiatry @Brown_SPH @vahsrd Congratulations!! 🎉🎉🎉

[Harry Yi-Jui Wu @HarryYJWu]

Just formed an experimental study group to read Edward Shorter’s The Rise and Fall of the Age of Psychopharmacology. The group consists of myself as a historian, 2 med anthropologists, and 10+ young psychiatrists!!

[Wei-Hsiang Liao @wh_liao]

@rachelburge8 I would recommend Of Two Minds!

[Partners In Health @PIH]

Partners In Health announced that its founder, Dr. Paul Farmer, unexpectedly passed away today in his sleep while in Rwanda.

Dr. Farmer was 62 years old. He is survived by his wife, Didi Bertrand Farmer, and their three children.

1/🧵

[Jonathan Oberlander @OberlanderUNC]

In memory of David Jones, @JHPPL has ungated a series of key articles he published w/ us

1 (of 4): Political participation in the least healthy place in the US, the Mississippi Delta
https://t.co/ZgunyHpZnb

CC: @haroldpollack @sarahgollust @scottlgreer @shaferpr @BUSPH

[Michael Stein @mdsteinmd]

@PubHealthPost today honors the life of Dr. David Jones whose passing is hard to comprehend but whose life work, moving ideas and evidence about public health to the front of readers’ minds, lives on.
@BUSPH @BUSPH_HLPM #pm760

[Wei-Hsiang Liao @wh_liao]

Still shocked by the sad news. I was the only foreign student in our #pm760 class, but I felt at ease because David truly cared about his students. You will be greatly missed, Professor David Jones. @dklinejones

[Sandro Galea @sandrogalea]

Our heart breaks at the news that Dr. David Jones, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy and Management, passed away yesterday in an accident. David was a much-loved member of our community. This is truly devastating news. [1/4] @BUSPH @BUSPH_HLPM

[Wei-Hsiang Liao @wh_liao]

I am delighted to share with you the traditional Chinese edition of Of Two Minds: An Anthropologist Looks at American Psychiatry by
@tanyaluhrmann (Translators: Fu-Shun Chang & Wei-Hsiang Liao; Reviewed by @peterycwu).

[Harry Yi-Jui Wu @HarryYJWu]

Our article is out. We ask how "social" depression is under the framework of modern psychiatry in three Asian countries. with @stefanecks and Junko Kitanaka.
The social in psychiatries: depression in #Myanmar, #China, and #Japan https://t.co/IvLdx4yDG2

[Jesse Bump @JesseBump]

Every person, every institution in #globalhealth is deeply indebted to people of S Asia, esp India, present and past. Acknowledge and honor it: speak up about the #COVIDSecondWaveInIndia and culpability of government and others who have failed them. What debt? I'll explain 1/n