Mad In America: Science, Psychiatry And Social Justice

This week, we interview Dr Peter Gordon. Dr Gordon describes himself as a gardener with an interest in medicine. He trained in both medicine and landscape architecture before specialising in psychiatry and now works with older adults in Scotland. In addition, he is an activist and campaigner and has a range of creative interests including filmmaking, photography, writing and poetry. In this interview, we walk about Peter’s own experiences of psychiatric treatment and how we need to address the divide that exists between the arts and the medical sciences. In this episode we discuss: What led Dr Gordon to have combined interests in the arts and the sciences, training both in architecture and medicine. How Peter was interested in the plurality of thinking required for psychiatry as opposed to general medicine. How he feels that his training in both the arts and the sciences led to a more rounded appreciation of why purely biological approach might miss opportunities to help people. How Peter became an activist,