Caring for the Mentally Ill: Insights from History

Tūhura Otago Museum is proud to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week 2023!

Join Barbara Brookes, Professor Emerita at the University of Otago, as she uncovers the history of mental health in Aotearoa. Barbara is a historian of gender relations in New Zealand and of health and disease here and in Britain.

Barbara's work provides a fascinating historical perspective on contemporary debates about gender equity as well as health services. In 2018, she was awarded the Royal Society Te Apārangi Humanities Aronui Medal for her contribution to women’s history.

This talk will cover both world wars and Vietnam, mental illnesses such as hysteria and PTSD, deinstitutionalisation during the 1960s – 1990s, psychotropic drugs, pre-colonial indigenous perspectives, Truby King, and settlements such as Seacliff Lunatic Asylum and Otago Boys.

1pm, Sunday 24 September
Hutton Theatre
Free – Koha appreciated