In this podcast, Professor Houston talks about the psychological impact on those affected by the Aberfan disaster of 1966. The podcast expands on an interview Prof Houston gave to BBC Wales as part of a series of podcasts recently produced about the disaster. It is strongly advised that you listen to podcast 7 of the BBC series prior to listening to this podcast. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p09z3n7y

Further reading:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/electroencephalogram/ 

Iain McLean and Martin Johnes, Aberfan: government and disasters (Cardiff: Welsh Academic Press, 2000), especially chapter 5.
Morgan, L., Scourfield, J., Williams, D., Jasper, A., & Lewis, G. (2003). The Aberfan disaster: 33-year follow-up of survivors. British Journal of Psychiatry, 182(6), 532-536. doi:10.1192/bjp.182.6.532

The 1966 Aberfan disaster

This podcast carries on from last week’s, asking: Were Bethlem’s staff negligent and cruel? Did it do little to cure its inmates? The conclusion is that Bethlem was for centuries a troubled institution dominated by recurring scandals. It was a Bedlam in all senses of the word, potentially ‘brutal, cold, dark, and dirty’. Yet this needs to be balanced with a strong imperative to help sufferers and a more recent history, since the mid-nineteenth century, which was a model of good psychiatric practice.

Image of the week: William Norris, 1815
Full Bibliographic Record: Wellcome Library Catalogue L0011319  
Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

6.2 Bedlam Part 2 Cruelty Or Cure

Rab Houston was born in Hamilton, Scotland, lived in India and Ghana and was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and St Andrews University before spending six years at Cambridge University as a research student (Peterhouse) and research fellow (Clare College). He has worked at the University of St Andrews since 1983 and is Professor of Modern History, specialising in British social history. He is a fellow of both the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh (Scotland’s national academy), and a member of the Academia Europaea. He is married to a senior university manager and lives in Edinburgh. In his spare time he likes any form of active meditation.
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/history/staff/rabhouston.html
https://arts.st-andrews.ac.uk/psychhist/

6.2 Bedlam Part 2 Cruelty Or Cure

History of Psychiatry Podcast Series

Related tracks