Disappearing Acts: Anguish, Isolation, and the Re-imagining of the Mentally Ill in Global Psychopharmaceutical Advertising (1953-2005).

The visualization of mental illness has attracted substantial attention from scholars in recent decades. Due to the invisible nature of mental disorders, this work has stressed the importance of representations in shaping perceptions of mental illness. In the second half of the 20th century, advertisements for psychopharmaceutical medications became important avenues through which mental illness was made visible. This article analyzes how drug advertisements portrayed mentally ill individuals in medical journal advertisements from 14 countries between 1953 and 2005. We argue that a shift in representations occurred in the 1980s: whereas earlier campaigns were dominated by images of the mentally ill suffering in isolation, the post-1980s period was marked by a trend toward "positive" imagery, social inclusion, and ordinariness. This shift re-imagines the role of psychopharmaceuticals and who might be understood as mentally ill, reflecting changes in global marketing and the arrival of the "happiness turn" within the pharmaceutical industry.

A Novel Thermochromic Liquid Crystal Fabric Design for the Early Detection of High-Risk Foot Complications

Background: We developed a prototype of a novel thermochromic liquid crystal (TLC)­coated fabric with an extended temperature range and enhanced sensitivity. By incorporating color and pattern recognition into the fabric, rapid determination of the underlying pedal temperature is facilitated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the TLC fabric as a potential diagnostic aid for identifying complications in the high-risk foot. Methods: The hands of 100 individuals were used to compare the mean maximum temperatures indicated by the fabric versus standard thermal camera images. Findings were statistically analyzed using a paired t test, with significance defined as P < .05. Results: Except for the tip of the thumb and regions in the palm, there were no statistically significant differences between mean maximum temperatures measured with the thermal camera and those detected with the TLC fabric. Minor differences were relatively consistent in all nine regions of the hand and were not considered to be clinically significant. Conclusions: Using direct visual analysis, we demonstrated that a novel TLC fabric could accurately map temperatures in the palmar surface of the hand. The findings support the continued development of a temperature-sensitive sock that can be used in the home to monitor for temperature changes that may indicate the onset of complications in the high-risk foot.