ABSTRACT
The language of ‘madness’ has been around for centuries but has, in the past century, evolved from a limited number of forms of ‘insanity’ into several catalogues of ‘mental disorder’ or ‘mental health problems’. Today, we talk more to one another, through more different media, than ever before. Not for nothing have educated people been described as the ‘chattering classes’. However, it remains unclear to what extent all this ‘communication’ is meaningful, or merely an attempt to fill the emptiness of our lives.
