Disembodied Spirits and Deanimated Bodies: The Psychopathology of Common Sense (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry) [Paperback]

Giovanni Stanghellini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0198520891 | ISBN-13: 978-0198520894 | Edition: 1

How can we better understand and treat those suffering from schizophrenia and manic-depressive illnesses? This important new book takes us into the world of those suffering from such disorders. Using self-descriptions, its emphasis is not on how mental health professional's view sufferers, but on how the patients themselves experience their disorder. Central to the book is the idea that schizophrenic persons live like disembodies spirits or deanimated bodies. As disembodies spirits, they feel like abstract entities that contemplate their own existence and the world from outside. As deanimated bodies, schizophrenic people feel deprived of the possibility of living personal experiences - perceptions, thoughts, emotions - as their own. A new volume in the International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry series, this book will be of great interest to all those working with sufferers from such disorders - helping them to better understand their mental lives and providing important insights into how best to treat them.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"All mental health professionals are likely to gain, both clinically and intellectually, from reading this book, and carers, patients, and philosophers will find much to help them engage with the potentially disorienting and frightening reality of psychosis." --Mental Health Today

"This book represents a contribution to what might be considered a renaissance of philosophically informed approaches to clinical psychiatry." --Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

About the Author

Giovanni Stanghellini is at Department of Psychiatry, University of Florence, Italy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (October 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198520891
• ISBN-13: 978-0198520894
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,047,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Lost in translation, but..., October 31, 2011

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This review is from: Disembodied Spirits and Deanimated Bodies: The Psychopathology of Common Sense (International Perspectives in Philosophy and Psychiatry) (Paperback)

There are some interesting ideas here - and it is always interesting to see mental illnesses in the light of existential thinking. Some very interesting comments on consciousness and self-consciousness and on "melancholic depersonalization as an identity disorder". Some intriguing responses to intriguing questions too - what does it mean to "feel" alive, for example?

A slight uncomfortable "moral" twinge at times is present - that polarizes depressives into sheepish "centric" conformists and schizophrenics into cold "eccentric" nonconformists. Neither are granted "authenticity".

Unfortunately this book is so badly translated that one is constantly distracted by unhappy choices in grammatical construction. If I could read Italian, I'd go for the original, hands down.