A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Before the end of the eighteenth century, there was no such thing as psychiatry..." (more)
Key Phrases: first biological psychiatry, recency hypothesis, private nervous clinic, New York, United States, World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The history of madness and its treatment is a fascinating one. At one time, the mentally ill were diagnosed as demonically possessed; later, when mental illness became the province of psychoanalysts, those conditions that are actually physical in nature, such as schizophrenia or manic depression, went insufficiently treated, their sufferers consigned to asylums. In his book, A History of Psychiatry, Edward Shorter, a medical historian at the University of Toronto, presents a concise chronology of mental illness and its treatment. Shorter favors a biological understanding of these disorders, concentrating on medical approaches to helping the seriously mentally ill. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Shorter cites recent research indicating that adult-onset schizophrenia is genetically influenced and often traceable to uterine trauma or difficult birth. In his view, brain biology and genetics underlie much mental illness, and biological psychiatry-combining drugs with psychotherapy-has replaced Freudian psychoanalysis as the dominant paradigm for explaining and treating a host of disorders. In this richly informative, iconoclastic, sure-to-be-controversial chronicle, Shorter, professor of the history of medicine at the University of Toronto, argues that Freud, by turning psychoanalysis into a movement instead of a method of objective inquiry, fostered a stifling orthodoxy, therapists' arrogance toward patients and scientific stagnation. He defends electroshock as a valuable tool in the treatment of depression; identifies German physician Emil Kraepelin, systematizer of diagnoses-rather than Freud-as the central figure in the history of psychiatry; and dismisses as unhistorical nonsense Michel Foucault's theory that psychiatry arose in a collusion between capitalism and the state as a means to control deviant individuals. While this study won't end the nature-versus-nurture debate, it mounts a formidable challenge to strict adherents of the talking therapies. Photos.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (February 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471245313
• ISBN-13: 978-0471245315
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #400,288 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mind Medicine -- Psychic or Somatic, November 18, 2000

By A Customer

Shorter's book is an important addition to the history of psychiatry. It falls short because of Shorter's "over kill" in his polemic against psychoanalysis. The Freudian perspective needs thoughtful criticism, but Shorter's attacks become carping. Psychoanalysis has made important cultural contributions, and many people have received benefit from the analyst's couch. Good history should have a direction, even a perspective. But Shorter's history would have been better served with a calmer and more balanced voice.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History of Psychiatry from the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac, December 18, 2007

By	S Rose "Steve" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

Excellent, well written and researched historic account of the history of psychiatry during this period. Well worth reading for everyone interested in mental health care.

16 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Shorter's opinion on the history of psychiatry, September 2, 2003

By	G Marx (Wellington New Zealand) - See all my reviews

I really enjoyed the part of this book on the history of psychiatry. Unfortunately only about 60% of the book is on this topic and the rest consists of Shorter's unbalanced opinions. As a Psychiartic Registrar/resident slightly more simpathetic to the Biological approach, even I found this book extremely biased. Shorter's concrete style of reasoning makes him far more suitable to write a book on the history of surgery. The finer nuances and richness of the field of psychiatry is clearly outside his grasp.