Saints and Madmen: How Pioneering Psychiatrists Are Creating a New Science of the Soul [Paperback]

Russell Shorto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2000

Psychiatry, once famously opposed to religion, has done an about-face. Like the legendary explorers of a century ago, some psychiatrists have set off into what they see as the last frontier: the spiritual self. In this moving and impeccably researched narrative, Russell Shorto tells remarkable stories of people suffering from what once were deemed spiritual afflictions, then came to be seen as purely medical disorders, and now are being treated as both.

In the process, Shorto brings to bear issues from the cutting edge of consciousness studies. He explores the shared territory of psychosis and mysticism; the changing meaning of "self," "soul," "mind," and "brain"; the theory that psychotropic drugs have a spiritual dimension; the meaning of religious terrorism; and the possibility that addiction and depression are spiritual conditions.

In weaving his case studies into a single story, Shorto delivers a concise update on the science of the mind and the newest efforts to probe the deepest meaning of human existence.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Many people who experience psychotic episodes have extreme spiritual encounters: for one person, it may be a sense of a tree's spirit speaking its truth aloud; for others, it could be the sensation of energy beaming from their bodies and communicating with dolphins on a far-off coast. Modern psychiatry usually categorizes these visions as evidence of psychosis, to be treated with antipsychotic medication. But what if these visions were actually extensions of legitimate spiritual encounters or glimpses into the deeper dimensions of the soul?

Author Russell Shorto (Gospel Truth) dares to ask these questions. He even offers evidence of a new movement in psychiatry, in which established doctors are assuming a more holistic approach to psychotic episodes and taking the patient's soul into account. This is not a cavalier dismissal of all that can be gained from appropriate diagnoses of (and medications for) mental illness; rather, it is an impressively researched argument for opening up to the idea of spiritual visions. Citing extensive research and numerous case studies, Shorto helps readers consider the possibility that grandiose spiritual visions aren't necessarily symptoms of mental illness. --Gail Hudson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Although both of these books focus on the great interest in spirituality in America today, much of which lies outside the predominant religious cultures, they are quite different. Shorto (Gospel Truth: The New Image of Jesus Emerging from Science and History and Why It Matters) considers contemporary psychiatric cases to show how many psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychotherapists have opened themselves to spiritual and religious dimensions. Freud may have dismissed religion, but now the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual includes an entry for the "religious or spiritual problem." Taylor (William James on Consciousness Beyond the Margin) presents the history, starting in the 1700s, of various spiritual and religious movements that he calls the "shadow culture"Athey lie in the shadow of prevailing cultures and religions. He discusses Quakers and Shakers, Swedenborgians, Christian Scientists, and many more, and brings us to the current American focus on a seeming connection between psychology and spirituality. Both books are extremely interesting and both tackle challenging and controversial subjects. Both also call for some background on the part of the reader. Highly recommended.AJohn Moryl, Yeshiva Univ. Libs., New York
Copyright 1999 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: 272 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; 1st edition (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805059016
• ISBN-13: 978-0805059014
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,437,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

RUSSELL SHORTO is the bestselling author of The Island at the Center of the World and a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine. He lives in Amsterdam.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good attempt to cover a very timely topic., September 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Saints and Madmen: Psychiatry Opens Its Doors to Religion (Hardcover)

I found Russell Shorto's Saints and Madmen very compelling in the beginning of the book when it presented actual case histories of people with mental illness and their spiritual experiences. The second part of the book seems to be a set-up for Mr. Shorto's final conclusions. I believe that the first part of the book shows that Russell Shorto is an excellent journalist. Unfortunately, he follows the footsteps of too many print and TV journalists of the the past twenty years or so who believe that being a good journalist also makes them good philosophers and experts on every topic. If you want a read philosophers on this topic, you would do well to read just about anything by Ken Wilber. John Nelson's Healing the Split is should have been discussed in Saints and Madmen, because it deals quite thoroughly with the same topic. However, had Wilber and Nelson been included, it may been more difficult for Shorto to come to the conclusions he proposes, because both Wilber and Nelson address some of the errors in reasoning the Russell Shorto seems to rely upon---primarily the pre/trans fallacy and flatland objectivism. Mr.Shorto concludes that simply because there are biological changes in the brain during a transcendent experience, mysticism is created by these chemical changes. That would be like saying the grooves in the phonograph record created Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. I do agree with Mr. Shorto's final words of advice, and I am now going to "lighten up and move on."

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars TOO FEW SAINTS AND MADMEN, October 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Saints and Madmen: Psychiatry Opens Its Doors to Religion (Hardcover)

While this book had the noblest of intentions, it dwelt too often on the politics of American Psychiatry and not enough on the actual Saints and Madmen. Where the author did cover accounts of psychotic/mystical experiences - he handled them extremely well - it is a pity he lost his focus.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Title is very misleading..., July 6, 2005

By 

Kelly J. Cyr "Author of Supreme Love" (Great Falls, Montana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saints and Madmen: How Pioneering Psychiatrists Are Creating a New Science of the Soul (Paperback)

I was a bit disappointed in this book. It gave examples of a very few clients with psychosis, nothing at all about saint's religious experiences and was basically a history about psychiatrists and psychologists focusing about the era of psychedelic drug usage. I thought it would be a comparison between psychosis and religious experience which it was not at all. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It was written in a very scholarly manner and addressing neuropsychology in an area that is not well understood. Was it helpful? I don't think so.