Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 to the Present
Running for shelter
Lisa AppignanesiVirago, 541pp, £20,
Anthony Daniels looks at two books on psychiatry
It is questionable whether psychiatry as a whole does, or has done throughout its history, more good than harm. Certainly there are some patients who benefit from its ministrations; but there are many others who have been harmed by the wrongful administration of noxious drugs or other therapies. A less tangible, but nevertheless potentially serious, harm is that it persuades people with the difficulties in living that are inseparable from human existence that they are ill, and therefore disguises from them that the best remedy, if one there be, lies in their own hands. Indeed, psychiatry seems to have persuaded whole societies that all forms of mental distress are illnesses, for which there is a technical medical solution.
I confess to having approached Lisa Appignianesi’s book with something like dread. I thought it would be a simple-minded catalogue of wrongs committed by male psychiatrists against women, but I was quite wrong. The author recognises the inherent ambiguities and difficulties of the field, which speaks to her honesty; she weaves a seamless robe from individual case histories (often of murderesses or suicides), literature and the theoretical writings of psychiatrists. She has a good measure of what in fact is not very common, namely common sense, and this lends an exemplary clarity to her prose. Her range of reference is very large, and although her book concentrates on the treatment of women, it does so in no sectarian spirit, and can be recommended to anyone interested in the history of psychiatry. Indeed, I would say that it is the most readable and elegant history of the last two centuries of psychiatry that I have read.
The Loss of Sadness is one of the most important books in the field of psychiatry published in the last few years. The authors are two American professors of sociology, but (I almost said nevertheless) they present a powerful argument that is so good that they do not have to obscure it with convoluted prose.
Post this entry to: del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
Advertisement
Life and Letters
Allan MassieBreaking the rules
Brave new writing
Richard BradfordFifty years ago, Alan Sillitoe’s first novel, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, changed the history of English fiction. Richard Bradford explains how.
The châtelaine and the wanderer
Anne ChisholmIn Tearing Haste: Letters between Deborah Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor, edited by Charlotte Mosley
Rekindling life in a dead frame
Caroline MooreThe Casebook of Victor Frankenstein, by Peter Ackroyd
A far cry from Paradise
Anita BrooknerThe Gate of Air: A Ghost Story, by James Buchan
Latest blog posts
sponsored links
Sky TV, Broadband & Talk from £16 a Month
Sky TV & free broadband packages available from £16 a month. Choose from a standard free sky box, sky plus or sky hd.
Sky TV, Broadband & Talk from £16 a Month
Sky TV & free broadband packages available from £16 a month. Choose from a standard free sky box, sky plus...
ROME CENTRE
PORTA METRONIA, ROME Standing high on the top of one of the seven hills of Rome- the Coelian- this unique
City Breaks. ROME and PARIS
ROME and PARIS: over 350 holiday rentals apartments listed: visit www.romanreference.com and www.parisreference.com or call +39 0648 903612.
Jewellery. RUFFS (Estd. 1904).
Goldsmiths by Design Welcome to Ruffs! You have found a company of Goldsmiths that specialises in the manufacture, amongst other
Spectator Business | Apollo Magazine
Corporate | Advertising | Privacy | Terms
Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP
All Articles and Content Copyright ©2008 by The Spectator | All Rights Reserved
TDK
March 20th, 2008 12:21pmThere is no link to (or mention of) "The Loss of Sadness" in the article header. That is a pity because anyone searching for this review will not find it.