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| Original Title: | Mad In America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill |
| ISBN: | 0738207993 (ISBN13: 9780738207995) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Robert Whitaker
Paperback | Pages: 334 pages Rating: 4.16 | 1940 Users | 152 Reviews
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In Mad in America, medical journalist Robert Whitaker reveals an astounding truth: Schizophrenics in the United States currently fare worse than patients in the world's poorest countries, and quite possibly worse than asylum patients did in the early nineteenth century. With a muckraker's passion, Whitaker argues that modern treatments for the severely mentally ill are just old medicine in new bottles, and that we as a society are deeply deluded about their efficacy. Tracing over three centuries of "cures" for madness, Whitaker shows how medical therapies have been used to silence patients and dull their minds. He tells of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century practices of "spinning" the insane, extracting their teeth, ovaries, and intestines, and submerging patients in freezing water. The "cures" in the 1920s and 1930s were no less barbaric as eugenic attitudes toward the mentally ill led to brain-damaging lobotomies and electroshock therapy. Perhaps Whitaker's most damning revelation, however, is his report of how drug companies in the 1980s and 1990s skewed their studies in an effort to prove the effectiveness of their products. Based on exhaustive research culled from old patient medical records, historical accounts, numerous interviews, and hundreds of government documents, Mad in America raises important questions about our obligations to the mad, what it means to be "insane," and what we value most about the human mind.
Point Epithetical Books Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill
| Title | : | Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill |
| Author | : | Robert Whitaker |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 334 pages |
| Published | : | April 17th 2003 by Basic Books (first published January 3rd 2002) |
| Categories | : | Psychology. Nonfiction. History. Health. Mental Health. Science. Mental Illness. Medicine |
Rating Epithetical Books Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill
Ratings: 4.16 From 1940 Users | 152 ReviewsCriticism Epithetical Books Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill
Details the treatment of mental illness for the past several hundred years. Interesting & sometimes shocking to read about some of the approaches that have been tried. I think one of the author's purposes was to make the psychopharmacological treatments of the last few decades seem just as ineffective and brutal as those from the past. Somewhat interesting, but got really boring/academic when it got to lobotomy & drug treatments.This book gives an overview of some of the more horrific treatments for the mentally ill in America's history. It starts out with Benjamin Rush and his "gyrator", moving all the way to pharmaceuticals in present day. The eugenics movement of the 1930s is also covered (although not in depth). I have a fascination with the medical practices of the 18th and 19th centuries, and this work describes some shockers very well, indeed.
I am not sure how to rate this book honestly. The author did very well at putting this book together. However, I am not sure if I should "like" the book because I did not enjoy reading about the horrific treatment of people with mental illness. But I am grateful to have this knowledge about how these people were treated. It upsets me about what these people were put through, but on the other hand I am contemplating on whether or not I believe it was necessary in order to get to where we are
I read this thanks to an uncle suffering not only from bi-polar disorder, but also from the effects of many years of taking the various drugs associated with relief of his symptoms. This was a great, albeit heartbreaking, story of how the mentally ill have been treated throughout history, the rise of the medical profession and psychiatry's place in that profession, and the rise of the pharmaceutical juggernaut. When I see my uncle, I see someone who fell into a trap of looking for a miracle cure
This book was referenced by the author of "Shutter Island". It tells the history of mental treatment in America from the Quakers who tried to cure madness with gentle treatment to the drugs prescribed today. Some of it is frightening and terrible. Towards the end the author focused solely on schizophrenia and the drugs used to treat it. I would have found it more interesting if other psychiatric issues were addressed, but perhaps they're too many to mention. The author feels there is a vast
Only got a few chapters in. This is a subject I'm passionate about as I had a brother who suffered from schizophrenia. This book should be take off shelves due to its antiquated and misguided information on mental illness.
There are so many things that I could say about this book, but... I will simply say this... Just read it. And after you read it, watch the film Food Inc. for good measure.
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