| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
xxi, 360 pages ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [335]-348) and index. |
| Contents |
Membrane -- What is schizophrenia? -- Regulars -- Bedlam, before and beyond -- Eugenics: weeding out the mad -- "A more normal world" -- "When they were young" -- Madness and genius -- "If only, if only, if only . . ." -- Chaos and heartbreak -- The great unraveler -- Surcease -- Debacle -- "Hey fam--" -- Antipsychotics -- "Something unexplainable" -- "We have done pitifully little about mental illness" -- "Primoshadino" -- Red Sox 17, Yankees 1 -- Insanity and Icarus -- Someone cares about crazy people. |
| Summary |
Offers a carefully researched narrative of the social history of mental illness in the United States, focusing specifically on schizophrenia, the taboos that compromise mental health care, and the way the disease has devastated the author's own family. |
|
"New York Times bestselling author Ron Powers offers a searching, richly researched narrative of the social history of mental illness in America paired with the deeply personal story of his two sons' battles with schizophrenia. From the centuries of torture of "lunatiks" at Bedlam Asylum to the infamous eugenics era to the follies of the anti-psychiatry movement to the current landscape in which too many families struggle alone to manage afflicted love ones, Powers limns our fears and myths about mental illness and the fractured public policies that have resulted. Braided with that history is the moving story of Powers's beloved son Kevin--spirited, endearing, and gifted--who triumphed even while suffering from schizophrenia until finally he did not, and the story of his courageous surviving son Dean, who is also schizophrenic. A blend of history, biography, memoir, and current affairs ending with a consideration of where we might go from here, this is a thought-provoking look at a dreaded illness that has long been misunderstood"--Provided by publisher. |
| Subject |
Schizophrenia -- History.
|
|
Mental health services -- History.
|
|
Mental health services.
|
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Mentally ill.
|
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Mental illness -- United States -- History.
|
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Mental illness -- Treatment -- United States -- History.
|
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Schizophrenia -- Case studies.
|
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Mentally ill -- Care -- United States -- History.
|
|
PSYCHOLOGY / Mental Health.
|
|
PSYCHOLOGY / Psychopathology / Schizophrenia.
|
|
Mental health services. (OCoLC)fst01016498
|
|
Mentally ill. (OCoLC)fst01016699
|
|
Schizophrenia. (OCoLC)fst01106752
|
|
Schizophrenia -- history.
|
|
Mental Health Services -- history.
|
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Mental Health Services -- legislation & jurisprudence.
|
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Mentally Ill Persons.
|
|
United States.
|
| Genre/Form |
Personal Narratives.
|
|
History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
|
| Added Title |
Chaos and heartbreak of mental health in America |
| ISBN |
9780316341172 (hardback) |
|
0316341177 (hardback) |
|
