Book Review: A Social History of Madness by Roy Porter
Beginning this book, I was skeptical. It examines the firsthand accounts of various individuals who have been classified as insane throughout history, and that's a touchy and difficult subject. I find that, when discussing insanity, people tend to romanticize either the treatment or the illness - accounts have a tendency to read either as drugs/psychiatry advertisements or pure anti-psychiatry rants, neither of which are particularly helpful or, well, sane.
But I was pleasantly surprised. This book consists of a startlingly balanced and reasonable discussion on the issues, combining sympathy and objectivity in just the right doses. It focuses on ideas of the 'insane' as outsiders to society, and the power dynamics inherent in psychiatry both current and previous, but doesn't stint on addressing other issues that come up. As someone with an interest in the subject but little actual knowledge on it, I found the book eye opening and thought provoking.
It's not an easy book to read, though. The chapter "Mad Women" nearly made me cry (and gave me a clear disdain for Freud that had before only existed in my vague dissatisfaction with the Oedipus Complex), and the chapter "The Therapeutic God" changed the way I look at The Bell Jar and Sylvia Plath quite drastically. But, if you find these topics at all interesting, it's worth it.
That said, it's not a good book to read the day before you see Next to Normal.
But I was pleasantly surprised. This book consists of a startlingly balanced and reasonable discussion on the issues, combining sympathy and objectivity in just the right doses. It focuses on ideas of the 'insane' as outsiders to society, and the power dynamics inherent in psychiatry both current and previous, but doesn't stint on addressing other issues that come up. As someone with an interest in the subject but little actual knowledge on it, I found the book eye opening and thought provoking.
It's not an easy book to read, though. The chapter "Mad Women" nearly made me cry (and gave me a clear disdain for Freud that had before only existed in my vague dissatisfaction with the Oedipus Complex), and the chapter "The Therapeutic God" changed the way I look at The Bell Jar and Sylvia Plath quite drastically. But, if you find these topics at all interesting, it's worth it.
That said, it's not a good book to read the day before you see Next to Normal.