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21 reviews for:
How the Brain Lost Its Mind: Sex, Hysteria, and the Riddle of Mental Illness
Brian Burrell, Allan H. Ropper
3.39 AVERAGE
21 reviews for:
How the Brain Lost Its Mind: Sex, Hysteria, and the Riddle of Mental Illness
Brian Burrell, Allan H. Ropper
3.39 AVERAGE
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Finally finished this one.. Super dense and interesting book, but also with a lot of medical terms and a bit all over the place.
this book was a jumble of topics but for one i never expected syphilis to be so very enthralling!! if there is one thing to take away from this book is that syphilis was EVERYWHERE back in the day. around 10% of the population were infected at its peak and the asylums were packed to the brim with people going absolutely mad with neurosyphilis. think of anyone of your faves back in the day? chances are they had syphilis. vincent van gogh ? syphilis. the guy who discovered tourettes? boom. syphilis. high society socialites and artists? syphilis. the most respectable doctors of their day? syphilis!!!!!! it was one of the great scourges of humanity for as long as we've been around, as much as pneumonia or tuberculosis or malaria, and we have completely forgotten about it!! it makes me think of the anti vax movement and how the development of antibiotics changed the game so entirely that we are able to mentally seperate ourselves from the danger and grim reality of infectious disease so much that some people feel completely at ease forgoing life saving medicine for themselves and their children (!!). i wish every one of these people would read about the history of syphilis, it was a disease of unimaginable suffering with such wide ranging effects that really did not discriminate based on class or privilege. it took incredibly educated, rich men and put them in asylums to rot, all in the prime of their lives. so many fascinating facts in this one book, well written and quite readable. apart from the history and science of syphilis though was a discussion about the mind vs. the brain and im not ao sure that part of the book was done quite as well. the argument was not very clear at all which muddled the whole book for me and while they used neurosyphilis in a very interesting way to link brain health to the concept of mental illness, they really didnt explore it to its conclusion and didnt make their stance very clear. also this book very much reads like two old white dudes who have never really experienced mental illness themselves talking about it. that normal feelings get pathologised regularly is true but this does not negate the fact that their very much is a line where these feelings Do become pathological and the person is sick. anyone who has ever experienced any crippling mental illness will tell you that. this book put a very very fine point on data and scientific process which is of course central, super important, and has its rightful place but the lived experience of patients and sufferers is so vastly important too in the scientific process and to know that takes a wisdom that only comes with empathy and one to one experience with patients. perhaps mental illness cannot be measured on a scale or proved on a microscope slide but it Is an illness because it disables and destroys, and anyone with even a lick of experience in a psych ward can see that.
i was left irked by the end of this book but regardless, i would recommend it for the syphilis.
i was left irked by the end of this book but regardless, i would recommend it for the syphilis.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
This is a fascinating account of the history of mental illness over the pass 200 or so years, by examining the social, cultural, psychological and even artistic impact of syphilis. The book also approaches the conundrum of what connects the brain to the mind. Syphilis is especially interesting in this area as it is one of the few physical diseases that directly causes mental illness.
Entertaining and occasionally poinent with its storytelling, (mostly) balanced account between empathetic historical read, close recounts of science and light touched of biology with a few pacing issues restraining it.
My largest gripe with the text remains its romantization of science; and while it does mention a number of negative events, it fails to adequately explain and quantify them, often satisfied to point to them as genericly bad. Certainly not a damnable point, but a chip into it's quality, certainly.
Worth picking up for some history of pyschology in a much more pragmatic, medical sense than it usually sees, but does fail to fully explore a wealth of perspectives.
My largest gripe with the text remains its romantization of science; and while it does mention a number of negative events, it fails to adequately explain and quantify them, often satisfied to point to them as genericly bad. Certainly not a damnable point, but a chip into it's quality, certainly.
Worth picking up for some history of pyschology in a much more pragmatic, medical sense than it usually sees, but does fail to fully explore a wealth of perspectives.
First and foremost, this is a historical text on syphilis, on neurosyphilis, and how it has impacted neurology, psychology, and terms from these disciplines which we still use on a daily basis. This provides one viewpoint, one trajectory, and it reframes how the reader might think of household names like the already-controversial Freud. Again, it is a single perspective (or perhaps double, there are 2 authors), so this should be introductory if someone wants to continue research into the area. If you want to learn about the continued struggle to treat patients in both fields, and what syphilis has to do with that, then this is an interesting reading that will likely leave you with even more questions.
This is a hard book to review. It wasn't exactly what I needed for my research, so I found HOW THE BRAIN LOST ITS MIND a bit boring. It's more a wide overview of 19th & 20th century psychologists and syphilis versus a more detailed insight into popular views of insanity. I am interested in 19th century views of hysteria--the everyman not those on the forefront of research and ideas.
A 5 star book if you're interested in a high level survey of the history of syphilis & those researching it, a 3 star book to everyone else. Not one of those nonfiction books about niche topics with wide audience appeal. Seemed well researched but felt distant.
A 5 star book if you're interested in a high level survey of the history of syphilis & those researching it, a 3 star book to everyone else. Not one of those nonfiction books about niche topics with wide audience appeal. Seemed well researched but felt distant.
informative
slow-paced