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collegecate's review against another edition
3.0
Read for Read Harder 2016. Doesn't do a great job regulating the raving "bedlam" mad to modern day mental illness, but does show a clear path of madness from the classical to at least the late 19th century.
verbamatic's review against another edition
5.0
A jarring account of madness, as biased as it is artistic. This treatise is more of a cry for social change than a dry academic manuscript. A cynical, jabbing exposé of humanity's struggles with the unknown, which ultimately and irrevocably continued to worsen the original problem, rather than making it better - often in the interests of money, power and status, as is often the case. A wonderful read for those contemplating the human rights of the mentally ill, a dramatic and incredibly empowering offer for the mentally ill themselves. For all the shortcomings of the writing - often ranting and at times confusing prose, this deserves the 5 stars I gave it. A riveting experience.
sophie2305's review against another edition
4.0
Amazing. Was easy to read but not in a way that made me feel dumb at all. The way Scull methodically went through the centuries and all the theories, as well as their consequences was very insightful and mind blowing at times. I’ll admit the beginning was more heavy on history than the psychological elements, but it helped to set up context.
nerdella_reads's review against another edition
4.0
I liked how he linked popular culture to views on mental health, but he left out some glaringly obvious examples of madness found therein. There was also very little said about how mental illness is viewed in the justice system.
nezbots's review against another edition
2.0
I think this was really just too broad for me. It sounded interesting, but I guess I like more specific, or time-specific topics.
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