Madhouse: A Tragic Tale of Megalomania and Modern Medicine
by Andrew Scull
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Description
"Madhouse reveals a long-suppressed medical scandal, shocking in its brutality and sobering in its implications. It shows how a leading American psychiatrist of the early twentieth century came to believe that mental illnesses were the product of chronic infections that poisoned the brain. Convinced that he had uncovered the single source of psychosis, Henry Cotton, superintendent of the Trenton State Hospital, New Jersey, launched a ruthless campaign to "eliminate the perils of pus show more infection." Teeth were pulled, tonsils excised, stomachs, spleens, colons, and uteruses were all sacrificed in the assault on "focal sepsis."" "Many patients did not survive Cotton's surgeries; thousands more were left mangled and maimed. Cotton's work was controversial, yet none of his colleagues questioned his experimental practices. Subsequent historians and psychiatrists, too, have ignored the events that cast doubt on their favourite narratives of scientific and humanitarian progress." "Andrew Scull exposes the full, frightening story of madness among the mad-doctors. Drawing on a wealth of documents and interviews, he reconstructs a nightmarish, cautionary chapter in modern psychiatry, when professionals failed to police themselves."--Jacket. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
An absolutely fascinating subject. The author is clearly well-versed and a good researcher and writer. But he does not, alas, know how to tell a story. So this book quickly becomes bogged down; it's dry and suffocating in history and implications and theories rather than focusing on lives and human beings. It should capture our attention and move us to tears, because the subject is so horrifying, but instead most readers will find themselves skimming pages.
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Author Information
19 Works 811 Members
Andrew Scull is Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology and Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego. He is past president of the Society for the Social History of Medicine and the author of numerous books including Madness in Civilization, Hysteria and others.
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2005
- People/Characters
- Henry Cotton; Adolph Meyer; Phyllis Greenacre
- Important places
- Trenton State Hospital, New Jersey, USA
- First words
- The rain that arrived before daybreak on Wednesday, August 5, 1925, finally brought a measure of relief from the sweltering heat and humidity of an all-too-typical New Jersey summer. (Prologue)
Who can envy the fate of the mad and the mopish, the distracted and the deranged, the delusional and the troubled in mind? (Chapter 1, "No Bughouse Doctor") - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Meanwhile, every year, thanks to the grieving widow who had provided the necessary endowment, the contribution to the welfare of the hospital's patients of the great man who had once presided over the establishment was symbolically recognized—with the bestowal on an outstanding member of the staff of "the Cotton Award of Kindness."
- Blurbers
- Nasar, Sylvia; Bynum, William F.; Miller, Jonathan
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 616.89 — Applied science & technology Medicine & health Diseases, Allergies, Skin Conditions Nervous Disorders: Autism, Anorexia, OCD Mental disorders: bi-polar/schizophrenia
- LCC
- RC443 .S395 — Medicine Internal medicine Internal medicine Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry Psychiatry
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 66
- Popularity
- 473,522
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.25)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
