A History of Psychiatry:

From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac

Wiley, 1997 - Medical - 436 pages

"PPPP . . . To compress 200 years of psychiatric theory and practice into a compelling and coherent narrative is a fine achievement . . . . What strikes the reader [most] are Shorter's storytelling skills, his ability to conjure up the personalities of the psychiatrists who shaped the discipline and the conditions under which they and their patients lived."--Ray Monk The Mail on Sunday magazine, U.K.

"An opinionated, anecdote-rich history. . . . While psychiatrists may quibble, and Freudians and other psychoanalysts will surely squawk, those without a vested interest will be thoroughly entertained and certainly enlightened."--Kirkus Reviews.

"Shorter tells his story with immense panache, narrative clarity, and genuinely deep erudition."--Roy Porter Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine.

In A History of Psychiatry, Edward Shorter shows us the harsh, farcical, and inspiring realities of society's changing attitudes toward and attempts to deal with its mentally ill and the efforts of generations of scientists and physicians to ease their suffering. He paints vivid portraits of psychiatry's leading historical figures and pulls no punches in assessing their roles in advancing or sidetracking our understanding of the origins of mental illness.

Shorter also identifies the scientific and cultural factors that shaped the development of psychiatry. He reveals the forces behind the unparalleled sophistication of psychiatry in Germany during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as well as the emergence of the United States as the world capital of psychoanalysis.

This engagingly written, thoroughly researched, and fiercely partisan account is compelling reading for anyone with a personal, intellectual, or professional interest in psychiatry.

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Review: A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac

User Review - Niamh - Goodreads

A good overview, but not a very critical one. Decent introduction to the field and the major changes that have taken place over the last 200+ years of Psychiatry. The author makes a couple of quite surprisingly chauvinistic assumptions/statements in the book that made me gasp, though!! Read full review

Review: A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac

User Review - Psipsipsi - Goodreads

This book gives a very clear and believable account of its chosen topic. The author is strongly opinionated and gives a powerful narrative. I will not swallow everything he says whole, but he has ... Read full review

All 14 reviews »

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NEJM -- A History of Psychiatry: From the era of the asylum to the ...
Book Review from The New England Journal of Medicine -- A History of Psychiatry: From the era of the asylum to the age of Prozac.
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JSTOR: A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the ...
182 Book Reviews A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac. By Edward Shorter. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997. ...
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The Reader Online � Recommended Reads: A History of Psychiatry
A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac. by Edward Shorter. I bought this at the bookshop in the Wellcome Collection, ...
thereaderonline.co.uk/ ?p=282

A History of Psychiatry
metzelf is an organization based in the Netherlands which fights legislation limiting the freedoms of people using or compelled to use health services
www.metzelf.info/ Book%20Reviews/ Shorter.html

A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to
Shorter, Edward A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac New York: John Wiley and Sons 436 pp., $30.00, ISBN 0-471-1.
www.encyclopedia.com/ doc/ 1G1-20815917.html

Intimate Attachments: Toward a New Self Psychology Individual ...
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Journal of Psychopharmacology
Book Reviews : A History of Psychiatry-From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac: (E. http://jop.sagepub.com. The online version of this article can ...
jop.sagepub.com/ cgi/ reprint/ 11/ 3/ 287.pdf?ck=nck

A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of ...
A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac. (book reviews) from History: Review of New Books in Reference provided by Find ...
findarticles.com/ p/ articles/ mi_hb141/ is_/ ai_n5663423

Psychiatry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, p. 326. ISBN 978-0-47-124531-5 ...
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20th Century History of the Treatment of Mental Illness: A Review
A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997. Shorter, Edward. "How Prozac Slew Freud. ...
www.mentalhealthworld.org/ 29ap.html

About the author (1997)

EDWARD SHORTER, PhD, is Hannah Professor in the History of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is the author of ten books, including the international bestseller The Making of the Modern Family and a two-volume history of psychosomatic illness.

Bibliographic information

Title	A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac
Author	Edward Shorter
Edition	illustrated, reprint
Publisher	Wiley, 1997
ISBN	0471245313, 9780471245315
Length	436 pages
Subjects	Medical › Psychiatry › General Medical / Psychiatry / General Psychology / History

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