null
Skip to main content

How the Brain Lost Its Mind: Sex, Hysteria, and the Riddle of Mental Illness

Hardcover
SKU: 9780735214552
Buy More - Save More. Below are the available bulk discount rates for each individual item when you purchase a certain amount
Quantity Price Savings
25 - 99 38%
100 - 249 42%
250 - 499 46%
500 - 999 48%
1000+ 50%

Format Sturdy and long-lasting. Ideal for libraries and classrooms, and a polished choice for corporate gifts, leadership programs, or event takeaways.

Price $27.00

Total for 25 copies:

Adding to cart… The item has been added
You can purchase this title directly online anytime! If you need a formal quote for budget approval, submit a request and we’ll get it to you quickly.
  • Free shipping over $95
  • Price Match Guarantee. Found a better price? Let us know! We’ll work to match it so you get the best value with BookPal.

Overview

A noted neurologist challenges the widespread misunderstanding of brain disease and mental illness.

How the Brain Lost Its Mind tells the rich and compelling story of two confounding ailments, syphilis and hysteria, and the extraordinary efforts to confront their effects on mental life. How does the mind work? Where does madness lie, in the brain or in the mind? How should it be treated?

Throughout the nineteenth century, syphilis--a disease of mad poets, musicians, and artists--swept through the highest and lowest rungs of European society like a plague. Known as "the Great Imitator," it could produce almost any form of mental or physical illness, and it would bring down a host of famous and infamous characters--among them Guy de Maupassant, Vincent van Gogh, the Marquis de Sade, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Al Capone. It was the first truly psychiatric disease and it filled asylums to overflowing. At the same time, an outbreak of bizarre behaviors resembling epilepsy, but with no identifiable source in the body, strained the diagnostic skills of the great neurologists. It was referred to as hysteria.

For more than a century, neurosyphilis stood out as the archetype of a brain-based mental illness, fully understood but largely forgotten, and today far from gone. Hysteria, under many different names, remains unexplained and epidemic. These two conditions stand at opposite poles of the current debate over the role of the brain in mental illness. Hysteria led Freud to insert sex into psychology. Neurosyphilis led to the proliferation of mental institutions. The problem of managing the inmates led to the abuse of lobotomy and electroshock therapy, and ultimately the overuse of psychotropic drugs.

Today we know that syphilitic madness was a destructive disease of the brain while hysteria and, more broadly, many varieties of mental illness reside solely in the mind. Or do they? Afflictions once written off as "hysterical" continue to elude explanation. Addiction, alcoholism, autism, ADHD, Tourette syndrome, depression, and sociopathy, though regarded as brain-based, have not been proven to be so.

In these pages, the authors raise a host of philosophical and practical questions. What is the difference between a sick mind and a sick brain? If we understood everything about the brain, would we understand ourselves? By delving into an overlooked history, this book shows how neuroscience and brain scans alone cannot account for a robust mental life, or a deeply disturbed one.

The book, How the Brain Lost Its Mind: Sex, Hysteria, and the Riddle of Mental Illness [Bulk, Wholesale, Quantity] ISBN# 9780735214552 in Hardcover by Allan H. Ropper;Brian Burrell may be ordered in bulk quantities. Minimum starts at 25 copies. Availability based on publisher status and quantity being ordered.

Details

Author:
Allan H. Ropper
Language:
English
Format:
Hardcover
Publication Date:
08/20/2019 00:00
Pages:
256
Publisher:
Avery Publishing Group

Customer Reviews

This product hasn't received any reviews yet. Be the first to review this product!

Need Books? BookPal Makes it Easy

  • Free Shipping

    Enjoy free ground shipping on us! Most orders over $95 qualify for free standard ground shipping.It takes an estimated 7-10 business days to deliver and may require additional processing time

    Learn More
  • Dedicated Account Managers

    At BookPal, we go beyond the transaction by providing personal support and a dedicated account manager for every customer.

    Learn More
  • Flexible Delivery Options

    We offer flexible delivery options such Free Ground Shipping (on most orders over $100), Expedited Premium, Expedited Express, International Shipping etc.

    Learn More
  • Sales Tax Exemption

    BookPal is a tax-exempt supplier for all 50 states. We can provide you with a tax-exempt certificate to use on your orders.

    Learn More
  • Price Match Guarantee

    With over 3 million book titles available, it's impossible to always be the lowest priced. If you find a lower price on a new title elsewhere that is available to ship in the quantity you need, we are happy to discount your books and match the lower price.

    Learn More
  • Multiple Payment Options

    BookPal accepts all major credit cards, PayPal, and checks by mail, along with Purchase Orders upon approval. We also accept ACH payments and wire transfers.

    Learn More

We are here to help, reach out to our team anytime!

Connect With Us

Subscribe to our newsletter for $25 off your next order of $500+

Review Your Cart Close Close
Your cart is empty Your cart is empty Your cart is empty
Recently Viewed Recently Viewed
Back to top Back to top