The History of Mental Symptoms: Descriptive Psychopathology Since the Nineteenth Century

ISBN-13: 9780521437363 / Angielski / Miękka / 1996 / 584 str.

German E. Berrios; G. E. Berrios

Opis

This important book, written by a psychiatrist-historian, traces the genesis of the descriptive categories of psychopathology and examines their interaction with the psychological and philosophical context within which they arose. The author explores particularly the language and ideas that have characterized descriptive psychopathology from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. He presents a masterful survey of the history of the main psychiatric symptoms, from the metaphysics of classical antiquity to the operational criteria of today. Tracing the evolution of concepts such as memory, consciousness, will and personality, and of symptoms ranging from catalepsy and aboulia to anxiety and self-harm, this book provides fascinating insights into the subjective nature of mental illness, and into the ideas of British, Continental and American authorities who have clarified and defined it.

Recenzje

' … a compendium to which future historians will sing hymns of praise and gratitude.' Henry R. Rollin, Horton Hospital, Epsom

Spis treści

Introduction; Part I. The Object of Inquiry: 1. Matters historical; 2. Descriptive psychopathology; Part II. Cognition and Consciousness: 3. Disorders of perception; 4. Thought disorder; 5. Delusions; 6. Obsessions and compulsions; 7. Cognitive impairment: congenital; 8. Cognitive impairment: acquired; 9. Memory and its disorders; 10. Consciousness and its disorders; Part III. Mood and Emotions: 11. Anxiety and cognate disorders; 12. Affect and its disorders; 13. The anhedonias; Part IV. Volition and Action: 14. The will and its disorders; 15. Feelings of fatigue; 16. Catalepsy, catatonia and stupor; 17. Tremor, rigidity, akathisia and stereotypy; Part V. Miscellany: 18. Personality and its disorders; 19. Self-harm.