Madness explained

Description

Today most of us accept the consensus that madness is a medical condition: an illness, which can be identified, classified and treated with drugs like any other.In this ground breaking and controversial work Richard Bentall shatters the myths that surround madness. He shows there is no reassuring dividing line between mental health and mental illness. Severe mental disorders can no longer be reduced to brain chemistry, but must be understood psychologically, as part of normal behaviour andhuman nature.Bentall argues that we need a radically new way of thinking about psychosis and its treatment. Could it be that it is a fear of madness, rather than the madness itself, that is our problem?

Description

"In this work Richard P. Bentall shatters the modern myths that surround madness, showing that there is no clear, reassuring dividing line between mental health and mental illness. He demonstrates that labels such as 'schizophrenia' and 'manic depression' are meaningless, based on nineteenth-century classifications which modern research has shown to have no scientific value. Moreover, psychotic symptoms cannot be reduced to brain dysfunction, but instead can be understood only in terms of psychological mechanisms that are part of normal human nature. Experiences such as delusional beliefs and hearing voices are in fact exaggerations of mental foibles to which we are all vulnerable, and in some cultures are not seen as abnormal at all."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Madness explained: psychosis and human natureAllen Lane2003-01-01
• Madness explainedPenguin2004-01-01
• Madness ExplainedHardcoverPenguin Global2004-09-01
• Madness ExplainedPenguin Global2005-12-28
• Madness ExplainedElectronic resourcePenguin Group UK2010-01-01
• Madness ExplainedPenguin Books, Limited2023-01-01