Psychiatry: A Very Short Introduction

Description

Psychiatry is increasingly a part of everyday life. The growing number of patients being diagnosed with depression, ADD, alcoholism, and other illnesses mean that few people are not touched by it. This book provides a valuable and comprehensible introduction to the subject. It starts with the history of its development as a scientific field, including the identification of major mental illnesses, the rise and fall of the asylum system, and the flourishing of psychoanalysis and other psychotherapies. More than any other branch of medicine, psychiatry has been attacked and criticized. There is a long list of perceived horrors--patient abuse, bizarre medical experiments, mind-control by evil governments, coercion by maniacal hypnotists. Modern psychiatry brings with it new controversies, such as the perceived over-prescription of antidepressants and behavior modifiers for children and teens, or unchecked marketing power of drug companies. This book does not draw conclusions on these issues, but rather provides the reader with a clear understanding of what psychiatry is, and what it does, so that they can draw their own. It is a great reference for anyone with an interest in mental illness and its treatment, students of psychiatry, medicine, psychology, and history of science, and health professionals. Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 List of illustrations......Page 14 1 What is psychiatry?......Page 16 2 Asylums and the origins of psychiatry......Page 50 3 The move into the community......Page 66 4 Psychoanalysis and psychotherapy......Page 83 5 Psychiatry under attack......Page 99 6 Open to abuse......Page 115 7 Into the 21st century......Page 139 Further reading......Page 150 B......Page 152 D......Page 153 E......Page 154 H......Page 155 M......Page 156 O......Page 157 P......Page 158 S......Page 159 U......Page 160 Y......Page 161