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harridansstew's review against another edition
2.0
This book frustrated me. It was dry, with conflicting conclusions.
irenealgi's review against another edition
This is a very, very long book and I just didn't find it interesting enough to warrant the commitment. I also found the writing slightly odd, sometimes the syntax doesn't make sense to me or is just wrong.
drcptnash's review against another edition
4.0
Lost out on the final star due to the drastic turn the final section took. Up to that point, everything was laid out in a very factual way with flair and illumination. The final part was chock full of generalisations, incoherence, inconsistencies, and at times, downright lies and misinformation. However as that section was a much less historical one, I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt - just don't expect anything insightful or accurate on modern medicine.
louisereadsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Bit much about the mind doctors, not enough about the women. Still an interesting read, though.
rosiev425's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
coeurfullmetal's review against another edition
2.0
- fact checking is a thing
- pour un livre qui se veut concentré sur les femmes on prl + des HOMMES
- interminable j’ai abandonné plusieurs fois avant de reprendre et enfin finir
- pour un livre qui se veut concentré sur les femmes on prl + des HOMMES
- interminable j’ai abandonné plusieurs fois avant de reprendre et enfin finir
rosalind's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.0
This was a long and frustrating read. If you’re looking for an impartial history, don’t come here - though it may be subtle, the further you get into the book, the more you get the feeling the women being referred to have been saddled with a dispassionate champion…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
Minor: Confinement, Eating disorder, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Dementia, Abandonment, and Classism
cancermoononhigh's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.25
This book gives a really good detailed look about women and their mental health. Very well written and easy to read for a lot of information that the book gives. This book solely focus on women and their mental health in Great Britain and America. I finished it and thoughts are still circulating my head on this one.
*The year of 1825 in Britain national statistics became available, under 5 thousand people were confined in a population of 11 million. This year also marks a philosophical moment in which social and environmental factors were seen to produce madness, not biology, or can it be inherited. In 1827 the average asylum in Britain housed 116 people, by the time 1910 the number was 1072.
*in the 18th century its possible for one to suffer from "nerves." Weak nerves became a marker for sensitivity and a cultural superiority. By the mid 19th century the word had become more associated with mental features. An American physician George Beard blamed this "nervous exhaustion" on the modern day life, the telegraph and steam powered trains were to blame.
*It was in Germany where the word psychiatrist was first used and that psychiatry and psychology became university sciences in the country.
*The debate between who is confined more, men or women has been going on for a very long time. Women generally living longer, makes up a large amount of the demented old, also made a huge number of people living in Britain's poorhouses. However, there was a condition called tertiary syphilis which was far more common in men and began to rise sharply after the Napoleonic wars.
*Hysteria became a fashionable diagnosis after the First World War. Hysteria is described as "sexualized madness full of contradictions, one which could play all feminine parts and take on a dizzying variety of symptoms, through which none had any detectable base in the body." Freud emphasized that Hysteria could also be found in men, in fact was found far more often than expected. However after the First World War men began to suffer from what is called "war neuroses." Suffering from Hysteria is generally a thing of the past but some women are still being diagnosed with it.
*More women suffer from depression than men do, its that old saying "women go to doctors and men go to pubs"
*The risk of suicide for those under 19 on anti depressions have been found to be twice as likely to commit suicide than their non medicated peers.
*Schizophrenia became diagnosed in the 1950s throughout the 1960s. It became America's favorite diagnosis. It grew into an everyday word for "weird" "crazy" during that time of America.
*America had a trend, that the fleeing analysts who were leaving Germany before WWII happened, help that ego psychology focused on the personality and its reorganization towards a new and happy normal maturity. Sigmund Freud was huge in America
*Focus on mothering was huge. To be a mother and a housewife had become an all consuming role. Autism was initially blamed on the lack of love a mother showed her child.
*interesting note women of upper education backgrounds had a higher rate of orgasm in every period of marriage.
*In the Western world eating has now outstripped sex as the key psychic experience of the body. The way we eat separates the rich/poor, good/bad, reward/punishment. Eating also has its own politics and power relations. Eating disorders have risen since the 1980s.
*Rape, incest, child abuse do not appear until the mid 1980s.
*The Western world become more inclined to find individual solutions to what were often social and political matters. Western society as a whole tends to pathologize crime.
*The year of 1825 in Britain national statistics became available, under 5 thousand people were confined in a population of 11 million. This year also marks a philosophical moment in which social and environmental factors were seen to produce madness, not biology, or can it be inherited. In 1827 the average asylum in Britain housed 116 people, by the time 1910 the number was 1072.
*in the 18th century its possible for one to suffer from "nerves." Weak nerves became a marker for sensitivity and a cultural superiority. By the mid 19th century the word had become more associated with mental features. An American physician George Beard blamed this "nervous exhaustion" on the modern day life, the telegraph and steam powered trains were to blame.
*It was in Germany where the word psychiatrist was first used and that psychiatry and psychology became university sciences in the country.
*The debate between who is confined more, men or women has been going on for a very long time. Women generally living longer, makes up a large amount of the demented old, also made a huge number of people living in Britain's poorhouses. However, there was a condition called tertiary syphilis which was far more common in men and began to rise sharply after the Napoleonic wars.
*Hysteria became a fashionable diagnosis after the First World War. Hysteria is described as "sexualized madness full of contradictions, one which could play all feminine parts and take on a dizzying variety of symptoms, through which none had any detectable base in the body." Freud emphasized that Hysteria could also be found in men, in fact was found far more often than expected. However after the First World War men began to suffer from what is called "war neuroses." Suffering from Hysteria is generally a thing of the past but some women are still being diagnosed with it.
*More women suffer from depression than men do, its that old saying "women go to doctors and men go to pubs"
*The risk of suicide for those under 19 on anti depressions have been found to be twice as likely to commit suicide than their non medicated peers.
*Schizophrenia became diagnosed in the 1950s throughout the 1960s. It became America's favorite diagnosis. It grew into an everyday word for "weird" "crazy" during that time of America.
*America had a trend, that the fleeing analysts who were leaving Germany before WWII happened, help that ego psychology focused on the personality and its reorganization towards a new and happy normal maturity. Sigmund Freud was huge in America
*Focus on mothering was huge. To be a mother and a housewife had become an all consuming role. Autism was initially blamed on the lack of love a mother showed her child.
*interesting note women of upper education backgrounds had a higher rate of orgasm in every period of marriage.
*In the Western world eating has now outstripped sex as the key psychic experience of the body. The way we eat separates the rich/poor, good/bad, reward/punishment. Eating also has its own politics and power relations. Eating disorders have risen since the 1980s.
*Rape, incest, child abuse do not appear until the mid 1980s.
*The Western world become more inclined to find individual solutions to what were often social and political matters. Western society as a whole tends to pathologize crime.
jogiebear's review against another edition
1.0
This was tortuous to get through, and in some
cases I skipped sections entirely.
Less of an objective historical look on the treatment of women re: mental illness and more of a rambling set of descriptions about various (mostly male) mind doctors with a noted lack of attempt to try and explain terms in a layman’s fashion -and I say this as someone who’s studied psychology. There was also no attempt to explain old diagnoses given to women in the 18th century, and how we might interpret these today in a modern psychiatric setting, meaning that it was difficult to relate to these women at all.
By the end of the book the author seemed to have forgotten that she was supposed to be writing about women and was instead launching on diatribes about the dangers of psychiatry and pharmaceutical drugs. For a supposed ‘history’ book there were a lot of times it felt weirdly personal, and there were a few instances of anecdotal ‘facts’ being thrown in with no evidence to back them up. I felt as if I was reading a 550 page (!!!) editorial, and not a very good one. Extremely disappointing.
cases I skipped sections entirely.
Less of an objective historical look on the treatment of women re: mental illness and more of a rambling set of descriptions about various (mostly male) mind doctors with a noted lack of attempt to try and explain terms in a layman’s fashion -and I say this as someone who’s studied psychology. There was also no attempt to explain old diagnoses given to women in the 18th century, and how we might interpret these today in a modern psychiatric setting, meaning that it was difficult to relate to these women at all.
By the end of the book the author seemed to have forgotten that she was supposed to be writing about women and was instead launching on diatribes about the dangers of psychiatry and pharmaceutical drugs. For a supposed ‘history’ book there were a lot of times it felt weirdly personal, and there were a few instances of anecdotal ‘facts’ being thrown in with no evidence to back them up. I felt as if I was reading a 550 page (!!!) editorial, and not a very good one. Extremely disappointing.