Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty, and the Mad-Doctors in

Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty, and the Mad-Doctors in England

â€œA must-read for those who work in the mental health industry, I think most people will find it both eye-opening and provocative.â€ â€”The Guardian
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The phenomenon of false allegations of mental illness is as old as our first interactions as human beings. But it took the confluence of the law and medical science, mad-doctors, alienists, priests and barristers, to raise the matter to a level of â€œscience,â€ capable of being used by conniving relatives, â€œdesigning familiesâ€ and scheming neighbors to destroy people who found themselves in the way, people whose removal could provide their survivors with money or property or other less frivolous benefits. And reversing this sort of diagnosis and incarceration became increasingly more difficult, as even the most temperate attempt to leave these â€œhomesâ€ or â€œhospitalsâ€ was deemed â€œcrazy.â€
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In this sadly terrifying, emotionally moving, and occasionally hilarious book, twelve cases of contested lunacy are offered as examples of the shifting arguments regarding what constituted sanity and insanity. They offer unique insight into the fears of sexuality, inherited madness, greed and fraud, until public feeling shifted and turned against the rising alienists who would challenge liberty and freedom of people who were perhaps simply â€œdifficult,â€ but were turned into victims of this unscrupulous trade.
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This fascinating book is filled with stories almost impossible to believe but wildly engaging, a book one will not soon forget.
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â€œ[An] extraordinary psychosocial historyÂ .Â .Â . Wiseâ€™s meticulously researched study adds a fresh perspective to current scholarship on insanity and offers a chilling reminder of â€˜the stubborn unchangeability of many aspects of the lunacy issue.â€™â€ â€”Publishers Weekly
Country USA
Manufacturer Counterpoint
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2013-06-01
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Counterpoint
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2013-06-01
Format	Kindle eBook

Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty, and the Mad-Doctors in England

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