Psychiatry by Jessica Wright

£19.99
Available
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9781350215801
Published:
09 Jan 2025
Format:
Paperback
Number of pages:
224 pages
Dimensions:
214x138x16mm
Weight:
0.285kgs
Author:
Modern psychiatry is firmly rooted in antecedents from classical antiquity, from the ancient Greek concept of 'therapeutics of the soul' (an ancient parallel to modern 'talk therapy') to mythical exemplars such as Oedipus. This volume examines the modern question of what counts as mental illness, and how we should address it, through a historical lens that takes into account not only explanatory models, but also diagnostic and therapeutic approaches across the ages. Taking the debate about whether mental illnesses are cultural constructs as a starting point, Jessica Wright teases apart associations with ancient medicine, philosophy and myth to demonstrate how these reflect internal contradictions and ambiguities within modern conceptions of mental illness and its treatment.

Is psychiatry a distinctively modern approach to mental difference and distress, or is it a continuation of ancient Greek ideas - in the realm not only of medicine (consider 'melancholia'), but also of philosophy (source of the idea of 'therapeutics of the soul') and tragic drama (inspiration for, among other concepts, the 'Oedipus complex')? This volume examines how psychiatry, psychoanalysis and psychotherapy have been shaped by classical antiquity (and ideas about antiquity), and it explores the stories told about what this relationship between the psy disciplines and ancient Greece might mean.

Taking as a starting point the debate about what exactly mental illnesses might be, Jessica Wright explores how contemporary tensions and debates reflect efforts to smooth over inconsistencies and discontinuities between ancient and modern ideas about illnesses affecting the mind. The volume goes on to investigate key concepts that bridge classical antiquity and modern psychiatry, showing how these ideas have been adapted and repurposed for new circumstances, analysing how they are deployed to negotiate the legitimacy of current theories, and demonstrating how the roles they play in psychiatry reshape our understandings of antiquity itself. What emerges above all is how the process of examining the connections between modern psychiatry and classical antiquity, whether historical, constructed or imagined, can illuminate modern ideas about mental illness, approaches to treating it, and its place in contemporary society and culture.

About the Author: Jessica Wright is a Teaching Fellow in Academic Skills Development at the Lifelong Learning Centre, University of Leeds, UK. They are author of The Care of the Brain in Early Christianity (2022).

More Information
Number of pages 224

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