Male mental illness in History
April 26, 2009 9:37 AM Subscribe
No matter their approach, the typical French physician who accepted the notion of male hysteria continued to think that its victims were in some way sexually abnormal: "Thus, despite Charcot's innovative work, the male victim of hysteria in late-nineteenth century French medical imagination was still frequently envisioned as an effeminate heterosexual, an overt homosexual, or a physical or emotional hermaphrodite." If not different sexually, male hysterics were said to be different in other ways, such as race or nationality, among whom African, African-American, south Asian, Arab, or Eastern European Jewish men predominated. Outside of France, other methods of denial appeared, such as the suggestion that male hysteria was restricted to Frenchmen. The medical literature of the time is full of evasions and denials and contradictions of the truths that Charcot had quite obviously demonstrated.- Macho Misery, an extensive and interesting review of Hysterical Men: The Hidden History of Male Nervous Illness.
Hysterical Men is by Professor Mark S. Micale and the review is by surgeon Sherwin B. Nuland who gave this interesting TEDTalk on electroshock therapy.
Looks like a really interesting book. After reading the review, I've requested it from the library. Thanks!
posted by lysimache at 11:18 AM on April 26, 2009
posted by lysimache at 11:18 AM on April 26, 2009
camps out with a small lawn chair, waits for opportunity to say "epon-hysterical!"
posted by davejay at 2:54 PM on April 26, 2009
posted by davejay at 2:54 PM on April 26, 2009
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."
I wish my mass would be a bit quieter.
posted by srboisvert at 3:57 PM on April 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
I wish my mass would be a bit quieter.
posted by srboisvert at 3:57 PM on April 26, 2009 [1 favorite]
That TED talk was quite enlightening. And, ah, fuck it.
posted by localroger at 4:03 PM on April 26, 2009
posted by localroger at 4:03 PM on April 26, 2009
Yeah, most TED Talks leave me... well... feeling like I ate something tasty but without remembering anything about the flavor. That one has stayed with me for ages, from whenever I first saw it (I believe it was linked from MetaFilter sometime).
posted by Kattullus at 6:55 PM on April 26, 2009
posted by Kattullus at 6:55 PM on April 26, 2009
The bibliography is interesting. I find it odd that he explicitly ignores neurasthenia because it was a 'positive' diagnosis, though. A good chunk of the eugenic movement in Britain arose out of fears about the ways that civilization itself was causing the deterioration of the British race because of increased mental effort by those segments of society which were deemed most important. It's not a condemnation, but it's surely not a good thing.
I don't see any references to Frank Mort? No Lesley A. Hall? No George M. Beard?
I am glad you posted this! I will have to read it. I want to know how it is he makes such a clear demarcation between hysteria and other mental illnesses, particularly in the period with which I'm familiar.
posted by winna at 10:59 PM on April 26, 2009
I don't see any references to Frank Mort? No Lesley A. Hall? No George M. Beard?
I am glad you posted this! I will have to read it. I want to know how it is he makes such a clear demarcation between hysteria and other mental illnesses, particularly in the period with which I'm familiar.
posted by winna at 10:59 PM on April 26, 2009
« Older America: Semi-Godly, Individualist Consumers | Minimums No Longer Mandatory? Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Let's add this quote from Nuland's review: See also: Review - Hysterical Men at Metapsychology Online Reviews. posted by psyche7 at 10:50 AM on April 26, 2009 [2 favorites]