The invisible plague: the rise of mental illness from 1750 to the present

Table of Contents

• Cover
• [Frontispiece]
• Title Page
• Copyright and Permissions
• List of Illustrations
• [Dedication]
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• [Epigraph]
• Chapter 1 Introduction Why Is the Epidemic Important?
• Chapter 2 The Birth of Bedlam Insanity Prior to 1700
  • [Intro]
  • "God's Minstrels"
  • "There the Men Are as Mad as He"
  • "A Rare Diversion"
  • Richard Napier of Buckinghamshire
• Chapter 3 The "English Malady" Appears England 1700-1800
  • [Intro]
  • "No Cure—No Money"
  • "Moody Madness Laughing Wild"
  • "The Uncertain Continuance of Reason"
  • "The Hideous Malady Which So Amazingly Prevails"
  • The King Is Mad, Long Live the King
• Chapter 4 "The Clap of Tortured Hands" England 1800-1850
  • [Intro]
  • Insanity and the Romantic Writers
  • Insanity "Is Not an Increasing Malady"
  • A Madman's Manuscript
  • The Madness of Mrs. Rochester
• Chapter 5 "A Mania for Madness" England, 1850-1890
  • [Intro]
  • The Psychiatric Establishment
  • "A Mania for Madness"
  • The Mad Hatter as Snark
  • "Bluebeard's Cupboard"
  • The Causes of Insanity
• Chapter 6 "A Great and Progressive Evil" England, 1890-1990
  • [Intro]
  • The 1897 Special Report on the Alleged Increase of Insanity
  • A Temporary Solution
  • The Effects of War and Influenza
  • After World War II
• Chapter 7 The Road to Grangegorman Ireland, 1700-1990
  • [Intro]
  • "Melancholy Spectacles of Humanity"
  • The Famine and Its Aftermath
  • Increasing Numbers, Dead or Alive
  • "This Vast Brooding Evil"
  • Accumulation and Emigration
  • Insanity in Politics and Literature
  • Twentieth-Century Ireland
  • The Rediscovery of the Insanity Problem
• Chapter 8 "A Constantly Increasing Multitude" Atlantic Canada, 1700-1990
  • [Intro]
  • New Brunswick
  • Rising Numbers
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Newfoundland
  • "Apparently on the Increase"
  • Nova Scotia
  • "This Fearful Affliction"
  • "This Dread Malady Is Rapid Growing"
• Chapter 9 "The Disease Whose Frequency Has Become Alarming" The United States, 1700-1840
  • [Intro]
  • Hospitals for the Insane
  • "The Father of the American Novel"
  • Increasing Concern
  • The Contrast between North and South
  • "The Madman Roams Far and Wide"
• Chapter 10 An Apostle for Asylums The United States, 1840-1860
  • [Intro]
  • "Raise Up the Fallen"
  • Dr. Cure-Awl
  • Poe, Hawthorne, and Melville
  • "The Price Which We Pay for Civilization"
  • Immigrants and Poverty
• Chapter 11 "A Very Startling Increase" The United States, 1860-1890
  • [Intro]
  • "The Craziest People in the World"
  • "Could It Be Madness?"
  • An Angry Woman and a Psychiatric Judas
  • Barbarians at the Psychiatric Gates
  • The 1880 and 1890 Censuses
• Chapter 12 "The Apocalyptic Beast" The United States, 1890-1990
  • [Intro]
  • The Appeal of Eugenics
  • Preventing Insanity
  • "The Versatility of Madness"
  • The Era of Deinstitutionalization
• Chapter 13 Why Is the Epidemic Forgotten? The Politicalization of Insanity
  • [Intro]
  • The Myth of Mental Illness
  • Social Control and Marxist Economics
  • Captains of Confinement
• Chapter 14 Possible Causes of Epidemic Insanity
  • [Intro]
  • The Lumber Room Thesis
  • Accumulation and Aged Patients
  • Is It Genetic?
  • The Industrial Revolution and Urbanization
  • The Stockings Model of Insanity
• Appendix A What Is Insanity?
• Appendix B The Baseline Rate of Insanity
• Appendix C Tables of Insanity Rates
• Notes
  • Preface
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. The Birth of Bedlam
  • 3. The "English Malady" Appears
  • 4. "The Clap of Tortured Hands"
  • 5. "A Mania for Madness"
  • 6. "A Great and Progressive Evil"
  • 7. The Road to Grangegorman
  • 8. "A Constantly Increasing Multitude"
  • 9. "The Disease Whose Frequency Has Become Alarming"
  • 10. An Apostle for Asylums
  • 11. "A Very Startling Increase"
  • 12. "The Apocalyptic Beast"
  • 13. Why Is the Epidemic Forgotten?
  • 14. Possible Causes of Epidemic Insanity
  • Appendix A
  • Appendix B
  • Appendix C
• Selected References
  • Books, Papers, and Theses
  • Additional Websites of General Interest
    • United Kingdom
    • United States
• Index
  • A-G
  • H-M
  • N-Y
• About the Authors