Invisible Plague: The Rise of Mental Illness from 1750 to the Present - Softcover

Torrey, E. Fuller; Miller, Judy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813542073 ISBN 13: 9780813542072

Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 2007

Synopsis

The prevalence of insanity, which was once considerably less than one case per 1,000 total population, has risen beyond five cases in 1,000. Why has insanity reached epidemic proportions? What are the causes of severe mental illness? Why do we continue to deny the rising numbers, and how does this denial affect our ability to help those who are afflicted? In ""The Invisible Plague"", E. Fuller Torrey and Judy Miller examine the records on insanity in England, Ireland, Canada, and the United States over a 250-year period, concluding, through both qualitative and quantitative evidence, that insanity is an unrecognized, modern-day plague. This book is a unique and major contribution to medical history. Until now, insanity, and its apparent rise over the centuries, has been interpreted as a socially and economically driven phenomenon. Torrey and Miller insist upon the biological reality of insanity and examine the reasons why its contemporary prevalence has been so profoundly misunderstood.

About this title

About the Author

E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., is a research psychiatrist, associate director of the Stanley Medical Research Institute, and professor of psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Judy Miller is a senior research assistant at the Stanley Medical Research Institute.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0813542073
• ISBN 13: 9780813542072
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 458