Overview

From its first depictions in ancient medical literature to contemporary depictions in brain imaging, mania has been largely associated with its Greek roots, ""to rage."" Prior to the nineteenth century, ""mania"" was used interchangeably with ""madness."" Although its meanings shifted over time, the word remained layered with the type of madness first-century writers described: rage, fury, frenzy. Even now, the mental illness we know as bipolar disorder describes conditions of extreme irritability, inflated grandiosity, and excessive impulsivity. Spanning several centuries, Manic Minds traces the multiple ways in which the word ""mania"" has been used by popular, medical, and academic writers. It reveals why the rhetorical history of the word is key to appreciating descriptions and meanings of the ""manic"" episode."" Lisa M. Hermsen examines the way medical professionals analyzed the manic condition during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and offers the first in-depth analysis of contemporary manic autobiographies: bipolar figures who have written from within the illness itself.

Full Product Details

Author:   Lisa M. Hermsen
Publisher:   Rutgers University Press
Imprint:   Rutgers University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.399kg
ISBN:  

9780813551579

ISBN 10:   0813551579
Pages:   172
Publication Date:   22 November 2011
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Awaiting stock  
The supplier is currently out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you and placed on backorder. Once it does come back in stock, we will ship it out for you.

Table of Contents

List of Figures Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction: Mania’s Mad History and Its Neuro-Future 1. Mania Multiplies with Fury: Textbook Descriptions of the Psychopathology 2. The Maniac and the Iconography of Reform 3. Midwestern Mania: Genetics in the Heartland 4. Manic Lives: Mad Memoirs 5. Neuropsychiatry, Pharmacology, and Imaging the New Mania Epilogue: A Mad, Mad World Notes Bibliography Index

Reviews

Bringing together current science studies concepts and the social history of mental illness, Lisa Hermsen provides an innovative approach to mania as a dynamic, rhetorical and material figure. --Janet Wirth-Cauchon Women and Borderline Personality Disorder: Symptoms and Stories

Bringing together current science studies concepts and the social history of mental illness, Lisa Hermsen provides an innovative approach to mania as a dynamic, rhetorical and material figure. --Janet Wirth-Cauchon Women and Borderline Personality Disorder: Symptoms and Stories In this wonderfully smart and lively account of mania/bipolar disorder, Lisa Hermsen explores the rhetorical history and multiple realities of a 'mental disorder' haunted by its insistent ties to madness.--Jackie Orr Panic Diaries: A Genealogy of Panic Disorder (07/29/2011)

Author Information

LISA M. HERMSEN is an associate professor in the English department at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where she teaches courses in the rhetoric of science and the history of madness.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions