Madness On the Couch
by Dolnick, Edward
In the golden age of "talk therapy," the 1950s and 1960s, psychotherapists saw no limit to what they could do. Believing they had already explained the origins of war, homosexuality, anti-Semitism, and a host of neurotic ailments, they set out to conquer one of mankind's oldest and fiercest foes, mental illness. In Madness on the Couch, veteran science writer Edward Dolnick tells the tragic story of that confrontation.It is a vivid, compelling tale that is told here for the first time. Dolnick focuses on three battles in an epic war: against schizophrenia, autism, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Schizophrenia, the most dreaded mental illness, strikes its young victims without warning and torments them with hallucinations and mocking voices. Autism claims its victims even younger, at age one or two, and locks them away, cut off from the rest of us by invisible walls. Obsessive-compulsive disorder strikes at any age and entraps its hapless victims in endless rituals.Inspired by their hero, Freud, but bolder even than he, psychoanalysts set out to vanquish those enemies. Armed with only words and the best of intentions, they achieved the worst of outcomes. The symptoms of disease were symbols, these therapists believed, and diseases could be interpreted, like dreams. The ranting of a schizophrenic on a street corner, the retreat of an autistic child from human contact, the endless hand-washing of an obsessive-compulsive were not simply acts but messages. And the message psychoanalysts decoded and delivered to countless families was that parents themselves -- through their subtle hostility -- had driven their children mad. That verdict was not overturned for more than a generation.Clear, dramatic, and authoritative, Madness on the Couch uses the voices of therapists as well as those of patients and their loved ones to describe the controversial methods used to treat the mentally ill, and their heartbreaking consequences. We see the leading lights of psychotherapy at work, including tiny, grandmotherly Frieda Fromm-Reichmann; gawky Gregory Bateson, either a genius or a charlatan, depending on whom one asked; and birdlike R. D. Laing, a slender figure with dark, deep-set eyes and the charisma of a rock star. We meet, too, scientists and family members who fought the reigning dogma of the day. Bernard Rimland, for example, set out to refute the claim that autism was caused by "refrigerator" parents whose coldness had turned their children into zombies. Rimland's only "credential" in his battle with the experts was the fact that his son was autistic.A gripping tale of hubris, arrogant pride, and terrible heartbreak, Madness on the Couch combines the immediacy of superb joumalism with the depth of scrupulous history. It shows us convincingly that in attempting to cure mental illness through talk therapy, psychoanalysis did infinitely more harm than good.
Reviews
Review this book!
Available Copies
Madness on the Couch : Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Dolnick, Edward
- Condition
- Used - Fine condition
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine dust jacket
- Edition
- First Printing of the First Edition
- Published
- 1998
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Henderson, Nevada, USA
- Item Price
-
£11.84
Show Details
Description:
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998. Bright, clean, square, tight, unmarked copy. Sharp corners. No chips or tears. No owner's name or bookplate. No remainder mark. Not a book club edition. Not price clipped (25.00). Photo illustrated. Review copy (?) with promotional materials from publisher laid-in. A study of the failures… Read more about this item Item Price
£11.84
Madness On The Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by DOLNICK, Edward
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Published
- 1998
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Gloucester City, New Jersey, USA
- Item Price
-
£14.26
Show Details
Description:
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998. Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. First edition. Fine in near fine dustwrapper. Small light brown stain on back panel of dustwrapper. Please Note: This book has been transferred to Between the Covers from another database and might not be described to our usual standards. Please inquire for more detailed condition information. Item Price
£14.26
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Dolnick, Edward
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Published
- 2007
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9781416577942
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, USA
- Item Price
-
£14.83
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster, 2007. Paperback. Very Good. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
£14.83
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Dolnick, Edward
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Published
- 1998
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Seattle, Washington, USA
- Item Price
-
£5.81
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster, 1998. Hardcover. Good. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed. Item Price
£5.81
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Dolnick, Edward
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 1998-10-07
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Vinemont, Alabama, USA
- Item Price
-
£5.74
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster, 1998-10-07. First Edition. Hardcover. Good. 9x6x1. First edition with full number line. Hardcover with dust jacket in good condition! Some light shelf and use wear, otherwise appears to be a good clean copy! Item Price
£5.74
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Dolnick, Edward
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Edition
- First Edition
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Item Price
-
£6.84
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster. First Edition. Good. Good. Ship within 24hrs. Satisfaction 100% guaranteed. APO/FPO addresses supported Item Price
£6.84
Madness on the couch.
by Dolnick, Edward
- Condition
- Used
- Published
- 1998 0-684-82497-3
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Berne, CHE
- Item Price
-
£19.81
Show Details
Description:
1998 0-684-82497-3. New York, NY, Simon & Schuster, 1998. Gr.-8°. 368 S., Halbleinen (gut erhalten) Item Price
£19.81
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Edward Dolnick
- Condition
- New
- ISBN
- 9781416577942
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Uxbridge, Greater London, GBR
- Item Price
-
£20.73
Show Details
Description:
New. New Book; Fast Shipping from UK; Not signed; Not First Edition; The Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis. Item Price
£20.73
Madness on the Couch : Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Dolnick, Edward
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Mishawaka, Indiana, USA
- Item Price
-
£5.88
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster. Used - Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Item Price
£5.88
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Edward Dolnick
- Condition
- Used:Good
- Edition
- 7th
- Published
- 2007-09-21
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9781416577942
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
HOUSTON, Texas, USA
- Item Price
-
£24.71
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster, 2007-09-21. 7th. Paperback. Used:Good. Item Price
£24.71
MADNESS ON THE COUCH : BLAMING THE VICTIM IN THE HEYDAY OF PSYCHOANALYSIS
by Dolnick, Edward
- Condition
- New
- Published
- 1998
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Ferndale, New York, USA
- Item Price
-
£1,956.73
Show Details
Description:
Riverside, New Jersey, U.S.A.: Simon & Schuster. New. 1998. Hardcover. 0684824973 .*** FREE UPGRADE to Courier/Priority Shipping Upon Request *** - *** IN STOCK AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT - 368pp -- -- DESCRIPTION: In the golden age of "talk therapy," the 1950s and 1960s, … Read more about this item Item Price
£1,956.73
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Edward Dolnick
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Jacket Condition
- Good
- Published
- October 1998
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Youngtown, Arizona, USA
- Item Price
-
£4.75
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster, October 1998. Hardcover. Used - Good/Good. Item Price
£4.75
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Edward Dolnick
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Published
- 1998-10-07
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
HOUSTON, Texas, USA
- Item Price
-
£7.89
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster, 1998-10-07. Hardcover. Good. Item Price
£7.89
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Edward Dolnick
- Condition
- Used:Good
- Edition
- 1
- Published
- 1998-10-07
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
HOUSTON, Texas, USA
- Item Price
-
£28.71
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster, 1998-10-07. 1. Hardcover. Used:Good. Item Price
£28.71
Madness on the Couch : Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Dolnick, Edward
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Reno, Nevada, USA
- Item Price
-
£5.45
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster, Incorporated. Used - Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Item Price
£5.45
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Dolnick, Edward
- Condition
- New
- Published
- 2007-09-21
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9781416577942
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
San Diego, California, USA
- Item Price
-
£90.77
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster, 2007-09-21. Paperback. New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! Item Price
£90.77
Madness on the Couch : Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Dolnick, Edward
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN
- 9781416577942
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Mishawaka, Indiana, USA
- Item Price
-
£17.83
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster. Used - Good. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Item Price
£17.83
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Edward Dolnick
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Published
- 1998
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN
- 9780684824970
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Morangis, FRA
- Item Price
-
£12.45
Show Details
Description:
Simon & Schuster, 1998. Hardcover. Good. Slight signs of wear on the cover. Ammareal gives back up to 15% of this book's net price to charity organizations. Item Price
£12.45
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Dolnick, Edward
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9781416577942
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Newport Coast, California, USA
- Item Price
-
£44.70
Show Details
Description:
paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book. Item Price
£44.70
Madness on the Couch: Blaming the Victim in the Heyday of Psychoanalysis
by Edward Dolnick
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9781416577942
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Southport, Merseyside, GBR
- Item Price
-
£23.88
Show Details
Description:
Paperback. New. Item Price
£23.88