Andrew Scull

Jun 15, 2024 | madinamerica.com | Andrew Scull

Mental illness, as the eminent historian of psychiatry Michael MacDonald once aptly remarked, “is the most solitary of afflictions to the people who experience it; but it is the most social of maladies to those who observe its effects” (MacDonald 1981: 1). It is precisely the many social and cultural dimensions of mental illness, of course, that have made the subject of such compelling interest to sociologists.

Apr 22, 2024 | damagemag.com | Andrew Scull

Damage Magazine: What did care for the mentally ill look like before the rise of the asylums? Andrew Scull: Well, that's going back a very long way. The asylum becomes the primary response to serious forms of mental illness beginning in the early nineteenth century, and as far as America's concerned, 1820’s, '30s, '40s. Before that, it depends a bit on where you are geographically. If you're talking about the United States, as far as we know, virtually everything revolved around the family.

Nov 20, 2023 | newyorkfolk.com | James White |Andrew Scull |Esmé Weijun Wang |Meg Kissinger

In 2021, Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka, two of the world’s most highly lauded athletes, walked away from major competitions to protect their mental health. In a field that elevates “toughness” and “grit,” both drew major attention for candidly prioritizing wellness above achievement. Their decisions, and the headlines about them, reflected a new cultural willingness—in sports, in schools, and in the workplace—to be more genuine about mental well-being, seemingly replacing stigma with openness.

Sep 27, 2023 | spectator.com.au | Andrew Scull

The Balanced Brain: The Science of Mental Health Allen Lane, pp.304, 25 Some years ago, the Harvard psychiatrist Leon Eisenberg commented that, in the course of his lifetime, his discipline had swung from the brainless psychiatry propounded by psychoanalysts to the mindless psychiatry of those enamoured of biological reductionism and neuroscience. Camilla Nord, who runs a neuroscience laboratory at Cambridge, is firmly a member of the latter camp.

Sep 26, 2023 | spectator.co.uk | Andrew Scull

Text size Small Medium Large Line Spacing Compact Normal Spacious Comments Some years ago, the Harvard psychiatrist Leon Eisenberg commented that, in the course of his lifetime, his discipline had swung from the brainless psychiatry propounded by psychoanalysts to the mindless psychiatry of those enamoured of biological reductionism and neuroscience. Camilla Nord, who runs a neuroscience laboratory at Cambridge, is firmly a member of the latter camp. Though in a few places in The Balanced...