Waubonsee Community College

Madhouse, a tragic tale of megalomania and modern medicine, Andrew Scull

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 300-349) and index

contains biographical information

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Madhouse

bibliography

57168770

Andrew Scull

"Madhouse reveals a long-suppressed medical scandal, shocking in its brutality and sobering in its implications. It shows how a leading American psychiatrist of the early twentieth century came to believe that mental illnesses were the product of chronic infections that poisoned the brain. Convinced that he had uncovered the single source of psychosis, Henry Cotton, superintendent of the Trenton State Hospital, New Jersey, launched a ruthless campaign to "eliminate the perils of pus infection." Teeth were pulled, tonsils excised, stomachs, spleens, colons, and uteruses were all sacrificed in the assault on "focal sepsis.""

a tragic tale of megalomania and modern medicine

"Many patients did not survive Cotton's surgeries; thousands more were left mangled and maimed. Cotton's work was controversial, yet none of his colleagues questioned his experimental practices. Subsequent historians and psychiatrists, too, have ignored the events that cast doubt on their favourite narratives of scientific and humanitarian progress." "Andrew Scull exposes the full, frightening story of madness among the mad-doctors. Drawing on a wealth of documents and interviews, he reconstructs a nightmarish, cautionary chapter in modern psychiatry, when professionals failed to police themselves."--Jacket

No bughouse doctor -- The perils of pus infection -- The mecca of exodontia -- Selling the cure -- Fighting focal infection -- The end of the affair? -- An American abroad -- Making a medical career -- Cotton under the microscope -- Averting a scandal -- Showdown -- Playing for time -- The new lister -- Betrayals -- Death in the trenches. Epilogue: Psychiatry and its discontents