A Cursing Brain? : The Histories of Tourette Syndrome
معرفی کتاب «A Cursing Brain? : The Histories of Tourette Syndrome» نوشتهٔ Howard I. Kushner، منتشرشده توسط نشر Harvard University در سال 1999. این کتاب در فرمت pdf، زبان انگلیسی ارائه شده است.
Over a century and a half ago, a French physician reported the bizarre behavior of a young aristocratic woman who would suddenly, without warning, erupt in a startling fit of obscene shouts and curses. The image of the afflicted Marquise de Dampierre echoes through the decades as the emblematic example of an illness that today represents one of the fastest-growing diagnoses in North America. Tourette syndrome is a set of behaviors, including recurrent ticcing and involuntary shouting (sometimes cursing) as well as obsessive-compulsive actions. The fascinating history of this syndrome reveals how cultural and medical assumptions have determined and radically altered its characterization and treatment from the early nineteenth century to the present.
A Cursing Brain? traces the problematic classification of Tourette syndrome through three distinct but overlapping stories: that of the claims of medical knowledge, that of patients' experiences, and that of cultural expectations and assumptions. Earlier researchers asserted that the bizarre ticcing and impromptu vocalizations were psychological—resulting from sustained bad habits or lack of self-control. Today, patients exhibiting these behaviors are seen as suffering from a neurological disease and generally are treated with drug therapy. Although current clinical research indicates that Tourette's is an organic disorder, this pioneering history of the syndrome reminds us to be skeptical of medical orthodoxies so that we may stay open to fresh understandings and more effective interventions.
Douglas M. Haynes
This is an engrossing account of the history of the understanding of Tourette's syndrome, a condition characterized by recurrent ticcing and involuntary shouting. By reconstructing Tourette's as an historical phenomenon, the author, a leading historian of medicine, elegantly shows the role of cultural and medical assumptions in mediating its definition in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Scholars and clinicians alike will benefit from the perspective provided in this book. Up to World War II, confusion reigned about movement disorders as researchers debated psychogenic and neurological etiologies in the U.S. and Europe. As the author documents, proponents of each adopted therapeutic remedies that conformed to their preconceived etiology of the condition, which in turn colored their assessment of outcomes. The post-war period marked a major turning point in the politics of Tourette's. In the U.S., proponents of an organic disorder prevailed due to the apparent success of haloperidol in controlling ticcing, combined with the effective lobbying and publicity efforts of the Tourette Syndrome Association. In France, by contrast, the psychogenic model flourished because of the close association of proponents for a neurological disorder with the Nazi-backed Vichy government and the absence of those outside of psychiatry who could challenge the psychoanalytic paradigm. At a time when Tourette's syndrome has been discovered by Hollywood, this timely book will offer much needed perspective. The author provides a learned analysis of the construction of medical knowledge without ignoring the humanity of those afflicted with Tourette's syndrome and/or impugning the motives ofpractitioners, researchers, and their advocates.
Over a century and a half ago, a French physician reported the bizarre behavior of a young aristocratic woman who would suddenly, without warning, erupt in a startling fit of obscene shouts and curses. The image of the afflicted Marquise de Dampierre echoes through the decades as the emblematic example of an illness that today represents one of the fastest-growing diagnoses in North America. Tourette syndrome is a set of behaviors, including recurrent ticcing and involuntary shouting (sometimes cursing) as well as obsessive-compulsive actions. The fascinating history of this syndrome reveals how cultural and medical assumptions have determined and radically altered its characterization and treatment from the early nineteenth century to the present.
A Cursing Brain? traces the problematic classification of Tourette syndrome through three distinct but overlapping stories: that of the claims of medical knowledge, that of patients' experiences, and that of cultural expectations and assumptions. Earlier researchers asserted that the bizarre ticcing and impromptu vocalizations were psychological—resulting from sustained bad habits or lack of self-control. Today, patients exhibiting these behaviors are seen as suffering from a neurological disease and generally are treated with drug therapy. Although current clinical research indicates that Tourette's is an organic disorder, this pioneering history of the syndrome reminds us to be skeptical of medical orthodoxies so that we may stay open to fresh understandings and more effective interventions.
The book contains black-and-white illustrations.
Tourette syndrome is a set of behaviors, including recurrent ticcing and involuntary shouting (sometimes cursing) as well as obsessive-compulsive actions. A Cursing Brain? traces the problematic classification of the syndrome through three distinct but overlapping stories: the claims of medical knowledge, the experiences of patients, and the force of cultural expectations and assumptions. Documents the medical profession's evolving understanding of the motor tics and involuntary noises symptomatic of Tourette's symptoms, from the case of a French noblewoman in 1855 through current research in brain mechanisms and medications