Why Psychoanalysis? (European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism)

Why do some people still choose psychoanalysis-Freud's so-called talking cure-when numerous medications are available that treat the symptoms of psychic distress so much faster? Elisabeth Roudinesco tackles this difficult question, exploring what she sees as a "depressive society": an epidemic of distress addressed only by an increasing reliance on prescription drugs. Far from contesting the efficacy of new medications like Prozac, Zoloft, and Viagra in alleviating the symptoms of any number of mental or nervous conditions, Roudinesco argues that the use of such drugs fails to solve patients' real problems. In the man who takes Viagra without ever wondering why he is suffering from impotence and the woman who is given antidepressants to deal with the loss of a loved one, Roudinesco sees a society obsessed with efficiency and desperate for the quick fix.She argues that "the talking cure" and pharmacology represent not just different approaches to psychiatry, but different worldviews. The rush to treat symptoms is itself symptomatic of an antiseptic and depressive culture in which thought is reduced to the firing of neurons and desire is just a chemical secretion. In contrast, psychoanalysis testifies to human freedom and the power of language. Contents......Page 7 Translator’s Note......Page 9 Preface......Page 11 Part I The Depressive Society......Page 15 1 The Defeat of the Subject......Page 17 2 The Medications of the Mind......Page 24 3 The Soul Is Not a Thing......Page 34 4 Behavior-Modification Man......Page 43 Part II The Great Quarrel Over the Unconscious......Page 53 5 Frankenstein’s Brain......Page 55 6 The “Equinox Letter”......Page 70 7 Freud Is Dead in America......Page 76 8 A French Scientism......Page 100 Part III The Future of Psychoanalysis......Page 107 9 Science and Psychoanalysis......Page 109 10 Tragic Man......Page 123 11 Universality, Difference, Exclusion......Page 137 12 Critique of Psychoanalytic Institutions......Page 143 Notes......Page 159 Index......Page 187

why Do Some People Still Choose Psychoanalysis — Freud's So-called Talking Cure — When Numerous Medications Are Available That Treat The Symptoms Of Psychic Distress So Much Faster? Roudinesco Tackles This Difficult Question, Exploring What She Sees As A Depressive Society: An Epidemic Of Distress Being Addressed Only By An Increasing Reliance On Prescription Drugs.

marc Auge

a Courageous Book.

Nowadays, physical suffering manifests itself in the form of depression.