J. K. Wing

The exact definition of "madness" remains elusive. There are difficulties in distinguishing the criminal from the mad or, more euphemistically, the mentally ill. Controversy has centered on the frightening potential possessed by the state to deprive of his rights the individual officially classified as mad. In this book, Wing, a psychiatrist of international repute, argues for a limited medical definition of mental illness, although he explains how even a doctor's professional judgment may often be influenced by social pressures. He compares concepts of madness prevalent in different types of society, examining, for example, the Marxist attitude towards the deviant in a socialist state. In a chapter which draws much from his own experience, he shows precisely how the apparatus of state medicine is used to suppress political dissidence in Russia. He also critically reviews the petty tyrannies prevalent in the West and tackles the difficult analytical problem of schizophrenia, a subject on which he is one of the most respected medical authorities. Reasoning about Madness is an original and important work in which the author successfully resists the temptation to erect "grand theories that explain nothing because they attempt to explain everything." Instead, he concentrates on developing a definition of madness which strikes a balance between the benefits of medical care and the preservation of human liberties.

Reasoning About Madness

N. Sartorius

J. E. Cooper

This book was published in 1974 as a guide to a method of partially standardising the assessment of a subject's mental state with the object of achieving greater comparability between different examiners. The basis of the technique is a glossary of definitions of symptoms which is firmly grounded in the European school of psychiatry, with its long tradition of clinical observation and emphasis on the importance of listening to the a patient's description of unusual experiences. The definitions clearly set out the experiences which constitute psychiatric symptoms. An interview technique - the Present State Examination - which allows the symptoms to be elicited and reliably recorded is descried. The system was developed over a period of a decade and was still evolving at the time of this book's publication. The importance of this book lies in the fact that it shows how much the subjective element of psychiatric diagnosis may be brought under control.

An Instruction Manual for the PSE and Catego Program

Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms

Lorna Wing

A comprehensive 1983 account of the pathology, treatment and prognosis of conditions such as schizophrenia, manic depression and autism.

J. K. Wing

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