Pathologist of the Mind: Adolf Meyer and the Origins of American Psychiatry

Synopsis

Illuminating the contributions of Adolf Meyer, the pioneering father of modern American psychiatry.Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Choice ACRLDuring the first half of the twentieth century, Adolf Meyer was the most authoritative and influential psychiatrist in the United States. In 1908, when the Johns Hopkins Hospital established the first American university clinic devoted to psychiatry—still a nascent medical specialty at the time—Meyer was selected to oversee the enterprise. The Henry Phipps Psychiatric Clinic opened in 1913, and Meyer served as psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins until 1941. In Pathologist of the Mind, S. D. Lamb explores how Meyer used his powerful position to establish psychiatry as a clinical science that operated like the other specialties at the country’s foremost medical school and research hospital. In addition to successfully arguing for a scientific and biological approach to mental illness, Meyer held extraordinary sway over state policies regarding the certification of psychiatrists. He also trained hundreds of specialists who ultimately occupied leadership positions and made significant contributions in psychiatry, neurology, experimental psychology, social work, and public health. Although historians have long recognized Meyer’s authority, his concepts and methods have never before received a systematic historical analysis. Pathologist of the Mind aims to rediscover Meyerian psychiatry by eavesdropping on Meyer’s informal and intimate conversations with patients and colleagues. Weaving together private correspondence and uniquely detailed case histories, Lamb examines Meyer’s efforts to institute a clinical science of psychiatry in the United States—one that harmonized the expectations of scientific medicine with his concept of the person as a biological organism and mental illness as an adaptive failure. The first historian ever granted access to these exceptional medical records, Lamb offers a compelling new perspective on the integral but misunderstood legacy of Adolf Meyer.

Copyright:

2018

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

Book Size:

336 Pages

ISBN-13:

9781421414850

Related ISBNs:

9781421414843

Publisher:

Johns Hopkins University Press

Date of Addition:

10/20/21

Copyrighted By:

S. D. Lamb

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Science, Psychology, Medicine

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.