150 Years of British Psychiatry

by German E. Berrios, Hugh Freeman

During the last 20 years, the history of psychiatry has opened diverse windows on the landscape of insanity, but individual perspective alone cannot convey the whole picture. A variety of views, such as is offered in this book, will make a major contribution to the process of describing and explaining the development of British psychiatry since 1841. That year saw the foundation of the Association of Medical Officers of Asylums and Hospitals for the insane, the forerunner of the present Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Of not many countries can it be said, as it can of Great Britain and Ireland, that the history of their psychiatry matches so well the history of only one professional institution. The latter has acted as a broker between four main influences on psychiatric popular and official sentiments, the progress of medical and psychological sciences, ideas from abroad, and the desires and notions of the profession itself.
Since the mid-19th century, the Association and its successors have provided the forum in which much of the national debate on mental illness and its treatment has taken place. This book, published to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, includes chapters on the people and the ideas that presided over such deliberations, and on the way in which, since 1841, the professional body has guided and interpreted national views on the diseases of the mind.

1 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1991

About the author

Germán Elías Berríos Marca (Tacna, 17 de abril de 1940) es un médico psiquiatra, filósofo, historiador y psicólogo peruano. Actualmente, es catedrático del departamento de Psiquiatría en la Universidad de Cambridge.

Sus dos áreas centrales de investigación son las complicaciones mentales de la enfermedad neurológica​ y la estructura, historia y capacidad epistemológica de la psicopatología descriptiva. Sus ideas han sido continuadas y desarrolladas por miembros de la Escuela Psicopatológica de Cambridge,​ muchos provenientes de países tales como Australia, España, Japón, India, Chile, Rusia, etc. Está también interesado en la ética de la investigación médica, y por 20 años fue presidente del comité de ética de la investigación humana de la Universidad de Cambridge y del condado de Cambrigeshire. Ha sido profesor visitante en Universidades en Hong Kong, Barcelona, Lima, Heidelberg, Jerusalén, Cornell, Adelaide, Chile, México, Medellín, etc.​

Ha publicado 14 libros y más de 430 artículos sobre los aspectos clínicos y epistemológicos de la neuropsiquiatría​ y de la psicopatología descriptiva.

Reviews

[Sunniva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chapters read:
- Psychiatry and the Early NHS