How the Brain Lost Its Mind
Sex, Hysteria, and the Riddle of Mental Illness
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Narrated by:
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Fred Sanders
About this listen
A noted neurologist challenges the widespread misunderstanding of brain disease and mental illness.
How the Brain Lost Its Mind tells the rich and compelling story of two confounding ailments, syphilis and hysteria, and the extraordinary efforts to confront their effects on mental life. How does the mind work? Where does madness lie, in the brain or in the mind? How should it be treated?
Throughout the 19th century, syphilis - a disease of mad poets, musicians, and artists - swept through the highest and lowest rungs of European society like a plague. Known as "the Great Imitator", it could produce almost any form of mental or physical illness, and it would bring down a host of famous and infamous characters - among them Guy de Maupassant, Vincent van Gogh, the Marquis de Sade, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Al Capone. It was the first truly psychiatric disease and it filled asylums to overflowing. At the same time, an outbreak of bizarre behaviors resembling epilepsy, but with no identifiable source in the body, strained the diagnostic skills of the great neurologists. It was referred to as hysteria.
For more than a century, neurosyphilis stood out as the archetype of a brain-based mental illness, fully understood but largely forgotten, and today far from gone. Hysteria, under many different names, remains unexplained and epidemic. These two conditions stand at opposite poles of the current debate over the role of the brain in mental illness. Hysteria led Freud to insert sex into psychology. Neurosyphilis led to the proliferation of mental institutions. The problem of managing the inmates led to the abuse of lobotomy and electroshock therapy, and ultimately the overuse of psychotropic drugs.
Today, we know that syphilitic madness was a destructive disease of the brain while hysteria and, more broadly, many varieties of mental illness reside solely in the mind. Or do they? Afflictions once written off as "hysterical" continue to elude explanation. Addiction, alcoholism, autism, ADHD, Tourette syndrome, depression, and sociopathy, though regarded as brain-based, have not been proven to be so.
In this audio, the authors raise a host of philosophical and practical questions. What is the difference between a sick mind and a sick brain? If we understood everything about the brain, would we understand ourselves? By delving into an overlooked history, this book shows how neuroscience and brain scans alone cannot account for a robust mental life, or a deeply disturbed one.
©2019 Allan H. Ropper and Brian Burrell (P)2019 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“This aptly titled book picks up where Oliver Sacks left off in examining the behavioral characteristics of neurobehavioral syndromes in an effort to span the gap that has historically separated the twin disciplines of the brain, neurology, and psychiatry. In contrasting the organic (general paresis of the insane) with the ethereal (hysteria), this neuropsychiatric treatise brings the two divergent disciplines closer together without committing to their ultimate unification.” (Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD, chairman of psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons; past president of the American Psychiatric Association; author of Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry)
"Occasionally, a treatise arrives that challenges conventional reductionist notions that brain and mind can be unified through the neuroscience of the brain. Current brain analysis via brain scans, neural networks, genomic analysis, and psychopharmacology has not seduced Ropper and Burrell, who take the contrarian position that there is a subjective mental life that organizes itself. In an unusually readable and surprisingly lyrical account of syphilis, a surrogate for mental disorders caused by brain destruction, and hysteria, a stand-in for psychiatric disorders, they create a fascinating tension between neurology and psychiatry and offer thoughts on unifying the two fields of clinical medicine. Their original interpretations of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Thomas Mann’s Dr. Faustus alone makes the book worth reading as literary criticism." (Joseph B. Martin, MD, PhD, dean emeritus, Harvard Medical School)
“A sweeping narrative of how the concept of mental illness evolved in the context of culture, history, and science. How the Brain Lost its Mind is written with wit and wisdom, and filled with vividly depicted colorful characters from Freud to Maupassant to the Marquis de Sade, from the physicians of nineteenth century Europe to the public health commissioners of 1930s New York. Ropper and Burrell trace the riveting history of the science of the mind and brain, revealing how and why neurology and psychiatry split, and how the future of medicine depends on their reunification.” (Aaron Berkowitz, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School; author of Clinical Neurology and Neuroanatomy and The Improvising Mind)
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- Narrated by: Ken Kliban
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades? Every day, 1,100 adults and children are added to the government disability rolls because they have become newly disabled by mental illness, with this epidemic spreading most rapidly among our nations children. What is going on?
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The author does not use a fair scientific approach
- By Michael on 08-15-10
By: Robert Whitaker
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Doing Harm
- By: Maya Dusenbery
- Narrated by: Dara Rosenberg
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Editor of the award-winning site Feministing.com, Maya Dusenbery brings together scientific and sociological research, interviews with experts within and outside the medical establishment, and personal stories from women across the country to provide the first comprehensive, accessible look at how sexism in medicine harms women today.
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One of the most important books ever written
- By Dresden on 03-18-18
By: Maya Dusenbery
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Suspicious Minds
- How Culture Shapes Madness
- By: Joel Gold, Ian Gold
- Narrated by: Joel Gold, Ian Gold
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Mr. A. was admitted to Dr. Joel Gold’s inpatient unit at Bellevue Hospital in 2002. He was, he said, being filmed constantly, and his life was being broadcast around the world "like The Truman Show" - the 1998 film depicting a man who is unknowingly living out his life as the star of a popular soap opera. Over the next few years, Gold saw a number of patients suffering from what he and his brother, Dr. Ian Gold, began calling the "Truman Show Delusion," launching them on a quest to understand the nature of this particular phenomenon and the nature of madness itself.
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Intriguing
- By L. K. on 04-18-16
By: Joel Gold, and others
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Saving Normal
- An Insider’s Revolt Against out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life
- By: Allen Frances MD
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In Saving Normal, Allen Frances, one of the world's most influential psychiatrists, warns that mislabeling everyday problems as mental illness has shocking implications for individuals and society: Stigmatizing a healthy person as mentally ill leads to unnecessary, harmful medications, the narrowing of horizons, misallocation of medical resources, and draining of the budgets of families and the nation.
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Right on the money
- By Mentecuerpo on 03-29-19
By: Allen Frances MD
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The Problem of Alzheimer's
- How Science, Culture, and Politics Turned a Rare Disease into a Crisis and What We Can Do About It
- By: Jason Karlawish
- Narrated by: Jason Karlawish, Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2020, an estimated 5.8 million Americans had Alzheimer’s, and more than half a million died because of the disease and its devastating complications. Sixteen million caregivers are responsible for paying as much as half of the $226 billion annual costs of their care. As more people live beyond their 70s and 80s, the number of patients will rise to an estimated 13.8 million by 2025. Part case studies, part meditation on the past, present and future of the disease, The Problem of Alzheimer's traces Alzheimer’s from its beginnings to its recognition as a crisis.
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A must read
- By kara kuntz on 05-20-21
By: Jason Karlawish
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Crazy Like Us
- The Globalization of the American Psyche
- By: Ethan Watters
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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America has been the world leader in generating new mental health treatments and modern theories of the human psyche. We export our psychopharmaceuticals packaged with the certainty that our biomedical knowledge will relieve the suffering and stigma of mental illness. We categorize disorders, thereby defining mental illness and health, and then parade these seemingly scientific certainties in front of the world.
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He is a reporter...
- By Briana on 05-07-18
By: Ethan Watters
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A Short History of Medicine
- Modern Library Chronicles
- By: Frank Gonzalez-Crussi
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Praised for his erudite writing, renowned scientist Frank Gonzalez-Crussi penned this concise history of medicine, beginning with the most primitive health-care practices and ending with the technology of modern medicine that we enjoy today. As with all Modern Library Chronicles, A Short History of Medicine is a wonderful primer for anyone interested in the subject.
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Dull and Disorganized
- By Amazon Customer on 05-21-08
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Happy Accidents
- Serendipity in Major Medical Breakthroughs in the Twentieth Century
- By: Morton A. Meyers
- Narrated by: Richard Waterhouse
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Happy Accidents is a fascinating, entertaining, and highly accessible look at the surprising role serendipity has played in some of the most important medical discoveries in the 20th century. What do penicillin, chemotherapy drugs, X-rays, Valium, the Pap smear, and Viagra have in common? They were each discovered accidentally, stumbled upon in the search for something else. In discussing medical breakthroughs, Dr. Morton Meyers makes a cogent, highly engaging argument for a more creative, rather than purely linear, approach to science. And it may just save our lives!
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Don't waste your money!
- By Amazon Customer on 03-20-16
By: Morton A. Meyers
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Ten Drugs
- How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Hager
- Narrated by: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Beginning with opium, the “joy plant,” which has been used for 10,000 years, Thomas Hager tells a captivating story of medicine. His subjects include the largely forgotten female pioneer who introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain, the infamous knockout drops, the first antibiotic, which saved countless lives, the first antipsychotic, which helped empty public mental hospitals, Viagra, statins, and the new frontier of monoclonal antibodies. This is a deep, wide-ranging, and wildly entertaining book.
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Engrossing to physicians & lay persons alike
- By C. White on 03-08-19
By: Thomas Hager
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The Pain Chronicles
- Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, and the Science of Suffering
- By: Melanie Thernstrom
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Each of us will know physical pain in our lives, but none of us knows when it will come or how long it will stay. Today as much as 10 percent of the population of the United States suffers from chronic pain. It is more widespread, misdiagnosed, and undertreated than any major disease. While recent research has shown that pain produces pathological changes to the brain and spinal cord, many doctors and patients still labor under misguided cultural notions and outdated scientific dogmas.
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Informative, well researched and nicely written
- By Nathan O'Hara on 08-21-10
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Unwell Women
- Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World
- By: Elinor Cleghorn
- Narrated by: Hanako Footman
- Length: 14 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Elinor Cleghorn became an unwell woman 10 years ago. She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease after a long period of being told her symptoms were anything from psychosomatic to a possible pregnancy. As Elinor learned to live with her unpredictable disease, she turned to history for answers, and found an enraging legacy of suffering, mystification, and misdiagnosis. In Unwell Women, Elinor Cleghorn traces the almost unbelievable history of how medicine has failed women by treating their bodies as alien and other, often to perilous effect.
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Profound Read; A Sincere Stepping Stone to Understanding My Own Why
- By Nicole on 07-23-21
By: Elinor Cleghorn
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Trick or Treatment
- The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine
- By: Edzard Ernst, Simon Singh
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Whether you are an ardent believer in alternative medicine, a skeptic, or are simply baffled by the range of services and opinions, this guide lays to rest doubts and contradictions with authority, integrity, and clarity. In this groundbreaking analysis, over 30 of the most popular treatments - acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, chiropractic, and herbal medicines - are examined for their benefits and potential dangers. Questions answered include: What works and what doesn't? What are the secrets, and what are the lies?
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Well researched
- By Erik J. Rasmussen on 09-09-20
By: Edzard Ernst, and others
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Drugged: The Science and Culture Behind Psychotropic Drugs
- By: Richard J. Miller
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In Drugged, Miller takes listeners on an eye-opening tour of psychotropic drugs, describing the various kinds, how they were discovered and developed, and how they have played multiple roles in virtually every culture. Drugged brims with surprises, revealing the fact that antidepressant drugs evolved from rocket fuel, highlighting the role of hallucinogens in the history of religion, and asking whether Prozac can help depressed cats. Entertaining and authoritative, Drugged is a truly fascinating book.
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Interesting reading but heavy on the biochemistry
- By Scott on 06-28-14
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Healing Back Pain
- By: John E. Sarno M.D.
- Narrated by: John E. Sarno M.D.
- Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins
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With case histories and the results of in-depth mind-body research, Dr. Sarno describes how patients recognize the emotional roots of their back pain and sever the connections between mental and physical pain - and how, just by listening to this program, you may start recovering from back pain today!
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This book saved my life!
- By OCGabe on 06-05-18
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A Nation in Pain
- Healing Our Biggest Health Problem
- By: Judy Foreman
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Published in partnership with the International Association for the Study of Pain, A Nation in Pain offers a sweeping, deeply researched account of the chronic pain crisis, from neurobiology to public policy, and presents practical solutions that are within our grasp today. Drawing on both her personal experience with chronic pain and her background as an award-winning health journalist, she guides us through recent scientific discoveries, including genetic susceptibility to pain.
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Broad but superficial.
- By J. P. Murphy on 07-03-15
By: Judy Foreman
What listeners say about How the Brain Lost Its Mind
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Todd Woollen
- 12-24-23
a great history book featuring a straw man
The mind is what the brain does.
The world's best (11.7T) research MRI weighs over a hundred tons and uses the energy equivalent of 80 kg of TNT. In one pixel, it shows a cortical volume containing 200 neurons. Each cortical neuron has about 10,000 synapses. Google "microns explorer 200 cells" for a gallery where scrolling down will reward you with a 3-D map of 200 neurons.
Most medical (3T) MRIs show a larger volume containing 50,000 cortical neurons in one pixel. Given such complex machinery inside the tiniest dot on the neurologist's MRI, there is context missing from Dr. Ropper's straw man jabs at the goals of neuroscience imaging and his cursory discussion of emergence.
For deeper exploration of those subjects consider (neuroscience imaging) "Seeing The Mind" by Dehaene and (emergence) "Bacteria to Bach and Back" by Dennett.
That said, the 3 star reviews are unfair. This is a great story about the history of neurology with a nod to those who work on the memetic software running on the brain's wetware.
Thank you, Dr. Ropper, for an interesting read. Will read again.
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- Carri Moser Camp
- 08-24-19
This should be required reading for neurology
A special Thank you to Deepak Chopra for sharing this on your blog. This helps to identify how mental health developed. Don't get distracted by the fact it's syphilis research. It explains how our mental health system is misguided. I read 'Reaching down the rabbit hole.' Another awesome book about our brains. A very misunderstood, mismanaged entity of our broken health care system. XXOO Well done much needed:)
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- Sadia
- 10-06-23
History of Neurology
This is one of the best books on the history of Neurology I have listened
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- Jackie
- 04-19-22
Couldn’t quite finish it
Hard to imagine a book about syphilis is complete without mentioning sex workers in history. Pathos lie in the social and scientific impact on and of male gender. Then again, maybe the last 5 chapters mention it… hopefully it does.
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1 person found this helpful