mental illness..

[wieldabeast]

am doing some research into perceptions of 'mental illness' was wondering if anyone knows of any novels in the early twentieth century that would be relevent? thanks

[kilted exile]

Look for "the man who mistook his wife for a hat" (dont remember the author)

[Maria L]

An Anthropoligst on Mars - Oliver Sacks

A really intruiging read while providing sufficient information on mental illnesses such as Autism, Frontal Lobe syndrome, amnesia, blindness, colourblindness, Intricle Personality Syndrome, Tourette's syndrome. Contains 7 different patients, looks at each patients struggle to fit into society, and their lifestyles having to live with these diseases.

Main thesis is that: We cannot change who we are, and what we find to be the norm may not be the case for many others.

Message about Human Nature is: We find it human nature to want to fit in with others, or to have others fit in with us.

P.S: Man who mistook his wife for a hat is also by Oliver Sacks!

[Captain Pike]

am doing some research into perceptions of 'mental illness' was wondering if anyone knows of any novels in the early twentieth century that would be relevent? thanks

Go get "Girl Interrupted", it's a much better book than a movie. Really showcases some of the real mental health issues we folks (humans) have got going on these days.

[chasestalling]

try vladimir nabokov's despair.

[sumalan monica]

Do not try anything-all you have to do -do not overanalyze ,be patient,learn in order to get a better view. Mental illness is a result of brain exhaustion-mental energies which flows ,desperate,not enough channelled.

[ranzy]

If you want a novel that deals with mental illness you can have a look also at "Mrs. Dalloway" by Virginia Woolf. It was written in the early twentieth century and it shows a man (Septimus) that suffers from a form of mental illness and it shows also how this kind of deseas was percieved cured by doctors.

[Zippy]

You could try 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I think it's available on this site.

[Logos]

yup :D

http://www.online-literature.com/charlotte-perkins-gilman/2086/
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[White Witch]

Look for "the man who mistook his wife for a hat" (dont remember the author)

This was actually about a neurological disorder, not the traditional mental illness. I work with mentally ill adults and one of my clients with schizophrenia recommended The Music of Madness by Tracy L. Harris. It is an autobiography written by a women with schizoaffective disorder.

[Wild Apple]

Tender Is The Night is the best novel I've ever read that included themes on mental illness. It's truly one of the great American novels.

[B-Mental]

Yes, Tender is the Night by Fitzgerald....WoW.

[metal134]

Can't go wrong with The Catcher in the Rye.

[ardeano_1864]

The movie, One flew over the cuckoo's nest 1975 was created from the novel of the same name. The novels author is Ken Kesey. The movie, I have heard, changed the way mental institutions in the United States operated.

[Tenacious]

I've studied mental illnesses as i have some members in my family that suffer from bi - polar and i am classified as slightly scitzophrenic which doesnt bother me at all... i'd recommend watching A Beautiful Mind and reading The Saturday Morning Murder: Psychoanalytic Case.