books review

Lisa Appignanesi

Edinburgh International Book Festival

Lisa Appignanesi's new book 'Mad, Bad and Sad' is a cultural history of how women have been treated by "mind doctors" (from neuroscientists to psychoanalysts) from 1800 to the present day. She raises some interesting questions about what symptoms and criteria are used to diagnose mental illness (from teenage pregnancy and 'hysteria', to the growing prevalence of eating disorders) and looks at whether what is considered normal has become so limited that even minor deviations are considered disorders. This is a topic that has been widely researched and written about, and there obviously isn't time in an hour to go into much detail, leaving Appignanesi to rather gratingly end most responses to her audience's questions with "read the book".

ScottishPower Studio Theatre, 17 Aug, 5.00pm, fpp n/a

published: Aug-2008

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