A Man Against Insanity: The Birth of Drug Therapy in a Northern Michigan Asylum

Meet the man against insanity. His laboratory? The sadly sinister wards of the 3,000-bed Traverse City State Hospital. His apparatus? Only his own eyes and hands, plus the hands and eyes of more than one hundred nurse attendants. And for his experiments, the patients whom staff referred to as the “cats and dogs”— the seemingly incurable psychotics resistant to all treatment and far beyond hope.“Maybe we’re not scientific here,” Ferguson admitted. “I know we’re different than they are in the big medical schools. We don’t treat diseases — we try to treat sick people.”In this book, originally published in 1957, author Paul de Kruif tells the story of Dr. Jack Ferguson, a family physician who originally made a name for himself by perfecting a three-minute lobotomy. In 1954, he arrived in Traverse City, Michigan, ready to perform 500 lobotomies on the so-called incurably insane. Yet he never got around to even the first one. Instead, using an unscientific combination of chemicals, copious notes and loving attention, he began one of the boldest drug therapy experiments ever attempted in a mental institution, helping to reshape how the mentally ill are treated in this country and abroad.
ASIN: 1943995559
VSKU: BVV.1943995559.G
Condition: Good
Author/Artist:De Kruif, Paul
Binding: Paperback
Note: Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.
Condition Notes: The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact including the dust cover, if applicable . Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.