The Mad Among Us: A History of the Care of America's Mentally Ill

by Gerald N. Grob

Americans want to be humane toward the mentally ill, yet we have always been divided about what is best for them and for society. Now, the foremost historian of the care of the mentally ill compellingly recounts our various attempts to solve this ever-present dilemma.
In the first comprehensive one-volume history of the treatment of the mentally ill, Gerald Grob begins with colonial America, when families and local communities accepted responsibility for their mentally ill members. Their solutions varied, from confinement under lock and key, to granting mentally ill persons a wide measure of autonomy. As American society grew larger and more complex, the first mental hospitals were created to deal with growing numbers of the severely and persistently mentally ill. Grob brings to life the charismatic and innovative individuals who administered these hospitals and shows how they were successful at first in providing humane care and treatment.
But under the pressure of too many patients and too few resources, the hospitals subsequently deteriorated into custodial institutions, and Grob charts this transformation. He traces the growth of the psychiatric profession, the change of the mental health field during World War Il, and the use of controversial shock therapies, drugs, and lobotomies. Mounting criticism of some of these techniques and of mental institutions as inhumane places led to the emptying of the hospitals and a new emphasis on community care and treatment.
Americans daily encounter the pitiful sight of homeless, mentally ill people in the streets of our cities, and wonder how it came to be this way. Grob shows that while many patients benefited from the new community policies, there arose a new group of mentally ill substance abusers who desperately need treatment but who resist it. He argues that these people, and not deinstitutionalized patients, make up most of the disturbed homeless who confront us today. Their presence demands new solutions, and Grob's definitive history points the way. It is at once an indispensable reference and a call for a humane and balanced policy in the future.

Genres: Mental Health, History, Nonfiction, Psychology, Disability Studies, History Of Medicine, Sociology

Hardcover

First published February 21, 1994

About the author

The son of Jewish immigrants from Poland, Gerald Grob earned a bachelor's degree from the City College of New York and a master's degree from Columbia University. He earned his doctorate at Northwestern University in 1958 and taught at Clark University from 1957 until 1969 and at Rutgers University from 1969 until his retirement in 2000.

Reviews

[R. J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a lot of good information but doesn't seem well organized. It jumps around in time and makes the development of the mental health system a little hard to follow. There were sections where it seems to move on to a different topic only to circle back around to the topic it was talking about before.

[Hannah Stokes]

Read this because I'm teaching a course and working on an academic project about he history of mental illness in the US and UK. This is a broad overview and I must confess, I like some of his more detailed books a bit better. Broad strokes are nice, but some of his other works provide a more in depth look at mental illness in a specific time period.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be informative but a little repetitive....the author could've cut out some of the information about special committees and obscure laws that had no effect on the mental health system.

[Patricia Joynton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent review of the history of mentally ill and the culture of the mental health system now.

[Kat McConnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admire the great amount of research and detail that went into the writing of this book. But also oof... not exactly a page-turner. Good information but very very dry.

[PERMADREAM. · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times a bit dry, but very informative, and led me down a lot of interesting train of thought and different points of inquiry for further research on this complicated topic.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

structured an entire research paper around this book 🥵

[Jeffrey Acorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gerald Grob has written extensively on the care of the mentally ill. I read this book many years ago so my review will be somewhat vague. This book provides a good introduction to understanding the modern history of care of the severely mentally ill, especially those dependent upon the system for care. This book is accessible for many people, not just academics of those in social services. I recommend this book if you are interested in learning more about the modern history of care of the severely mentally ill in the united states.

[Juliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been looking for a history of the care of the mentally ill for a while, and that is what this book provides. It appears to be fairly complete, covering policy, administration, and the development of psychiatry in the US. It is pretty dry though, so unless you're really interested in the subject matter I don't recommend it.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive overview of American mental health policy from Colonial times to the early 1990s. Grob compassionately illuminates the complexities of the problems posed by mental illness throughout our nation's history. Never neglecting the complexity of the issue, he details the historical shortcomings and victories which have brought us to our current mental health policy.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the more balanced histories (pro vs. anti-psychiatry) of the asylum movement and mental health care--a synthesis of Grob's earlier work, but well worth reading.

[Susan]

Please review when you are done!! Very curious.

[Zeb Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of the history of care in the United States. Doesn't do a whole lot to give you any insight into the patient and how they perceive treatment, but that is a difficult endeavor.

[Kate Maloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for everyone working in public psychiatry.

[Nathan Darvish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive if a bit dry at times.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for a class. Its started out being quite interesting, and the author spoke well on the topic of pre-institutionalization as well as the era of the institution and asylums. After that though, it mostly became a list of different organizations, and their policies, and their arguments over policies, and budgets, and a new acronym on every page. While this is a valid part of the history of the treatment of mental illness I think it paid too much attention to the squabbles between organizations and not enough on the actual "Care of America's Mentally Ill".