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Animal Madness: How Anxious Dogs, Compulsive Parrots, and Elephants in Recovery Help Us Understand Ourselves
Have you ever wondered if your dog might be a bit depressed? How about heartbroken or homesick? Animal Madness takes these questions seriously, exploring the topic of mental health and recovery in the animal kingdom and turning up lessons that Publishers Weekly calls “Illuminating…Braitman’s delightful balance of humor and poignancy brings each case of life….[Animal Madness’s] continuous dose of hope should prove medicinal for humans and animals alike.”
Susan Orlean calls Animal Madness “a marvelous, smart, eloquent book—as much about human emotion as it is about animals and their inner lives.” It is “a gem…that can teach us much about the wildness of our own minds” (Psychology Today).
Susan Orlean calls Animal Madness “a marvelous, smart, eloquent book—as much about human emotion as it is about animals and their inner lives.” It is “a gem…that can teach us much about the wildness of our own minds” (Psychology Today).
384 pages, Hardcover
First published June 5, 2014
128 people are currently reading
4672 people want to read
About the author
Laurel Braitman
7 books145 followersLaurel Braitman is the New York Times bestselling author of Animal Madness. She has a PhD from MIT in the history and anthropology of science and is the Director of Writing and Storytelling at the Stanford School of Medicine’s
Medicine & the Muse Program.
Medicine & the Muse Program.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
July 18, 2014
Why is it I have no problem reading about human abuse and murder, but can't handle reading about animal mistreatment? The reason this book caught my eye was in the title..."how animals in recovery help us understand ourselves." While this book does deal with animal abuse, it's focus was on treating mental illness in animals, how much they have helped us, and how we are changing the way we view and treat animals. I found it fascinating!
The book begins with the author's rescue dog who jumped out of her 4th story window. Was it intentional suicide? This facilitates the author's endeavor into how similar our own emotional states are to animals. She states in the introduction " Humans aren't the only animals to suffer from emotional thunderstorms that make our lives more difficult and sometimes impossible. Like Charles Darwin, who came to the realization more than a century ago. I believe that nonhuman animals can suffer from mental illnesses that are quite similar to our own."
While the tales of animal insanity were diverse, and some even historical, what I loved is how animals are beginning to get the attention they deserve. Animals have always been used to test medications that go on to help us. Why is it that we don't see this testing means our emotions are so similar to their's? Would we want to be put in a zoo, ripped from our mothers, forced into hard labor? Might we not have some emotional difficulties ourselves? While we have used them to test for our medications, we are just beginning to return the favor. Yes, Prozac, anti-depressants and others are all being used to help animals now.
I loved her comment about dogs on leashes and how degrading a leash is to an animal. They were born to run, smell, and explore. The only time I put my own dog on a leash is when I see another dog behaving erratically because it's owner is dragging it by the leash. When I hear someone tell me "your dog should be on a leash," I just want to say, "you should be on a leash." I've never had to do much training with my dog as I respect her instincts. She even looks both ways before crossing a street, no need to teach her that.
This is a beautifully balanced book describing how animals and humans can love one another back to health, while also demonstrating how our earlier lack of understanding led to animal insanity, just as it would for us. It is always about treating one another as we would want to be treated. Loved it!
The book begins with the author's rescue dog who jumped out of her 4th story window. Was it intentional suicide? This facilitates the author's endeavor into how similar our own emotional states are to animals. She states in the introduction " Humans aren't the only animals to suffer from emotional thunderstorms that make our lives more difficult and sometimes impossible. Like Charles Darwin, who came to the realization more than a century ago. I believe that nonhuman animals can suffer from mental illnesses that are quite similar to our own."
While the tales of animal insanity were diverse, and some even historical, what I loved is how animals are beginning to get the attention they deserve. Animals have always been used to test medications that go on to help us. Why is it that we don't see this testing means our emotions are so similar to their's? Would we want to be put in a zoo, ripped from our mothers, forced into hard labor? Might we not have some emotional difficulties ourselves? While we have used them to test for our medications, we are just beginning to return the favor. Yes, Prozac, anti-depressants and others are all being used to help animals now.
I loved her comment about dogs on leashes and how degrading a leash is to an animal. They were born to run, smell, and explore. The only time I put my own dog on a leash is when I see another dog behaving erratically because it's owner is dragging it by the leash. When I hear someone tell me "your dog should be on a leash," I just want to say, "you should be on a leash." I've never had to do much training with my dog as I respect her instincts. She even looks both ways before crossing a street, no need to teach her that.
This is a beautifully balanced book describing how animals and humans can love one another back to health, while also demonstrating how our earlier lack of understanding led to animal insanity, just as it would for us. It is always about treating one another as we would want to be treated. Loved it!
May 11, 2014
Engaging initially because the author had a very bad experience with a pet she acquired, I became more engaged with the topic when it moved into the history of caging animals, resultant abuse, and ensuing crazy behavior. This book helped me move beyond a vague uneasiness I've felt towards circuses, zoos, and using animals for experiments, to really thinking about the in-humaneness of what generally passes for routine treatment of animals throughout not just the "uncivilized" world, but the "civilized" world as well. Just this morning I happened upon an article about gray California whales who actually seek out fishermen in a cove in Mexico when they're calving despite despicable whaling practices in this very cove in the past. The article, which I may have passed over in the past, was read with greater awareness after reading Animal Madness. Everything I read or view first hand in the future regarding animal treatment will now be colored by this author's research.
I was somewhat awed by how the author managed to travel as far and wide for research as she has. Is she incredibly wealthy? Did she obtain research grants? How could she spend months studying elephants in Thailand and India? There's more to this story, and I hope this author writes more books on this topic and on herself in the future.
Her research was well documented by excellent footnotes which took up a good many pages. This book is excellent for anyone dealing with animals on a professional level, but is also very accessible for popular reading collections.
I was somewhat awed by how the author managed to travel as far and wide for research as she has. Is she incredibly wealthy? Did she obtain research grants? How could she spend months studying elephants in Thailand and India? There's more to this story, and I hope this author writes more books on this topic and on herself in the future.
Her research was well documented by excellent footnotes which took up a good many pages. This book is excellent for anyone dealing with animals on a professional level, but is also very accessible for popular reading collections.
May 20, 2014
Extremely well documented and scientifically grounded but anecdotal and easy to read and understand. If you love animals, you will love and appreciate this book.
April 1, 2014
This was a unique book that dealt with how animals and humans are alike in exhibiting common mental illnesses such as depression, suicide, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder. The author did a great job of researching animals with mental illnesses that show up both in common literature, on children shows and in research practices used to discover physical and mental cures. It was interesting to read about some of the gurus of the psychiatric movement who discovered some of the most widely used counseling theories and the research with animals that led up to that. The author also discussed her love for her dog who had significant mental illness. It was shocking to discover how much medication is used to treat so called happy animals deal with being around humans as well as to discover how many potent medications are in our food and water sources left over from the treatment of humans and animals with mental illnesses. Although at times it was hard to read about bad things happening to animals the love the author had for animals was clear throughout the book. I learned a lot and some of my preconceived notions were challenged.
November 1, 2020
Do animals have emotional breakdowns? Do they have the same mental frailties and neuroses as humans? They can't talk to us, but their behavior can tell us plenty about their emotional states as well as our own. This wonderful book covers the history of animal mental illness and how it integrates with human mental health over the last few centuries.
Before Charles Darwin came on the scene, we assumed that humans were special, and that our experiences were way above those of the lowly animal kingdom. Darwin's theory of evolution dashed that special perch, and now scientists realize that animal brains and minds work much the same as human ones, if not quite as powerful and complex. Animals think, dream, feel, and grieve- just as we do, which brings to question a lot of human behaviors from zookeeping to pet ownership to pig farming.
The author of Animal Madness, Laurel Braitman was inspired to write this book based on her experiences with Oliver, her Bernese mountain dog that went through bizarre behaviors and mental illnesses that eventually killed him. Oliver suffered from two common afflictions- thunderstorm anxiety and separation anxiety, both in severe forms. One day he just couldn't take it any more and burst out a window in the home, falling four floors to the ground and nearly dying.
There's probably no other animal in the world that humans are more attached to than dogs, and Braitman chronicles her attempts to help her dog while interviewing experts on animal behaviors. She provides a fascinating history of our evolution from the 19th century to today in how we treat animals and their emotional problems.
For many years, both human and animal neuroses were diagnosed as either hysteria or melancholia, and the only treatment was institutionalization for humans and death for animals. Braitman tells the sad tales of zoo animals from that period who were ripped from their homes and put into lonely and unnatural situations where they became depressed and often died.
There's something called capture myopathy that causes intense stress responses in animals after they've been captured. If not handled correctly, the animal can die, even if the captor is trying to help it. Cages and small prison-like environments can bring on severe mental stress that is evident from neurotic and repetitive behaviors. It turns out that one of the worst stressors especially for advanced mammals like apes is being separated from their mothers too soon. Most baby animals rely on their mothers not only for food, but also for affection and guidance on how to exist in the animal world. (The same mental and emotional damage can be observed in human children who are separated from their mothers as babies).
Can animals commit suicide? According to this book they can, and it tells detailed stories of animals and animal trainers who have observed it. Sometimes the suicides are passive, where animals just stop eating and caring for themselves, and nature takes its course. And then there's the case of active suicides, of dolphins and whales who intentionally stop breathing and/or beach themselves in bizarre behaviors that we still don't understand.
Can animal mental health benefit from human pharmaceuticals? Animals can and do take billions of dollars worth of drugs like Prozac and Xanax, which mostly comes from pets that the owners can't control with regular behavior modifications. Apparently zoos and places like Seaworld rely heavily on antidepressant and anti-anxiety medicines, a fact that they don't like to publicize. Some captive animals, like apes, dolphins, and bears don't do well no matter how big you make their habitats, and to hide neurotic and disturbing behaviors many places have to resort to drugs. (Almost half of all zoos in one study drugged their gorillas according to this book).
Drug companies manipulate the guilty consciences of dog and cat owners to sell more medicines, and it's been working. Many pets, especially shelter pets, are mistreated when they're young, and don't take too well to their human's hectic schedules. So pet owners are using drugs more often to address disturbing, neurotic, or aggressive behaviors. There are now beef-flavored treats that contain Prozac.
Laurel Braitman is a science writer and not a PETA activist that I can tell. She makes some good points, and the experiences with her own dog obviously had a huge impact on her emotionally. She presents a good case here that animals suffer from emotional damage in many of the same ways that humans do, and we need to be more careful in how we treat them. She presents some helpful suggestions and tips for animal caretakers that need more publicity in the animal care world and beyond.
- For dogs, people need to understand dog's needs for attention, exercise, and play before getting one. Drugs are a last option and behavior modifications and training should always be used first for behavior issues. Dogs need walks, toys, and attention from humans or other dogs. Separation anxiety is a real problem for these animals that are so dependent on us, and no dog should be left along for more than eight hours at a time. When people get home, they need to stay off their screens and pay attention to their dogs until the bonds have been satisfied.
- As for cats, they require spaces that they can keep to themselves, like a cat tree. But they also need company and interaction with their humans, and cat toys for enrichment. According to the cat behavior office, cats need established routines and stability. Too much change or stress can make them anxious.
- Elephants are amazingly intelligent and emotional creatures and depend a lot on their caretakers and other elephants. They especially need their mothers early in life, and won't thrive in captivity unless given companionship, space, and love. Good mothers and rich early childhood experiences are key to a happy adult, and that applies to humans just as much as it does to any other animal.
- There are some animals that just shouldn't be held for public viewing in zoos or anywhere else. Animals like bears, dolphins, whales, gorillas, apes, and elephants should be removed from zoos and replaced with animals that do better in captivity and with humans. That would include typical petting zoo animals like goats, possums, horses, donkeys, llamas, and guinea pigs. It's not fair to the animals that can't handle captivity to drug them up and confine them in unnatural settings only to satisfy the public's curiosity.
- Sometimes the best therapy for a sick animal is another animal. This book details instances in which senior elephants and apes calm down other disturbed animals and help eliminate their neurotic behaviors through love and guidance. Even animals of different species can help each other. It's apparently a common practice in the racehorse industry for goats to live in the stables with their more stressed horses. The companionship of others made the horses calmer and easier to manage. This is no surprise, but the idea of "friendship therapy" is something that applies to humans as well, and is much more potent than any drug.
- Human beings have a long history of cruelty and indifference towards animals, but that is changing. Zoos and theme parks are changing their practices, the Ringling Brothers circus folded completely, and pets and their happiness are more front and center in many families. Our progress in the field of mental health is helping our fellow animals that we share the earth with, but there's still a long way to go, especially when it comes to factory farming.
Do animals have a soul? Do they think, feel, and have consciousness and memories? They can't talk, but we can see much through their eyes and their behavior. This book brings up many interesting points regarding animal psychology, points that can help teach humans how to be more happy and humane.
March 19, 2015
At times breathtakingly sad, but more often simply compelling and well researched, this book is an engaging presentation of the animal mind, especially when it goes awry. Braitman skillfully skims the surface of this vast subject area and shares a variety of evidence and stories. Her own backstory of her deeply troubled Bernese mountain dog, Oliver, colors much of her interest in animal madness, and I confess I was drawn to the book because of my own highly anxious dog. But the most heart-rending stories, in particular, are the animals who are trapped in zoos, circuses, or other animal entertainment industries. Their mental suffering is devastating to read about. Down with all zoos. Up with empathy — and much more applied research in this field. Recommended for anyone who lives with or thinks about animals. As Braitman says in her conclusion, there is a great deal that the animal mind can teach us about our own minds. And beyond that, there is an immense call for compassion toward the animals that we have made ourselves responsible for.
January 8, 2019
This turned out not to be science at all, and rather to be PETA propaganda. I should have suspected when the author started out with a several chapter long description of her own dog having to be put down because he flipped his stomach upside down due to separation anxiety that I wasn't going to be getting science. But then when she started her rant (there is no other word for it) about how awful zoos are, I knew that it was just a propaganda piece, and would not be getting better.
September 14, 2020
كيف يمكن للحيوان أن يكون واهماً إن لم يمتلك وعياً؟ أو مكتئباً إن كان مجرداً من الشعور بذاته ونفسه؟ أو ممتلكاً لإرادة الانتحار بدون إدراك لمفهوم الموت والحياة؟
لطالما اعتقد البشر أن الحيوانات غبية لدرجة تجعل إصابتها باضطرابات عقلية واعتلالات نفسية أمراً غير ممكن. لكن خلال العقود الأخيرة، بينت الدراسات والتجارب امتلاك فصائل حيوانية كثيرة معدلات ذكاء أعلى من المتوقع، وبالتالي أعطت تفسيرات جديدة للسلوك الحيواني.
ما الذي يدفع غوريلا مثلاً إلى الانتحار؟ أو أنثى كنغر لضرب صغارها بدون سبب ظاهر؟ ولماذا كانوا قديماً يحكمون بالإعدام شنقاً على فيل قتل صاحبه فجأة؟
أمثلة كثيرة على نقاط مهمة يطرحها الكتاب في معرض تناوله ”جنون الحيوانات“ وأمراضها النفسية. ينصح به لكل محب للحيوانات وراغب في معرفتها بشكل أعمق.
لطالما اعتقد البشر أن الحيوانات غبية لدرجة تجعل إصابتها باضطرابات عقلية واعتلالات نفسية أمراً غير ممكن. لكن خلال العقود الأخيرة، بينت الدراسات والتجارب امتلاك فصائل حيوانية كثيرة معدلات ذكاء أعلى من المتوقع، وبالتالي أعطت تفسيرات جديدة للسلوك الحيواني.
ما الذي يدفع غوريلا مثلاً إلى الانتحار؟ أو أنثى كنغر لضرب صغارها بدون سبب ظاهر؟ ولماذا كانوا قديماً يحكمون بالإعدام شنقاً على فيل قتل صاحبه فجأة؟
أمثلة كثيرة على نقاط مهمة يطرحها الكتاب في معرض تناوله ”جنون الحيوانات“ وأمراضها النفسية. ينصح به لكل محب للحيوانات وراغب في معرفتها بشكل أعمق.
February 2, 2018
To begin with the positive, I did take away some important ideas from Animal Madness. I appreciated the author’s suggestion that if zoos serve enough value to exist in spite of the emotional damage they cause captive animals (very often secretly requiring veterinary psychotropic drugs to prevent resulting physical injuries to the animals and further deterioration of their quality of life), then at least we should move away from the idea that zoos with exotic animals should exist in every community. I liked her suggestion that shuttered zoos should be repurposed into facilities for people to responsibly interact with and learn about animals—petting zoos, teaching farms, urban dairies, wild life rehab centers with volunteer opportunities, and facilities to learn cheese making, bee keeping, gardening, veterinary science, wildlife ecology, and animal husbandry centers. Interacting with animals (the ones that are best suited to live among people) and learning some skills at the same time—win/win.
Having said that... I loved the concept of this book but did not enjoy the reading. Initially I felt like the problem was in how it was organized, and that might be it, but a better organization doesn’t come to mind immediately, so I don’t know if it could have been improved. As an FYI, there is A LOT of discussion of animal abuse, neglect and trauma, and those parts are heartbreaking, especially, I think, if you listen to the audiobook. And the audiobook is a whole other problem. This reader was terrible. Awful. It’s possible that the production made it worse, but the reader did not seem to get any of the jokes the author made in the writing and it felt like she was way more interested in her annunciation than in ensuring the sentences she was reading made any sense. There were weird long pauses in between words that kept you guessing whether the sentence had ended, and once it resumed you’d forgotten where it started.
Despite my criticisms of the book, this would be an eye opening read for many zoo enthusiasts and for animal lovers who may not have considered how their personal choices as consumers impact the quality of life of animals here and in other parts of the world.
P.S. Miguel, there are some disappointing facts about the Toledo Zoo in here. Employees were interviewed.
Having said that... I loved the concept of this book but did not enjoy the reading. Initially I felt like the problem was in how it was organized, and that might be it, but a better organization doesn’t come to mind immediately, so I don’t know if it could have been improved. As an FYI, there is A LOT of discussion of animal abuse, neglect and trauma, and those parts are heartbreaking, especially, I think, if you listen to the audiobook. And the audiobook is a whole other problem. This reader was terrible. Awful. It’s possible that the production made it worse, but the reader did not seem to get any of the jokes the author made in the writing and it felt like she was way more interested in her annunciation than in ensuring the sentences she was reading made any sense. There were weird long pauses in between words that kept you guessing whether the sentence had ended, and once it resumed you’d forgotten where it started.
Despite my criticisms of the book, this would be an eye opening read for many zoo enthusiasts and for animal lovers who may not have considered how their personal choices as consumers impact the quality of life of animals here and in other parts of the world.
P.S. Miguel, there are some disappointing facts about the Toledo Zoo in here. Employees were interviewed.
June 27, 2014
Humans and animals have shared this planet and some animals have even evolved side by side with humans. It should not be surprising that the animals that share our lives like dogs, cats and birds, or the animals that are forced into a more human life like performing, working or zoo animals would develop mental health disorders alongside the humans that they interact with. Through the lens of her troubled dog, Oliver, Laurel Braitman explores the world of animal mental health in everything from mice to dogs and gorillas to elephants in order to show that humans and every other animal are strikingly similar.
I have always believed that animals were capable of emotions and when I studied animal behavior in school, I was glad to know that this thought was becoming more widely accepted. It is now not a question of 'if,' but to what degree. Though most of the stories in Animal Madness are anecdotal, there are stories amassed from professionals in the field with a whole life of observational experiences that provide good proof that through psychological meds and behavior therapy, an animal with severe trauma and possible PTSD could recover and lead a healthy life for their species. Some of the stories are absolutely heartbreaking; for example a working elephant who was pregnant and forced to work during her pregnancy and ultimately giving birth while logging. The calf rolled down the hill they were working on and died. When the mother refused to work, she was blinded. Ultimately, however, though the story is grim, the end result shows how we all need the same things: love, understanding of our needs, therapy and medicine.
This book was provided for free in return for an honest review.
I have always believed that animals were capable of emotions and when I studied animal behavior in school, I was glad to know that this thought was becoming more widely accepted. It is now not a question of 'if,' but to what degree. Though most of the stories in Animal Madness are anecdotal, there are stories amassed from professionals in the field with a whole life of observational experiences that provide good proof that through psychological meds and behavior therapy, an animal with severe trauma and possible PTSD could recover and lead a healthy life for their species. Some of the stories are absolutely heartbreaking; for example a working elephant who was pregnant and forced to work during her pregnancy and ultimately giving birth while logging. The calf rolled down the hill they were working on and died. When the mother refused to work, she was blinded. Ultimately, however, though the story is grim, the end result shows how we all need the same things: love, understanding of our needs, therapy and medicine.
This book was provided for free in return for an honest review.
October 4, 2014
An enjoyable book, but it was a bit choppy in places. I couldn't tell half the time whether I was reading opinion or fact. I never got a definitive answer about the madness in animals, and the parting advice on treating animals better to promote better mental and physical health is one I've always believed anyway. I fully agree with the idea that zoos should not be merely a place where humans view animals, but then I've always supported the zoos with viable breeding programs that release back into the wild where possible. I enjoyed most of the enclosures at Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo for example, because the enclosures are so big you often don't see the animals!
This being said, I enjoyed the experiences of the author. They are obviously well traveled and seem to have dealt with a number of elephants in particular. If you are daunted by the thickness of the book, most of it is the bibliography. I waited a day after finishing to review because I'm at the parents-in-law's house. It was a reasonably speedy read otherwise. Probably around 3.5 stars, but I knocked it up to 4 because of all I learned.
This being said, I enjoyed the experiences of the author. They are obviously well traveled and seem to have dealt with a number of elephants in particular. If you are daunted by the thickness of the book, most of it is the bibliography. I waited a day after finishing to review because I'm at the parents-in-law's house. It was a reasonably speedy read otherwise. Probably around 3.5 stars, but I knocked it up to 4 because of all I learned.
June 22, 2014
This book was engaging, at points horrendously sad and yet insightful as to why our pets do what they do. It is amazing what we as the "human animal" do to our animal peers. The author personalizes the book with her own experiences with her dog Oliver. I think if you look close you will see many of your pet's traits in Oliver. At the very least you will never look at animal behavior the same way again. I strongly suggest this book for anyone who has a pet or is thinking about adopting one.
March 16, 2016
Human mental illness is hard to understand, so when we look to animals who aren't able to verbalize their thoughts and feelings, there's another level of difficulty. Braitman takes us on a journey on how we've historically viewed animals and our relationship to them, and how our understanding has evolved over time. The many different animal species she uses as examples are so interesting, and the insights gained from learning about their lives surely enriches our own.
April 10, 2014
I'm an animal lover, and I liked this book. I liked the discussion about animal heartbreak and separation anxiety. I've seen some of this behavior in my pets. My dog was heartbroken when our other dog died.
January 21, 2022
Overall a good overview of how human animals have negatively impacted non-human animals. But for a book about that, it strikes me as ironic and hypocritical that the author at the end shares that she used a prong collar on her second dog. Numerous studies have shown that prong/pinch/shock collars cause not only physical harm but mental harm, increased aggression and fear, to dogs. For instance: https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/... and https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/... .
Not only those studies, but the numerous articles written by certified behaviorists and trainers in animal behavior from the four certifying organizations (Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, Animal Behavior College Dog Trainer) have shown the harm that results.
I can only hope the author has learned more since the book was written.
Not only those studies, but the numerous articles written by certified behaviorists and trainers in animal behavior from the four certifying organizations (Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, Animal Behavior College Dog Trainer) have shown the harm that results.
I can only hope the author has learned more since the book was written.
March 9, 2025
3.75 stars
The author’s dog was very anxious and hurt himself badly when she and her husband were away (once, he jumped out of a window), but due to their work, they couldn’t be home with Oliver all the time. This got Braitman interested in animal psychology and she searched for various cases and all types of different animals to research.
Less ¼ star for occasionally losing interest in the audio. But overall, and what I did hear, was very interesting. Much of it wasn’t new or a surprise, but interesting to be reminded of these things or to learn of the things I hadn’t heard of before. People really should realize that a. humans are also animals and so b. other animals also feel and can have psychological issues, especially when they aren’t treated well. Very good read.
The author’s dog was very anxious and hurt himself badly when she and her husband were away (once, he jumped out of a window), but due to their work, they couldn’t be home with Oliver all the time. This got Braitman interested in animal psychology and she searched for various cases and all types of different animals to research.
Less ¼ star for occasionally losing interest in the audio. But overall, and what I did hear, was very interesting. Much of it wasn’t new or a surprise, but interesting to be reminded of these things or to learn of the things I hadn’t heard of before. People really should realize that a. humans are also animals and so b. other animals also feel and can have psychological issues, especially when they aren’t treated well. Very good read.
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October 14, 2018So I'm not gonna do a star rating because I technically didn't read through the whole book. I did like the way each story was related to an illness. I would recommend this for someone maybe studying to be a therapist or something informative like that.
I'm marking this as read because I skimmed through most of it and need it to count towards my year goal. XD
I'm marking this as read because I skimmed through most of it and need it to count towards my year goal. XD
July 11, 2015
Psychoanimalist: A Journey of Understanding
Humans are lucky animals.
We aren’t particularly strong, fast, or resilient, we can’t peck through solid pine, generate perfectly symmetrical calcium shells, fly, change the color of our skin to match the background nor any of the other amazing things animals can do. But we have a special skill that has guaranteed our survival: we can complain.
More specifically, we can vocalize our thoughts. And because we talk, we can complain about the things that bother us, like mental health issues, and seek remedy.
Non-speaking animals, lacking this one slender skill, seem to suffer from many of the same mental health problems as humans — PTSD, abandonment issues, sexual dysfunction, suicidal thoughts — but since they can’t complain, they wind up stuck in cages and zoos and pens and farms and logging camps (elephants) and eventually, for some, on dinner plates — while suffering from extreme mental health issues.
It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that animals rely on the same (if, perhaps, less sophisticated) mental heuristics and evolutionarily adaptive cognitive strategies as humans. Sure, they may be expressed differently — some primates rely on grooming to strengthen social networks, for example, while humans rely on small talk and gossip — but the goals, broadly speaking, are the same: eat, reproduce and ensure the survival of the species. If we think about human mental misbehaviors as a misfiring or misappropriation of these cognitive systems, it’s natural — expected, really — that animals, whose brains are made of the same stuff as ours and who seek similar goals, would have similar issues.
Factor in the abysmal way they are treated — from circuses to street performers, from zoos to laboratories, from aquariums to (in some cases) family pets — and uncharacteristic neurotic behavior seems like the ONLY sane response.
This book is a tour of mental health issues in the animal world through (a short span of) history and across species as the author investigates how we think about animals and madness, which, of course, is more of a reflection about how we think of ourselves. Much of it is fascinating and depressing, with clinical observations from behavioralists, psychiatrists and psychologists — practicing on both humans and nonhumans — with lots of observational anecdotes of animals behaving strangely and tragically.
The book blends hard and theoretical science with the personal, and I found it a bit too personal at times. She uses her experience with her doomed dog Oliver as the narrative thread to hold it all together, which worked very well, but I found myself a bit bored by the often too-long descriptions of elephant and their mahouts in Thailand, or making eye contact with baby whales, etc. I wanted more and harder science; a tall order given that the main subjects can’t speak.
Descriptions of how doctors once thought humans could die of heartbreak or homesickness seguing into societal norms on slavery and the growing understanding of PTSD, projected onto murder charges against elephants, was the stand out section for me.
She’s a strong writer with a lyrical (at times, too lyrical) style that invites readers to share her journey to understanding. Her strong views on animal rights — notably, that zoos shouldn’t exist — will likely offend some, but I wanted her to go farther and tackle the moral ambivalence of dietary choices. In light of the clearly sophisticated cognitive landscapes of animals, so eerily similar to humans, it would seem her discomfort with imprisoning animals for our viewing pleasure should be matched, or even eclipsed, by discomfort consuming them. But that topic was only mentioned in passing a few times, and often in regard to intolerable conditions in factory farms; perhaps that’s another book in the works?
All in all, a worthy, depressing read.
Humans are lucky animals.
We aren’t particularly strong, fast, or resilient, we can’t peck through solid pine, generate perfectly symmetrical calcium shells, fly, change the color of our skin to match the background nor any of the other amazing things animals can do. But we have a special skill that has guaranteed our survival: we can complain.
More specifically, we can vocalize our thoughts. And because we talk, we can complain about the things that bother us, like mental health issues, and seek remedy.
Non-speaking animals, lacking this one slender skill, seem to suffer from many of the same mental health problems as humans — PTSD, abandonment issues, sexual dysfunction, suicidal thoughts — but since they can’t complain, they wind up stuck in cages and zoos and pens and farms and logging camps (elephants) and eventually, for some, on dinner plates — while suffering from extreme mental health issues.
It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that animals rely on the same (if, perhaps, less sophisticated) mental heuristics and evolutionarily adaptive cognitive strategies as humans. Sure, they may be expressed differently — some primates rely on grooming to strengthen social networks, for example, while humans rely on small talk and gossip — but the goals, broadly speaking, are the same: eat, reproduce and ensure the survival of the species. If we think about human mental misbehaviors as a misfiring or misappropriation of these cognitive systems, it’s natural — expected, really — that animals, whose brains are made of the same stuff as ours and who seek similar goals, would have similar issues.
Factor in the abysmal way they are treated — from circuses to street performers, from zoos to laboratories, from aquariums to (in some cases) family pets — and uncharacteristic neurotic behavior seems like the ONLY sane response.
This book is a tour of mental health issues in the animal world through (a short span of) history and across species as the author investigates how we think about animals and madness, which, of course, is more of a reflection about how we think of ourselves. Much of it is fascinating and depressing, with clinical observations from behavioralists, psychiatrists and psychologists — practicing on both humans and nonhumans — with lots of observational anecdotes of animals behaving strangely and tragically.
The book blends hard and theoretical science with the personal, and I found it a bit too personal at times. She uses her experience with her doomed dog Oliver as the narrative thread to hold it all together, which worked very well, but I found myself a bit bored by the often too-long descriptions of elephant and their mahouts in Thailand, or making eye contact with baby whales, etc. I wanted more and harder science; a tall order given that the main subjects can’t speak.
Descriptions of how doctors once thought humans could die of heartbreak or homesickness seguing into societal norms on slavery and the growing understanding of PTSD, projected onto murder charges against elephants, was the stand out section for me.
She’s a strong writer with a lyrical (at times, too lyrical) style that invites readers to share her journey to understanding. Her strong views on animal rights — notably, that zoos shouldn’t exist — will likely offend some, but I wanted her to go farther and tackle the moral ambivalence of dietary choices. In light of the clearly sophisticated cognitive landscapes of animals, so eerily similar to humans, it would seem her discomfort with imprisoning animals for our viewing pleasure should be matched, or even eclipsed, by discomfort consuming them. But that topic was only mentioned in passing a few times, and often in regard to intolerable conditions in factory farms; perhaps that’s another book in the works?
All in all, a worthy, depressing read.
September 7, 2017
Not only was the book well-written and personal, it was also informative and scientific at the same time. That's a difficult balancing act to achieve in a work of non-fiction. I learned even more about my dog than I thought was possible by reading this book. Reading this book also made me desperately want to become friends with an elephant. I would like to quote extensively from the ending of the book because I think the author's message is extremely important, and also because my BFF Ellen DeGeneres would agree: "We could stop convincing ourselves that keeping animals in cages or tanks is the best way to educate and inform one another about them, especially since it often costs the animals their sanity. We could instead turn these zoos and other facilities into places where people might engage with animals, domestic and wild, who often thrive in our presence, creatures like horses, donkeys, llamas, cows, pigs, goats, rabbits, and even raccoons, rats, squirrels, pigeons, and possums. We could exchange the polar bear pools for petting zoos and build teaching farms, urban dairies, and wildlife rehabilitation centers where city-dwelling children and adults could volunteer or take classes on cheese making, beekeeping, gardening, veterinary science, wildlife ecology, and animal husbandry. . . . We could spend more time walking and playing with our pets and less time on our phones, checking email and watching television. . . . We could stop eating mentally ill pigs, chickens, and cows, and do away with corporate farming practices so cruel they're often institutionalized torture" (282-283).
Animals differ from humans only be degree. I can tell when my dog, Teddy, is sad, or anxious, or depressed. I can tell when he brings me a toy that he's in the mood to play. I can tell that when he shakes with excitement he is relieved that I have come home from a long day of teaching. I can tell when he looks mournfully at the closed door that he needs to go outside to relieve himself. And on the flip side, Teddy knows without doubt when I am in need of an extra snuggle, or a high five (yes, he gives high fives). He is my best friend and confidant (okay the neighbors may think I'm a little nutso when they hear me talking to him as I walk him -- but I'm okay with that) and I'm so grateful to have his unconditional love in my life. He truly is the BEST DOG IN THE WORLD!!!
Animals differ from humans only be degree. I can tell when my dog, Teddy, is sad, or anxious, or depressed. I can tell when he brings me a toy that he's in the mood to play. I can tell that when he shakes with excitement he is relieved that I have come home from a long day of teaching. I can tell when he looks mournfully at the closed door that he needs to go outside to relieve himself. And on the flip side, Teddy knows without doubt when I am in need of an extra snuggle, or a high five (yes, he gives high fives). He is my best friend and confidant (okay the neighbors may think I'm a little nutso when they hear me talking to him as I walk him -- but I'm okay with that) and I'm so grateful to have his unconditional love in my life. He truly is the BEST DOG IN THE WORLD!!!
June 27, 2016
Couldn't finish this book when it became PETA propaganda.
She started off strong, thorough research that she obviously put a lot of time in, lots of case studies from"back in the day" which were interesting and sad in equal measure. I'm a veterinarian and I found myself immediately questioning her science and medicine. And I realize I don't know the full story of her dog throwing itself out the window of a multiple story apartment and the situation leading up to it, but I would have recommended her to a behaviorist long before separation anxiety got to that point.
Then she started a rant against zoos that was straight out of PETA instead of actually having a scientific or behavioral look into animals that are captive because their habitat was destroyed or they were orphaned etc. To be brief: AZA accredited zoos are NOT the problem. They do far more for environmental education and individual animals than PETA does. There are WAY more "rescues" that have HORRID conditions (that really should be protested and shut down) than places like Sea World, if PETA actually did its research. They could be picketing a local place in Canby that puts tigers in chain link fences at the state fair and lets people take selfies with lions (for a charge, of course), but no... they're 1 hour north picketing the Oregon Zoo elephants, which boasts one of the most successful Asian elephant breeding programs in the US and just spent millions to expand their elephant enclosure and has a huge focus on education. But you know, no one cares about the tigers in the chain link fences because they're not famous?
So in summary, I couldn't finish it because it was turning into an opinion propaganda piece and should be treated as such. Not that there aren't interesting points and anecdotes within, but this should be treated as pseudoscience and opinion, not real science.
She started off strong, thorough research that she obviously put a lot of time in, lots of case studies from"back in the day" which were interesting and sad in equal measure. I'm a veterinarian and I found myself immediately questioning her science and medicine. And I realize I don't know the full story of her dog throwing itself out the window of a multiple story apartment and the situation leading up to it, but I would have recommended her to a behaviorist long before separation anxiety got to that point.
Then she started a rant against zoos that was straight out of PETA instead of actually having a scientific or behavioral look into animals that are captive because their habitat was destroyed or they were orphaned etc. To be brief: AZA accredited zoos are NOT the problem. They do far more for environmental education and individual animals than PETA does. There are WAY more "rescues" that have HORRID conditions (that really should be protested and shut down) than places like Sea World, if PETA actually did its research. They could be picketing a local place in Canby that puts tigers in chain link fences at the state fair and lets people take selfies with lions (for a charge, of course), but no... they're 1 hour north picketing the Oregon Zoo elephants, which boasts one of the most successful Asian elephant breeding programs in the US and just spent millions to expand their elephant enclosure and has a huge focus on education. But you know, no one cares about the tigers in the chain link fences because they're not famous?
So in summary, I couldn't finish it because it was turning into an opinion propaganda piece and should be treated as such. Not that there aren't interesting points and anecdotes within, but this should be treated as pseudoscience and opinion, not real science.
August 31, 2018
DNF. This was my first attempt at an audiobook, but I don't think that affected my distaste much aside from the narrator's choices of tone and inflection while describing electrocuting animals and such. I knew there would be some captive animal research in this book. But I'm not going to sit through a book that is literally centered around animals' emotions and ability to suffer that is too afraid to speak out strongly against animal suffering.
This is entertainingly written and anecdotal evidence about her dog woven throughout was a nice touch. I liked her take on anthropomorphism and liked that she said "nonhuman animals." But, admitting Harlow was a "dark lord of monkey torture" then fawning over him and basically crediting a broad range of human research to his torture lab alone right after contradicts (what I thought was) one of the aims of the book. She has some underhanded shots at Joseph Ledoux's animal abuse that I thought might evolve into better critique but didn't. Basically, in trying to be impartial or objective about topics like this, many writers just come off as biased against animals and towards those who harm them for interest, career, entertainment, money, etc. If they're like us enough to extrapolate data from their suffering, they're like us enough that their suffering matters and inflicting it upon them is objectionable. I'm not sitting through a bunch of vivisection snuff unless someone isn't afraid to say that.
Basically gave 3 stars to be fair since I didn't make it through the whole thing. Perhaps this would be good for someone who is barely sold on the worth of animals, who knows nothing of their cognition, and holds archaic cartesian views that they are mindless automatons. It's not great for folks who already believe in animal emotions and worth who want to learn more about human and nonhuman animal psychology.
This is entertainingly written and anecdotal evidence about her dog woven throughout was a nice touch. I liked her take on anthropomorphism and liked that she said "nonhuman animals." But, admitting Harlow was a "dark lord of monkey torture" then fawning over him and basically crediting a broad range of human research to his torture lab alone right after contradicts (what I thought was) one of the aims of the book. She has some underhanded shots at Joseph Ledoux's animal abuse that I thought might evolve into better critique but didn't. Basically, in trying to be impartial or objective about topics like this, many writers just come off as biased against animals and towards those who harm them for interest, career, entertainment, money, etc. If they're like us enough to extrapolate data from their suffering, they're like us enough that their suffering matters and inflicting it upon them is objectionable. I'm not sitting through a bunch of vivisection snuff unless someone isn't afraid to say that.
Basically gave 3 stars to be fair since I didn't make it through the whole thing. Perhaps this would be good for someone who is barely sold on the worth of animals, who knows nothing of their cognition, and holds archaic cartesian views that they are mindless automatons. It's not great for folks who already believe in animal emotions and worth who want to learn more about human and nonhuman animal psychology.
November 8, 2014
While I am quite a bit more informed as to the madness of animals, I don't feel that this book really delivers on the promise of the title. That is to say, I don't think the author did a great job of relating the stories to understanding the human condition. One sentence summary: Animals can be crazy just as well as humans.
Still, it was interesting enough. And despite my complaints, I was still more interested in listening to anecdotes of sexually deviant animals than my co-workers.
Edit: Forgot to mention that I picked this up because Ira Flatow interviewed the author on Science Friday.
Still, it was interesting enough. And despite my complaints, I was still more interested in listening to anecdotes of sexually deviant animals than my co-workers.
Edit: Forgot to mention that I picked this up because Ira Flatow interviewed the author on Science Friday.
August 12, 2016
This was a difficult read.... there has been so much mistreatment of animals it is heartbreaking.... no wonder they have developed behaviours and illness being taken from their parents and abused so often. I don't know that I learned that much but did find the history very sad to read about. I am not surprised that pharmaceuticals are being touted as the way to manage animals in captivity but I think that drugs should be a last resort and that diet and exercise and attention is a better avenue to pursue.
June 22, 2014
I listened to this while on a road trip returning home. It was the perfect listen for an animal lover and sucker for rescuing animals. Laurel weaves the story of her anxious and adopted Bernese mountain dog, Oliver, as a thread that connects story after story about abused and now angry elephants, isolated bonobos, and owners of anxious dogs ... And draws clear parallels between human and animal mental anguish. I loved this listen.
June 25, 2014
I didn't read this book cover-to-cover. I only gleaned enough to satisfy my curiosity. However, I am heartened to see that the author has written about a topic which doesn't seem to get much attention. Maybe putting the book out in the general public will garner more interest and support and provide a voice for our animal friends who need our help and compassion to solve the suffering and anguish which also extends to their world.
February 7, 2015
What an intelligent, interesting first book from this young accomplished woman. I highly recommend this read to anyone who has a love and fascination of both animal and human behavior.
How often our egos keep us separate from the universe...although it may be discomforting to accept, Dr. Braitman scratches back the wallpaper to find
what lives inside animals with psychological disabilities, most often, caused by human interaction and intervention.
How often our egos keep us separate from the universe...although it may be discomforting to accept, Dr. Braitman scratches back the wallpaper to find
what lives inside animals with psychological disabilities, most often, caused by human interaction and intervention.
August 18, 2015
1.5 stars.
Here's the moment I realized I have been working in higher education far, far too long: I read Braitman's author bio and thought, huh, a PhD from MIT... then paused at: PhD in the "history of science."
My nose literally turned up itself and snubbed the whole bio. Don't blame me, blame the PhDs I work with.
Here's the moment I realized I have been working in higher education far, far too long: I read Braitman's author bio and thought, huh, a PhD from MIT... then paused at: PhD in the "history of science."
My nose literally turned up itself and snubbed the whole bio. Don't blame me, blame the PhDs I work with.
August 12, 2014
good collection of endearing crazy-animal stories, tho how it relates to us was dealt as an afterthought. speaking of madness, at some halfway point in the bk, i got mad at the author. MIT PHD! has the power to give a specialized perspective! instead, gave us a bk of collected research, dumbing down of readers.
January 3, 2018
Some of this was interesting but it was a little all over the place. I was also very disappointed to read on the afterward that the solution, if not medication, to the author, is a prong collar. I realize this is a very heated issue in the dog training community but having worked with dogs professionally, I find them to be cruel and ineffective so that left a bad taste in my mouth.
June 2, 2014
I loved it.
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