Troubled by Faith: Insanity and the Supernatural in the Age of the Asylum

by Owen Davies

The nineteenth century was a time of extraordinary scientific innovation, but with the rise of psychiatry, faiths and popular beliefs were often seen as signs of a diseased mind. By exploring the beliefs of asylum patients, we see the nineteenth century in a new light, with science, faith, and the supernatural deeply entangled in a fast-changing world.

The birth of psychiatry in the early nineteenth-century fundamentally changed how madness was categorised and understood. A century on, their conceptions of mental illness continue to influence our views today. Beliefs and behaviour were divided up into the pathological and the healthy. The influence of religion and the supernatural became significant measures of insanity in individuals, countries, and cultures. Psychiatrists not only thought they could transform society in the industrial age
but also explain the many strange beliefs expressed in the distant past. Troubled by Faith explores these ideas about the supernatural across society through the prism of medical history. It is a story of how people continued to make sense of the world in supernatural terms, and how belief came to
be a medical issue. This cannot be done without exploring the lives of those who found themselves in asylums because of their belief in ghosts, witches, angels, devils, and fairies, or because they though themselves in divine communication, or were haunted by modern technology. The beliefs expressed by asylum patients were not just an expression of their individual mental health, but also provide a unique reflection of society at the time - a world still steeped in the ideas and imagery of
folklore and faith in a fast-changing world.

364 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 29, 2023

About the author

This is the disambiguation profile for authors publishing as Owen Davies.

For the historian see Owen Davies

Reviews

[Lucia Graziano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Owen Davies non delude mai; però, chi conosce già l'autore per averne letto gli altri suoi libri farà bene a sapere che questo libro parla di psichiatrica (e giurisprudenza) molto più di quanto non parli di folklore. I disturbi mentali dei protagonisti delle varie storie raccontate vengono analizzati sotto il profilo medico (e su quello legale: es. una persona convinta d'essere stata colpita da una maledizione stregonesca è o non è capace di intendere e di volere?). Le credenze folkloristiche e il substrato sociale che possono aver alimentato le patologie psichiatriche dei personaggi non vengono analizzate se non marginalmente.

Il libro resta assolutamente godibilissimo, e assolutamente adatto anche a chi non è un professionista del settore medico (si fa leggere bene e scorrevolmente, insomma). Ma se conoscete Owen Davies per gli altri suoi libri: ecco, sappiate che questo contiene molto meno folklore di tutti gli altri. Ha proprio un taglio diverso; resta comunque bellissimo, eh.

[Benny Morduchowitz]

The first half details how the possibility of mental illness was ignored and seen as malignant occultism, and how cases of insanity frequently resulted in bloodshed or imprisonment. The book proceeds to get into the development of psychiatric systems, and provides a litany of cases of asylum patients institutionalized based on their fantastical delusions.

Possible narrative worlds contained in each of the cases listed are numerous, I found this fascinating, and am eager to read or write more individually focused narratives about these unique delusions.

[Shriti Chatterjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book provides insight into the early days of psychology. Being a psychology student myself, I could wholly appreciate the author's perspective - Our brain enjoys reason, but it doesn't need reason to be/feel right.