The Last Asylum: A Memoir of Madness in Our Times
Apr 2015 · University of Chicago Press
Ebook
320
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
shoppingmode85% price drop on Oct 8
About this ebook
Blending personal memoir with social history, the author shares an "exquisitely written and provocative" account of mental illness and care ( Sunday Times, UK).
In the late 1970s, Barbara Taylor, then an acclaimed young historian, began to suffer from severe anxiety. Eventually, her struggles led her to be admitted to the infamous Friern Mental Hospital in North London—once known as the Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum. The Last Asylum is a candid account of her time there, and probing look at the evolution of mental health treatment.
Taylor was admitted to Friern in 1988, not long before England's asylum system began to undergo dramatic change. The 1990s saw the old asylums shuttered, their patients left to navigate a perpetually overcrowded and underfunded mental health system. But Taylor contends that the emptying of the asylums also marked a bigger loss—a loss of community.
Taylor credits her own recovery to the help of a steadfast psychoanalyst and a circle of friends, including Magda, her manic-depressive roommate, and Fiona, who shared stories of her boyfriend, the "Spaceman". The support and trust of that network was crucial to Taylor's recovery, offering a respite from the "stranded, homeless feelings" she and others found in the outside world.
In the late 1970s, Barbara Taylor, then an acclaimed young historian, began to suffer from severe anxiety. Eventually, her struggles led her to be admitted to the infamous Friern Mental Hospital in North London—once known as the Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum. The Last Asylum is a candid account of her time there, and probing look at the evolution of mental health treatment.
Taylor was admitted to Friern in 1988, not long before England's asylum system began to undergo dramatic change. The 1990s saw the old asylums shuttered, their patients left to navigate a perpetually overcrowded and underfunded mental health system. But Taylor contends that the emptying of the asylums also marked a bigger loss—a loss of community.
Taylor credits her own recovery to the help of a steadfast psychoanalyst and a circle of friends, including Magda, her manic-depressive roommate, and Fiona, who shared stories of her boyfriend, the "Spaceman". The support and trust of that network was crucial to Taylor's recovery, offering a respite from the "stranded, homeless feelings" she and others found in the outside world.
Blending personal memoir with social history, the author shares an "exquisitely written and provocative" account of mental illness and care ( Sunday Times, UK).
In the late 1970s, Barbara Taylor, then an acclaimed young historian, began to suffer from severe anxiety. Eventually, her struggles le...
Discover more
About the author
Barbara Taylor is professor of humanities at Queen Mary University of London. She is the author of Eve and the New Jerusalem, Mary Wollstonecraft and the Feminist Imagination, and, with Adam Phillips, On Kindness.
Barbara Taylor is professor of humanities at Queen Mary University of London. She is the author of Eve and the New Jerusalem, Mary Wollstonecraft and the Feminist Imagination, and, with Adam Phillips, On Kindness.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
