Mad, Bad and Sad A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800

Mad, bad and sad. From the depression suffered by Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath to the mental anguish and addictions of iconic beauties Zelda Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe. From Freud and Jung and the radical breakthroughs of psychoanalysis to Lacan's construction of a modern movement and the new women-centred therapies. This is the story of how we have understood mental disorders and extreme states of mind in women over the last two hundred years and how we conceive of them today, when more and more of our inner life and emotions have become a matter for medics and therapists.
'Lisa Appignanesi's engaging and important study which weaves together intelligent discussion of trends in the talking cures with case-studies of both patients and doctors, manages to be as gripping as a thriller ... both rewarding and timely. You'd be mad not to read it.' Time Out 'This book is a serious and sober account of a very important issue and is needed now more than ever ... As Appignanesi argues, women's oppression and poverty can lead to mental illness, both of them creations of the mad system we live in.' Socialist Review 'Endlessly fascinating' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY