Lyceum Books MENTAL HEALTH IN LITERATURE: Literary Lunacy and Lucidity

MENTAL HEALTH IN LITERATURE
Literary Lunacy and Lucidity

Glenn Rohrer, East Carolina University

This engaging and provocative collection of classical and contemporary works contains poetry, plays, fiction, and autobiography. The works are excellent descriptions and examples of different forms of mental illness and serve as fascinating alternatives to case studies. The work consists of eight chapters and each chapter is a selected DSM-IV-TR category. For example, chapter 3 deals with substance-related disorders and the three works in chapter 3 all provide insight into how a substance abuse problem can affect an individual. Every selected work demonstrates a mental disorder. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet illustrates the many behaviors associated with schizophrenia, Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar illustrates the severe loss of interest associated with major depressive disorder, and Graham Greene’s The End of the Party illustrates one person’s phobia, fear of the dark. Mental Health in Literature: Literary Lunacy and Lucidity provides a vivid and human portrait of the symptoms, realities, and dark recesses of mental illness.

Features

	Some works will provide insights into more than one behavior or disorder. Charles Dicken’s The Pickwick Papers is used to illustrate delirium in chapter 2, but it can also demonstrate alcohol dependence. Jack London’s John Barleycorn is used to illustrate alcohol dependence in chapter 3, but it can also demonstrate narcissistic personality disorder.
	Biographical information about each author precedes each work and provides historical context for understanding the story.
	Discussion and clinical questions conclude each chapter.
	Selected authors, from William Shakespeare to Susanna Kaysen, are well-known figures in history and current pop culture.

Contents

1.	The Problem of Assessment and Diagnosis.
		Edgar Allan Poe, "Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether" E.T.A. Hoffmann, "The Story of Serapion"
2.	Cognitive Disorders—Delirium, Dementia, Amnestic Disorders
		Delirium Charles Dickens, "The Stroller's Tale" (from The Pickwick Papers) Dementia Theodore Dreiser, "The Lost Phoebe" Amnestic Disorders Charles Jackson, The Lost Weekend
3.	Substance-Related Disorders
		Alcohol Dependence Jack London, John Barleycorn Edwin Arlington Robinson, "Miniver Cheevy" Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh Drug Dependence Thomas de Quincy, Confessions of an English Opium Eater
4.	Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
		Paranoid Schizophrenia Edgar Allan Poe, "The Tell-Tale Heart" Disorganized Schizophrenia William Shakespeare, Hamlet Undifferentiated Schizophrenia Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" Schizoaffective Disorder Anton Chekhov, "Ward No. 6" Delusional Disorder Guy de Maupassant, "A Madman"
5.	Mood Disorders
		Major Depressive Disorder Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar Edwin Arlington Robinson, "Richard Corey" Kate Chopin, The Awakening Dysthymic Disorder Charles Dickens, "The Bloomsbury Christening" Bipolar Disorder Kay Redfield Jamison, An Unquiet Mind Cyclothymia Nikoli Leskov, "The Amazon"
6.	Anxiety Disorders
		Panic Disorder Vladimir Nabokov, Pnin Phobia Graham Green, "The End of the Party" Obsessive Compulsive Disorder William Shakespeare, Macbeth Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Jonathan Shay, Achilles in Vietnam Generalized Anxiety Disorder Guy de Maupassant, "He"
7.	Personality Disorders
		Schizoid Personality Disorder Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Wakefield" Schizotypal Personality Disorder H. P. Lovecraft, "The Thing on the Doorstep" Antisocial Personality Disorder Oliver Goldsmith, "An Eulogy on the Death of a Mad Dog" O. Henry, "The Marionettes" Borderline Personality Disorder Susanna Kaysen, Girl, Interrupted Histrionic Personality Disorder Anton Chekhov, "An Enigmatic Nature" Narcissistic Personality Disorder Charles Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Nicolai Vasilyevitch Gogol, "The Overcoat"
8.	Disorders of Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence
		Mental Retardation Jack London, "Told in the Drooling Ward" Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Caroline Janover, Zipper Oppositional Defiant Disorder O. Henry, "The Ransom of Red Chief" Conduct Disorder Claude Brown, Manchild in the Promised Land Eating Disorders Mary Hornbacher, Wasted

About the Author

Glen Rohrer (PhD, The Ohio State University) is professor and coordinator of the MSW program and director of the substance abuse certificate program at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He brings many years of practice and administrative experience to his teaching of mental health.

2005, Paper, 288 Pages, ISBN 978-0-925065-84-1, Price $39.95