Fountoulakis Konstantinos N. Psychiatry: From Its Historical and Philosophical Roots to the Modern Face

Springer, 2022. — 624 p. — ISBN 978-3-030-86540-5.This book was the end product of life experiences, thoughts and intellectual wanderings of the author, who through his career and for the last twenty years was always serving all the three aspects of a Psychiatrist: He is a clinician, a researcher and an academic teacher. The book includes a comprehensive history of Psychiatry since antiquity and until today, with an emphasis not only on main events but also specifically and with much detail and explanations, on the chain of events that led to a particular development. At the center of this work is the question ‘What is mental illness?’ and ‘Does free will exist?’. These are questions which tantalize Psychiatrists, neuroscientists, psychologists, philosophers, patients and their families and the sensitive and educated lay persons alike. Thus, the book includes a comprehensive review and systematic elaboration on the definition and the concept of mental illness, a detailed discussion on the issue of free will as well as the state of the art of contemporary Psychiatry and the socio-political currents it has provoked.What Is Psychiatry?
The Historical Roots
Introductory Remarks to the History of Psychiatry and Mental Illness
Antiquity
The Middle Ages
Renaissance
The Early Modern Era
The Age of Enlightenment
Nineteenth Century: The Romantic First Half
Nineteenth Century: The Realistic Second Half
Twentieth Century, the First Half: The Pre-psychopharmacologic Era
From the Second Half of the Twentieth Century to the Early Twenty-First: The Psychopharmacologic Era
The Philosophical and Scientific Roots
Introduction to the Relation Between Psychiatry and Philosophy
The Concept and Definition of Mental Illness
Mental Health
Disability in Mental Disorders
The Mind-Brain Problem and the Problem of Free Will
The Identity of Modern Psychiatry
Introduction to the Identity of Modern Psychiatry
Psychiatry: The State of the Art
Psychiatry among the Other Medical Specialties
Psychiatry as a Professional Activity
Psychiatry among Human, Life and Social Sciences, Philosophy, and Religion
Psychiatry and Society
Anti-psychiatry
Post-psychiatry
Conspiracy Theories
The Future of Psychiatry