A Cursing Brain?: The Histories of Tourette Syndrome - Hardcover

Kushner, Howard I.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674180224 ISBN 13: 9780674180222

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1999

Synopsis

Over a century and a half ago, a French physician reported the bizarre behavior of a young aristocratic woman who would suddenly, without warning, erupt in a startling fit of obscene shouts and curses. The image of the afflicted Marquise de Dampierre echoes through the decades as the emblematic example of an illness that today represents one of the fastest-growing diagnoses in North America. Tourette syndrome is a set of behaviors, including recurrent ticcing and involuntary shouting (sometimes cursing) as well as obsessive-compulsive actions. The fascinating history of this syndrome reveals how cultural and medical assumptions have determined and radically altered its characterization and treatment from the early nineteenth century to the present.

A Cursing Brain? traces the problematic classification of Tourette syndrome through three distinct but overlapping stories: that of the claims of medical knowledge, that of patients' experiences, and that of cultural expectations and assumptions. Earlier researchers asserted that the bizarre ticcing and impromptu vocalizations were psychological--resulting from sustained bad habits or lack of self-control. Today, patients exhibiting these behaviors are seen as suffering from a neurological disease and generally are treated with drug therapy. Although current clinical research indicates that Tourette's is an organic disorder, this pioneering history of the syndrome reminds us to be skeptical of medical orthodoxies so that we may stay open to fresh understandings and more effective interventions.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Tourette syndrome is a set of behaviors, including recurrent ticcing and involuntary shouting (sometimes cursing) as well as obsessive-compulsive actions. A Cursing Brain? traces the problematic classification of the syndrome through three distinct but overlapping stories: the claims of medical knowledge, the experiences of patients, and the force of cultural expectations and assumptions.

About the Author

Howard I. Kushner is Nat C. Robertson Distinguished Professor of Science & Society at Rollins School of Public Health & Graduate Institute for Liberal Arts Emory University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0674180224
• ISBN 13: 9780674180222
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320