Desperate Remedies

Note: I wish I could give this a 4.5/5. Both 4/5 and 5/5 feel unfair. Oh well :/

The history of 20th century psychiatry is appalling, and Scull is direct in relaying the facts. He is as balanced as can be expected of a story which offers both hope and horror. There's tons of interesting asides which I enjoyed, though he always keeps a unified narrative that doesn't leave important things out of the frame.

That is, until we get to the present day. Scull's treatment of psychiatry post-deinstitutionalization is limited (though high quality), and I suppose understandably so, but it still makes me want more. So many books I read today feel this way. I want someone to explain the mess we're wading through as well as the mess it was in the past. So yeah, just a little more book and it would have been 5/5.

Anyway, in general I think this is exactly the sort of nonfiction I like. Direct, expansive, authoritative. And on the topic of something at times so horrible we must face it.