Why Psychoanalysis?
Format: Paperback
ISBN13: 9780231122030
Paperback|9780231122030
✨ Featured Offer
Used, Like New
$12.18
List Price: $30.00
🚚
See all 5 offers from $8.61 FREE standard delivery by: 30 Mar 2026
Overview
Why do some people still choose psychoanalysis-Freud's so-called talking cure-when numerous medications are available that treat the symptoms of psychic distress so much faster? Elisabeth Roudinesco tackles this difficult question, exploring what she sees as a "depressive society": an epidemic of distress addressed only by an increasing reliance on prescription drugs.
Far from contesting the efficacy of new medications like Prozac, Zoloft, and Viagra in alleviating the symptoms of any number of mental or nervous conditions, Roudinesco argues that the use of such drugs fails to solve patients' real problems. In the man who takes Viagra without ever wondering why he is suffering from impotence and the woman who is given antidepressants to deal with the loss of a loved one, Roudinesco sees a society obsessed with efficiency and desperate for the quick fix.
She argues that "the talking cure" and pharmacology represent not just different approaches to psychiatry, but different worldviews. The rush to treat symptoms is itself symptomatic of an antiseptic and depressive culture in which thought is reduced to the firing of neurons and desire is just a chemical secretion. In contrast, psychoanalysis testifies to human freedom and the power of language.
Far from contesting the efficacy of new medications like Prozac, Zoloft, and Viagra in alleviating the symptoms of any number of mental or nervous conditions, Roudinesco argues that the use of such drugs fails to solve patients' real problems. In the man who takes Viagra without ever wondering why he is suffering from impotence and the woman who is given antidepressants to deal with the loss of a loved one, Roudinesco sees a society obsessed with efficiency and desperate for the quick fix.
She argues that "the talking cure" and pharmacology represent not just different approaches to psychiatry, but different worldviews. The rush to treat symptoms is itself symptomatic of an antiseptic and depressive culture in which thought is reduced to the firing of neurons and desire is just a chemical secretion. In contrast, psychoanalysis testifies to human freedom and the power of language.
| ISBN-13 | 9780231122030 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0231122039 |
| Weight | 0.50 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 5.00 x 0.42 x 8.00 In |
| List Price | $30.00 |
| Edition | 1st Edition |
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Pages | 184 pages |
| Publisher | Columbia University Press |
| Published On | 2004-03-10 |
View All Offers
Sort by:
Price
Condition
Seller
Seller Comments
Price
Used, Good
Seller details
Midtown Scholar Bookstore
Harrisburg, PA, USA
Good-Bumped and creased book with tears to the extremities, but not affecting the text block, may ha...
Free delivery by: 30 Mar 2026
Used, Good
Seller details
HPB-Red
Dallas, TX, USA
Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used textbooks may not include companion materials s...
Free delivery by: 30 Mar 2026
✨ Used, Like New
Seller details
Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB
Frederick, MD, USA
Like New condition. A near perfect copy that may have very minor cosmetic defects.
Free delivery by: 30 Mar 2026
Used, Like New
Seller details
GreatBookPrices-
Columbia, MD, USA
100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition. We offer expedited shipping to all US locat...
Free delivery by: 30 Mar 2026
Used, Good
Seller details
Bonita
Santa Clarita, CA, USA
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
Free delivery by: 30 Mar 2026