Self, Senility, and Alzheimer's Disease in Modern America: A History
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.53 (518 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0801882761 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-02-01 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Changes in American society and culture have complicated the notion of selfhood, Ballenger finds. As Ballenger writes "senility haunts the landscape of the self-made man." Stereotypes of senility and Alzheimer's disease are related to anxiety about the coherence, stability, and agency of the selfstereotypes that are transforming perceptions of old age in modern America. No longer an ascribed status, selfhood must be carefully and willfully constructed. Thus, losing one's ability to sustain a coherent self-narrative is considered one of life's most dreadful losses. Historian Jesse F. Drawing on scientific, clinical, policy, and popular discourses on aging and dementia, Ballenger explores early twentieth-century concepts of aging and the emergence of gerontology to understand and distinguish normal aging from disease. In addition, he examines American psychiatry's approaches to the treatment of senility and scientific attempts to understand the brain pathology of dementia.Ballenger's work contributes to our understanding of the emergence and significance of dementia as a major health issue.. Ballenger traces the emergence of senility as a cultural category from the late nineteenth century to the 1980s, a period in which Alzheimer's disease became increasingly associated with the terrifying prospect of losing one's self
Both science and history blend in a survey of aging and dementia, making for a broad discussion not just of changing American attitudes and culture, but changing health system responses. (Benjamin T. This book will appeal to physicians and historians, and the author (or the publishers) should consider marketing it to a broader public audience. Mast PsycCRITIQUES)An important book that deserves a wide readership. (Stephen Casper Medical History)Ballenger aims not only to provide a cultural history of the disease but also to make ethical and epistemological claims about whether a human being with advanced Alzheimer's disease is still a person. (Martha Holstein Healthcare and Aging Newsletter)A substantial contribution to our knowledge W
Jesse F. Ballenger is an assistant professor in the Science, Technology, and Society Program at Pennsylvania State University and coeditor of Concepts of Alzheimer Disease: Biological, Clinical, and Cultural Perspectives (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000).