Obsession: a history

Davis (English, disability and human development, and medical education, Univ. of Chicago) successfully argues that one cannot "understand a disease like OCD without a thoroughgoing knowledge of the social, cultural, historical, anthropological, and political view" of it. And indeed he provides a comprehensive account of the evolution of the construct called "obsession," from its etymological roots--which refer to a city-state under siege ("obsessed" but not yet "possessed" by invaders)--to the current conception (or misconception) of obsessive-compulsive disorder as a distinct disease category that has always afflicted large numbers of humans. Pointing out that OCD is actually a cultural construct, Davis argues that pharmaceutical companies have misled society into believing that drugs effectively treat OCD. The current psychiatric, pharmaceutical, neural chemical, "brain disease" conceptualization of OCD is properly analyzed and summarized in the final chapters. Those familiar with the current OCD disease conceptualization will benefit from the discussion of the social, cultural, historical, and political conceptualizations of "obsession" presented in earlier chapters. Far from being simply a villainous, life-stealing disease, obsession has benefited literature, science, visual art, and other cultural pursuits, Davis argues. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. S. R. Flora Youngstown State Universtiy

Distracting obsessive-compulsive behaviors are bad, but a lover's or artist's obsession is revered in contemporary society. How did we achieve this split in our review of obsession? In this sometimes humorous but often pedantic survey, Davis (My Sense of Silence: Memoirs of a Childhood with Deafness) explores how, in the mid-18th century, obsession went from being seen as possession by demons to a nervous disorder, an increasingly medicalized view. By the late-20th century, researchers used brain scans and other medical technology in an attempt to discover why one in every 10 persons is diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Davis contends that obsession arises from a constellation of biological and cultural forces. Throughout his study, he offers compelling examples of his thesis through close readings of novels such as William Godwin's Caleb Williams, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Emile Zola's The Masterpiece, among others, as the fictional expressions of their authors' obsessions with certain cultural ideas. Davis acknowledges but dismisses the charge that he uses the word "obsession" loosely, and his academic approach limits the book's audience. 17 b&w illus. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Modern society both needs and fears obsessiveness. Olympian athletes, concert soloists, and novelists have to be obsessed, yet the admired qualities that undergird their excellence also cause suffering and can lead to psychiatric diagnosis. Davis (English, disability & human development, & medical education, Univ. of Illinois, Chicago; My Sense of Silence: Memoirs of a Childhood with Deafness) begins with a gripping story of his own boyhood compulsions. Taking examples from literature, history, art, and medicine, he shows how society both aggravates and aggrandizes obsessiveness, notably in sex education, science, and psychoanalysis. Francis Galton, Charles Dickens, Sigmund Freud, Marie Stopes, and others populate a "biocultural narrative" that Davis introduces to penetrate walls of isolation between historical context and the latest fads and between categorical disease and the experience of illness. Profound, brilliant, and engaging, the book deplores the separation of medicine and psychology from their historical and social contexts. Demonstrating a narrative approach, Davis breaks the quarantine that isolates the obsessive person from obsessive society and rightly recommends a good dose of interdisciplinary medical history. Highly recommended; essential for most libraries.--E. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, DC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Erudite, sometimes overly dense exploration of "the history of a disorder that was often considered a disease." Actually, the word obsession was used in its earliest Latin incarnation to characterize the success of a siege, asserts Davis (English, Disability and Human Development, and Medical Education/Univ. of Illinois, Chicago; My Sense of Silence, 2000, etc.). To possess a city was to have invaded it thoroughly, inside and out. To obsess a city was merely to surround it, with the citadel remaining intact. Later, these paired words came to refer to a soul's assault by the devil: When one was obsessed, the demon had incomplete control and the person remained aware of their abnormal state. Still later, obsession came to occupy a place in psychological studies; clinically, obsessions are abnormal preoccupations that the person is aware are profoundly unusual. Today, it is sometimes even seen as a praiseworthy state in popular culture. Tracing the word's evolution through these various manifestations is the aim of this generous work. Davis delves into medical texts from the 18th century, the case histories of Samuel Johnson (long supposed to have had Tourette's Syndrome) and Emile Zola (examined by the scientists of his day, whose conclusions illustrated "the developing contradiction of obsession as a social and cultural category"), and Freud's early theories of obsessive fixations. He also deconstructs modern Calvin Klein perfume ads and the work of visual artists like Max Klinger and Adolf Wlfli. From romantic obsessions to artistic obsessions to the neural underpinnings of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (from which the author and several relatives suffer), no aspect of the word or concept is left unexplored. Davis does not neglect the important question of why we medicate clinically obsessive people, yet laud those who are obsessed by their music, art, sports or other vocational calling. Beautifully written and impeccablyperhaps obsessivelyresearched: important reading for anyone interested in inescapable fascinations. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Modern society both needs and fears obsessiveness. Olympian athletes, concert soloists, and novelists have to be obsessed, yet the admired qualities that undergird their excellence also cause suffering and can lead to psychiatric diagnosis. Davis (English, disability & human development, & medical education, Univ. of Illinois, Chicago; My Sense of Silence: Memoirs of a Childhood with Deafness ) begins with a gripping story of his own boyhood compulsions. Taking examples from literature, history, art, and medicine, he shows how society both aggravates and aggrandizes obsessiveness, notably in sex education, science, and psychoanalysis. Francis Galton, Charles Dickens, Sigmund Freud, Marie Stopes, and others populate a "biocultural narrative" that Davis introduces to penetrate walls of isolation between historical context and the latest fads and between categorical disease and the experience of illness. Profound, brilliant, and engaging, the book deplores the separation of medicine and psychology from their historical and social contexts. Demonstrating a narrative approach, Davis breaks the quarantine that isolates the obsessive person from obsessive society and rightly recommends a good dose of interdisciplinary medical history. Highly recommended; essential for most libraries.—E. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, DC

Distracting obsessive-compulsive behaviors are bad, but a lover's or artist's obsession is revered in contemporary society. How did we achieve this split in our review of obsession? In this sometimes humorous but often pedantic survey, Davis (My Sense of Silence: Memoirs of a Childhood with Deafness ) explores how, in the mid–18th century, obsession went from being seen as possession by demons to a nervous disorder, an increasingly medicalized view. By the late–20th century, researchers used brain scans and other medical technology in an attempt to discover why one in every 10 persons is diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Davis contends that obsession arises from a constellation of biological and cultural forces. Throughout his study, he offers compelling examples of his thesis through close readings of novels such as William Godwin's Caleb Williams , Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Emile Zola's The Masterpiece, among others, as the fictional expressions of their authors' obsessions with certain cultural ideas. Davis acknowledges but dismisses the charge that he uses the word "obsession" loosely, and his academic approach limits the book's audience. 17 b&w illus. (Nov.)