Masters of the Mind: Exploring the Story of Mental Illness from Ancient Times to the New Millennium

by Theodore Millon

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Author: Theodore Millon

Publisher: Wiley

Hardcover:
ISBN 10: 0471469858
ISBN 13: 978-0471469858

The compelling story of the quest to understand the human mind - and its diseases

This engaging presentation of our evolving understanding of the human mind and the meaning of mental illness asks the questions that have fascinated philosophers, researchers, clinicians, and ordinary persons for millennia: What causes human behavior? What processes underlie personal functioning and psychopathology, and what methods work best to alleviate disorders of the mind? Written by Theodore Millon, a leading researcher in personality theory and psychopathology, it features dozens of illuminating profiles of famous clinicians and philosophers.

From The New England Journal of Medicine

This book is a comprehensive survey of theories about the workings of our minds. Theodore Millon, a well-respected psychologist and prolific writer, has divided his enterprise into seven kinds of "stories": philosophical, humanitarian, neuroscientific, psychoanalytic, psychoscientific, sociocultural, and "personologic." He covers the history of each subject area, often beginning with ancient Greece or Egypt, and writes with an encyclopedic knowledge of all subsequent time periods. These histories are followed by his commentary and reflections. A striking feature of the book, as suggested by the title, is the inclusion of capsule biographies of the many people who have contributed to this field. Nearly 90 portraits, drawn by Millon or his daughter, accompany the biographies. Millon knows many contemporary experts in psychology, and his descriptions of most of them are often personal and highly complimentary. These descriptions, along with the portraits, make the book pleasant and accessible. Millon's steadily cheerful tone is tempered by his gloom in the last few pages, which concern the post-9/11 world. Millon's professional interests lie in the area of the taxonomy of personality disorders, and studies of personality take up a fair amount of this book. He also describes multiple schools of psychotherapy. Readers with a medical background may be disappointed that there is relatively little information about the disorders of the mind that occupy so much clinical time, such as substance abuse and dementia. Perhaps this lack reflects the relative youth of these fields. Readers familiar with the fields covered in this survey will not find anything particularly controversial or provocative. The breadth of the book does not allow Millon to go into detail on any topic, and he is too generous and appreciative a scholar to stir up controversy by deriding anyone's theories. His division of the subject into seven rather arbitrarily defined areas and his historical coverage of each topic mean that there is a certain amount of repetition. Who are the "masters of the mind"? At the risk of being invidious, but to help clarify the scope of this book and Millon's interests, here is a rough count of who merits the most pages or references in the index: Sigmund Freud is far ahead of the pack; following him, in chronological order, are Hippocrates, Philippe Pinel, Charles Darwin, Ivan Pavlov, Emil Kraepelin, Alfred Adler, Carl Jung, and Carl Rogers. Are we making much progress in understanding ourselves? What determines our behavior -- genetics, learning, or experience? How do these various factors interact? People interested in a warm and remarkably well informed historical discussion of these questions will enjoy this book. Frances R. Frankenburg, M.D.
Copyright © 2005 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved. The New England Journal of Medicine is a registered trademark of the MMS.

Review

A magnificent work from an author who is, himself, a master of the mind. ― Raymond D. Fowler, Ph.D. (Past President and former CEO of the American Psychological Association)

Sweeping in scope and truly impressive in its scholarship, Millon’s text traces historical developments and identifies the thinkers and scientists who from antiquity to the present time have shaped contemporary understanding of how the mind works. This captivating and informative volume will be appreciated and valued by all readers interested in the history of ideas. ―Irving B. Weiner, Ph.D. (University of South Florida)

Wide ranging, cohesive and imminently readable, Theodore Millon’s Masters of the Mind is a tour de force from one of the world’s leading psychologists....a major touchstone for all those interested in these fascinating stories of mental disorders and the search for systems to understand and treat [them]. ―Jeffrey J. Magnavita, Ph.D. (Connecticut Center for Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy)

A fascinating, informative, comprehensive, broad-minded, brilliant and perceptive tour of the universe of views of mental function and dysfunction, this book helps the reader understand contributions from nearly every conceivably relevant discipline throughout history. Himself, a long time advocate and practitioner of creative and integrative theory supported by data (as well as measurement techniques designed to generate such data), Millon provides enlightening commentary at the end of each chapter as well as in an epilogue at the end of the book. After reviewing a breathtaking array of perspectives, he offers a simple but profound suggestion for how to put it together. "Intrinsic unity cannot be invented.. by arbitrary efforts to synthesize disparate and disjunctive theoretical schemas... The natural sythesis.. inheres within patients themselves." In this wisdom, he urges all of us - clinicians, theorists and researchers alike – to stay close to the data offered ! by real persons- whole human beings seen in the broad array of contexts marked by Millon in this amazing and wonderful book I shall ask that all of my trainees read and re-read it, whether they are still in professional schools, or returning for continuing education. ― Lorna Smith Benjamin, Ph.D.(University of Utah)

From the Inside Flap

An enlightening study of how philosophers and clinicians throughout history have understood the mind and mental illness

What is thought? What are dreams? Do thoughts and dreams lead us to do the things we do, or are there unknown factors that shape our behavior? If a person’s actions are aberrant or disturbing, does the cause lie in their mental state, their cultural environment, the brain? What in fact causes these disorders? Such questions regarding the mind, its maladies, and its health have fascinated thinkers around the world since–and no doubt before–the beginning of recorded thought.

A dazzling piece of intellectual, scientific, and medical history, Theodore Millon’s Masters of the Mind takes you on a grand tour of humankind’s attempts to understand itself. Millon, a major figure among today’s psychological experts, considers the full scope of mental science, from its precedents in early thought, through the rise of its disciplines in the twentieth century, and on to the newest paradigms at work in the twenty-first century.

You’ll discover how some of the world’s first civilizations regarded mental illness, from Chinese descriptions of "diseases of the wind," to the ancient Egyptian characterization of hysteria, to Greek ideas of divine retribution. Moving easily through the centuries, Millon traces the rise of rationality in philosophy and the beginnings of scientific diagnosis and treatment. In clear, vibrant prose, accompanied by original illustrations, he introduces a cast of characters that includes the great contributors as well as the minor yet fascinating figures who too often are excluded from large-scale histories.

Neither an endless catalogue of central thinkers nor a plodding parade of clinical theories, Masters of the Mind is instead a layered work, deftly tracing the different intellectual strands modern psychology and psychiatry have drawn on and woven together. In doing so, it reveals a field humming with an astonishing diversity of seven key perspectives–humanist, neurological, socio-cultural, and personologic among them–each with its own historic roots, yet all carrying on great traditions of inquiry and healing.

The Roman scholar Cicero wrote, "Those who know only their own generation always remain children." Masters of the Mind opens a door to earlier generations’ pondering the mind and consciousness; this link gives the ideas of the present a new clarity. Anyone working in psychology and the neurosciences today–and indeed anyone who loves the story of human knowledge–will want to pick up this wide-ranging, enjoyable, and illuminating book.

From the Back Cover

Advance praise for MASTERS OF THE MIND

"A magnificent work from an author who is, himself, a master of the mind."
―Raymond D. Fowler, PhD, Past president and former CEO of the American Psychological Association

"Sweeping in scope and truly impressive in its scholarship, Millon's text traces historical developments and identifies the thinkers and scientists who from antiquity to the present time have shaped contemporary understanding of how the mind works. This captivating and informative volume will be appreciated and valued by all readers interested in the history of ideas."
―Irving B. Weiner, PhD, University of South Florida

"Wide ranging, cohesive, and eminently readable, Theodore Millon's Masters of the Mind is a tour de force from one of the world's leading psychologists....a major touchstone for all those interested in these fascinating stories of mental disorders and the search for systems to understand and treat [them]."
―Jeffrey J. Magnavita, PhD, Connecticut Center for Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy

"A fascinating, informative, comprehensive, broad-minded, brilliant, and perceptive tour of the universe of views of mental function and dysfunction, this book helps the reader understand contributions from nearly every conceivably relevant discipline throughout history."
―Lorna Smith Benjamin, PhD, University of Utah, Neuropsychiatric Institute

About the Author

Theodore Millon, PhD, DSc, Professor Emeritus of Harvard Medical School and the University of Miami, is currently Dean and Scientific Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Personology and Psychopathology in Coral Gables, Florida. Developer of several influential diagnostic instruments, he is author of numerous other Wiley books, including the forthcoming Personality Disorders in Modern Life, Second Edition.

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Masters of the Mind: Exploring the Story of Mental Illness from Ancient Times to the New Millennium