The Stone of Folly: A World History of Madness

Who should be considered mad? In different eras, the answer to this question has changed. Psychiatry as an independent field took shape only in the mid-19th century, incorporating ideas and practices from past centuries. At one time, people with mental disorders were taken for witches; later, they were isolated in institutions where little thought was given to humaneness. And even monarchs were not immune to mental illnesses.

The path of psychiatry passed through the grim chapters of eugenics and a dense network of prejudice. Women’s illnesses were often explained as “malfunctions” of the reproductive system, masturbation was declared the cause of madness, men were “treated” with castration, and circumcision was practiced for both sexes. On the pages of this book, you will encounter Hippocrates and Galen, Michel Foucault and George III—and see how differently humanity understood and described madness.

“Our understanding of mental health and mental disorders differs greatly from how early civilizations viewed them, and it continues to change as knowledge grows and understanding of the human mind deepens. That is why the word ‘madness’ is nothing more than a distorted formula for constantly shifting and wavering social values. For centuries, the idea of madness has reflected society’s social, cultural, and intellectual way of life and the thinking patterns of each era—this is exactly what I focus on in this book” (Monika-Maria Stapelberg).