Ms Louise Foxcroft's Books

The Making of Addiction

The 'Use and Abuse' of Opium in Nineteenth-Century Britain

By: Ms Louise Foxcroft

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The Making of Addiction

The 'Use and Abuse' of Opium in Nineteenth-Century Britain

By: Ms Louise Foxcroft

What does drug addiction mean to us? What did it mean to others in the past? And how are these meanings connected? In modern society the idea of drug addiction is a given and commonly understood concept, yet this was not always the case in the past. This book uncovers the original influences that shaped the creation and the various interpretations of addiction as a disease, and of addiction to opiates in particular. It delves into the treatments, regimes, and prejudices that surrounded the condition, a newly emerging pathological entity and a form of 'moral insanity' during the nineteenth century. The source material for this book is rich and surprising. Letters and diaries provide the most moving material, detailing personal struggles with addiction and the trials of those who cared and despaired. Confessions of shame, deceit, misery and terror sit alongside those of deep sensual pleasure, visionary manifestations and blissful freedom from care. The reader can follow the lifelong opium careers of literary figures, artists and politicians, glimpse a raw underworld of hidden drug use, or see the bleakness of urban and rural poverty alleviated by daily doses of opium. Delving into diaries, letters and confessions this book exposes the medical case histories and the physician's mad, lazy, commercial, contemptuous, desperate, altruistic and frustrated attempts to deal with drug addiction. It demonstrates that many of the stigmatising prejudices arose from false 'facts' and semi-mythical beliefs and thus has significant implications, not only for the history of addiction, but also for how we view the condition today.

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Page Count

218

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409479846

ISBN 13

9781409479840

With Words and Knives

Learning Medical Dispassion in Early Modern England

By: Ms Lynda Payne

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With Words and Knives

Learning Medical Dispassion in Early Modern England

By: Ms Lynda Payne

The practice of medicine in the days before the development of anaesthetics could often be a brutal and painful experience. Many procedures, especially those involving surgery, must have proved almost as distressing to the doctor as to the patient. Yet in order to cure, the medical practitioner was often required to inflict pain and the patient to endure it. Some level of detachment has always been required of the doctor and especially, of the surgeon. It is the construction of this detachment, or dispassion, in early modern England, with which this work is concerned. The book explores the idea of medical dispassion and shows how practitioners developed the intellectual, verbal and manual skill of being able to replace passion with equanimity and distance. As the skill of 'dispassion' became more widespread it was both enthusiastically promoted and vehemently attacked by scientific and literary writers throughout the early modern period. To explain why the practice was so controversial and aroused such furor, this study takes into account not only patterns of medical education and clinical practice but wider debates concerning social, philosophical and religious ideas.

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Page Count

210

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409480003

ISBN 13

9781409480006

The Making of Addiction

The 'Use and Abuse' of Opium in Nineteenth-Century Britain

By: Ms Louise Foxcroft

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Making of Addiction

The 'Use and Abuse' of Opium in Nineteenth-Century Britain

By: Ms Louise Foxcroft

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

218

Publisher

Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1409479846

ISBN 13

9781409479840

Book's by Ms Louise Foxcroft

The Making of Addiction

The Making of Addiction

With Words and Knives

With Words and Knives

The Making of Addiction

The Making of Addiction

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