There is growing public interest in the uses and abuses of medicine in general and psychiatry in particular, and intense debate about whether mental illness is social or organic in origin. In this comprehensive history of psychiatry, historian Edward Shorter examines the evolution of psychiatric theory and practice from the 18th century to the present. It covers the latest developments in the field, it proposes a return to biological roots and treatments of mental illness as opposed to the theory of mental illness being of social origin. It further describes the shift away from Freudian-based analysis towards a new era of possibilities of diagnosis and treatment using medication such as Prozac to treat a variety of disorders.