A History of Euphoria: The Perception and Misperception of Health and Well-Being (Routledge Studies in Cultural History)

ISBN: 0367137224

Author: Milnes, Christopher

Condition: New

Very few people have not at some point in their lives believed themselves or their loved ones to be reasonably healthy when, in "reality", sickness was encroaching or never went away. Health has been deceiving us for thousands of years, but rarely have we entirely dispensed with it as a concept. This book sets out to establish why and how that might be. The first of its kind, this longue durée historical study explores some of the ways in which people in western societies and cultures have come to believe that they, or other people, have perceived or misperceived health, well-being and euphoria-a word which, before the twentieth century, usually named the experience of health. This book draws from a number of areas of historical research, including the histories of convalescence, addiction, madness and Sigmund Freuds interest in Euphorie in his pre-psychoanalytical period.