Negotiating States of Mind

Overview & Synopsis

Negotiating States of Mind examines melancholia's demise as a scientific concept, tracing the conceptual changes that transformed psychiatric thinking in the late nineteenth century. Focusing on Meiji Japan's adaptation of European psychiatric concepts and diagnostic practices, this global intellectual history highlights how social hierarchies, institutional pressures, and quantitative methods shaped our understanding of mental illness. Through detailed case studies of mentally impaired soldiers from the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), it investigates the impact of diagnostic changes on disability pension decisions, revealing real-world effects of conceptual change.