The Last of the Lunatics Author:John Cawte 'I must be one of the few surviving specialists who recall how mental illnesses ran full bore . . .' John Cawte gives a searing personal account of the treatment of the mentally ill before the advent of anti-psychotic and anti-depressant drugs. Bursting asylums were wastelands of stigma and dread. Today, treatments are vastly more effective, ... more »but Cawte's old case notes hold a surprising lesson - that temporary 'asylum' from the stresses of life is often all that a disturbed person needs for recovery. Doctors, psychiatrists, those who remember and those who wonder about the human condition will be touched by this compassionate book.« less