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Neurologist or psychiatrist? The public and private domains of Jean-Martin Charcot

2000; Wiley; Volume: 36; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/1520-6696(200022)36

1520-6696

Toby Gelfand,

History of Medicine Studies

The emergence of neurology as an autonomous, prestigious field in late-nineteenth-century Paris is well known. Less appreciated is the role that neurologists played vis-à-vis the cognate older field of psychiatry. Taking Jean-Martin Charcot, the most influential neurologist of his time, as a test case, this paper contrasts his attitudes and practice in the public setting of teaching and hospital work with his private practice. A staunch defender of a clear distinction between his field and psychiatry, Charcot's private practice displayed more flexibility. Treating hysteria and neurasthenia created a middle ground of nervous diseases for him to cultivate. Unpublished case histories and other materials, especially from the Charcot library, support the conception of neurologists as active agents in constituting a new psychological medicine. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.