num_pages: 256
description: Ian Hacking tells the fascinating tale of Albert Dadas, a native of France’s Bordeaux region and the first diagnosed mad traveler. Dadas suffered from a strange compulsion that led him to travel obsessively, often without identification, not knowing who he was or why he traveled. Using the records of Philippe Tissié, Dadas’s physician, Hacking attempts to make sense of this strange epidemic.In telling this tale, Hacking raises probing questions about the nature of mental disorders, the cultural repercussions of their diagnosis, and the relevance of this century-old case study for today’s overanalyzed society.
language: English
title: Mad Travelers: Reflections on the Reality of Transient Mental Illnesses
titlecomplete: Mad Travelers: Reflections on the Reality of Transient Mental Illnesses
genres: Anthropology, Mental Illness, History, Philosophy, Psychiatry, Mental Health, Psychology, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 137
series: Page-Barbour Lectures
publisher: Harvard University Press