Synopses & Reviews
For the first time, a historian of science draws evidence from across the world to show how humans and other animals are astonishingly similar when it comes to their feelings and the ways in which they lose their minds.
Charles Darwin developed his evolutionary theories by looking at physical differences in Galapagos finches and fancy pigeons. Alfred Russell Wallace investigated a range of creatures in the Malay Archipelago. Laurel Braitman got her lessons closer to home — by watching her dog. Oliver snapped at flies that only he could see, ate Ziploc bags, towels, and cartons of eggs. He suffered debilitating separation anxiety, was prone to aggression, and may even have attempted suicide. Her experience with Oliver forced Laurel to acknowledge a form of continuity between humans and other animals that, first as a biology major and later as a PhD student at MIT, she'd never been taught in school. Nonhuman animals can lose their minds. and when they do, it often looks a lot like human mental illness.
Thankfully, all of us can heal. As Laurel spent three years traveling the world in search of emotionally disturbed animals and the people who care for them, she discovered numerous stories of recovery: parrots that learn how to stop plucking their feathers, dogs that cease licking their tails raw, polar bears that stop swimming in compulsive circles, and great apes that benefit from the help of human psychiatrists. How do these animals recover? The same way we do: with love, with medicine, and above all, with the knowledge that someone understands why we suffer and what can make us feel better.
After all of the digging in the archives of museums and zoos, the years synthesizing scientific literature, and the hours observing dog parks, wildlife encounters, and amusement parks, Laurel found that understanding the emotional distress of animals can help us better understand ourselves.
Review
"A riveting, thoughtful exploration of the 'emotional thunderstorms' and physiological imbalances other species can experience as intensely as humans do....Compelling."
Discover
Review
"Braitman assembles the shattered pieces of others' minds into a thoroughly considered and surprising realization that many familiar animals possess the same mental demons that haunt us. This insight challenges us to accept that our ancient kinship with other animals is as apparent in our psyche as it is in our physique."
John Marzluff, Author of Gifts of the Crow
Review
"Charming as the sketches of individual animals can be, the book is at its best in plumbing the history of how we humans have understood the emotional and mental lives of other animals. From Darwin, who wrote eloquently about his dog's facial expressions, to mid-20th-century behaviorists who disdained anthropomorphism, scholars have argued about the capacities of animal minds, a process Braitman compares to 'holding up a mirror to the history of human mental illness.'...It's clear that what soothes troubled animals — patience, sympathy, consistency — helps humans, too."
Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe
Review
"There is much here that will remind readers of Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson — a gift for storytelling, strong observational talents, an easy familiarity with the background material and a warm level of empathy....Engaging....Sparks curiosity."
Kirkus
Review
"This is a marvelous, smart, eloquent book — as much about human emotion as it is about animals and their inner lives. Braitman's research is fascinating, and she writes with the ease and engagement of a natural storyteller."
Susan Orlean, bestselling author of Rin Tin Tin, Saturday Night, and The Orchid Thief
Synopsis
** "Science Friday" Summer Reading Pick**
**Discover magazine Top 5 Summer Reads**
**People magazine Best Summer Reads**
" A] lovely, big-hearted book...brimming with compassion and the tales of the many, many humans who devote their days to making animals well." --The New York Times
Have you ever wondered if your dog might be a bit depressed? How about heartbroken or homesick? Animal Madness takes these questions seriously, exploring the topic of mental health and recovery in the animal kingdom and turning up lessons that Publishers Weekly calls "Illuminating...Braitman's delightful balance of humor and poignancy brings each case of life.... Animal Madness's] continuous dose of hope should prove medicinal for humans and animals alike."
Susan Orlean calls Animal Madness "a marvelous, smart, eloquent book--as much about human emotion as it is about animals and their inner lives." It is "a gem...that can teach us much about the wildness of our own minds" (Psychology Today).
About the Author
MIT PhD in the history of science, Laurel Braitman has written for Pop Up Magazine, The New Inquiry, Orion, and a variety of other publications. She is a TED Fellow and an affiliate artist at the Headlands Center for the Arts. Laurel lives on a houseboat in Sausalito, California, and can be reached at AnimalMadness.com.