Includes bibliographical references.

The great wonder and the great strangeness -- The natural self-cleansing of our people : Emil Kraepelin and his legacy -- The normal and the sick : Philippe Pinel to Ernst Pienitz -- The truth in Schreber’s delusions.

"In The Devil's Castle, Susanne Paola Antonetta weaves a haunting narrative that confronts the darkest chapters of psychiatric history while offering a bold vision for the future of mental health care. In 1939, the eugenics movement growing throughout the West did its worst in Nazi Germany. Through the Aktion T4 euthanasia program, five asylums and an abandoned jail were transformed into gas chambers. Tens of thousands of lives-predominantly adults with neuropsychiatric conditions-were extinguished in those structures, ultimately paving the way for the horrors of the Holocaust. Interlacing her experiences of psychosis with the complex history of psychiatry, Antonetta sheds light on the intersections of madness and societal perceptions of mental difference. She brings to life the stories of Paul Schreber and Dorothea Buck, two historical figures who act as models for mind care and acceptance"-- Provided by publisher.