History of psychology and psychiatry
![A man in patterned pyjamas sits on a table in a room with a mural of a landscape and old furniture.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/c53a1e9a-ec58-472c-b7ca-33e6bbcafaad/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
History and philosophy of mental health
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Frantz Fanon and the crisis of mental health in the Arab world
Where is Frantz Fanon’s postcolonial ‘new man’ to be found in the persistence of psychiatric institutions in the Arab world?
by Joelle M Abi-Rached
![Shadows of people on a sunny day cast on a stone wall, with one person holding a mobile phone while walking past.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/43581d6d-0355-4ec6-a434-dacba4e12020/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
History of ideas
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Worried you’re not normal? Don’t be – there’s no such thing
The history of ‘normal’ tells a tale of prejudice and bad maths. The most usual thing about people is how much we differ
by Sarah Chaney
![Two men in black and white film scene: one in military uniform leaning over and talking to the other who is seated, looking apprehensive.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/15e262fb-f659-4096-b0dd-35473eb74016/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Freedom and choice
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Brainwashing has a grim history that we shouldn’t dismiss
Scientific research and historical accounts can help us identify and dissect the threat of ‘coercive persuasion’
by Joel E Dimsdale
![Painting of people in a large room with tall windows, some standing and others lying on the ground, depicting asylum conditions.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/97a6610b-34b1-48d8-81fc-ff3cfd13883f/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Thinkers and theories
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What Arthur Schopenhauer learned about genius at the asylum
‘Might not madness be a mere derangement of memory?’ What Arthur Schopenhauer learnt when he went into the asylum
by David Bather Woods
![Etching of five nude figures in a forest, with one lying on the ground and the others standing or bending in a body of water.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/cdab506a-f819-4afd-9f66-41e383a88bcb/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
History of psychology and psychiatry
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How a Viennese genius (not the one you think) understood penis envy
Karen Horney’s challenge to Freudian psychosexual theory helped me say ‘penis’ without flinching in my Cairo classroom
by Heba Yosry
![Close-up of a closed metal door-chain on a wooden door](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/772f17ce-f622-4912-b95f-7ce1ee10b134/rt-nn11526084.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Worry and rumination
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Should you confront your worries or try to banish them?
Psychotherapists have long believed it’s a bad idea to suppress worrisome thoughts, but new research is prompting a rethink
by Shayla Love