Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Self-Help from the Middle Ages:
Poor people couldn’t turn to Instagram to fix their lives.
Quick synopsis:
A look at psychological thought in a time period you wouldn’t expect.
Fact for Non-History People:
The Seven Deadly Sins were used as an early diagnostic tool.
Fact for History Nerds:
Catholic confession could often be used to help people diagnose their own issues and forgive themselves.
My Take on Self-Help from the Middle Ages:
History can be a bit of a downer sometimes. Every now and again, you need to break away for something just a bit more hopeful. For your next sad episode, why not get some much-needed mental health advice from the Middle Ages? Yes, you heard me.
Turns out, the Middle Ages were not completely devoid of people trying to improve their emotional outlook. Peter Jones takes us on a delightful walk-through medieval healthcare with Self-Help From the Middle Ages.
Jones found himself in Sibera (you won’t believe this, ON PURPOSE), and it turns out he got a severe case of depression. While this is not shocking, Jones is a historian and decided he needed to do something about it. So, he decided to research the seven deadly sins. This all makes sense once you read the book.
The narrative is a mix of memoir, historical research, and a smidge of self-help. Each aspect has its charms, but there are times when it doesn’t feel seamless. The memoir parts will at times be a bit longer than needed, and the historical parts jump a bit from story to story. The self-help is usually a short write-up at the end of a chapter which I wish was much longer and in-depth. Overall, it’s quite good, there are just a few places where you might find yourself reading faster to get to the next chapter.
(This book was provided as a review copy by Doubleday Books.)
Verdict:
A great little pick-me-up. Buy it here!
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