Mad Travellers: Reflections on the Reality of Transient Mental Illnesses

Synopsis

Thus begins the recorded case history of Albert Dadas, a native of France's Bordeaux region and the first diagnosed mad traveller or fugueur. Dadas suffered from a strange compulsion that led him to travel compulsively, often without identification, not knowing who he was or why he travelled. He became notorious for his extraordinary expeditions to such far reaching places as Algeria, Moscow and Constantinople. Medical reports of Dadas set off a small epidemic of compulsive mad voyagers throughout France, Italy, Germany and Russia.

Today we are similarly besieged by mental illnesses of the moment such as chronic fatigue syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The debate rages about which of these conditions are affectations or cultural artefacts and which are 'real'.

This book uses the Dadas case to weigh the legitimacy of cultural versus physical symptoms in the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders. He argues that the psychological symptoms find stable homes at a given place and time, in 'ecological niches; where transient illnesses flourish. He also raises questions about the relevance of this century-old case study for today's over-analysed society.