When life loses its zest: The origins of self-help literature for mental health, 1918-1939

Matthew’s project examines the origin, evolution, and impact of self-help literature written by American mental health practitioners during the interwar period. It focuses on the work of three authors: the psychologist H. Addington Bruce, the psychiatrist Abraham Myerson, and the psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Karl Menninger. These experts published multiple self-help books and articles that communicated their professional insights into the causes, prevention, and treatment of mental ill-health to millions of readers. This study shows how the self-help genre was an important medium for psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychoanalysts to legitimize and popularize their capacity to evaluate and treat abnormal thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and relationships. Matthew’s project also investigates what information and advice non-specialist readers accepted, rejected, or modified. Tracing the reception of self-help texts and how authors responded to their audience’s reactions illuminates the essential role of readers in the production and circulation of mental health knowledge in interwar America.