author
Robert S. (Robert Sproul) Carroll
1869–1949
Best known as a psychiatrist and health writer, he brought his medical experience into books about nervous illness, addiction, and recovery. His work reflects an early 20th-century belief that rest, routine, and steady habits could help people regain balance.
1 Audiobook
Our Nervous Friends — Illustrating the Mastery of Nervousness
by Robert S. (Robert Sproul) Carroll
About the author
Born in 1869, Robert Sproul Carroll was an American physician, psychiatrist, and author. He is closely associated with Highland Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, the residential psychiatric hospital he established in 1904 and later gave to Duke University.
Carroll wrote both medical and popular works, including books on nervousness, suffering, and alcoholism. His writing aimed to make mental and emotional struggles understandable to general readers, often blending clinical experience with practical advice.
Today he is remembered as part of an earlier era in psychiatry, when hospitals like Highland emphasized environment, routine, exercise, and occupational activity as part of treatment. His books offer a window into how mental health and addiction were discussed in the first half of the 20th century.