Making Us Crazy: DSM : the Psychiatric Bible and the Creation of Mental DisordersWhat makes a person crazy? Nowadays it's the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV). For many mental health professionals, the DSM is an indispensable diagnostic tool, and as the standard reference book for psychiatrists and other psychotherapists everywhere, it has had an inestimable influence on the way we view other human beings. Deciding what we consider sane and normal, and reflecting the prejudices and values of each generation, it's not surprising that the DSM has become a battleground. But things have taken a strange turn. The fight is no longer about who escapes DSM labeling, but rather, how a person can qualify for a diagnosis. Now, mental health professionals must label their clients as pathological in order for them to be reimbursed by their insurance companies. This disturbing trend toward making us crazy when we are simply grappling with everyday concerns has even worse public implications. In Making Us Crazy, Professors Kutchins and Kirk reveal how the DSM is used to assassinate character and slander the opposition, often for political or monetary gain. None of this misuse bodes well for the future of mental health. Even children are being overdiagnosed and given drugs they don't need. Making Us Crazy is the long-needed antidote to the claims made about the DSM. Kutchins and Kirk argue that the DSM is not the scientifically based reference work it purports to be, but rather a collection of current phobias and popular mores. |
Contents
Psychiatric Diagnosis and | 1 |
Pathologizing Everyday Behavior | 21 |
The Fall and Rise of Homosexuality | 55 |
Copyright | |
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Making Us Crazy: DSM : the Psychiatric Bible and the Creation of Mental ... Herb Kutchins,Stuart A. Kirk No preview available - 1999 |
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abuse accepted African American Journal American Psychiatric Association appears asked attempt authors become behavior believe called Caplan cause census changes chapter claims clinical clinicians committee concern condition considered controversy created critics cultural decision definition described developers diagnosis diagnostic criteria DSM-III DSM-III-R DSM-IV edition efforts evidence example experience explain fact feel Gutheil homosexuality identify important included individual insanity interest involved issues less major manual meeting mental disorder mental health mental illness Negroes offered official organized patients Personality Disorder political presented problems professional proposal psychiatrists psychological PTSD published question race reliability reported response result revision scientific SDPD sexual significant social specific Spitzer Statistical Stress suffering suggested symptoms Task Force term therapists tion treatment validity veterans victims women York