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A Straight Talking Introduction to Psychiatric Diagnosis
Do you still need your psychiatric diagnosis? This book will help you to decide.
A revolution is underway in mental health. If the authors of the diagnostic manuals are admitting that psychiatric diagnoses are not supported by evidence, then no one should be forced to accept them. If many mental health workers are openly questioning diagnosis and saying we need a different and better system, then service users and carers should be allowed to do so too. This book is about choice. It is about giving people the information to make up their own minds, and exploring alternatives for those who wish to do so.
"Rigorously researched, powerfully argued and engagingly written, this thoughtful and valuable book empowers readers with something too often missing in statutory care-the knowledge and resources to make an informed choice". Eleanor Longden, Psychosis Research Group, University of Liverpool
"Making sense of personal experiences promotes hope, strength and recovery. This is the message from Lucy Johnstone as she carefully deconstructs psychiatric diagnosis and adds personal stories as evidence". Dirk Corstens, Psychiatrist, Chair of Intervoice
"A probing, balanced and refreshingly clear introduction to the realities of psychiatric diagnosis and the useful alternatives that now exist to help those in distress". Gail A. Hornstein, Professor of Psychology, Mount Holyoke College (USA), author of Agnes's Jacket: A psychologist's search for the meanings of madness (PCCS Books).
A revolution is underway in mental health. If the authors of the diagnostic manuals are admitting that psychiatric diagnoses are not supported by evidence, then no one should be forced to accept them. If many mental health workers are openly questioning diagnosis and saying we need a different and better system, then service users and carers should be allowed to do so too. This book is about choice. It is about giving people the information to make up their own minds, and exploring alternatives for those who wish to do so.
"Rigorously researched, powerfully argued and engagingly written, this thoughtful and valuable book empowers readers with something too often missing in statutory care-the knowledge and resources to make an informed choice". Eleanor Longden, Psychosis Research Group, University of Liverpool
"Making sense of personal experiences promotes hope, strength and recovery. This is the message from Lucy Johnstone as she carefully deconstructs psychiatric diagnosis and adds personal stories as evidence". Dirk Corstens, Psychiatrist, Chair of Intervoice
"A probing, balanced and refreshingly clear introduction to the realities of psychiatric diagnosis and the useful alternatives that now exist to help those in distress". Gail A. Hornstein, Professor of Psychology, Mount Holyoke College (USA), author of Agnes's Jacket: A psychologist's search for the meanings of madness (PCCS Books).
- GenresPsychology
136 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 8, 2022
Watch any commercial for a psychiatric medication, and you will conclude that the symptoms signify a medical disease, best left to doctors and treated with medication.
Although there are advantages of diagnoses (in the US, they mean that we have access to services and that those services can be paid for by insurance), but Lucy Johnstone argues "the overall effect is unhelpful, and sometimes very damaging" (p. 18). There are significant problems with the DSM-5: poor reliabilities, diagnosis creep (e.g., diagnosing bereavement), diagnosis of previously undiagnosed problems, and diagnoses that do not actually explain anything. Bottom line, diagnoses imply that traumatic events are insufficient to explain symptoms.
Johnstone argued that, instead, "we need to acknowledge people’s suffering and lack of control in many areas of their lives, while at the same time building on their strengths so that they can, with the right support, move forwards" (p. 19). Instead of asking, "What is wrong with you?" we should wonder:
Although there are advantages of diagnoses (in the US, they mean that we have access to services and that those services can be paid for by insurance), but Lucy Johnstone argues "the overall effect is unhelpful, and sometimes very damaging" (p. 18). There are significant problems with the DSM-5: poor reliabilities, diagnosis creep (e.g., diagnosing bereavement), diagnosis of previously undiagnosed problems, and diagnoses that do not actually explain anything. Bottom line, diagnoses imply that traumatic events are insufficient to explain symptoms.
Johnstone argued that, instead, "we need to acknowledge people’s suffering and lack of control in many areas of their lives, while at the same time building on their strengths so that they can, with the right support, move forwards" (p. 19). Instead of asking, "What is wrong with you?" we should wonder:
– "What has happened to you?"What does Johnstone suggest in terms of treatment? While medications can sometimes have a place in treatment, she says we need to acknowledge and address abuses of power. We need to ask, "Who is making money out of this? Whose power is being reinforced by this? And what are we not addressing while this issue is distracting us?" (p. 175).
– "How did it affect you?"
– "What sense did you make of it?"
– "What did you have to do to survive?"
September 1, 2015
Terribly unconvincing to me. Amounts to saying "we have no clear biological or not their visual markers for psychiatric ailments, therefore psychiatry isn't medicine." But the justification for the premise, of what is medicine, is weak and ahistorical. I'm sympathetic to the practical upshot of her argument, that we need to give more attention to social context and personal story, and not rely too much on meds. This could be an argument for expanding our concept of medicine, rather than excluding a branch from it.
January 30, 2022
Read this for work research. I really enjoyed this book, which was practical and informative. Lots of resources included to continue reading around the topic. I liked that it didn't just dismiss psychiatric diagnosis, but offered working alternatives that people with mental health difficulties or professionals could apply to real situations.
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September 30, 2017Great book. Didn't know what to expect really as I needed to read for learning purposes but I actually found it very informative and so interesting to read. It has several viewpoints, which I found refreshing and also had several first hand opinions from patients and former patients about the experience of it all. Keeping it on my bookshelf for reference to , so that I can refresh my knowledge as and when
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews