Bias in Psychiatric Diagnosis [Paperback]

Paula J. Caplan (Editor), Lisa Cosgrove (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0765700018 | ISBN-13: 978-0765700018 | Publication Date: October 8, 2004

The public has a right to know that when they go to a therapist, they are almost certain to be given a psychiatric diagnosis, no matter how mild or normal their problems might be. It is unlikely that they will be told that a diagnosis will be written forever in their chart and that alarming consequences can result solely from having any psychiatric diagnosis. It would be disturbing enough if diagnosis was a thoroughly scientific process, but it is not, and its unscientific nature creates a vacuum into which biases of all kinds can rush. Bias in Psychiatric Diagnosis is the first book ever published about how gender, race, social class, age, physical disability, and sexual orientation affect the classification of human beings into categories of psychiatric diagnosis. It is surprising that this kind of book is not yet on the market, because it is such a hot topic, and the negative consequences of psychiatric diagnosis range from loss of custody of a child to denial of health insurance and employment to removal of one's right to make decisions about one's legal affairs. It is an unusually compelling book because of its real-life relevance for millions of people. Virtually everyone these days has been a therapy patient or has a loved one who has been. In addition, psychiatric diagnosis and biases in diagnosis are increasingly crucial portions of, or the main subject of, legal proceedings. This book should sit next to every doctor's PDR, especially given the skyrocketing use of psychoactive drugs in toddlers, children, and adolescents, as well as in adults, and especially because receiving a psychiatric label vastly increases the chances of being prescribed one or more of these drugs. A Jason Aronson Book

Editorial Reviews

Review

Providing historical and sociological analyses, the contributors demonstrate bias in diagnoses, stemming from sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia/heterosexism, and classism. They argue that awareness of bias is important to any "helping" profession involved with diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, mental retardation, parental alienation syndrome, learning disabilities, sexual dysfunction, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, false memory syndrome, agoraphobia, eating disorders, histrionic personality, and menstrual distress. Summing Up: Recommended. (Choice Magazine )

Taken as a whole these collected essays offer an interesting starting point from which to begin a more rigorous inquiry into the problem and ultimately encourage action at both the individual and the professional level. The authors of this text should be congratulated on their worthy attempt to meet this challenge. (Psyccritiques—Contemporary Psychology: Apa Review Of Books )

The collection is powerful, unique, comprehensive, cogent, sane, balanced, and extremely important. It covers almost every major form of bias and oppression, as well as the profound biases embedded in many individual diagnostic labels. This is a must-read for all mental health professionals and their clients. (Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D. )

This is an extraordinarily important book. It should be required reading for all mental health professionals and especially for all teaching programs. Further, it could serve as an excellent illustration of the social construction of what comes to be called science. It is that and also much more than an intellectual exercise because these issues affect profoundly the fate of so many people. (Jean Baker Miller, M.D. )

By unraveling the roles of ideology, socially-constructed norms, and commercial interests in psychiatric diagnosis, this valuable book of original essays helps to explain the meteoric rise in psychotropic drug use and the new social trend of psychopharmaphilia. A book of accessible and stimulating original essays that unravels the complex web of transscientific factors and bias that enter into psychiatric diagnosis. (Krimsky, Sheldon Planning At Tufts University )

From the Publisher

-Written accessibly for lay people but packed with information of immediate relevance to therapists, counselors, lawyers, physicians, nurses
-Thorough and sophisticated coverage of bias in diagnosis and its life-changing consequences for patients and their families
-Scientifically-grounded, cogently argued, and brilliantly reasoned
-Invaluable for practitioners, most of whom are unaware of the depth and breadth of bias in psychiatric diagnosis and of the cavalier way in which creators of psychiatric diagnoses distort or ignore the relevant scientific research
-Individual chapters about a vast array of forms of bias, including racism, sexism, ageism, classism, and heterosexism
-Individual chapters about a great many specific diagnoses
-Filled with practical advice for patients, their families, and therapists about ways to minimize the harm that can result from being psychiatrically diagnosed
-Some chapters about legal aspects of bias in psychiatric diagnosis
-The first-ever empirical study of the absence of critical thinking about psychiatric diagnosis in abnormal psychology textbooks
-Invaluable for undergraduates and graduate students for providing a counterbalance to the unquestioning, uncritical ways that psychiatric diagnosis is currently taught --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Jason Aronson, Inc. (October 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765700018
• ISBN-13: 978-0765700018
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #376,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars what a fabulous critique of and companion to the DSM!, May 29, 2007

By 

psychologist and mom (Northeast U.S.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bias in Psychiatric Diagnosis (Paperback)

I have taught abnormal psychology and have taught cultural/feminist crtiques of psychology--this book pulls it all together beautifully. The chapters are quite short and cover a broad range of issues (discrimination against poor rural women, legal issues concerning bias in diagnosing, specific "diagnoses" like false memory syndrome, parental alienation syndrome, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder, etc). The book is well-written and easy for readers to grasp. It is straight-forward enough for non-psychologists or undergrads, and sophisticated enough for experienced professionals.