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Models of Madness: Psychological, Social and Biological Approaches to Schizophrenia (The International Society for the Psychological Treatments of the Schizophrenias and Other Psychoses)

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I work with people diagnosed schizophrenic and intensely dislike the hopelessness engendered by this label and by the medical model treatment of these individuals. I also feel frustrated at the way medication is accepted as the key intervention for this condition despite its poor record at bringing about recovery.
Expect to feel very uncomfortable as you read the extensive research that deconstructs what you have been taught (and come to accept as true) about the biological basis for schizophrenia and its reliance on the use of medication.
The book also offers thoroughly researched alternative theoretical frameworks and treatments that have been shown to be effective in bringing relief to those experiencing psychosis.
I highly recommend this book for those prepared to consider more than just the medical model framework and those who want more treatment options than can be provided by medication alone.

John Read's Models of Madness is the only psychology textbook I have ever read that pulls no punches when it comes to the mental health industry's misuse and abuse of its power. It provides, not a balanced viewpoint, but a "balancing viewpoint." Indeed it must, so as to counter the enormous colossus of wealth and influence which has become our mental health industry. It is a scholarly work, with an abundance of data to both describe the shortfalls and pitfalls of the mental health industry, as well as the techniques that have actually been proven to benefit mental-health consumers. There are actually ways to increase the happiness, comfort, quality of life and self-respect of clientele who have been pegged "incurable."

Over the past few decades, the psychiatric and pharmaceutical industries have almost completely silenced alternate viewpoints to the biological model of mental disorder. So this critique of the dominant paradigm comes as a breath of fresh air. The 23 scholar-contributors forcefully argue that "schizophrenia" is a scientifically meaningless and socially devastating label. Not only is there no unitary construct of "schizophrenia," these scholars argue, but complex social and environmental factors underlie both the patterns of diagnosis and the expressed symptoms. The authors painstakingly elucidate the roles of poverty, gender, racism, and - most importantly - childhood trauma in adult psychosis. They bring back the now-taboo role of family dynamics, including "expressed emotion" (a euphemism for hostile, critical and overinvolved parenting), communication deviance, and dysfunctional relationships between parents.

Starting with a history of the concept of schizophrenia and its use to incarcerate the poor, the authors move on to an exhaustive, well-researched, and easy-to-understand summary of decades of research findings debunking the biogenetic model. Regarding the role of trauma in the etiology of "schizophrenia," did you know that two-thirds of Israeli mental patients are Holocaust survivors, who have been beaten, strapped to beds, heavily drugged and often kept in solitary confinement for decades? That the structural and functional differences between the brains of "schizophrenics" and "normal" adults are the same differences as those between people who were traumatized versus not traumatized in childhood (e.g., overactive hypothalamic-adrenal-pituitary axis, cerebral atrophy, ventricular enlargements, reversed cerebral asymmetry, and neurotransmitter abnormalities)? Perhaps, some studies suggest, many of the "voices" of schizophrenia patients are thinly disguised expressions of past trauma, projected into the external, present world as a less-than-functional defense.

In the current market-driven paradigm, patients are said to have "insight" if they go along with the biological psychiatrist's viewpoint, which thoroughly discounts their experiences. Far from blaming people, an understanding of the non-biological causes of psychosis can engender hope and - as outlined in the final section of the book - lead to effective treatments.

I could go on, but the book touches so many subjects - psychotropic medications, electroconvulsive therapy, heredity, drug companies, therapies, and much more - that you just need to buy it and read it yourself.

Models of Madness shows that hallucinations and delusions are understandable reactions to life events and circumstances rather than symptoms of a supposed genetic predisposition or biological disturbance.

Book edited by 3 renowned specialists in the field of psychological treatments for Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorders: John Read, PhD - Clinical Psychologist, specialist in the subject of childhood trauma and psychosis (emerging and very relevant research subject) and editor of the Scientific Journal Psychosis Making Sense of Madness (International Society for the Psychological Treatments of the Schizophrenias and Other Psychoses); the late Loren Mosher, MD - Psychiatrist, specialist in residential alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization (cf. Soteria) Soteria: Through Madness to Deliverance, former chief of the NIMH's Center for the Studies of Schizophrenia and founder of the Scientific Journal Schizophrenia Bulletin; Richard Bentall, PhD - Clinical Psychologist, specialist in cognitive models of psychosis and author of "Madness Explained" Madness Explained: Psychosis and Human Nature and "Doctoring the Mind" Doctoring the Mind.

They bring together contributions from a wide range of skillful clinicians and researchers, encompassing a psychological approach to people suffering from psychotic disorders. The work presented is solid and grounded on scientific research, although it differs from the mainstream biological model of psychiatric disorders.

You will find 24 chapters divided in 3 parts:
I - The Illness Model of Schizophrenia
10 chapters challenging the current model of schizophrenia, questioning its bases, the history of this disease model, genetic studies, medication and biological methods of treatment.
II - Social and Psychological Approaches to Understanding Madness
7 chapters covering developmental issues (childhood trauma), psychotherapeutic treatments, family interaction and social context.
III - Evidence Based Psycho-Social Interventions
7 extremely relevant and important chapters, providing scientific evidence (research findings published in peer reviewed scientific journals) for psycho-social interventions.

The book gives an alternative view to the prevailing biological disease model of severe psychological disorders, offering complementary understanding for that conditions and showing the clinical relevance of psychological and social interventions. It is based on clinical evidence and scientific research, written in a clear and exciting way - the authors use a challenging attitude and sometimes a provocative style. That only increases the insight you can obtain from reading it.

Most recommended reading to both clinicians, researchers and students of mental health subjects. Essential for those who search for hope and a more humane model of assistance to those in severe distress.

Also consider buying:

Psychotherapeutic Approaches to Schizophrenic Psychoses: Past, Present and Future (The International Society for the Psychological Treatments of the Schizophrenias and Other Psychoses)

Psychoses: An Integrative Perspective (The International Society for the Psychological Treatments of the Schizophrenias and Other Psychoses)

Schizophrenia: Its Origins and Need-Adapted Treatment

Experiences of Schizophrenia: An Integration of the Personal, Scientific, and Therapeutic

The authors mince no words about the purpose of this book. They spent the entire length of their work attempting to substantiate the viewpoint that schizophrenia does not exist in a biological sense but is more of a syndrome response to trauma and childhood abuse. While I agree with much of what they say on the overwhelming dominance and sometimes unhelpfulness of the biological psychiatric model, the medicalization of mental health "treatment," and the corruptive influence of the pharmaceutical industry, I simply found this work to be too biased and quite frankly wrong about much of what I have experienced as a professional in this field. It was not any eudcational bias (I was trained psychodynamically) that has led me to appreciate the benefits of the biopsychosocial model but on the contrary years of clinical experience. Any one with any meaningful experience working individuals with schizophrenia knows that there is no "cure" there are simply strategies for managing symptoms. Obviously therapy can be helpful and obviously so can medication. Antipsychotics do work and they can help. Yes they also have terrible side-effects and one must wonder whether the medicine is worse than the illness in some cases but to pretend that the advances in pharmaceutical psychiatry has not benefitted people who truly suffer from mental problems (especially psychosis and bipolar-spectrum disorders) is either incredibly myopic or has not worked in the field.

Amazingly, the idea that one can have traumatic experiences that trigger an inherent vulnerability towards psychosis seems to be lost on the authors...

This book is a very good critique of the medical model of schizophrenia. Well researched, well written.