Pseudoscience in Biological Psychiatry: Blaming the Body (Wiley Series in General and Clinical Psychiatry) [Hardcover]

Colin A. Ross (Author), Alvin Pam (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471007765 | ISBN-13: 978-0471007760 | Publication Date: November 1994 | Edition: 1

Lately, it seems that not a day passes without the media proclaiming yet another sensational breakthrough in the search for the physical origins of mental illness. But beyond all the fanfare and media hype, is there a single shred of hard, empirical evidence to substantiate the existence of "a gene for alcoholism," or "the brain chemistry behind schizophrenia"? More to the point, in fact, is it scientifically sound to limit the search for the roots of mental illness to processes occurring within the body, while dismissing socioeconomic, familial, and experiential influences as, at best, mere "triggering mechanisms"? And, if not, what harm is being done by psychiatry's current obsession with these somatic chimeras?

This groundbreaking book offers answers to those questions and more. While Dr. Ross and Professor Pam clearly assert from the outset that biological psychiatry "is dominated by a reductionist ideology which distorts and misrepresents much of its research," this is by no means a raw polemic voiced by an overzealous opposition. Instead, it is a reasoned discourse based on a clear-sighted and methodical examination of the professional literature.

Contributors to this volume include distinguished researchers and clinicians from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, sociology, and psychopharmacology. Their common purpose in coming together was to alert the mental health community to the ideological blind spots and conceptual errors in the basic logic and methodology of biological psychiatry, to demonstrate the need for a more scientifically based psychiatric practice, and to suggest alternative approaches to understanding and treating mental illness. Readers will find their arguments stimulating, provocative, and highly persuasive.

Among the cutting-edge issues they explore are: the historical origins of biological psychiatry; genetics and mental illness; the current state of psychiatric training; psychopharmacology and drug therapy; the public health, legal, and ethical implications of biological psychiatry; and the funding, power, and politics of research.

This book is essential reading for all mental health professionals. It also has many important things to say to health care administrators, political analysts, and public policy-makers.

Of related interest . . .

INSANITY

The Idea and Its Consequences

Thomas Szasz

In this provocative book, Dr. Thomas Szasz, one of the most celebrated and controversial psychiatric thinkers of our time, presents a carefully crafted, systematic analysis of the precise character and practical consequences of the idea of mental illness. His findings and opinions have captured the attention of organized psychiatry and given everyone concerned with the human condition a better understanding of this almost universally misunderstood "disease."

1990 (0-471-52534-0) 432 pp.

CRUEL COMPASSION

Psychiatric Control of Society's Unwanted

Thomas Szasz

Cruel Compassion is the capstone of Thomas Szasz's critique of psychiatric practices. Reexamining psychiatric interventions from a cultural-historical and political-economic perspective, Szasz demonstrates that the main problem that faces mental health policymakers today is adult dependency. He gives us a sobering look at some of our most cherished notions about our humane treatment of society's unwanted and about ourselves as a compassionate and democratic people.

1994 (0-471-01012-X) 260 pp.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Discontent with biological psychiatry has not been validated by detailed pervasive analysis, which this work provides, nor has uncritical acceptance of the claims regarding biological psychiatry been seriously challenged in the way this book does. Serves as a corrective to the biological reductionism in much of modern psychiatry--and offers an alternative trauma model of psychopathology.

From the Back Cover

Lately, it seems that not a day passes without the media proclaiming yet another sensational breakthrough in the search for the physical origins of mental illness. But beyond all the fanfare and media hype, is there a single shred of hard, empirical evidence to substantiate the existence of "a gene for alcoholism," or "the brain chemistry behind schizophrenia"? More to the point, in fact, is it scientifically sound to limit the search for the roots of mental illness to processes occurring within the body, while dismissing socioeconomic, familial, and experiential influences as, at best, mere "triggering mechanisms"? And, if not, what harm is being done by psychiatry's current obsession with these somatic chimeras?

This groundbreaking book offers answers to those questions and more. While Dr. Ross and Professor Pam clearly assert from the outset that biological psychiatry "is dominated by a reductionist ideology which distorts and misrepresents much of its research," this is by no means a raw polemic voiced by an overzealous opposition. Instead, it is a reasoned discourse based on a clear-sighted and methodical examination of the professional literature.

Contributors to this volume include distinguished researchers and clinicians from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, sociology, and psychopharmacology. Their common purpose in coming together was to alert the mental health community to the ideological blind spots and conceptual errors in the basic logic and methodology of biological psychiatry, to demonstrate the need for a more scientifically based psychiatric practice, and to suggest alternative approaches to understanding and treating mental illness. Readers will find their arguments stimulating, provocative, and highly persuasive.

Among the cutting-edge issues they explore are: the historical origins of biological psychiatry; genetics and mental illness; the current state of psychiatric training; psychopharmacology and drug therapy; the public health, legal, and ethical implications of biological psychiatry; and the funding, power, and politics of research.

This book is essential reading for all mental health professionals. It also has many important things to say to health care administrators, political analysts, and public policy-makers.

Of related interest . . .

INSANITY

The Idea and Its Consequences

Thomas Szasz

In this provocative book, Dr. Thomas Szasz, one of the most celebrated and controversial psychiatric thinkers of our time, presents a carefully crafted, systematic analysis of the precise character and practical consequences of the idea of mental illness. His findings and opinions have captured the attention of organized psychiatry and given everyone concerned with the human condition a better understanding of this almost universally misunderstood "disease."

1990 (0-471-52534-0) 432 pp.

CRUEL COMPASSION

Psychiatric Control of Society's Unwanted

Thomas Szasz

Cruel Compassion is the capstone of Thomas Szasz's critique of psychiatric practices. Reexamining psychiatric interventions from a cultural-historical and political-economic perspective, Szasz demonstrates that the main problem that faces mental health policymakers today is adult dependency. He gives us a sobering look at some of our most cherished notions about our humane treatment of society's unwanted and about ourselves as a compassionate and democratic people.

1994 (0-471-01012-X) 260 pp.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (November 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471007765
• ISBN-13: 978-0471007760
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #473,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Needed Corrective, October 31, 2001

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disco75 "disco75" (State College, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pseudoscience in Biological Psychiatry: Blaming the Body (Wiley Series in General and Clinical Psychiatry) (Hardcover)

The authors take a critical look at the state of psychiatry in the 1990's. In ways that members of ethical professions are supposed to, they look at the assumptions underpinning much of the behavior of psychiatrists. They organize much of their thinking according to the ways that logic would necessitate hypotheses to be formed, tested, and accepted or discarded.

Especially edifying is the great attention Ross and Pam give to the errors in logic that are rampant in the Biological Psychiatry model. These include "If It Runs In Families It Must Be Genetic (versus Learned Behavior)," "If It Responds To Medication It Must Have a Biological Cause," "Proving a Mental Illness is Biological Will Reduce the Stigma," "Lab Tests Can Improve the Accuracy of Psychiatric Diagnosis," "The Genetic Basis of Schizophrenia is Scientifically Established," "Depression Is Based on a Biological Deficit, Likely of Serotonin or Noradrenalin Function," "The Placebo Response Is an Artifact of No Scientific Interest," "Biological Psychiatrists Have Made Important Discoveries About Mental Illness in the Past 10 Years," and "The Ascendance of Biopsychiatry in the 1980's Has Resulted in More Scientific and Effective Treatment."

In place of the Biological Model, the book proposes a Trauma Model. It involves medical, biological, psychiatric, behavioral, and scientific features. It generates testable hypotheses. While hardly a new concept, the Trauma Model has great merit, providing that trauma includes pervasive, chronic stressors. The role of trauma as a causal factor leading to behavioral, emotional, and biological changes is addressed in other important books, such as John Modrow's "How To Become A Schizophrenic," the Richard Bentall edited volume "Reconstructing Schizophrenia," Susan Vaughn's "The Talking Cure," and Peter Breggin's "Toxic Psychiatry."