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

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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."