FREE Returns
Return this item for free
  • Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges
  • Learn more about free returns.
FREE delivery Thursday, October 27
Or fastest delivery Monday, October 24. Order within 23 hrs 8 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
As an alternative, the Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app. Want to listen? Try Audible.
[{"displayPrice":"$32.46","priceAmount":32.46,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"32","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"46","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"u39QJbEvagVgAf8qXxpRgRWOXa6b6SwWkXZcj%2BB1hvOz9YVpPLR0whjnjeKVWOvncYiWSeodGJahM%2F4p4sL%2F0PxoLOf0DimIafBeByJJZ2cbLjTwdII7fqlCt13c%2FTv3bCHzS7qUCBX6HjMGXirVwWjX0WrcTxcddgyKLQ2AVc7r%2BV7HYmtODuLN1suFSgLb","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$11.40","priceAmount":11.40,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"11","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"40","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"ddlWHPt1Xzmi8zNWohDzL87gCLGQjGFO85PUrLHhyzOlNWwRpP%2FMz1qhGuq6zmsfMDvRAywuuO7X7uax0Hvm9OUiZn%2F121akNJeSGrwpzQZlWuV2SWbLJNjvKg7g25D1JMuovI33%2BYB733TUeAilz7ptuGIkMN5%2FwZgoHOo0IT6kaSN2u%2BLTLw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]
$$32.46 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$32.46
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Ships from
Amazon
Sold by
Ships from
Amazon
Sold by
Return policy: Returnable until Jan 31, 2023
For the 2022 holiday season, returnable items purchased between October 11 and December 25, 2022 can be returned until January 31, 2023.
Saving Normal: An Insider... has been added to your Cart
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime
FREE delivery Friday, October 28 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon
Condition: Used: Good
Comment: Pages are clean with normal wear. May have limited markings & or highlighting within pages & or cover. Includes dustjacket, if applicable. May have some wear & creases on the cover. The spine may also have minor wear. Does not come with CD DVD, if applicable. Access code has been used, if applicable. Does not come with any supplementary materials.
Share <Embed>
Have one to sell?
Other Sellers on Amazon
Added
$31.97
& FREE Shipping
Sold by: Orion LLC
Sold by: Orion LLC
(64089 ratings)
93% positive over last 12 months
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Shipping rates and Return policy
Added
$32.00
& FREE Shipping
Sold by: A.N.T Group
Sold by: A.N.T Group
(154 ratings)
85% positive over last 12 months
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Shipping rates and Return policy
Added
$32.48
& FREE Shipping. Details
Sold by: miracleverse
Sold by: miracleverse
(13 ratings)
92% positive over last 12 months
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Shipping rates and Return policy
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

Follow the Author

Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Saving Normal: An Insider's Revolt Against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life Hardcover – May 14, 2013

4.6 out of 5 stars 414 ratings

Price
New from Used from
Kindle
Hardcover
$32.46
$27.99 $3.92

Enhance your purchase


The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Frequently bought together

  • Saving Normal: An Insider's Revolt Against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of
  • +
  • Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
One of these items ships sooner than the other.
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), produced by the American Psychiatric Association, is considered the bible of psychiatry. It establishes the border between normalcy and mental disorder. Despite its usefulness, one prominent psychiatrist laments that the DSM has become too influential. The definition of normal seems to be steadily shrinking. Frances served as head of the task force that issued the fourth DSM. He worries that the new DSM-5 (which cost $25 million to produce) will further inflate psychiatric diagnosis, resulting in additional overmedication. Already, 20 percent of American adults take one drug or more for a psychiatric condition. About 11 percent of adults used antidepressants in 2010. And prescriptions for antipsychotic medicines have doubled in a decade. Frances frets that the DSM-5 will spawn faddish diagnoses—much like its predecessor, which created false epidemics of attention deficit, autism, and childhood bipolar disorder. This time around, look out for Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder, which morphs temper tantrums into a mental illness, and Minor Neurocognitive Disorder, which turns the forgetfulness of aging into a mental disorder. With ­Solomon-like wisdom, Frances justly doles out blame and offers reasonable remedies. His decree: don’t medicalize human difference; celebrate it. --Tony Miksanek

Review

“Frances delves deeply into the history of mental illness, makes his arguements crisply, and has good personal stories to tell. He’s articulate and learned. ... He’s in favor of not medicating, and thus muffling, all the offbeat pain and beauty out of existance. ... [A] piece of intellectual skywriting.” — Dwight Garner, New York Times

“An extraordinarily candid and important book. Allen Frances has written a fascinating account of the apparent explosion in psychiatric disorders in the United States. — MARCIA ANGELL, M. D., Senior Lecturer in Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and former Editor-in-Chief, New England Journal of Medicine

Saving Normal is a riveting and important book, written with great flair and precise passion. This is a book every psychiatrist, every general practitioner, every student swallowing meds--in fact everyone--needs to read.” — Dr. LISA APPIGNANESI, Chair of the Freud Museum, London, and author of Mad, Bad and Sad

“Frances is largely credited with spearheading the anti-DSM-5 efforts.” — CNN.com

Saving Normal is a clear, convincing, and essential discussion of the twin epidemics facing modern psychiatry: under-treatment of the truly ill and overtreatment of the basically well. It holds immense potential to improve patients’ lives.” — JOSH BAZELL, M.D., New York Times bestselling author of Beat the Reaper: A Novel

“Few are as well-equipped as Frances to map the dynamic field of psychiatry, and his rendering of its shifting contours is timely, crucial, and insightful--as are his solutions for navigating it.” — Publishers Weekly

“With Solomon-like wisdom, Frances justly doles out blame and offers reasonable remedies. His decree: don’t medicalize human difference; celebrate it.” — Booklist (starred review)

“A valuable assessment. ... A no-holds-barred critique.” — Kirkus Reviews

“An indispensable guide for professional and lay readers” — Library Journal

“Allen Frances’s book is fascinating. ... Entertaining.” — Metapsychology

“Authoritative. ... Valuable. ... This is a detailed, nicely constructed account by a highly qualified and well-connected psychiatrist with intimate knowledge of the process. The book is clearly written and surprisingly easy reading.” — The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists

Only $5.95 a month for the first 4 months on Audible. Limited-time only.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mariner Books; 1st edition (May 14, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062229257
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062229250
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.08 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.09 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 414 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Allen Frances, MD, is a clinician, educator, researcher, and leading authority on psychiatric diagnosis. He chaired the DSM-IV Task Force, was a member of the Task Force that prepared DSM-III-R, and wrote the final version of the Personality Disorders section in DSM-III. The author of hundreds of papers and more than a dozen books, Dr. Frances is Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University. He blogs frequently on Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and Education Update.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
414 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 26, 2020
12 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 16, 2014
4 people found this helpful
Report abuse

Top reviews from other countries

Le Legume
5.0 out of 5 stars This book cured my ADHD!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 14, 2016
5 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Gary Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars Sublime analysis by erudite "poacher turned gamekeeper"
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 14, 2014
8 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Martin John Dutton
5.0 out of 5 stars Crucial reading for everyone
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 7, 2015
2 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Paul Avard
5.0 out of 5 stars First class book, clarifies why we shouldn't regard mental ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 12, 2018
Charles R.
4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended reading!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 6, 2018