Indian summer Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I just came across this title through the McGill University Press (Canada) and I'm intrigued. Obviously I haven't read it yet, but Amazons book description sounds so interesting. "There is growing international resistance to the oppressiveness of psychiatry. While previous studies have critiqued psychiatry, Psychiatry Disrupted goes beyond theorizing what is wrong with it to theorizing how we might stop it. Introducing readers to the arguments and rationale for opposing psychiatry, the book combines perspectives from anti-psychiatry and critical psychiatry activism, mad activism, antiracist, critical, and radical disability studies, as well as feminist, Marxist, and anarchist thought. The editors and contributors are activists and academics - adult education and social work professors, psychologists, prominent leaders in the psychiatric survivor movement, and artists - from across Canada, England, and the United States. From chapters discussing feminist opposition to the medicalization of human experience, to the links between psychiatry and neo-liberalism, to internal tensions within the various movements and different identities from which people organize, the collection theorizes psychiatry while contributing to a range of scholarship and presenting a comprehensive overview of resistance to psychiatry in the academy and in the community. A courageous anthology, Psychiatry Disrupted is a timely work that asks compelling activist questions that no other book in the field touches." Could an entire field of science really be that flawed? Here's the Amazon link. http://www.amazon.com/Psychiatry-Disrupted-Theorizing-Resistance-evolution/dp/0773543309/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394044172&sr=8-1&keywords=Psychiatry+disrupted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Has me very skeptical. Without a psychiatrist, I am not sure my son would be here today. I am not a big fan of psychiatric meds, but they can be lifesaving in some instances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I agree with Ellen. Although I might be less keen on psychiatry, it still has it's place. The description paints the book as extreme rather than a cautioned look at the field. Maybe it's that way to sell books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Sounds like an extremist to me. Maybe someone's jealous because they don't have a prescription pad? Knowing how much psychiatry has been helpful to so many people, there's no way I could take this book as anything other than alarmist and dangerous. My guess is those feminists who oppose "the medicalization of the human experience" have never had any real exposure to the complexities of psychiatric patients and their treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanne Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I did cursory research of the 3 authors. Radical feminism and "mad counter culture" seem to be the foundational orientation of the authors. http://www.lepanoptique.com/sections/societe/still-mad-after-all-these-years/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanne Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I'm not going to lie, I will definitely read this book when it comes out! But I'm annoyed by how "grabby" the description is... I love love love, however, Mary Pipher...all her books, but especially the book The Shelter Of Each Other, which I mention because in part of it, she summarily goes through some ways the psychology field has been hurtful specifically in relation to family. I enjoyed this book as well. IIRC, she posited homeschooling in very positive and informed context. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indian summer Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 I'm enjoying the differing views on the topic. I just noticed the book hasn't been released yet, doh! So I guess noone has read it! The description is annoyingly extreme. And it certainly is an extreme idea that psychiatry is a complete failure. I don't hold that view but I am interested in the stories of the people who feel damaged or failed by psychiatry. I think the stories are real - though they only tell half the story, of course, there is another side of lives saved and people healing and illnesses managed quite well. But I'm not opposed to reading about their very real experiences. I can understand why some people would go to the extreme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Alyssa* Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Like everything, there is a balance to things and when that balance tips too far to either side, it throws things off. Counseling/Psychiatry has both helped and hurt many people. It is wrong for anyone to suggest it hasn't been helpful to others, but it is equally wrong for those it has been helpful to, to ignore those who have been tragically hurt. Such a delicate balance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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