They
Say You're Crazy: How the World's Most Powerful
Psychiatrists
Decide Who's Normal
by Paula J. Caplan
Reviews
Booknews, Inc., August 1, 1995
A psychologist and former consultant to
those who construct the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders - used by most psychiatrists, therapists,
and social workers evaluating patients - offers lay readers an inside look
at the process by which decisions about abnormality are made. Caplan says
scientific methods and evidence are often disregarded as the handbook is
revised and that the personal biases and political considerations behind
it are masquerading as solid science and truth. Extensive bibliography.
Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
From Booklist, April 15, 1995
Psychologist Caplan shows how the American
Psychiatric Association's bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders, lacks the scientific basis claimed for it. Drawing
on her years as an adviser-consultant to various related APA committees,
she brings to light the association's lack of interest in outsiders' views
and the sloppy design and execution of the research it accepts as authoritative.
Caplan cites two diagnostic entities, self-defeating personality disorder
and premenstrual dysphoric disorder, not only to demonstrate the association's
narrow-mindedness and sloppy scientific manners but also to underline the
dangers of labeling individuals or groups with such designations. The APA
is aided, wittingly or not, by news media reliance on association news
releases and the association's biased use of language, and the problems
caused thereby affect women in particular, for APA material is also used
for political and social purposes. William Beatty, Copyright© 1995,
American Library Association. All rights reserved
Synopsis
Shedding light on the shocking process by
which the mental-health elite judge us all, psychologist Paula Caplan debunks
and demystifies the intentionally intimidating psychobabble and pronouncements
of the American Psychiatric Association. "Gives us a fighting chance to
avoid becoming victims of the mental health establishment."
- Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Synopsis
Revealing the way accepted psychological
guidelines are established, typically by a conservative group of white
males, a cautionary manual argues that standard life problems are often
misdiagnosed as mental disorders.
Customer Comments
A shopper from Palo Alto,
California, March 3, 1999
A must for all psychology students.
A well-researched, inside view of how psychological
diagnoses are created. Paula Caplan, an APA "Eminent Psychologist", clearly
explains the pitfalls and dangers inherent in the process, and the implications
for the lives of millions of clients.
* * *
People DO have various problems with life.
Instead of naming and redefining these problems as various "mental diseases",
and labeling people with them, as is currently done within the psychiatric
community, these problems with life and living are best understood and
addressed outside of the traditional psychiatric paradigm. Why?
Because psychiatric "treatments" such as ECT, lobotomy, and powerful psychotropic
drugs are barbaric, based upon severe faulty scientific methodology, and
quite simply, harm people.
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