 |
 |
It looks like Whitaker is going to headline at the DCP Annual do in Oxford later in the year and I am working to get him into Sussex for a more survivor orientated event. In the same edition of the Forum Dave Pilgrim has another pithy piece/letter 'getting into a collective fix over diagnosis' saying dont blame it on the psychiatrists as we are up to our eyes in promoting diagnosis and psychopathological/illogical psychology. Its no 230 Feb 2012. This isnt newsworthy on this list but seems to be gaining more currency/traction in the Clinical Psychology zone. The political economy of distress sounds good. I am doing a photography project on the Branding and Marketing of the Psychological Therapies and will be writing this up. I was until recently responsible for governing them and they were being invented/rebranded faster than I could find out what they were! Richard On 27 Jan 2012, at 06:38, Mark Rapley wrote: > Dear Richard, > > That's an extraordinarily kind review: thank you. And stand by for Vol 2 - subtitled 'The political economy of distress'. > > Best to all! > > Cheers > > Mark > > On 27 January 2012 06:06, Richard Pemberton <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > My review below has just been published in clinical psychology forum > >>>> Book Review >>>> >>>> Anatomy of an Epidemic - Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America Robert Whitaker (Whitaker, 2010) >>>> >>>> >>>> De - Medicalising Misery - Psychiatry Psychology and the Human Condition Mark Rapley Joanna Moncrieff and Jaqui Dillon.(Moncrieff, Rapley, & Dillon, 2011) >>>> >>>> Reviewed by Richard Pemberton >>>> >>>> These are two timely and important books. They both cogently challenge 'the simplistic and pessimistic biological models' that continue to hold sway in much of current mental health care. Rudi Dallos says in the introduction to De-Medicalising Misery we need not only reflective practice but also a complacency monitor. Both of these books troubled me about the service norms, and reductionist asocial psychological and psychiatric practice that are still so commonplace. If your spirit is flagging these books might help you get out of bed in the morning. >>>> >>>> Whitaker’s Anatomy of an Epidemic builds on his earlier book Mad in America (Whitaker, 2002). He is a campaigning scientific journalist. It is a good read, is well argued and referenced. He builds a compelling case for the damaging long term effects of psychotropic medications. He does this by asking: Whether our drug focused paradigm of care is working for individuals and society? Whether the chemical imbalance story is true? And how do psychiatric medications shape the long-term course of major mental disorders? To answer all these questions he reviews the scientific literature. He majors on the lack of long-term studies, the misinterpretation of relapses when medications are withdrawn, the systematic misrepresentation of trial data, and the WHO literature indicating better outcomes in psychosis in the developing world. His chapters on the Epidemic Spreading to Children are particularly alarming. Political science rather than psychology surely better explains the 3.5 million American children currently on stimulants for 'ADHD' and the equally exponential rate of increase of their prescription here. >>>> >>>> In his final chapter on Blueprints for Reform he says that the ‘psychiatric establishment has failed to tell us that the drugs worsen long-term outcomes’. He advocates a much more evidence based, cautious and questioning approach to the use of all psychotropic medications and a return to models of care that promote alternative forms of non drug care. His analysis places too much responsibility on the iatrogenic effects of medication to explain the dramatic increase in long-term disability claimants due to mental health difficulties. He doesn’t attempt to address or weigh the associated societal and political factors in his equation and this weakness is reflected in his suggested solutions. See his website for more details of these. >>>> >>>> If Whitaker’s analysis is correct and I suspect much of it is. He is highlighting a significant multibillion tragedy and scandal and it is puzzling why his book hasn’t thus far had a higher profile in the UK. >>>> >>>> De-Medicalising Misery is a very different sort of book. A significant number of its contributors , such as Irving Kirsch and Joanna Moncrieff are cited by Whitaker. The book has its roots in papers presented at conferences convened by the University of East London with the Critical Psychiatry and Hearing Voices Networks. The nineteen chapters are short and pithy and give a good introduction to the work of many of key critical figures who are challenging received wisdom in current psychological and psychiatric practice. I particularly liked David Harpers chapter on the Social Context of Paranoia. This is a must read given the levels of fear currently prevalent in public services. He conceptually unpicks paranoia and argues for more attention to experiences of trust mistrust and suspicion. He also helpfully places paranoia in the context of falling societal levels of trust. Sami Timmi, a leading critical child psychiatrist, has a great chapter on Medicalising Masculinity. This is also a must read for those who want to make sense of the ever rising tides of ‘Autism’ and ‘ADHD’. Lucy Johnstone has a strong chapter Can Traumatic Events Traumatize People,Trauma, Madness and ‘Psychosis’ reviewing Reads’ work on the links between trauma, child abuse and madness. She argues for trauma informed services. My favourite contribution is from Mary Boyle Making the World Go Away, and How Psychology and Psychiatry Benefit. She unpicks the secondary gain and costs for clinical psychology of converting experience to symptoms or disorders which means that ‘research can be and is carried out using intrapsychic attributes without ever mentioning context and life experience’. She argues that our anxiety to be truely scientific has led to an over identification with the natural and biological sciences. We talk biopsychosocial but our science and practice priviledges the biopsycho. >>>> >>>> There is lots more of real merit in this book. It is required reading for all who are wrestling with the regressive and reductionist components of Care Pathways and their associated payments and will be very helpful to anyone in urgent need of a complacency monitor. >>>> >>>> Both books make an important background contribution to the debates about our collective response to DSM 5, our disciplines strategic alliances and direction of travel, and ability to speak out, and whether and why, as Richard Hassall and John Clements have argued, ‘ Clinical Psychology has lost its way’. >>>> >>>> >>>> Further reading: >>>> >>>> Hassall, R. and Clements, J. 2011 Clinical Psychology getting lost? Accident strategy or symptom? Clinical Psychology Forum no 217 >>>> >>>> Moncrieff, J., Rapley, M., & Dillon, J. (2011). De-medicalizing misery : psychiatry, psychology and the human condition. Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York: Palgrave Macmillan. >>>> >>>> Whitaker, R. (2002). Mad in America : bad science, bad medicine, and the enduring mistreatment of the mentally ill. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Pub. >>>> >>>> Whitaker, R. (2010). Anatomy of an epidemic : magic bullets, psychiatric drugs, and the astonishing rise of mental illness in America. New York: Crown Publishers. >>>> >>>> Website: >>>> >>>> www.madinamerica.com >>>> > ___________________________________ There is a twitter feed: http://twitter.com/CommPsychUK (to post contact Grant [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe or to change your details on this COMMUNITYPSYCHUK list, visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK > > > > -- > Mark > > +44 7591 908 409 > +44 203 083 3872 > > ___________________________________ There is a twitter feed: http://twitter.com/CommPsychUK (to post contact Grant [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe or to change your details on this COMMUNITYPSYCHUK list, visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK ___________________________________ There is a twitter feed: http://twitter.com/CommPsychUK (to post contact Grant [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe or to change your details on this COMMUNITYPSYCHUK list, visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK