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First of all, I do agree that overdiagnosing and overmedicalisation are problems that should be taken into account. However, I really didn't like the extreme approach in this book, as well as the awfully subjective examples (like interviews, "my neighbor once said" or "this person thinks that his son was misdiagnosed" type of shit) and far-fetched conclusions. I don't think there's a point in blaming the DSM and its creators for causing a wave of overdiagnosing - it's the specialists who are not doing their job correctly or considering the context of problems) and the problem lies with the education and moral principles and the system. The whole part where the author blames the DSM is just so unnecessary - the DSM is already out there and I still think it's better than nothing - the probability of misdiagnosing would be a lot greater if not for the DSM. In recent years such disproving research has begun to erode the profession’s faith in the chemical imbalance theory. This has led increasing numbers of prominent figures in the mental health profession to declare their defection publicly. To pique your interest in this sea -change, here are a few quotations I’ve managed to gather: Being a young medic who will very soon find himself in the chair making referrals to psychiatry and psychotherapy, I considered myself having a deep personal stake in reading what Davies had to say. And I am glad that Davies puts forth his case so convincingly. Being a medical trainee who devoured every moment of soaking every word of psychology at A-Levels where utterly disparate models of human behaviour could co-exist in a curriculum, I went on to get completely disillusioned after reading psychiatry with its all-explained-through biology model taught during medical school.

He's been huge. I think my personality suits the way he likes to coach and manage players. It's been a good fit for me I guess. Davies also writes about the conflicts of interest that have become endemic to the field recently. Namely, a large number of medical professionals, universities, and medical associations collect bountiful fees from large pharmaceutical companies; in the form of pro-drug speaking fees, donations, consultancy work, and other assorted compensations and incentives for prescribing and advocating for these controversial medications.The RSP president argues that the current methods enable them to get mental health funding. The DSM people that they expect users, somewhat Biblically, to make their own interpretations rather than taking the DSM literally. The latter seems a general issue in anything to do with personality and social policy – people using questionnaires and methods literally; not finding out who the person/s are before making decisions about them. You can add your own here. I don't really think about it too much. I'm just concerned with getting a few games under my belt and getting fit," he said. So the illnesses defined in the DSM are deeply suspect and the criteria used to define them are deeply suspect but worse, the DSM has led to a situation where the drug companies have medicalised the illnesses and produced drugs to treat these "illnesses". I usually love books about how messed up the DSM, Big Pharma, and the social sciences are, but this book was terrible and here is why: As a scientific venture, the theory that low serotonin causes depression appears to be on the verge of collapse. This is as it should be; the nature of science is ultimately to be selfcorrecting.

The results of decades of neurotransmitter-depletion studies point to one inescapable conclusion, low levels of serotonin, norepinephrine or dopamine do not cause depression.’ On a personal level, I have to say that I encountered this particular issue in the early 1970s, where I was given the relevant medication for "anxiety" which made it almost impossible for me to function. The doctor who prescribed these, who I respected and still do, also said quite directly, in Scottish English "you don't like your job, do ya?" thus bringing that issue into full consciousness. When I left that employment to be a full-time student, I knew that I wouldn't need the medication anymore, and so it was. One of the points Davies makes is that the social aspects causing distress, hyperactivity etc are discounted by the medical model, even the neurological model and how research into genes is presented. They went on to lose both to an all-conquering Leinster side, but Davies was rewarded with selection for Wales' 2018 summer tour. The DSM has gone through a number of editions and each time numbers of "new" mental illnesses have been added to the book (82 new illnesses from DSM3 to DSM4). So what are all these "new" mental illnesses. The first thing you’ll notice is that all the groups actually get better on the scale of improvement, even those who had received no treatment at all. This is because many incidences of depression spontaneously reduce by themselves after time without being actively treated. You’ll also see that both psychotherapy and drug groups get significantly better. But, oddly, so does the placebo group. More bizarre still, the difference in improvement between placebo and antidepressant groups is only about 0.4 points, which was a strikingly small amount. ‘This result genuinely surprised us’, said Kirsch leaning forward intently, ‘because the difference between placebos and antidepressants was far smaller than anything we had read about or anticipated..."

Dr Nighat Arif

I surely cannot recommend this book. To read books that take down psychiatry, I would instead read something more like the following: In fact, although not mentioned by the author here; regular vigorous exercise can be as (or more) effective in reducing depressive episodes as pharmaceutical intervention, without any of the accompanying side effects. Exercise regulates hormones and neurotransmitters, reduces inflammation, increases BDNF; among many other benefits and harm reductions. Kruger went to great lengths to keep their January 2003 wedding secret but she later sold the story to a woman's magazine.