Saving Normal, Allen Frances, MD
Saving Normal, Allen Frances, MD
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Saving Normal
An Insider’s Revolt Against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life

Author: Allen Frances, MD

Narrator: Paul Boehmer

Unabridged: 11 hr 53 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/14/2017


Synopsis

In Saving Normal, Allen Frances, one of the world's most influential psychiatrists, warns that mislabeling everyday problems as mental illness has shocking implications for individuals and society: stigmatizing a healthy person as mentally ill leads to unnecessary, harmful medications, the narrowing of horizons, misallocation of medical resources, and draining of the budgets of families and the nation. We also shift responsibility for our mental well-being away from our own naturally resilient and self-healing brains, which have kept us sane for hundreds of thousands of years, and into the hands of "Big Pharma," who are reaping multi-billion-dollar profits.

Masterfully charting the history of psychiatric fads throughout history, Frances argues that whenever we arbitrarily label another aspect of the human condition a "disease," we further chip away at our human adaptability and diversity, dulling the full palette of what is normal and losing something fundamental of ourselves in the process. Saving Normal is a call to all of us to reclaim the full measure of our humanity.


About Allen Frances, MD

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.


Reviews

يقدم آلن فرانسيس -الطبيب النفسي الأمريكي البارز- في هذا الكتاب نقدًا حازمًا لما يرى أنه انحراف في بعض أطروحات الطب النفسي المعاصر. وبحكم تجربته الطبية والاستشارية الطويلة، لاسيما ترأسه للفريق الذي عمل على كتابة النسخة الرابعة من "الدليل التشخيصي والإحصائي للاضطرابات النفسية" الشهير، الذي هو إنجيل ال......more

Goodreads review by Lark

I was disappointed. Frances is criticizing "out of control psychiatric diagnoses" from within the system, so the findings feel bland and non-actionable. I'm more of a fan of the style of The Emperor's New Drugs by Irving Kirsch, who gets to the heart of the problem and proposes solutions. Also, from......more

Goodreads review by K

It's a recurring conversation for me, in both professional and social contexts. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that we have so much diagnosis today? Does the proliferation of diagnoses translate into heretofore overlooked individuals with real problems getting much-needed help? Or are we taking p......more