In just two decades, pointing out the pseudoscience of the DSM has gone from being an “extremist slur of radical anti-psychiatrists” to a mainstream proposition from the former chairs of both the DSM-3 and DSM-4 taskforces and the director of NIMH. In addition to the pathologizing of normal behaviors, another explanation for the epidemic the adverse effects of psychiatric medications is also evolving from radical to mainstream, thanks primarily to the efforts of Robert Whitaker and his book Anatomy of an Epidemic. While diagnostic expansionism and Big Pharma certainly deserve a large share of the blame for this epidemic, there is another reason.
The International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry had the clout to draw a stellar line-up of presenters to its recent conference, including internationally prominent critics like David Healy, Peter Gøtzsche, Robert Whitaker and Allen Frances. There were lots of learnings and even some tense discussions, but one of the most intriguing aspects of the entire conference was the way in which scientific and social issues became deeply intertwined, especially when presenters reached for better pathways forward.
An Educational Alternative to the Medical Model of Mental Health
Researchers propose a model of addressing mental health issues or “problems of living” as an alternative to the psychiatric medical model.
The
Journal of Humanistic Psychology, which has published high-profile challenges to psychiatric diagnosis, recently republished seminal articles for its 60
th-anniversary. The issue aimed to spark renewed scholarship that challenges the current paradigm in psychiatry and clinical psychology as well as research on alternatives to the current paradigm.
The issue features, “The Solving Problems in Everyday Living Model: Toward a Demedicalized, Education-Based Approach to ‘Mental Health,” by Tomi Gomory and colleagues from Florida State University. The