A Straight Talking Introduction to Psychiatric Diagnosis (second edition)

Do you need your psychiatric diagnosis? This book will help you decide. In this second, updated edition of a best-selling title, Lucy Johnstone revisits the revolution that is underway in mental health. No one doubts that people’s distress is very real – but are they actually suffering from illnesses that need a diagnosis? In today’s world, where mental health is a crucial topic, this might seem an odd question. And yet even the authors of the diagnostic manuals are admitting that these categories are not supported by evidence. No one has been able to identify the ‘chemical imbalances’ that are said to cause distress. No one can reliably distinguish one ‘mental illness’ from another. And the more labels and pills we offer, the faster the increase in mental health problems. Something is badly wrong. Johnstone shows that we need to change the question from ‘What’s wrong with you?’ to ‘What’s happened to you?’ Distress, even its severe forms, arises out of our lives and relationships.