Doctoring the Mind: Why psychiatric treatments fail

Description

'Wonderful . . . A clear guide through the fog of myth and misperception surrounding the subject' Hilary Mantel Why is the Western world's treatment of mental illness so flawed? Who really benefits from psychiatry? And why would a patient in Nigeria have a much greater chance of recovery than one in the UK? In Doctoring the Mind, leading clinical psychologist Richard Bentall reveals the shocking truths behind the system of mental health care in the West. With a heavy dependence on pills and the profit they bring, psychiatry has been relying on myths and misunderstandings of madness for too long, and builds on methods which can often hinder rather than help the patient. Bentall argues passionately for a new future of mental health, one that considers the patient as an individual and redefines our understanding and treatment of madness for the twenty-first century.

Richard Bentall has held chairs in clinical psychology at the universities of Liverpool and Manchester, and is currently Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Bangor in Wales. Known internationally for his research into the causes and treatment of severe mental illness, his previous book, Madness Explained- Psychosis and Human Nature won the British Psychological Society Book Award for 2004.

Bentall is one of psychiatry's most eloquent enemies . . . the drugs don't work * Sunday Times * It is the very balance of his approach that drives his opponents crazy . . . Passionate . . . a brave book * Observer * Bentall pulls no punches . . . his credentials ensure that his punches carry weight * Guardian * Paints a stark picture of a mental health system riddled with corruption and incompetence * The Times * Wonderful. Everyone personally or professionally concerned with mental health should read this . . . I dearly wish it could be put into the hands of the politicians and their advisors who make decisions about the life and rights of others * Hilary Mantel * At a time when dialogue in the presence of other human beings is becoming less and less available, this brave book gives a sense of why this could be disastrous * Salley Vickers, Observer *