Psychiatry and the Business of Madness: An Ethical and Epistemological Accounting

by B. Burstow

Overview

Based on extensive research, this book is a fundamental critique of psychiatry that examines the foundations of psychiatry, refutes its basic tenets, and traces the workings of the industry through medical research and in-depth interviews.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137503848
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	04/01/2015
Edition description:	2015
Pages:	302
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Bonnie Burstow is Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Canada. She is a philosopher, feminist therapist, and an antipsychiatry activist. Her other works include Radical Feminist Therapy (1992), Psychiatry Disrupted (2014), Toward a Radical Understanding of Trauma and Trauma Work (2003), and A Rose by Any Other Name: Naming and the Battle against Psychiatry (2013).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to the Study: Unveiling the Problematic 2. The Evolution of "Madness": A Journey "through Time" 3. Modernity (1890-2014): A Journey through Time, Part Two 4. Probing the Boss Text: The DSM—What? Whither? How? Which? 5. The Beast/In the Belly of the Beast: Pinioned by Paper 6. The Psychiatric Team 7. Marching to "Pharmageddon": Psychopharmacy Unmasked 8. Electroshock—Not a Healing Option 9. Dusting Ourselves Off and Starting Anew

Editorial Reviews

"This is a powerfully unsettling book. Burstow expresses outrage about, and level-headed analysis of, the oppressive and alienating practices of psychiatry and holds out hope for emancipation that builds on everyday interactions in a transformed society. It's an outstanding contribution to critical thinking about mental health, and to ethics, law, and social change a no-holds barred, take-no-prisoners radical history and deconstruction of all modern mental health practices and an ambitious, inspiring 'eutopian' proposal for their reinvention." - David Cohen, Professor and Marjorie Crump Chair in Social Welfare, University of California, Los Angeles, US

From the Publisher