Mixed feelings about this book.

Breggin outlines how ineffective and dangerous standard “treatments” (drugs, electro shock, lobotomy) are for psychiatric problems. This is the majority of the book and is well done.

Many other authors recognize the problems with these methods yet still propose their usefulness “in certain circumstances”, while Breggin remains firmly against them. This was refreshing to read.

But, Breggin seems to be totally against the idea that psychiatric problems have ANY biological basis, and that is hard for me to believe. The psychiatry world is mostly split between those who believe that the problems are purely psychological (like Breggin), and those who believe they are biological. The problem is, the “biopsychiatrists”, like medical doctors in general, believe that these biological problems can only be treated with drugs, shock, and surgery.

But biology to me means nutrients, foods, sleep, stress, EMF, etc. In over 400 pages there wasn’t a single word about food or nutrition, let alone any of the other things that affect our biology or psychology. This made the book fall apart for me.

Breggin makes a strong case for empathy, love, listening, and so on, being important in psychological treatment. This I cannot deny. But all the love in the world won’t fix a nutrient deficiency. Breggin has totally abandoned biological explanations and that to me is very wrong.

Surely some mental illness is purely psychological. But definitely not all of it is. I would argue that the vast majority of cases are caused by a blend of BOTH psychological issues AND biological issues.

This book is readable if you are only interested in the harms of standard treatment. But it is hard for me to recommend because the underlying thesis is pervasive.