Overview

"The orthodox mental health industry is a form of social and moral control and not a true medical system. It has created the ""myth of mental illness"" that fools people into believing common and adaptive human reactions to emotional pain are illnesses or otherwise signs of personal dysfunction. This critique is not new. It arose six decades ago at a time when psychiatry was embracing the biology of human distress and the use of mind-altering drugs to numb that distress. However, this shift in mainstream psychiatry's focus was not based on science. Instead, it was based on the industry's flailing attempt to present itself as a legitimate medical specialty. Yet, despite the many ways over the ensuing years that professionals, academicians, and activists have described this myth and its dangers, traditional psychiatry has become an even more powerful force and a threat to human freedom and dignity. Smoke and Mirrors explains why nothing has changed and it offers a humane alternative to the current system. Part I exposes how this myth is hidden behind a disguise of medicine that fools not only the lay public, but also the very professionals of the mental health industry. Illusions of language, created with medical terms and verbal sleights of hand, permeate both lay and professional discourse. Words like ""healthy,"" ""patient,"" ""diagnosis,"" and the very phrases ""mental illness"" and ""mental health,"" perpetuate a belief that emotional distress and troublesome behaviors are medical matters to be corrected through medical means. So-called ""evidence"" presented in professional journals and popular news accounts of ""mental illness"" falls short of the basic requirements of science and critical thought. Research fails to provide evidence to support the orthodox claim that human distress is about real illness. So-called ""treatment"" for it is likewise without scientific merit, and instead, mostly consists of trying to stop people from complaining about real life problems. When successful, it is called ""effective treatment"" and ""symptom reduction."" In other words, the mental health industry is not scientific - it is pseudoscientific. It is a system of moral judgments and injunctions. Real illness is about physiological viability and there are natural thresholds between healthy and unhealthy physiological functioning. But with ""mental illness,"" there is no natural boundary between it and mental health. Thus, arbitrary moral judgments must be made to distinguish the two. Part II of the book removes the disguise and presents a humane non-medical and non-illness alternative to understanding the very real and distressing problems we face in life. Germane philosophical issues regarding the mind-body difference, emotions, and existential dilemmas are explored. Various ""mental illness"" diagnoses are explained as different types of escape strategies - attempts to break free of the inherent painful emotions in living. But the problem is not the pain. It is the futility of attempting to escape that pain indefinitely. Without the specter of ""mental illness"" as a force that dictates or prevents personal actions, we are left with the realization that mental disability, impairment, and insanity are fictions too. The key to overcoming emotional distress and wayward conduct lies in personal desire, willingness, and choice."

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Reviews

Dr. Ruby fearlessly rips the mask off mental health industry guilds. Combining evidence with powerful stories - including about himself - in straightforward and clear prose, he reveals what's in it for the guilds and Big Pharma and describes humane ways that really do help those who long for surcease from anguish. -Paula J. Caplan, Ph.D., author of They Say You're Crazy and The Myth of Women's Masochism In Smoke and Mirrors, Dr. Ruby takes readers on a lucid, entertaining journey, artfully deconstructing the mental illness story that has been told to us for the past decades, and, at the same time, reminding us that to suffer and to struggle is to be human. By the book's end, readers will have one thought: please let an understanding of our common humanity be the philosophical foundation for a new psychiatry that will replace the old. -Robert Whitaker, Author of Mad in America and Anatomy of an Epidemic Dr. Ruby exposes the muddled language that leads emotionally distressed people to seek drugs from physicians when they might seek counselors who teach from wisdom, example, and tested evidence. Against the seductive but dangerous trends of medicalized labels and fake disease constructs, Smoke and Mirrors helps persons to emancipate themselves from oppressive conditions by perfecting their speech, and therefore their thinking, about the human predicament. -David Cohen, Ph.D., Professor of Social Welfare, UCLA and co-author of Mad Science Smoke and Mirrors is the best book on mental health and mental illness that I have read in the 45 years that I have been a clinical psychologist. It is also engagingly written. Although written for a lay audience, it should be required reading for all professionals in the field. I recommend it highly. -Irving Kirsch, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, University of Connecticut, and University of Hull, author of The Emperor's New Drugs Be warned... Dr. Ruby's Smoke and Mirrors exposes the orthodox mental health industry's deceptive claim that everyday distress and difficulties must be eradicated with medical treatment. The result is an explosion of chemical prescriptions causing diseases such as diabetes, gynecomastia, and tardive dyskinesia, which justify legal remedies. A must read! -Stephen Sheller, Esq., plaintiff's co-counsel in Murray vs. Janssen Pharmaceuticals and author of Big Pharma, Big Greed Today, psychiatry's highest authorities admit that their chemical imbalance theory of mental illness is invalid. Smoke and Mirrors details how the mental health industry lacks any scientific underpinnings but is instead a religion - a morality crusade that makes arrogant assumptions about what aspects of our humanity are illnesses. -Bruce E. Levine, Ph.D., author of Resisting Illegitimate Authority Dr. Ruby is the Mr. Spock of psychology. With unassailable logic, he tackles such topics as diagnoses, psychiatric drugs, psychotherapy, and even the nature of reality. Smoke and Mirrors deconstructs the unscientific and harmful mental illness industry and replaces it with a humane model of knowing and helping others. Fabulous! -Jim Gottstein, Esq., author of The Zyprexa Papers Smoke and Mirrors provides a superb overview of the deceitful, dangerous practices at the heart of psychiatry and the mental health industry. Dr. Ruby carefully exposes the industry's myth-making and general chicanery, painting a vivid picture of what reimagined, more effective and more humane help might look like. Highly recommended! -Eric Maisel, Ph.D., author of The Future of Mental Health

Author Information

"Chuck Ruby, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist in private practice in southern Maryland. He is the Executive Director of the International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry (ISEPP), a non-profit research and public education organization that rejects the traditional medical notion of ""mental illness"" and calls for humane ways of helping people who suffer from significant life distress. Dr. Ruby was trained in clinical psychology at the Florida State University, earning his Ph.D. in 1995. He is also a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who served in counterespionage, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative assignments across the globe."

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