Overview

For more than two years, author and psychotherapist Gary Greenberg has embedded himself in the war that broke out over the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM)--the American Psychiatric Association's compendium of mental illnesses and what Greenberg calls the book of woe. Since its debut in 1952, the book has been frequently revised, and with each revision, the official view on which psychological problems constitute mental illness. Homosexuality, for instance, was a mental illness until 1973, and Asperger's gained recognition in 1994 only to see its status challenged nearly twenty years later. Each revision has created controversy, but the DSM-5, the newest iteration, has shaken psychiatry to its foundations. The APA has taken fire from patients, mental health practitioners, and former members for extending the reach of psychiatry into daily life by encouraging doctors to diagnose more illnesses and prescribe more therapies--often medications whose efficacy is unknown and whose side effects are severe. Critics--including Greenberg--argue that the APA should not have the naming rights to psychological pain or to the hundreds of millions of dollars the organization earns, especially when even the DSM's staunchest defenders acknowledge that the disorders listed in the book are not real illnesses. Greenberg's account of the history behind the DSM, which has grown from pamphlet-sized to encyclopedic since it was first published, and his behind-the-scenes reporting of the deeply flawed process by which the DSM-5 has been revised is both riveting and disturbing. Anyone who has received a diagnosis of mental disorder, filed a claim with an insurer, or just wondered whether daily troubles qualify as true illness should know how the DSM turns suffering into a commodity and the APA into its own biggest beneficiary. Invaluable and informative, The Book of Woe is bound to spark intense debate among expert and casual listeners alike.

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Reviews

"A compelling insider's challenge to psychiatry's scientific pretensions and a plea to return it to its humanistic roots.-- ""Publishers Weekly Starred Reviews"" ""[A] brilliant take-down of the psychiatric profession...The Book of Woe offers a lucid and useful history."" -- ""Chicago Tribune"" ""An eye-popping look at the unnerving, often tawdry politics of psychiatry."" -- ""Gene Weingarten, Pulitzer Prize-winning author"" ""Greenberg's documentation of the DSM-5 revision process is an essential read for practicing and in-training psychotherapists and psychiatrists and is an important contribution to the history of psychiatry."" -- ""Library Journal"""

Author Information

Gary Greenberg is a practicing psychotherapist in Connecticut and the author of The Noble Lie. He has written about the intersection of science, politics, and ethics for many publications, including Harper's, the New Yorker, Wired, Discover, Rolling Stone, and Mother Jones, where he's a contributing writer. David Drummond has made his living as an actor for over twenty-five years, appearing on stages large and small. He received an AudioFile Earphones Award for his first audiobook, Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay. When not narrating, he keeps busy writing plays and stories for children.

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