Scan barcode
everything_was_beautiful's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
4.75
sarahdenn27's review against another edition
5.0
Completely mind-blowing and eye-opening. I've recently become interested in the idea that hey maybe the modern psychiatry industry isn't some perfect and wholesome thing that we're led to believe it is. No, there are clear issues and plenty of pseudoscience being sold as real science. This book was shocking at first but actually made a lot of sense. Of course, we think we're the best and we know what's right, but do we really? This makes me reconsider everything I've been taught as "fact" within my psych major, as so much of it really can't be proven at all and has been manipulated by someone or other who has a vested interest in benefiting from the industry.
bootman's review against another edition
5.0
As someone who reads a ton of psychology books and books about mental health, I have no clue how I never came across this book. This book is so important, and Ethan Watters did a phenomenal job. Watters highlights the fact that not only do we tend to pathologize everything in the United States, but we completely neglect that different countries and cultures address mental health in a different way. I used to think we don’t talk about mental health enough, but now it feels like we talk about it too much, and every person is being diagnosed with a different illness. While disorders are very real, this book really shows that sometimes we’re sold on the idea that we’re “supposed” to have certain symptoms after different events or “should” be a certain way.
I don’t know what it’s going to take to get this book out to more people, but I can’t recommend it enough to anyone who cares about the conversations around mental health.
I don’t know what it’s going to take to get this book out to more people, but I can’t recommend it enough to anyone who cares about the conversations around mental health.
ari__s's review against another edition
4.0
I struggled with the lack of person-first language in this book; however, overall, it raises important points and may arguably be a text from which required readings should be assigned to all mental health-services students.
niniane's review against another edition
2.5
In 2024, I read the first 3 sections on anorexia in Hong Kong, PTSD in Sri Lanka, schizophrenia in Zanzibar. The premise is that the Western DSM causes damage by inflicting its half-baked ideas onto other countries.
Book summary: The West doesn't understand the biological mechanisms for these illnesses. They use drugs in a heavyhanded way. The media sensationalizes it in a stigmatizing way.
This author is a journalist and not a psychiatrist. He seems to look for an angle and then develop the story along that angle. He finds witnesses who support his premise. I am sure that his points are valid but he doesn't give much time to the other perspective.
He criticized the West for bringing new treatments for psychosis to Zanzibar, which led to stigmatizing the illnesses. But then he didn't explain the positive benefits of the pharmaceutical drugs.
In his view, if the West had not interfered, Sri Lankans would use their own way to recover from the tsunami which involves avoidance and euphemisms. He claims it would be better than Western talk therapy. There is no study to determine which way is better. It is an unscientific premise.
I agree that the DSM is flawed and is heavily influenced by drug makers to be overly prescribing drugs. Also it lumps many unrelated illnesses under one umbrella. The checklists aren't generalizable across cultures.
But this book feels sensationalist and somewhat irresponsible. It is meant to elicit outrage. If this book led to fewer psychiatric drugs being available in Zanzibar, that would be a loss.
In 2011, read 50 pages about the spread of anorexia and then found it too depressing. It is well-written but quite a downer, not inspirational or a call to action. i felt helpless to help.
Book summary: The West doesn't understand the biological mechanisms for these illnesses. They use drugs in a heavyhanded way. The media sensationalizes it in a stigmatizing way.
This author is a journalist and not a psychiatrist. He seems to look for an angle and then develop the story along that angle. He finds witnesses who support his premise. I am sure that his points are valid but he doesn't give much time to the other perspective.
He criticized the West for bringing new treatments for psychosis to Zanzibar, which led to stigmatizing the illnesses. But then he didn't explain the positive benefits of the pharmaceutical drugs.
In his view, if the West had not interfered, Sri Lankans would use their own way to recover from the tsunami which involves avoidance and euphemisms. He claims it would be better than Western talk therapy. There is no study to determine which way is better. It is an unscientific premise.
I agree that the DSM is flawed and is heavily influenced by drug makers to be overly prescribing drugs. Also it lumps many unrelated illnesses under one umbrella. The checklists aren't generalizable across cultures.
But this book feels sensationalist and somewhat irresponsible. It is meant to elicit outrage. If this book led to fewer psychiatric drugs being available in Zanzibar, that would be a loss.
In 2011, read 50 pages about the spread of anorexia and then found it too depressing. It is well-written but quite a downer, not inspirational or a call to action. i felt helpless to help.
gimchi's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating book on how the way in which Americans internalize their thoughts and mental illnesses affects other countries (and not necessarily in a positive manner). It definitely made me look at our culture of individualism in new ways, even on a personal level.
Overall, the book isn't surprising, as I feel that the American culture seems to steamroller others (whether on purpose or by accident) and by the end, it just gets a little depressing. The book seems to say, 'Look at all the terrible things our culture is doing to change and homogenize the world', but at the same time it also seems to say that there's not much we can do about it, other than make ourselves aware of what's going on.
Overall, the book isn't surprising, as I feel that the American culture seems to steamroller others (whether on purpose or by accident) and by the end, it just gets a little depressing. The book seems to say, 'Look at all the terrible things our culture is doing to change and homogenize the world', but at the same time it also seems to say that there's not much we can do about it, other than make ourselves aware of what's going on.
ameliabedeliaful's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5