The loss of sadness : how psychiatry transformed normal sorrow into depressive disorder / Allan V. Horwitz and Jerome C. Wakefield.
"Depression has become the single most commonly treated mental disorder, amid claims that one out of ten Americans suffer from this disorder every year and 25% succumb at some point in their lives. Warnings that depressive disorder is a leading cause of worldwide disability have been accompanie...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford ; New York :
Oxford University Press,
2007.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Contributor biographical information |
| Summary: | "Depression has become the single most commonly treated mental disorder, amid claims that one out of ten Americans suffer from this disorder every year and 25% succumb at some point in their lives. Warnings that depressive disorder is a leading cause of worldwide disability have been accompanied by a massive upsurge in the consumption of antidepressant medication, widespread screening for depression in clinics and schools, and a push to diagnose depression early, on the basis of just a few symptoms, in order to prevent more severe conditions from developing." "In The Loss of Sadness, Allan V. Horwitz and Jerome C. Wakefield argue that, while depressive disorder certainly exists and can be a devastating condition warranting medical attention, the apparent epidemic in fact reflects the way the psychiatric profession has understood and reclassified normal human sadness as largely an abnormal experience." "In telling the story behind this phenomenon, the authors draw on the 2,500-year history of writing about depression, including studies in both the medical and social sciences, to demonstrate why the DSM's diagnosis is so flawed. They also explore why it has achieved almost unshakable currency despite its limitations."--BOOK JACKET. |
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| Physical Description: | xiii, 287 pages ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-279) and index. |
| ISBN: | 0195313046 9780195313048 |