Try to Remember: Psychiatry’s Clash Over Meaning, Memory, and Mind

Abstract

For generations, psychiatrists and psychotherapists have helped people cope with major depression, bipolar disorder, and other mental illnesses. But when misdirections and fads in psychiatric and therapeutic practices run wild, the "experts" can instead cause pain and suffering to patients and families. Paul R. McHugh, 2008 winner of the Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health, delivers a first-hand account of his battle against the theory of "repressed sexual memories" in the 1990s and closes with an argument against today's excessive diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Driven by a deep passion to rid psychiatry of nonscientiflc practices and armed with more than 50 years of teaching, practicing, and investigating in the field, McHugh describes how unrealistic expectations and ineffective treatment were promoted for too long by followers of Sigmund Freud and by practitioners who did not see psychiatry as a subspecialty of medicine-and did not follow the methods and practices that coherent medicine demands. For patients, families, and mental health providers, a passionate McHugh outlines the best practices in psychiatry, shows us how coherent therapy functions, and describes a clear and comprehensive approach to accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)