Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good by Davies, James (2014) Paperback

A great strength of this highly informed, deeply thoughtful deconstruction of psychiatry is that it is written more in sorrow than in anger. Davies cares about people, including people in the profession. He draws on interviews with, and research conducted by psychiatrists to reveal to us....the public...a profession in torment and turmoil.The one great enemy, for whom Davies has no sympathy for, is Big Pharma. He evidences its moral bankruptcy in depth and, in the final analysis, attributes greed as the foundation to the vast array of ills that bedevil psychiatry today.Highly accessible, a great read, required reading.

This book should be read by everyone thinking about receiving therapy or training as a therapist. Finding out that the DSM sysytem (the UNinspired "bible" of psychiatry) is NOT research-based but voted on by a small committee made me think of the struggles in learning this stuff for Abnormal Psychology class! Then the "name becomes the thing". Over-diagnosis. Often including psychotropic drugs which frequently increase the problem or add an additional problem. A very eye-opening book.Rhydonia Holt AndersonLicensed Professional CounselorLicensed Marriage & Family Therapist

This book is well written exposing the collusion with Big Pharma and Psychiatry, the lack of evidence based results, the early deaths of those taking the drugs long term and what needs to be done to fix the problem!

Good read. If you're relatively new to emotional disorders, psychology/psychiatry, and the medications available to help with mental illness (Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Depression, Bi Polar, and other all too pervasive disorders), this book might help you get a game plan together more effectively than w/o knowing this down-side perspective.You need an outstanding psychiatrist to work with. This means you need to "shop" one, meeting with a variety, asking questions, so you can make a best choice. First, male or female clinician isn't as important as the personality. 1. are they immediately empathic, intuitive, and listen well, right off the bat? 2. Ask about contact. i.e.: should you be (hopefully infrequently, but it could happen) up-against-the-wall emotionally, something difficult happens, can you make contact with your shrink directly? In my opinion, the best agree with the caveat it has to be bad. 3. If an appointment is needed, how far ahead does scheduling work? Will you need to wait two weeks to get an appointment? In my opinion, a good shrink will work you in NEXT DAY...if you're seriously in trouble.Medications are unfortunately stunningly tricky. Often prescribed are an SSRI (Prozav, Celexa, Effexor XR, etc.). These drugs assist the brain's ability to pick-up Serotonin being missed to improve mood. They typically can take 2.5 to 4 weeks to get into the bloodstream, and begin to work. If one isn't working, switching to another requires another 3-4 week chunk of time to wait fior signs of efficacy. Added, might be an anti-anxiety (anxiolytic) drug, typically a benzodiazepine (Xanax, Klonopin, even Valium (still), and many others, to provide immediate relied from feeling anxious. These are in your system in 20-30 minutes and help reduce the fight/flight panic sensations. Note prolonged use of "benzos" are currently seen as contributing to cognitive impairment and perhaps Alzheimer's like symptoms down the road. Despite that unpleasant thought...if you cannot function without your Xanax, you need to make a call, with your doctor, as what's best to do. Please don't forget you're the one hurting, and the psychiatrist you pay foir his/her services. Good communications are critical. Choose wisely as I said.I'm a big believer in "Talking Therapy". Talking with a therapist AND meds, seem to be the ideal combination for many. Some can get by with just talking. Studies have shown...that the understandings, re-evaluations, stunning insights, perspective-changing dialogues...in a weekly therapeutic alliance, can make changes in brain chemistry, the same as medications can. It simply takes a lot longer via talk therapy. The difference being that understanding what ails you emotionally/psychologically, through talk therapy...yields changes that last a lifetime, as opposed to meds as long as you take them. A good therapist, you see weekly to spill your guts with, talk about the unthinkable in a safe, empathic environment, and the new understandings which come ftrom a long time association like this...can change your world the longer and harder you work. Therapy is not for sissies, or those who hold back. You have to open completely.This book will help dispel the idea that you see a psychiatrist, get a "cocktail" of medications, feel better and you're done thinking.Hope this offers some insight.Ron

Well researched and written by someone who has had the opportunity to see the disaster unfolding from the inside. The information regarding the FDA approval process for new depression medications is worth the price of the book. One could be led to believe the intended goal in all this is to produce a population of dumbed down automatons who are afraid to face life as it is. This volume should be read by anyone who's been "diagnosed" with depression and prescribed medication for it. No wonder the psychiatric profession didn't like Albert Ellis!

The author confirms that there is little viable science but great money for those involved in the practice of psychiatry. The relationship between the registration of fabricated syndromes and the creation of pharmaceutical drugs available for treatment suggests that too often the practitioners and supportive industries have managed to create un-necessary crutches for malingerers and thereby line their own pockets. It would appear that practitioners and dramatic performances by wanna-be patients are standing in line to harvesting income from the psychotic syndrome mine they have created. I am forced to admire how standard behavioral observations are re-defined to get so many new "syndromes" recognized and therefore compensable. It would appear that the science associated with today's medical practice of psychiatry has progressed to the same point as surgery during the middle ages. Sadly misdiagnosis is prevalent and dedicated practitioners are either too trusting or too gullible. The reader is left with the impression that psychiatric practitioners , like game fish, have difficulty distinguishing live bait from artificial.

Well written and enjoyable, I didn’t know anything about psychiatry but I think this book gives you a nice foundation for the struggle within the community to provide better transparency, very good read.

This book has changed how I look at the mental health industry forever. It is well written, well researched and compelling. Everyone should read this. The pharmaceutical industry are doing so much damage that is being ignored by so many of us.

Wenn auch z. T. etwas einseitig - trotzdem v. a. für Therapeuten: Pflichtlektur!!

This book aims to debunk all the myths about mental health and provides a new perspective to our emotional suffering.

Nice book. Helpful and informative.

Una magnifica indagine sulla psichiatria moderna. James Davies ha analizzato tutto: l'evoluzione della psichiatria, come sono nate le classificazioni del DSM, i farmaci con i loro effetti e gli studi che stanno alla base del loro utilizzo, la propaganda delle malattie e dei farmaci psichiatrici tra i medici e tra la popolazione generale.La storia e il quadro che emergono non sono per nulla confortanti. Bugie, invenzioni e speculazioni sono diffusissime in questo settore della medicina. L'autore riesce a mantenersi neutrale: il libro non è un atto d'accusa, ma un'esposizione di fatti. Semmai, Davies sembra scioccato quanto lo può essere il lettore."Cracked" non vuole convincervi che gli psichiatri sono tutti degli imbroglioni e che il malato psichiatrico non deve cercare aiuto, ma è un libro importantissimo per capire che siamo ben lontani dalle cure ottimali per questi malati, e che dietro ai grandi entusiasmi di "esperti" e venditori di farmaci ci sono interessi giganteschi.Una lettura che raccomando a tutti i colleghi medici, e a chiunque altro.

Well researched and eminently readable for the non specialist. I felt that the author, while doing a great job of debunking psychiatry and reminding us that mental torment and anguish is in fact often a normal response to stress and distress, was wisely restrained in his criticisms of current practice as no doubt there are many excellent and thoroughly wise mental health professionals out there..... But how can we judge?I guess, when all's said and done, what shocks me most is not the drug companies burying of unfavourable research, or even their deliberate targetting of new consumers. After all they are ultimately out to SELL a lot of drugs not matter what altruistic motives they purport to have. No what shocks me is how large numbers of highly academic medical professionals can apparently have allowed themselves to become so immersed in the medical/biological understanding of the brain that they seem to be unable to even consider other ways of thinking. Closed minds....? Now isn't that why many people consult psychiatrists? .........Because the sufferers brains seem to have got stuck in one particular groove for one reason.? We all want instant solutions these days including instant mental health. I guess no one is allowed to prescribe simply rest and TLC these days. After all what would be the employers response to this? No better by far to put the sufferer on Prozac or it's imitators, and get them back into being an economically viable member of society ASAP! who cares if their true personality is debased. Still I think the tide is turning. More people are being offered "talking therapies".... As someone who has recently walked the very difficult road with a relative who became seriously unbalanced for a while due largely to stress but who is now thankfully well on the road to recovery without recourse to drugs or worse, I can testify that not only is recovery possible but that the person may emerge the stronger for their ordeal. But patience, tolerance, forgiveness and unconditional love are the key....... These are qualities that are sadly out of fashion. The carer also needs non judgemental friends with broad shoulders if they are not to crack up themselves under the strain. The brain it seems is like any other organ of the body. Put it under too much stress and it will start to perform badly. No one would suggest to someone who's ankle was broken that pain killers will solve the problem ,... No the ankle needs to be immobilised and rested so the body can do its healing job. Why do we imagine our brains are somehow different...?All in all an important and timely book deserving of a very wide readership.