1st Edition

The Future of Mental Health Deconstructing the Mental Disorder Paradigm

By Eric Maisel Copyright 2016
    236 Pages
    by Routledge

    236 Pages
    by Routledge

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    The Future of Mental Health drills to the heart of the current mental health crisis, where hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide receive unwarranted "mental disorder diagnoses." It paints a picture of how mental health providers can improve their practices to better serve individuals in distress and outlines necessary steps for a mental health revolution. Eric Maisel's goal is to inject more human interaction into the therapeutic process.

    Maisel powerfully deconstructs the "mental disorder" paradigm that is the foundation of current mental health practices. The author presents a revolutionary alternative, a "human experience" paradigm. He sheds a bright light on the differences between so-called "psychiatric medication" and mere chemicals with powerful effects, explains why the DSM-5 is silent on causes, silent on treatment, and wedded to illegitimate "symptom pictures." Maisel describes powerful helping alternatives like communities of care, and explains why one day "human experience specialists" may replace current mental health professionals.

    An important book for both service providers and service users, The Future of Mental Health brilliantly unmasks current mental health practices and goes an important step further: it describes what we are obliged to do in order to secure better mental health services—and better mental health—for everyone.

    Introduction

    1 Our Human Experience

    2 The Naturalness of Distress

    3 Jettisoning Normal

    4 Rethinking Diagnosis

    5 What Shall We Call You?

    6 The Mental Disorder Labeling Fraud

    7 Chemicals versus Medication

    8 On Meds

    9 On Cause and Effect

    10 Life Purpose, Meaning, and Value

    11 Setting the Bar

    12 The Human Experience Specialist

    13 Twelve Shifts for Professionals

    14 Institutions and Communities of Care

    15 The "Mental Disorders" of Childhood

    16 Understanding "Madness"

    17 Alternatives to Diagnosis

    18 The Brooklyn Project

    19 Twenty Keys to a Mental Health Revolution

    20 The Future of Your Mental Health

    Suggested Reading

    Index

    Biography

    Eric Maisel