Body: Simple techniques and strategies to heal, reset and restore

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This is important on a number of levels, because the claim of medication (my doctor's term) or drugs (mine, which I use for diabetes pills) is crucial to the claims of the various anti-depressants. Davies points out that published research shows that effectiveness of these products isn't all that much different from a placebo, which invites an interesting discussion on how people might be "cured" and that these drugs can have dangerous side-effects. He also points to the selective publication of research in that unfavourable studies are excluded. None of this is new, really, but it's very well presented. First of all, I do agree that overdiagnosing and overmedicalisation are problems that should be taken into account. However, I really didn't like the extreme approach in this book, as well as the awfully subjective examples (like interviews, "my neighbor once said" or "this person thinks that his son was misdiagnosed" type of shit) and far-fetched conclusions. I don't think there's a point in blaming the DSM and its creators for causing a wave of overdiagnosing - it's the specialists who are not doing their job correctly or considering the context of problems) and the problem lies with the education and moral principles and the system. The whole part where the author blames the DSM is just so unnecessary - the DSM is already out there and I still think it's better than nothing - the probability of misdiagnosing would be a lot greater if not for the DSM. I can confirm that they are no longer together," said Kruger's agent Mark Klemens of Profile Management. I will accept his grim indictment of the current state of the pharmaceutical industry (indeed, many reviewers are mentioning Ben Goldacre who has pointed this all out before) From stress and anxiety, to everyday wear and tear and injury, life takes its toll on our bodies. Now, internationally renowned osteopath James Davies can help you heal your body.

I can’t urge the reading of this book strongly enough. Anyone who cares about what it means to be a fully human being, and especially anyone involved in any way in the caring professions needs to be aware of what Davies lays clear about the mental health industry. For industry it surely is. Kruger went to great lengths to keep their January 2003 wedding secret but she later sold the story to a woman's magazine. Davies seems to side with the view that some form of suffering is natural for humans and the best way to treat it is through social measures or simply managing it. He suggests a path forward for the profession which has four steps:

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I found it at times got too "sensational" and less rational (as a book like this should be), relying on rhetoric and emotions. A particularly interesting chapter is about a young psychiatrist who is targeted by a drug company to be trained and spruik their wares and also an exposition of the relevant sales strategies and methods. One might say that these are legitimate methods designed to sell a product (although I have my doubts) without dealing with whether they actually work. I'm just frustrated really. It's been one of those years when I haven't been able to get a good run of games," Davies said.

This means there is a reliability problem in the field, which casts serious doubts on the entire DSM-structured paradigm. Indeed, the problems within the field of psychiatry often see the same patients receiving differing and possibly conflicting diagnoses at an alarmingly high rate: First of all, let me say that I completely agree that overmedicalisation is a big problem. Okay, now for the real review. I will say.. One concept that stood out to me was the difference between the disease-centered model and the drug-centered model. James Davies quotes Dr. Joanna Moncrieff as she explains the difference, “In the disease-centred model, people are assumed to have a mental disease, a problem in their brain. And drugs are thought to be effective because they rectify or reverse that underlying brain problem in some way… But the drug-centred model… rather emphasises that drugs are drugs; they are chemical substances that are foreign to the human body but which affect the way people think and feel. They have psychoactive properties, just like recreational drugs do, which alter the way the body functions at a physiological level.” (103)

I am not saying (nor is Davies) that all these senior clinicians and medical academicians are corrupt, merely that neutrality becomes hard to achieve when your income is dependent on a particular company who are hoping your findings will support the excellence of their product, and even to demonstrate a need for their product Davies' writing here is excellent. He writes with an easy and engaging style that easily holds the reader's attention. And despite fielding some technical subject matter, Davies presents this content in a manner that will be accessible to even the scientifically illiterate layperson. Points to the author here for this effective communication. In recent years such disproving research has begun to erode the profession’s faith in the chemical imbalance theory. This has led increasing numbers of prominent figures in the mental health profession to declare their defection publicly. To pique your interest in this sea -change, here are a few quotations I’ve managed to gather: Many neuroscientists no longer consider a chemical imbalance theory of depression and anxiety to be valid.’ (Dr David D. Burns, Professor of Psychiatry, Stanford University) I usually love books about how messed up the DSM, Big Pharma, and the social sciences are, but this book was terrible and here is why:

I surely cannot recommend this book. To read books that take down psychiatry, I would instead read something more like the following:Despite pseudoscientific terms like “chemical imbalance”, nobody really knows what causes mental illness. There’s no blood test or brain scan for major depression.’ (Dr Darshak Sanghavi, clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School) I don't really think about it too much. I'm just concerned with getting a few games under my belt and getting fit," he said.

Medical naming encourages thinking about human beings in all their complexity as broken, and needing mending – and opens the door to the over-prescription. In fact, as one astute expert (among the many) Davies consults, points out tersely, this thinking of these drugs as ‘cures’ is erroneous, as unlike most physiological disease there just is no hard evidence to support the biology of a lot of what is now being treated as ‘disease’ through these medications – which alter mood. They do not ‘cure’ shyness, (or, lets medicalise it as social phobia) any more than a glass of wine ‘cures’ shyness – both change ways of perceiving the world, that is all.If he likes it he has that perspective that Gatland I guess didn't, so I suppose maybe, but I'm not even thinking that far down the line as I can't get three games together at the minute. Filled with sensationalist statements and hyperbole, Davies tries to expose the darker side of psychiatry and big pharma. Although he frequently references the literature, he only very briefly mentions their findings. The structure of the book is also somewhat confusing, as it is repetitive at times. The book is littered with several spelling and grammar errors. Many of the symptoms of mental conditions that are now pathologized; such as anxiety and depression - can be effectively moderated with a combination of non-pharmaceutical interventions; like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, as well as a holistic approach that includes a healthy balanced diet, regular vigorous exercise, adequate and quality sleep time to maintain a circadian rhythm, and ensuring vitamin D levels are not deficient. The DSM has gone through a number of editions and each time numbers of "new" mental illnesses have been added to the book (82 new illnesses from DSM3 to DSM4). So what are all these "new" mental illnesses.