No Such Thing as Normal: Disorders, Diagnoses and the Limits of Psychiatry
May 2025 · Profile Books
Ebook
171
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
'Confronting, thought-provoking and hopeful' SARAH GRAHAM
'A rallying cry for the importance of social and systemic approaches to psychiatric distress' EMMA BYRNE
'Stimulating and timely on psychiatry's tendency to pathologise the 'abnormal'' DANIEL TAMMET
'A shocking and powerful critique ... this is essential reading' HELEN KING
There is no such thing as a normal brain, yet we live in a world that treats disorder as disease.
Psychiatry rests on the belief that mental distress can ultimately be explained by biology: brain structures, chemical imbalances and genetics. Treatments from lobotomies to electroconvulsive therapy to prescription drugs have been touted as cures for 'disorder'. And somewhere along the way, the pharmaceutical industry has leapfrogged its patients, making millions designing drugs to treat disorders, then billions dreaming up disorders that require drugs.
We are now diagnosed and treated for mental disorders more than ever, despite increasing evidence that environmental factors play a far greater role than biological ones.
Laying out the steps for a mental health system that helps rather than harms, Marieke Bigg asks: how can we heal when faced with an industry that banks on keeping us sick?
'A rallying cry for the importance of social and systemic approaches to psychiatric distress' EMMA BYRNE
'Stimulating and timely on psychiatry's tendency to pathologise the 'abnormal'' DANIEL TAMMET
'A shocking and powerful critique ... this is essential reading' HELEN KING
There is no such thing as a normal brain, yet we live in a world that treats disorder as disease.
Psychiatry rests on the belief that mental distress can ultimately be explained by biology: brain structures, chemical imbalances and genetics. Treatments from lobotomies to electroconvulsive therapy to prescription drugs have been touted as cures for 'disorder'. And somewhere along the way, the pharmaceutical industry has leapfrogged its patients, making millions designing drugs to treat disorders, then billions dreaming up disorders that require drugs.
We are now diagnosed and treated for mental disorders more than ever, despite increasing evidence that environmental factors play a far greater role than biological ones.
Laying out the steps for a mental health system that helps rather than harms, Marieke Bigg asks: how can we heal when faced with an industry that banks on keeping us sick?
About the author
Marieke Bigg holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Cambridge where her research focused on the role of biological models in society. She is currently retraining as a psychotherapist and works as a peer support coordinator at the mental health charity Mind.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
