It gets worse. Dr. Allen Frances isn’t some outlier with a degree from the University of Lower Slobovia. He was a professor at Cornell and chaired the psychiatry department at Duke, where he is now a professor emeritus.
Born in 1942, he’s a respected elder statesman of psychiatry. He chaired the task force that drafted the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). He was a critic of the current DSM-5, which he argued placed too much reliance on psychiatrists’ subjective judgments.
About four years ago, I read Dr. Frances’ critique of the DSM-5 drafting process, titled: “Saving Normal: An Insider’s Revolt Against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life.”
It was an engaging read, and I got the impression that Dr. Frances was an old-fashioned liberal but one still firmly grounded in reality.
Sad how one quote can make you lose all respect for someone in an instant. But those are the insane times in which we live.
Cornell is the equivalent of Lower Slobabovia. It is not really America but in the New york boondocks.
It is so libral nobody goes there any more
He is also pretty old and might be mentally slipping
I’ve known Allen for about 10 years and heard him lecture many times, including Grand Rounds for Psychiatrists at Duke Hospital.
He has an ego bigger than the Taj Mahal.
This man was in charge of determining the criteria for mental illness diagnosis.
THESE ARE THE SAME CRITERIA USED TO RED FLAG PEOPLE TO LOSE THEIR GUNS.
Big Pharma has certainly Medicalized Ordinary Life, and how many people have now died of opioid poisoning when they were give them for short term pain instead of something less addictive or dangerous?