He is also pretty old and might be mentally slipping
You may be right.
I spent maybe 15-20 hours with this man’s intellect while reading “Saving Normal” and thought he was one of that increasingly rare breed, old-fashioned liberals with some common sense and common decency.
Read his Wikipedia entry to get an idea of the reasonable objections he has raised against the DSM-5 and current psychiatric practice.
The Dr. Frances I encountered in his fine book was not a renegade or a loose cannon — in many respects he represented the conscience of an often-maligned profession.
I won’t say he became an intellectual hero of mine, but he impressed me as a serious and responsible intellect, one to be respected.
Pity, pity, pity.
If he is slipping at 77, he might be pre-dementia.