Boekbesprekingen. Pills, Pushers and Psychotherapy: Learning to Treat Unquiet Spirits

Samenvatting

A review essay on a book by T. M. Luhrmann, Of 2 Minds: The Growing Disorder in American Psychiatry (New York: Knopf, 2000). This work addresses the reality of mental illness from an anthropological perspective, chronicling the experience of becoming a doctor and how that process impacts the perception of mental illness. The nature of the 3-year psychiatric residency, which focuses on therapy rather than diagnosis, is described. The biological (pharmaceutical) model of mental illness is reviewed, and the process of diagnosing and treating the mentally ill in private vs public hospitals is analyzed. The impact of managed health care on psychiatric treatment is assessed, along with the plight of mentally ill consumers and the role of advocacy groups, such as the National Assoc for the Mentally Ill. 18 References. J. R. Callahan