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Christopher Lane

Goodreads Author

Born

London, The United Kingdom

Website

https://www.christopherlane.org

Twitter

christophlane

Genre

Psychology, Science, Nonfiction

Member Since

December 2010

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Literary & Medical Historian | DSM Examiner | Yale Press Author

Christopher Lane investigates how modern institutions define normal behavior, belief, and doubt.

His prize-winning study Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness (Yale, 2007) exposed the controversy over major changes to American psychiatry’s diagnostic manual in the 1980s and 90s, including how guesswork and faulty science, loose criteria and undisclosed conflicts of interest led to skyrocketing rates of social anxiety disorder and the creation of six other anxiety disorders that we use today for insurance billing. Translated into six languages, based on exhaustive archival research and in-depth interviews, Shyness was highly commended by the British Medical Association an ...more

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Christopher Lane's Blog

How Social Context Influences Brain Disorders

An important new book provides vital and exciting perspective on the interface between brain and culture.

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Published on June 06, 2026 09:02

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Combine Editions
Christopher Lane’s books

Average rating: 3.96 · 373 ratings · 193 reviews · 9 distinct works • Similar authors

	Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness 3.69 avg rating — 232 ratings — published 2007 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Surge of Piety: Norman Vincent Peale and the Remaking of American Religious Life 4.37 avg rating — 54 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La timidez : Cómo la psiquiatría y la industria farmacéutica han convertido emociones cotidianas en enfermedad 4.95 avg rating — 22 ratings — published 2007	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Age of Doubt: Tracing the Roots of Our Religious Uncertainty 4.29 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 2011 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Psychoanalysis of Race 4.41 avg rating — 17 ratings — published 1998 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hatred and Civility: The Antisocial Life in Victorian England 4.47 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2003 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Imperial Desire: Dissident Sexualities and Colonial Literature by Philip Joseph Holden, Richard J. Ruppel (Editor), Christopher Lane (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2003 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ruling Passion: British Colonial Allegory and the Paradox of Homosexual Desire 3.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1995 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Burdens of Intimacy: Psychoanalysis and Victorian Masculinity liked it 3.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1998 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Christopher’s Recent Updates

Christopher Lane liked Joan  Didion's review of La timidez : Cómo la psiquiatría y la industria farmacéutica han convertido emociones cotidianas en enfermedad: "One of the book's strongest ideas is that discomfort is not automatically evidence of illness. Humans experience a wide range of emotions, and some are unpleasant without necessarily being pathological. By examining what happened to the concept of sh" Read more of this review »
Sep 02, 2026 10:30AM · see review
Christopher Lane liked Gail Tsukiyama's review of La timidez : Cómo la psiquiatría y la industria farmacéutica han convertido emociones cotidianas en enfermedad: "The subject offers considerable value for students of psychology, psychiatry, sociology, medicine, and even business ethics. It connects several fields that are rarely examined together in such a straightforward way. The history of psychiatric classi" Read more of this review »
Sep 02, 2026 10:30AM · see review
Christopher Lane liked James R.'s review of La timidez : Cómo la psiquiatría y la industria farmacéutica han convertido emociones cotidianas en enfermedad: "The investigative quality of the book makes it stand apart from a conventional psychology title. Rather than simply explaining what shyness is, Lane follows the historical trail behind its changing interpretation. Documents, institutional decisions, " Read more of this review »
Sep 02, 2026 10:29AM · see review
Christopher Lane liked Adam Walter's review of La timidez : Cómo la psiquiatría y la industria farmacéutica han convertido emociones cotidianas en enfermedad: "Shyness seems like a quiet, harmless subject, yet this book demonstrates how much lies underneath it. Behind one personality trait are debates about psychiatric diagnosis, professional authority, medication, corporate influence, and the definition of" Read more of this review »
Sep 02, 2026 10:29AM · see review
Christopher Lane made a comment on Raully’s review of Surge of Piety: Norman Vincent Peale and the Remaking of American Religious Life " Sorry I missed this earlier! I am most definitely interested in Peale's major, contributing role in pushing acceptance of the American prosperity gosp ...more "
Jun 11, 2026 07:22AM · see review
Christopher Lane is now following Ed Hirschland and Maher Razouk
May 17, 2026 01:50AM
Christopher Lane rated a book it was amazing Everyone Else is Lying to You: How our medical establishment weaponized doubt to spread COVID, normalize quackery, and undermine public health by Jonathan Howard MD	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Outstanding. Extremely troubling but a powerful and necessary read.
Nov 01, 2025 02:21PM · like · see review
Christopher Lane rated a book it was amazing Small Rain by Garth Greenwell (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 20, 2024 03:24PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Small Rain by Garth Greenwell. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Small Rain by Garth Greenwell <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">