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Drop the Disorder! Challenging the culture of psychiatric diagnosis
In October 2016 Jo Watson hosted the very first ‘A Disorder for Everyone!’ event in Birmingham, with psychologist Dr Lucy Johnstone, to explore (and explode) the culture of psychiatric diagnosis in mental health. To provide a space to continue the debate after the event, Jo also set up the now hugely popular and active Facebook group ‘Drop the Disorder!’.
Since then, they have delivered events in towns and cities across the UK, bringing together activists, survivors and professionals to debate psychiatric diagnosis. How and why does psychiatric diagnosis hold such power? What harm it can do? What are the alternatives to diagnosis, and how it can be positively challenged?
This book takes the themes, energy and passions of the AD4E events – bringing together many of the event speakers with others who have stories to tell and messages to share in the struggle to challenge diagnosis.
This is an essential book for everyone of us who looks beyond the labels.
Since then, they have delivered events in towns and cities across the UK, bringing together activists, survivors and professionals to debate psychiatric diagnosis. How and why does psychiatric diagnosis hold such power? What harm it can do? What are the alternatives to diagnosis, and how it can be positively challenged?
This book takes the themes, energy and passions of the AD4E events – bringing together many of the event speakers with others who have stories to tell and messages to share in the struggle to challenge diagnosis.
This is an essential book for everyone of us who looks beyond the labels.
256 pages, paperback
First published January 1, 2019
6 people are currently reading
444 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 7, 2020
Exceptional read. As Mary Oliver reminds us, “Let me keep my distance always from those who think they have the answers”. The world of diagnoses is but a blunt instrument with which to seek to understand the intricacies of human experience. And when we use a blunt instrument we can do untold damage. People who experience ‘mental distress’ are responding in understandable ways to stress and trauma. This book positions “what happened to you?” As the most important question we need to be asked, not “whats wrong with you”. May this book be widely read and create more freedom out there in the world.
May 7, 2021
This is a wonderful and varied collection of voices. Each of these come together to form a clear challenge to the medicalised understanding and labelling of distress. This book explores topics of intersectionality, social inequality, power dynamics, racism, disability, sexism and trauma.
It's so important to ask 'what happened to you?' rather than 'what's wrong with you?' I feel like this book clearly emphasises why.
It's so important to ask 'what happened to you?' rather than 'what's wrong with you?' I feel like this book clearly emphasises why.
October 25, 2021
“(The DSM & ICD) are subjective opinions with no scientific basis, voted through by committees of psychiatrists”…yet are accepted as facts by the world. Disillusioning but hopefully books like this are sparking the changes we need to see in the world.
November 6, 2019
Wow ——— The best book I have read in such a long time. I have to say I’ve read some good books but this is just in another level. Filled with knowledge, care, compassion and I could not put this down.
December 8, 2019
This collection combines insights from people I could relate to and ideas I hadn't considered before. I highly recommend it to anyone questioning their psychiatric diagnosis or the psychiatric medications they've been prescribed.
October 24, 2022
Book critical of giving people psychiatric "disorder" labels. Those labels lack scientific grounds, are unnecessarily stigmatising and don't take into account people's experiences. Many of the mental problems people present themselves with at the doctor's or psychologist's office have to do with adversity, in their families of origine as well as society at large.
This book consists of 20 chapters, written by 24 authors. Authors who have received medical and psychological training and degreee. Some authors are people who have had mental health problems and willing to share their insights and experiences with the reader.
My conclusion after all this (and some other literature on the subject) is that DSM-diagnoses are like the emperor's clothes. They exist in the minds of people, but lack scientific validity. The currently existing and widely used DSM-diagnoses actually harm people. They lead to making people with mental problems think, accept and "cope with" the fact that they have a disorder. That something is inherently wrong in their minds, rather than seeing the person and their history and how their experiences have affected them in life and often still does.
Just writing prescriptions for psychofarmaca is at the very least not enough at best. This widely accepted practice is harming people at worst.
The current biomedical paradigm provides a very limited window for people and their own understanding of their emotional problems. People are being sold short and not helped adequately as a result.
My idea is and was (and one of the authors said something similar in this book) is that in 30, 40 or 50 years from now, people will look at our current mental health system and diagnoses and wonder what the hell these people were thinking, and if they were actually thinking in the first place.
This book consists of 20 chapters, written by 24 authors. Authors who have received medical and psychological training and degreee. Some authors are people who have had mental health problems and willing to share their insights and experiences with the reader.
My conclusion after all this (and some other literature on the subject) is that DSM-diagnoses are like the emperor's clothes. They exist in the minds of people, but lack scientific validity. The currently existing and widely used DSM-diagnoses actually harm people. They lead to making people with mental problems think, accept and "cope with" the fact that they have a disorder. That something is inherently wrong in their minds, rather than seeing the person and their history and how their experiences have affected them in life and often still does.
Just writing prescriptions for psychofarmaca is at the very least not enough at best. This widely accepted practice is harming people at worst.
The current biomedical paradigm provides a very limited window for people and their own understanding of their emotional problems. People are being sold short and not helped adequately as a result.
My idea is and was (and one of the authors said something similar in this book) is that in 30, 40 or 50 years from now, people will look at our current mental health system and diagnoses and wonder what the hell these people were thinking, and if they were actually thinking in the first place.
January 8, 2022
A fascinating group of essays from various points of view. A really important book that highlights what is wrong with the way we (as a culture, the media, a medical profession, and as patients) talk about our mental wellbeing and mental "illness".
There is a clear statement near the beginning that, as the current medical model has so little good evidence, there is no requirement for good evidence to rebut it. That is fair.
However i think there is are a couple of important gaps left uncovered by this book which are:
1) the current medical model provides imperfect and frequently harmful support for people in crisis. But if we get rid of that where do families and people turn in crisis? If not ED where?
2) Everything is medicalised these days. Your headaches, your tiredness, your lack of attention, your poor sleep. If people first turn to the medical model for these issues, which are often caused by mental distress, and refuse to believe that there is no "disease" causing their symptoms, the doctors will continue to struggle to focus on "what has happened to you", rather than "what is wrong with you". As is mentioned in the final chapter sometimes continuing to work in a profession which refuses to see that is very hard, even to the point of wanting to leave, but that doesn't help either. And for me, the pressure often comes from service users. I would have loved to have heard more from professionals working with service users who refuse to be convinced by this model, how do you cope with that?
There is a clear statement near the beginning that, as the current medical model has so little good evidence, there is no requirement for good evidence to rebut it. That is fair.
However i think there is are a couple of important gaps left uncovered by this book which are:
1) the current medical model provides imperfect and frequently harmful support for people in crisis. But if we get rid of that where do families and people turn in crisis? If not ED where?
2) Everything is medicalised these days. Your headaches, your tiredness, your lack of attention, your poor sleep. If people first turn to the medical model for these issues, which are often caused by mental distress, and refuse to believe that there is no "disease" causing their symptoms, the doctors will continue to struggle to focus on "what has happened to you", rather than "what is wrong with you". As is mentioned in the final chapter sometimes continuing to work in a profession which refuses to see that is very hard, even to the point of wanting to leave, but that doesn't help either. And for me, the pressure often comes from service users. I would have loved to have heard more from professionals working with service users who refuse to be convinced by this model, how do you cope with that?
December 31, 2023
An absolute must-read for anyone who uses mental health services in any capacity. This book eloquently shines light on and damns the way our society treats human suffering, as something chronic and marginalizing, making understandable reactions to painful experiences into symptoms that need to be “treated” and splitting society into the “well” and the “unwell.” This book reminds us that the only way to truly deal with suffering is to show others empathy and understanding and that it is possible to recover from painful experiences with real support, not just a prescription.
October 22, 2021
If you’ve ever had any experience of emotional distress, mental health services and/or have been given a psychiatric diagnosis, or if you have any interest in any of these things, you NEED to read this book.
March 2, 2023
Insightful and definitely made me reflect.
September 22, 2025
Such an incredible critique of the medical model of distress that EVERYONE should read, to help them into a journey of a human and contextual understanding of why we can get stuck feeling bad.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews