How everyone became depressed : the rise and fall of the nervous breakdown / Edward Shorter.

Includes bibliographies and index.

Nerves as a problem -- Rise of nervous illness -- Fatigue -- Anxiety -- Melancholia -- Nervous breakdown -- Paradigm shift -- Something wrong with the label -- Drugs -- Return of the two depressions -- Nerves redux.

"In this provocative book, Edward Shorter describes how in the 19th century patients with anxiety, fatigue and unable to sleep and obsess about the whole thing were considered "nervous," and when they lost control it was a "nervous breakdown." Then psychiatry turned its back on the whole concept of nerves, and--first under the influence of Freud's psychoanalysis and then the influence of the pharmaceutical industry--the diagnosis of depression took center stage. The result has been a scientific disaster, leading to the misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment (with "antidepressants") of millions of patients. And with the new 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5), the trend of inappropriate treatment is sure to continue. Urging that the diagnosis of depression be re-thought, this book turns a dramatic page in the understanding of psychiatric symptoms that are as common as the common cold. A gripping historical argument on psychiatric diagnosis and its flawed heritage and future."--Jacket.

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