How Everyone Became Depressed

The rise and fall of the nervous breakdown
by Edward Shorter, Ph.D.

The DSM System: How it Really Works

The current stand-off between the American Psychiatric Association, that sponsors the DSM series, and the National Institute of Mental Health, that sponsors scientific psychiatry, is like two ships passing in the night. Read More

A Perfect Storm for Psychiatry

Last week began with the announcement that suicides are up sharply. This means that all the “antidepressants” that people have been gobbling by the handful—one in ten Americans—have been ineffective against the grimmest consequence of depression of all: killing yourself. Read More

The Increasing Suicide Rate

According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, the suicide rate in the US now exceeds the number of automotive deaths. Worse still, the number of midlife suicides has increased in the last decade by nearly 30%. These figures provide a stunning demonstration of the ineffectiveness of Prozac-style antidepressants in people on the verge of suicide. Read More

Re-moralization, Depression, and You

In an experimental seminar called the History of Medicine Interest Group members are encouraged to undertake research on their own illnesses and experiences. What are the routes to recovery? One pathway to explore, for people who are totally dejected, is “re-moralization.” Read More

Depression and Anxiety

Once considered to be the same disease, depression and anxiety are now separate diagnoses. How did this happen? Read More

The "Biopsychosocial Model" in Diagnosing Depression

There has been a lot of talk in the media about the purpose of psychiatric diagnosis. A recent piece in the New York Times claims that its value lies in making the patient feel better by naming the problem. This is wrong. The point of diagnosis in any medical discipline, including psychiatry, is to guide treatment options and to provide insight into prognosis. Read More

The Coming Battle Over DSM-5

"DSM-5," the long awaited 5th edition of the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual is scheduled for launch this May. But a growing wave of unhappiness with the whole DSM concept and the 5th edition in particular suggests that it will arrive to a chorus of disapproval and controversy. Read More

Ditching Depression

The present diagnosis of depression casts too wide a net, hauling in both patients with melancholia (a serious mood disorder) and a much larger group with a mixture of symptoms better described by the old-fashioned term "nerves". Calling everyone depressed means that everyone gets the same treatment, which is often ineffective. Ditching "depression" would be a good start. Read More

Edward Shorter, Ph.D.
Edward Shorter, Ph.D., is the Jason A. Hannah Professor in the History of Medicine at the University of Toronto. more...

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About How Everyone Became Depressed

Depression is a real and serious illness, especially in its melancholic form. But most people diagnosed with "major depression" today don't have it. They're anxious, fatigued, unable to sleep, and obsessed with their symptoms.  In the 19th century these patients were called "nervous."  But under the infludence of Freud, nervous illness was shifted from neurology to psychiatry, spotlighting the mind and ignoring the rest of the body. The result has been a scientific disaster, resulting in the misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment of millions.

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