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`` Saving Normal : An Insider 's Revolt Against Out Of Control Psychiatric Diagnosis Essay

Decent Essays
Allen Frances was on the task force that led to the development of the DSM-IV, served as the Department Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Duke, and a notary author of numerous books and research. His experiences and education allowed him to observe and draw a conclusion that society was creating an inflation of mental health disorders that could be evaluated as normal. After his early retirement, he decided to write about those experiences, in a book called, Saving normal: An insider 's revolt against out-of-control psychiatric diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the medicalization of ordinary life, and bring awareness to the Diagnostic Statistical Manuel’s (2015) inflation of mental health disorders. The book focuses on the history of mental health and Frances’s perspective on what is normal and abnormal mental health disorders. Content and Style The book is organized well for the reader to transition between topics and phrases, and it does not contain language that is specific to clinical providers. The author explains definitions and interprets his meanings of topics or words to the reader. The book provides references for historical mental health information and diagnoses, and insight into the author’s perceptions by describing observations and experiences. The author’s tone is elevated, as if in a personal dialectal debatable conversation, and can be perceived as a negative opinion towards the Diagnostic Statistical Manuel 5. Strengths and Weaknesses The
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