How Dysfunctional Families Spur Mental Disorders: A Balanced Approach to Resolve Problems and Reconcile Relationships (Childhood in America)

Millions Of Americans Have Psychological Issues Or Are Affected By Those Of Their Family Members, Ranging From Anxiety And Bipolar Disorder To Mood And Personality Disorders. The Growth Of Big Pharma, Combined With An Increasing Desire Of Managed Care Providers To Find Simple And Quick Fixes, Has Resulted In An Often Myopic Focus On Biological Causes Of Dysfunctional Symptoms. There Is Plenty Of Evidence To Indicate That This Propensity To Only Prescribe Pills Is Often Deeply Misguided, However.\\this Book Examines The Role Of Dysfunctional Family Interactions In The Genesis And Maintenance Of Certain Behavioral Problems. The Author Presents A Case For Regaining A Balance In Terms Of The Biological, Psychological, And Family-system Factors In Psychiatric Disorders And Suggests A Way To Accomplish This.--book Jacket. The Brainlessness-mindlessness Pendulum -- Don't Blame Us -- The Abuse Excuse Revisited -- It's A Disease! Psychiatry And Psychology Sell Out -- The Heredity Versus Environment Debate Revisited : What The Science Actually Says -- Evidence-based Ignorance -- Diagnonsense -- Spinning On Axis Ii : The Mystery Of Borderline Personality Disorder -- A Tower Of Psychobabble? Today's Psychotherapy, The Idea Of Mental Defectiveness, And Family Systems Issues -- Integration. David M. Allen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [269]-274) And Index. How Dysfunctional Families Spur Mental Disorders: A Balanced Approach to Resolve Problems and Reconcile Relationships......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 Introduction......Page 12 Attitudes about Family Dysfunction......Page 13 Caveats......Page 14 Abbreviations......Page 18 1 The Brainlessness-Mindlessness Pendulum......Page 20 Eugenics......Page 21 Psychoanalysis......Page 25 Biological Psychiatry......Page 28 The Arrogance of Psychoanalysts......Page 29 Schizophrenia and the Family......Page 32 Childhood Autism and the Family......Page 34 The National Alliance for the Mentally ILL......Page 36 Involvement in Academic Psychiatry by Parent Advocacy Groups......Page 38 The Issue of Blame in Spouse Abuse......Page 39 The Culture of Victimhood......Page 42 High-Profile Criminal Cases......Page 44 Guilty Parents......Page 45 A Massive Cultural Change......Page 46 Guilty Behavior......Page 50 Cultural Lag......Page 52 Divorce......Page 53 Mounting Frustration......Page 54 The Counterproductiveness of Blaming Parents......Page 56 Controversies about the Prevalence of Child Abuse......Page 58 Exaggeration of the Extent of the Problem......Page 60 Overzealous Therapists......Page 61 The Recovered Memory Debate......Page 62 The Freudian Unconscious......Page 63 Who’s Lying and Who’s Telling the Truth?......Page 65 The Unreliability of Memory......Page 68 Indelible Memories......Page 70 False Accusations of Abuse......Page 73 Parent Bashing......Page 75 4 It’s a Disease! Psychiatry and Psychology Sell Out......Page 78 The Influence of Big Pharma......Page 79 Who Is Doing the Research?......Page 80 How CROs Bias Research Findings in Clinical Trials......Page 82 Phony New Reasons to Take Medication......Page 83 Manipulating Psychiatric Education......Page 84 Reform That Is Barely Reform......Page 88 Benzodiazepines......Page 89 Why Treat Anxiety When You Can Call It Something Else and Make More Money?......Page 93 Managed Care: Profits ahead of People......Page 94 Selling Them the Noose Used to Hang Us......Page 95 How Managed Care Lied about How Much Psychotherapy Was Covered by Insurance......Page 96 The Lost Art of Psychotherapy by Psychiatrists......Page 99 The Field’s Anemic Response......Page 100 How Some Psychotherapy Experts Also Added Fuel to the Fire......Page 102 Neuroimaging......Page 103 5 The Heredity versus Environment Debate Revisited: What the Science Actually Says......Page 106 Do Genes Code for Specific Behavior?......Page 107 Causes versus Risk Factors......Page 109 Necessary and Sufficient Causes......Page 110 The Heritability Fraud......Page 113 Twin Studies......Page 114 The True Definition of Heritability......Page 115 More on Gene-Environment Interaction......Page 118 The Shared and the Unshared......Page 119 Social Learning and the Brain......Page 120 Long-Term Potentiation and Social Learning......Page 121 The Importance of Attachment Figures......Page 122 What Other Disciplines Tell Us about the Power of the Social Environment to Shape Human Behavior......Page 123 The Ties That Bind: Kin Selection......Page 125 Tribalism......Page 129 Black Sheep......Page 130 Medical Errors......Page 132 What Constitutes Evidence?......Page 134 Evidence for the Efficacy of Psychotherapy......Page 135 Pattern Recognition......Page 137 Any Research Method Can Be Used Well or Be Used Poorly......Page 138 ‘‘Empirical’’ Studies......Page 139 Sources of Bias in Drug Studies......Page 140 Collusion between Academics and Big Pharma......Page 141 Misleading Abstracts and Overstatement of the Results of Studies......Page 143 Prestige Journals......Page 144 Issues in the Treatment of Bipolar Depression......Page 145 The Misleading Abstract......Page 147 The Aftermath of the Misleading Abstract......Page 150 Psychosocial Issues in Bipolar and Unipolar Major Depressive Episodes......Page 151 The Problem of the ‘‘False Self’’......Page 154 Randomized Clinical Psychotherapy Trials......Page 156 Treatment as Usual......Page 157 The Choice of Outcome Measures......Page 158 Funding Issues......Page 159 Problems with Generalizability of Study Results......Page 160 Treatment Manuals......Page 161 Process Research......Page 162 Anecdotal Evidence: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly......Page 164 Descriptions versus Conclusions......Page 165 Once a Diagnosis, Always the Diagnosis......Page 168 7 Diagnonsense......Page 172 Symptom Focus and the Use of Psychiatric Hospitalization......Page 173 The Psychiatric History......Page 174 Psychological Testing......Page 177 Is a Symptom Significant?......Page 178 Symptom Checklists......Page 180 Bipolar Disorder M.A.......Page 182 Lithium......Page 184 Bipolar II Disorder......Page 186 A Valid and Generalizable Anecdote......Page 188 Bipolar Disorder in Children......Page 192 Drugs, Anyone?......Page 194 Adult ADHD: Another Dubious Hyped Disorder......Page 195 Speed......Page 196 ADHD in Children......Page 198 ADHD in the Natural Habitat......Page 200 The Party Line......Page 201 8 Spinning on Axis II: The Mystery of Borderline Personality Disorder......Page 206 Borderline Rage......Page 208 Who Needs the Aggravation?......Page 209 Not a Disease......Page 212 Other Non-DSM Characteristics of BPD......Page 213 Risk Factors for BPD......Page 217 Family Dynamics of Borderline Personality Disorder......Page 218 Spoiling Behavior......Page 222 Co-conspirators......Page 226 Regulating a Parent’s Affect: Who Is Taking Care of Whom?......Page 227 What Might Be Going on Biologically?......Page 229 What Makes the Parents Act the Way They Do?......Page 231 When Individuals with BPD Have Children......Page 235 9 A Tower of Psychobabble? Today’s Psychotherapy, the Idea of Mental Defectiveness, and Family Systems Issues......Page 238 Psychodynamic Psychotherapy......Page 241 Behavior Therapy......Page 245 Cognitive Therapy......Page 248 Experiential/Humanistic Psychotherapy......Page 252 Family Systems Therapy......Page 254 10 Integration......Page 264 The Tower of Psychobabble Revisited......Page 265 Why Are Patients Not Doing the Obvious?......Page 266 Eliminating the Middle Man......Page 269 Consilience......Page 271 Finding a Good Psychopharmacologist: Good and Bad Signs......Page 272 Finding a Good Therapist......Page 276 Reconciliation......Page 279 Do You Need a Therapist?......Page 281 Forgiveness......Page 284 A Final Word......Page 285 References......Page 288 Index......Page 294 The book examines various scientific, economic, and cultural forces that have affected the mental health field's viewpointand that of society in generalregarding the genesis of some behavioral disorders, and how dysfunctional family dynamics play an often overlooked role. Millions of Americans have psychological issues or are affected by those of their family members, ranging from anxiety and bipolar disorder to mood and personality disorders. The growth of Big Pharma, combined with an increasing desire of managed care providers to find simple and "quick fixes," has resulted in an often myopic focus on biological causes of dysfunctional symptoms. There is plenty of evidence to indicate that this propensity to only prescribe pills is often deeply misguided, however. This book examines the role of dysfunctional family interactions in the genesis and maintenance of certain behavioral problems. The author presents a case for regaining a balance in terms of the biological, psychological, and family-system factors in psychiatric disorders and suggests a way to accomplish this.