No Such Thing as Normal (Hardback)
Disorders, Diagnoses and the Limits of Psychiatry
Buy from
Exposing the false promises of psychiatry and the crumbling foundations on which it was built
'Confronting, thought-provoking and hopeful' SARAH GRAHAM
'A rallying cry for the importance of social and systemic approaches to psychiatric distress' EMMA BYRNE
'Stimulating and timely on psychiatry's tendency to pathologise the 'abnormal'' DANIEL TAMMET
'A shocking and powerful critique ... this is essential reading' HELEN KING
There is no such thing as a normal brain, yet we live in a world that treats disorder as disease.
Psychiatry rests on the belief that mental distress can ultimately be explained by biology: brain structures, chemical imbalances and genetics. Treatments from lobotomies to electroconvulsive therapy to prescription drugs have been touted as cures for 'disorder'. And somewhere along the way, the pharmaceutical industry has leapfrogged its patients, making millions designing drugs to treat disorders, then billions dreaming up disorders that require drugs.
We are now diagnosed and treated for mental disorders more than ever, despite increasing evidence that environmental factors play a far greater role than biological ones.
Laying out the steps for a mental health system that helps rather than harms, Marieke Bigg asks: how can we heal when faced with an industry that banks on keeping us sick?
No Such Thing as Normal (Ebook)
Disorders, Diagnoses and the Limits of Psychiatry
Buy from
Exposing the false promises of psychiatry and the crumbling foundations on which it was built
'Confronting, thought-provoking and hopeful' SARAH GRAHAM
'A rallying cry for the importance of social and systemic approaches to psychiatric distress' EMMA BYRNE
'Stimulating and timely on psychiatry's tendency to pathologise the 'abnormal'' DANIEL TAMMET
'A shocking and powerful critique ... this is essential reading' HELEN KING
There is no such thing as a normal brain, yet we live in a world that treats disorder as disease.
Psychiatry rests on the belief that mental distress can ultimately be explained by biology: brain structures, chemical imbalances and genetics. Treatments from lobotomies to electroconvulsive therapy to prescription drugs have been touted as cures for 'disorder'. And somewhere along the way, the pharmaceutical industry has leapfrogged its patients, making millions designing drugs to treat disorders, then billions dreaming up disorders that require drugs.
We are now diagnosed and treated for mental disorders more than ever, despite increasing evidence that environmental factors play a far greater role than biological ones.
Laying out the steps for a mental health system that helps rather than harms, Marieke Bigg asks: how can we heal when faced with an industry that banks on keeping us sick?
No Such Thing as Normal (Audiobook)
Disorders, Diagnoses and the Limits of Psychiatry
Buy from
Exposing the false promises of psychiatry and the crumbling foundations on which it was built
'Confronting, thought-provoking and hopeful' SARAH GRAHAM
'A rallying cry for the importance of social and systemic approaches to psychiatric distress' EMMA BYRNE
'Stimulating and timely on psychiatry's tendency to pathologise the 'abnormal'' DANIEL TAMMET
'A shocking and powerful critique … this is essential reading' HELEN KING
There is no such thing as a normal brain, yet we live in a world that treats disorder as disease.
Psychiatry rests on the belief that mental distress can ultimately be explained by biology: brain structures, chemical imbalances and genetics. Treatments from lobotomies to electroconvulsive therapy to prescription drugs have been touted as cures for 'disorder'. And somewhere along the way, the pharmaceutical industry has leapfrogged its patients, making millions designing drugs to treat disorders, then billions dreaming up disorders that require drugs.
We are now diagnosed and treated for mental disorders more than ever, despite increasing evidence that environmental factors play a far greater role than biological ones.
Laying out the steps for a mental health system that helps rather than harms, Marieke Bigg asks: how can we heal when faced with an industry that banks on keeping us sick?
Reviews for No Such Thing as Normal
Sarah Hughes, CEO of Mind
Daniel Tammet, author of NINE MINDS
Dr Emma Byrne, author of SWEARING IS GOOD FOR YOU
Professor Justin Garson, author of MADNESS and THE MADNESS PILL
Dr Rianna Walcott, co-editor of THE COLOUR OF MADNESS
Nick Dearden, author of PHARMANOMICS
Emma Szewczak, author of THE STITCH UP
Dr Helen King, author of IMMACULATE FORMS
Sarah Graham, author of REBEL BODIES
Dr Andrzej Harris, Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge
Dr Nighat Arif, author of THE KNOWLEDGE
Praise for This Won't Hurt:
'A vital subject that needs to be discussed
'
Katy Hessel
Helen Pankhurst
Irish Times
Naga Munchetty
Marieke Bigg
Dr Marieke Bigg holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Cambridge. Her work focused on the role of biological models and biologists in public deliberations on biotechnology and reproductive medicine. She is a trainee psychotherapist and a peer support coordinator at the mental health charity, Mind.