Leigh Emery
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| Debates over psychiatric diagnosis: an ideological smack-down? Pic: Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson |
On Sunday the12th of May, The UK Observer ran a front-page article stating that the Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP), a
subdivision of the British Psychological Society (BPS), was releasing a position statement calling for a ‘paradigm shift’ in mental health. The proposed
shift was away from a view of mental health problems as illnesses with biological
roots, and towards greater consideration of psychological and social factors.
The DCP did its best to get the
media interested and was rewarded with extensive coverage. The Observer and
Guardian website included an online poll
and other articles
and commentaries that explored the debate in some depth. The Daily Mail ran a piece the following day.
Lucy Johnstone and Richard Bentall, both Clinical Psychologists and critics
of the ‘disease model’ of psychological distress, appeared on Radio 4 and Peter
Kinderman, a former DCP Chair, was on telly in Canada.
