ABSTRACT
An important step in the direction of humane helping is sidestepping the pseudo-scientific, pseudo-medical enterprise of 'diagnosing and treating mental disorders' and instead helping people meet their challenges without labeling them and without sending them in the direction of controversial chemical fixes. Joanna Moncrieff is a Senior Lecturer at University College London and works as a consultant psychiatrist in the NHS in London. Her academic work consists of a critical appraisal of drug treatment for mental health problems, as well as work on the history, philosophy, and politics of psychiatry and mental health. A humane helper who is operating in today's environment needs to know what she thinks about the use of so-called psychiatric medication to treat so-called mental disorders, diseases, and illnesses. The document that serves as the labeling bible for American mental health professionals and for many other professionals as well is the DSM. Clinicians possess tremendous power to diagnose based on what many consider a mere whim.
