Praise for This City Is Killing Me:
Offers an empathetic look at how the pressures of surviving in an urban environment—including unemployment, poverty and violence—make finding help even more difficult and shares a call to action to help heal our communities. —Chicago Public Library
An urgent call for reform worthy of serious consideration. — Kirkus Reviews
[S]eeks to highlight how larger traumas within a community—things like unemployment, poverty, lack of affordable housing, violence—as well as historical factors (Jim Crow laws, redlining, displacement) can have a toxic impact that makes it harder for people within those neighborhoods to thrive. —Marissa De La Cerda, Chicago Reader
The fascinating history of an industry once preoccupied with the condemnation of witchcraft, supposed female hysteria, and homosexuality ... A passionate and well-informed study on the importance of improving inclusiveness in mental health evaluations.— Kirkus Reviews
What does it mean to place a label on the pain of someone's life? What do we do to a person when we call them depressed, bipolar, or schizophrenic? In (Mis)Diagnosed, Jonathan Foiles writes with sympathy, grace, and intelligence, probing the interaction between patient, therapist, and social context. This humane and undogmatic critique of psychiatry demonstrates how diagnostic categories can obscure social and historical inequities. A great book for anyone interested in hearing and helping other people, or for anyone interested in the mystery of the human mind. —Gabriel Brownstein, author of The Open Heart Club
What does it mean to place a label on the pain of someone's life? What do we do to a person when we call them depressed, bipolar, or schizophrenic? In (Mis)Diagnosed, Jonathan Foiles writes with sympathy, grace, and intelligence, probing the interaction between patient, therapist, and social context. This humane and undogmatic critique of psychiatry demonstrates how diagnostic categories can obscure social and historical inequities. A great book for anyone interested in hearing and helping other people, or for anyone interested in the mystery of the human mind. —Gabriel Brownstein, author of The Open Heart Club
In a world that increasingly loves a diagnosis, what are clinicians to do who fear the ramifications of identifying with disease, disorder, drugs, and deficits? The history of the mental health profession's endless missteps—the violent misogyny, racism, eugenics, and sexual morality that haunt the (mis)diagnosed—should give us serious pause. More than this historical elucidation, you will find a powerful appeal for careful clinical listening and the hard work of connecting with patients so they can learn to play again with their inner life—a terrain that has so little to do with the labels that want to designate each of us 'crazy' or 'chemically imbalanced.' I salute Foiles for this clear and ethical exposition. —Jamieson Webster, author of Conversion Disorder and Stay, Illusion
2021-07-10
A report on how mental illness diagnoses can be negatively influenced by personal history, race, and class.
As Foiles notes, the internal ramifications of a mental health diagnosis are vexing enough without the additional stigma of gender and racial biases compounding it. In clear, concise language, he highlights cases in which clinical presumptions compounded societal stigmatization in psychotherapeutic patient care settings. On the clinical side, he describes a therapist’s tightrope walk of matching a psychiatric diagnosis with a medical treatment that will blunt a patient’s symptoms and restore the self but without erasing the patient’s identity. Throughout, he shares the fascinating history of an industry once preoccupied with the condemnation of witchcraft, supposed female hysteria, and homosexuality. While confirming that a diagnosis for depression or mental illness is “purely based on observation and patient self-report,” Foiles notes that labeling a patient with a specific diagnosis can also become the person’s “lifeline,” linking a sense of humanity, reality, and closure to what might have been years of terrifying uncertainty. The author examines how patient care proceeds once a diagnosis is determined while also acknowledging the root causes of trauma, including racism, poverty, and interpersonal violence. He spotlights specific racial disparities, noting that Black men, in particular, are more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia and will typically receive a subpar level of care. As he did in This City Is Killing Me (2019), his debut on the correlation between inner-city community trauma and mental health, Foiles uses his experiences to illuminate issues of care-based laxity. He cites cases where patients suffered from inaccurate diagnoses and were demonized by labels such as “crazy,” “psycho,” or “borderline,” which further impeded their treatment. The author delivers a brisk, condensed text on disorders ranging from schizophrenia to workforce-induced ADHD, and he implores mental health professionals to consistently assess “the social surround of individuals asking for help.”
A passionate and well-informed study on the importance of improving inclusiveness in mental health evaluations.
