The Mind Has Mountains: Reflections on Society and Psychiatry

From strenuous opposition to physician-assisted suicide to a conviction that sex-correction surgery for newborns is cruel and misguided, Dr. Paul R. McHugh's opinions are strong and often controversial. In this collection of essays, McHugh demonstrates why he is one of the most thought-provoking figures in the academic world.

These pieces argue for a realistic appraisal of just what psychiatrists know and how they know it, with the aim of indicating how such knowledge can best be used not only for better patient care but also to reflect on and influence public issues and social movements. His essays will stimulate professional and popular discussion about the goals and effectiveness of current psychiatric practice.

McHugh sorts through the layers of what he terms the culturally driven misdirection of psychiatry and psychotherapy to explain concepts often misunderstood by nonscholars and the intellectual community alike. America's leading psychiatrist may inspire you or offend you, but he will certainly make you think.

McHuge (psychiatry emeritus, Johns Hopkins U.) collects 21 essays he has written over the years in response to what he thought were misdirections by professionals in his field. His topics include how psychiatry lost its way, dissociative identity disorder is a socially constructed artifact, treating the mind as well as the brain, and no veterinarian to The Naked Ape. There is no index.
Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

McHuge (psychiatry emeritus, Johns Hopkins U.) collects 21 essays he has written over the years in response to what he thought were misdirections by professionals in his field. His topics include how psychiatry lost its way, dissociative identity disorder is a socially constructed artifact, treating the mind as well as the brain, and no veterinarian to The Naked Ape. There is no index. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"Wise words from a wise man." — Wall Street Journal "McHugh is one of the best and most original writers in psychiatry or psychology. He is iconoclastic, idealistic, deeply informed, and is one of the most important influences on generations of psychiatric researchers and clinicians. No one will agree with everything he writes — I don't — but no one who reads this book will remain unaffected by the clarity and importance of his thinking." — Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D, author of An Unquiet Mind