Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry

"JF : I was taking a tour of Clark University’s archives and the office of G Stanley Hall . As I sat in Hall’s office chair, a psychology professor recommended that I read Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry . It’s a great read for students interested in clinical psychology . We try to help our students understand the difference between a clinical psychologist and psychiatrist, the latter earning a medical degree and being able to prescribe medication. Shrinks provides a historical view, and acknowledges the field’s challenging past of questionable practices and harsh treatments of patients. The author also expands on the recent discoveries focusing on the brain and the current DSM-5 . A timeline that addresses diagnosis, treatment and the rebirth of psychiatry is established for readers in order to see a more complete picture of psychiatry. The book is chock-full of terms and theories but woven together in a story that is easy to follow. For the social studies/history buff, it is a great read that digs into psychology’s short but vivid past. It also leaves the reader wondering where the path of psychiatry is headed and what is next around the corner. “Psychiatry has to own the mistakes and the ethical issues of its past” NF : When we chose our five books, we tried to be broad, right? We tried to have some clinical, some biology, some cognitive, some emotion , a social psych book. The book Shrinks is like a historical piece. The author feels that psychiatry has to own the mistakes and the ethical issues of its past, but that psychology, and psychiatry, is in this really great moment where they’re utilizing new research and genetics and diagnostic testing to help people more. The book is very story-like, and is divided into three sections: the history of diagnosis, the history of treatment, and a third section, ‘psychiatry reborn’: how can we use technology in a positive way to provide treatment to reach more people. It’s a really interesting book that gives a more complete picture of psychiatry, past and present. A nice, easy to read, high-interest book that gives them a big picture. NF : A lot of students, when they start taking a psychology class, think psychology is almost entirely clinical psychology. As a result, they are often surprised that psychology is much more diverse. I think they’re surprised and excited to see all the ways that psychology connects with health and medicine, how it connects to business, how it connects to education , how it connects to engineering , how it connects to economics , and many other fields. Students love how when they take a psychology course and learn things that they can apply immediately—maybe it is the memory techniques, as we discussed earlier, or how to improve cognition, or the understanding they gain about social interactions. Psychology is a very high interest topic for many high school students. The goal for the teacher, of course, is to guide them as to how this relates to both their everyday life and potential future careers."