Some valid ideas undermined by personal ideologies
1 star
The very broad-strokes concept of the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) is that systems of power should be necessary components in how we treat mental illness, diagnoses can be an impediment to care, and to shift the focus from "what is wrong with you" to "what has happened to you."
The acknowledgement of systemic forces, personal circumstance, and how frequently how own mental struggles are the consequence of experience are useful generalities. But the authors seem to take that to extremes that lose the thread. The primary call to action appears to be eliminating the concept of psychiatric diagnosis. Its support for this extraordinary suggestion is extremely meek. The most prominent reason provided is that we haven't found precise biological causes after all this time, therefor they don't exist, therefor it can't be pathological.
I must admit I only read about 1/3 of the book. After a few …
The very broad-strokes concept of the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) is that systems of power should be necessary components in how we treat mental illness, diagnoses can be an impediment to care, and to shift the focus from "what is wrong with you" to "what has happened to you."
The acknowledgement of systemic forces, personal circumstance, and how frequently how own mental struggles are the consequence of experience are useful generalities. But the authors seem to take that to extremes that lose the thread. The primary call to action appears to be eliminating the concept of psychiatric diagnosis. Its support for this extraordinary suggestion is extremely meek. The most prominent reason provided is that we haven't found precise biological causes after all this time, therefor they don't exist, therefor it can't be pathological.
I must admit I only read about 1/3 of the book. After a few instances of odd references to schizophrenia, then quoting a woman with the seeming intent of suggesting bipolar disorder isn't a real disorder than can be helped with medication, I decided to background check the authors.
Mary Boyd I found had previously written Schizophrenia: A Scientific Delusion? (1990). These combined appear to delve into the kind of conspiracy theory that schizophrenia does not exist, and explains the slant of the book as being soundly in the anti-psychiatry genre.
Lucy Johnstone's record is more fraught. She has a series of articles posted only about neurodiversity. She blames the "rapid rise" of ADHD and ASD on "neoliberalism" and social media. She claims self-diagnosis isn't valid because it's "a misuse of language". It is a very odd angle to take on neurodiversity, given the PTMF's focus on systems to not acknowledge that self-diagnosis is a response to systemic failures for this group.
And if these types of arguments sound familiar, you may already anticipate what comes next. Lucy Johnstone was a speaker at the 2025 Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) Conference. SEGM is an anti-trans organization that pushes the "social contagion" hypothesis. I could not find the content of her talk, only that it was titled "Taking on a Diagnostic Label." and was otherwise able to confirm any expressly anti-trans statements. However, she should be more than aware of the active harm being caused by SEGM, and presenting there is tacit support.
As such, I opted to not finish this. The fundamental principles supposedly being espoused to appreciate the importance of people's experiences and the systems of power that cause harm in their lives, but proceeds to show both in the text and elsewhere that they are ineffective at applying those principles.