[lbo-talk] shyness

[shag carpet bomb]

i remember someone posting about a NYT review of _Our Daily Meds_ and 
_Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness_. For those of you who're 
interested, I'm nearly finished with _Shyness_ and it, too, is an excellent 
read. It's especially fascinating because the author uses previously 
unpublished notes and proceedings from the meetings surrounding the 
development of the DSMIII, along with interviews of Spitzer and other 
participants.

And wow! I had no idea how hostile Spitzer and the circle he surrounded 
himself with was to psychoanalysis. He basically pulled a lot of stunts to 
exclude them from any inclusion in the DSMIII.

But even more wow is the sometimes hilarious debates these guys get in, not 
to mention the embarrassing descriptions some of them submit.

And the wowest is the role of big pharma in greasing the hands of the 
committee, doling out kick backs, and in pushing for the inclusion of 
certain disorders which had the flimsiest of descriptions and were based on 
really fuzzy descriptions, not to mention extremely limited data -- 
particularly since the committee excluded the work of psychoanalysts. 
What's especially embarassing is the way they acted like 12 year olds, 
snickering and sn-wording openly putting down psychoanalytic approaches.

Highly recommended.

shag