The Reign of the Therapeutic--Someone's Asking Questions
Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Something's going on at The Los Angeles Times. On New Year's Day, the paper ran not one, but two articles questioning America's therapeutic culture and addiction to the latest psychological or psychiatric fads. When a major American newspaper publishes two articles in one issue making this essential point, we ought to take notice.

In "Psychiatry's Sick Compulsion: Turning Weaknesses into Diseases," psychiatrist and philosopher Irwin Savodnik of UCLA argues that his own field of psychiatry is infected with a preoccupation that focuses on illusory diseases. Referring to the holiday season, Savodnik explains that the American Psychiatric Association [APA] has now identified a new disease--seasonal affective disorder, or SAD--and this may explain why some people feel depressed, frustrated, or elated during and after the Christmas season.
The rest-Albert Mohler