Description
Book SynopsisThe Four Domains of Mental Illness presents an authentic and valid alternative to the DSM-5, which author René J. Muller argues has resulted in many patients being incorrectly diagnosed and wrongly medicated. Dr. Muller points out where the DSM-5 is mistaken and offers a guide to diagnosis based on the psychobiology of psychiatrist Adolf Meyer and the insights of existential philosophy and psychiatry. His model identifies the phenomena of the mental illnesses that clinicians most often see, which are characterized by identifying their structure, or partial structure. Using the FDMI approach, clinicians can grasp how each mental illness is an aberration of Martin Heidegger's being-in-the-world.
Trade Review"One of the vexing ‘realities’ of working in the mental health professions is trying to understand the complicated symptom profiles of actual persons in stark contrast to the clearly demarcated syndromes of the official classification systems. Inspired by great psychopathologists of the past—Jaspers, Meyer, and McHugh—René J. Muller wrestles with this contrast directly. He systematizes our prevailing classifications and offers an enlightening perspective on the interaction between personhood and psychiatric distress."
Peter Zachar, PhD, professor of psychology, Auburn University Montgomery
This a fascinating discussion of an extremely timely topic in mental health. For over 50 years the standard diagnostic reference has been the DSM (authored by the American Psychiatric Association), but criticism of this manual has been steadily growing with a sharp crescendo upon the publication of DSM 5 a couple of years ago. The negative reaction was widespread from professionals, news media, and academics, and the Director of NIMH responded by announcing that the DSM would no longer be used for psychiatric research due to its lack of validity.... My overall reaction to the book is positive… Since I am in agreement with much of the criticism of DSM, I find Dr. Muller’s Four Domain approach a welcome alternative.—Robert L. Taylor, MD, psychiatrist, Austin, TX
In general, I was terribly impressed by his erudition, and by his ability to take trenchant examples from belles lettres, from the movies, and from his neighbors! Dr. Muller exemplifies something that has become quite rare in medicine: a clinical scientist with deep humanistic learning. This makes much of the book a joy to read, even if, I as a reader often had to suspend disbelief—Edward Shorter, professor of psychiatry, University of Toronto
Table of ContentsForeword Preface Acknowledgments PART I: WHERE PSYCHIATRY HAS BEEN, NEEDS TO GO, AND HOW TO GET THERE 1. Why Psychiatry Needs Another Way to Classify and Diagnose the Pathological Alterations in Mental Life 2. The Initial Promises of Biological Psychiatry Do Not Look So Promising Now 3. An Approach to Diagnosing Mental Illness Based on the Psychobiology of Adolf Meyer 4. To Understand, To Explain, to Know What Mental Illness Is 5. The Four Domains of Mental Illness PART II: CLASSIFIFYING AND DIAGNOSING MENTAL ILLNESS 6. The Anxiety Spectrum 7. The Depression Spectrum 8. The Dissociation Spectrum 9. The Psychosis Spectrum 10. Aberrant Personality Styles 11. Ceding Control over Alcohol, Drugs, Food, Sex, the Body’s Integument, Gambling and the Itch to Steal 12. Altered Mental States Induced by a Medical Condition or Medical Disease 13. Schizophrenia 14. Four Schizophrenic Patients, Four Different Schizophrenias 15. Diagnosing the Heterogeneous Illness/Disease Known as Schizophrenia 16. Manic-Depression 17. Using the FDMI: Diagnosis and Treatment of a Man With 2nd Domain Avoidant Personality Style, and 1st Domain Anxiety, Dysthymia and Pathological Anger Appendices: A-D A. Edmund Husserl’s Phenomenological Method, William James’s Pragmatism and the Question of Validity for the FDMI and the DSM-5 B. The Putative Subtypes of Schizophrenia C. Schizoaffective Disorder: An Improbable Phenomenon D. Identifying Mass Killers Before They Strike References Index
