Allan Horwitz's book is eye-opening, a bit repetitive, but eye-opening. He seems to be spot on about the inherent weaknesses of the DSM. I found chapter 5 (The Structuring of mental disorders) particularly fascinating. the explosion of multiple personality disorder after people began to read about its symptoms is interesting. Horwitz also popints out in this chapter that if doctors didn't buy into a particular "mental disorder" then it essentially ceased to exist. The opposite is also true and leads to overdiagnosis. This leads me to question all kinds of mental health statistics over a long timeline. It also shows how cultural norms shape a lot of todays "diagnoses."
Horwitz's discussion of the transition from "dynamic" to "diagnostic" psychiatry is also well argued. It makes sense that once health care got involved more "accurate" and measurable diagnoses became necessary.
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