Review of “The Last Normal Child”

Renowned Adlerian, William Glasser calls the DSM (Diagnostic and Statstical Manual of Mental Disorders) “The Big Red Book Of Unhappiness”.  Adlerians do not embrace the now popular quick-and-dirty DSM diagnosis followed by fast pharmacotherapy. Too often meds are used as a bandage to mask symptoms with no attempt at resolving the underlying issues.

Apparently Leslie Diller author of “The Last Normal Child – Essays on the Intersection of Kids, Culture and Psychiatric Drugs” is of the same opinion.

Here is a review in the American Journal of Psychiatry that every one should take a moment to read.  We live in a culture that gives infants anti-depressants if they cry too much, and we are massively over-dosing our children with amphetamines to calm them down and get them back into their school seats.  I hope this makes you take pause and think about ADHD and other diagnosis with more skepticism and appreciate the complex factors that have lead our culture to this point.