is the first Volume of the Ethics International Press Critical Psychology and Critical Psychiatry Series. Understanding the current systems of psychology and psychiatry is profoundly important. So is exploring alternatives. The Critical Psychology and Critical Psychiatry Series presents solicited chapters from international experts on a wide variety of underexplored subjects. This is a series for mental health researchers, teachers, and practitioners, for parents and interested lay readers, and for anyone trying to make sense of anxiety, depression, and other emotional difficulties. sets out to present a clear picture of the current "mental disorder paradigm," one that claims an ability to "diagnose and treat mental disorders" and that provides "medication" as its primary treatment. traces the history of the psychiatric model and its "diagnostic manual" and identifies its flaws and problem areas by presenting more than twenty solicited chapters from experts worldwide.