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In 1994-1995 I had a year off between the end of my clinical psychology master's program and the beginning of my doctoral program. I took this opportunity to read the works of several critics of mainstream theories in psychiatry and psychology. Among these authors were Thomas Szasz (1970, 1976), R. D. Laing (1967), Leon Kamin (1974), and Mary Boyle (1990). As I read their works, I began to question the mainstream psychiatric position that discrete mental disorders exist, as opposed to the idea that differing manifestations of human distress fall on a continuum. Moreover, in some cases psychiatric labels are used to stigmatize people who merely think and act in socially disapproved ways.
During this period I became acquainted with Peter Breggin's classic work, Toxic Psychiatry (Breggin, 1991). Previously, I had read many claims that the evidence overwhelmingly supported a biological and genetic basis for most mental disorders. Given that I was skeptical of such claims, I took great pleasure in reading this book very carefully. In particular, the chapter titled "The Biology and Genetics of 'Schizophrenic' Overwhelm" provided a welcomed response to the ubiquitous "schizophrenia is a brain disorder with a strong genetic basis" claim, which, unfortunately, remains standard fare in contemporary psychology and psychiatry textbooks. One reason for this, as Breggin pointed out in Toxic Psychiatry, is that "in psychiatry, biological research is guided, indeed driven, by the profession's need to justify its existence as a medical specialty" (Breggin, 1991, p. 101).
Inspired by Toxic Psychiatry and subsequent books and articles by Breggin and other critics, I began an in-depth investigation into the claim that "schizophrenia" has an important genetic basis. This became the topic of my doctoral dissertation (Joseph, 1998). Subsequently, I published two books challenging genetic theories in psychiatry and psychology (Joseph, 2004, 2006).
As it turns out, there exists little if any scientifically acceptable evidence that schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, autism, ADHD, and other major psychiatric orders have any basis in genetics. Twin and adoption studies are the most frequently cited evidence in support of the genetic position....