The Myth of Neurosis - Overcoming the Illness Excuse

Garth Wood

Harper & Row

1986

294 páginas

9h 48m

ISBN-10: 0060154888

British psychiatrist Wood presents his principles of Moral Therapy, arguing that Freud's theories of id, ego and superego are incorrect and unscientific speculation; that neurosis is a convenient excuse for a lack of will, effort and maturity in otherwise well people; that psychoanalysis is an unnecessary discipline, which encourages and perpetuates the "myth of neurosis." The author maintains that an individual's failure to carry out his or her own "common sense" moral imperatives, not neurosis, causes guilt, anxiety, etc. Under his precepts of Moral Therapy, the author stresses hard work, determination and the help of friends and clergy as a logical replacement for psychoanalysis. In an otherwise credible work, one questions Wood's guidelines for casual diagnosis and treatment by interested laypersons.