Jerome Wakefield

Jerome Wakefield, a professor of social work and psychiatry at NYU, dives into the controversies surrounding psychiatric diagnoses. He questions the objectivity of the DSM and the blurred lines between normal emotional responses and clinical disorders. The conversation highlights how cultural influences affect the classification of mental health issues, including the evolving definitions of grief and gender identity. Wakefield critiques the pharmaceutical influence on diagnoses and urges for a more nuanced understanding of mental health classification.