Product Description

Argues for the superiority of behavioral treatments over drug therapies for psychological problems.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #686733 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 184 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780791471906
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Back Cover
In this highly provocative book, Stephen Ray Flora maintains that we have been deceived into believing that whatever one's psychological problem--from anxiety, anorexia, bulimia, depression, phobias, sleeping and sexual difficulties to schizophrenia--there is a drug to cure us. In contrast, he argues that these problems are behavioral, not chemical, and he advocates behavioral therapy as an antidote. He makes the controversial claim that for virtually every psychological difficulty, behavioral therapy is more effective than drug treatment. Not only that, but the side effects of behavioral therapy, rather than being harmful like many drugs, are actually beneficial, often facilitating self-empowerment through learning functional life skills.

"I like the author's obvious deep-seated concern about the book's topic and the enthusiasm with which he addresses it. He explains why the behavioral approach is more effective than drugs, and how it importantly differs from the drug approach. I hope this book will be widely read. Our society needs it." -- P. A. Lamal, editor of Cultural Contingencies: Behavior Analytic Perspectives on Cultural Practices

"This topic is an important one that has implications for the treatment of many children and adolescents. I like the author's passion for the subject matter; he clearly wants to make a point. He has certainly `done his homework.'" -- David Reitman, coeditor of Practitioner's Guide to Empirically Based Measures of School Behavior

About the Author
Stephen Ray Flora is Professor of Psychology at Youngstown State University and is the author of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title The Power of Reinforcement, also published by SUNY Press.

Customer Reviews

Drugs are NOT the answer!
The author sets out to prove--successfully in my view--that drug treatment for conditions such as ADHD, OCD, depression, and anxiety are vastly inferior to behavioral therapy. Though many contend that chemical imbalances are responsible for producing these disorders, Stephen Ray Flora argues and presents credible evidence showing how cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), instead of pharmacological intervention, can correct such problems and lead people in the direction of human health with markedly lower relapse rates and with results that are lasting. Drugs do not fundamentally re-shape our worldview into a more constructive, healthier outlook. For instance, if we have an anxiety disorder that results from heights, public places, or public speaking, taking a medication will not fundamentally resolve those issues. Instead, through exposure-response therapy, people are forced to confront their fears and extinguish the unhealthy response to a particular environmental stimulus (such as a cliff, or a stage in front of many people).

Indeed, the manifestation of other psychological conditions can be examined through the lens of behaviorism. OCD is fueled by seeking relief from anxiety (negative reinforcement). Depression is perpetuated by avoiding activities that, in and of themselves, would resolve the depression itself (negative reinforcement). Though I do not wish to spoil the substance of the book by going into detail, Flora shows how environmental reinforcers can produce these conditions of mental illness and how they can be resolved. The author's scrutiny of ADHD and schizophrenia was also very enlightening.

This book is empowering for those seeking to take control of a particular condition they may have. Instead of outsourcing blame ("Oh, it's not my fault; it's the OCD") or reducing the complication to a simple resolution ("I just need a pill."), Flora provides an engaging and well-researched discourse of certain conditions and shows how the tools for overcoming these problems is readily accessible for anyone ready and willing to work. CBT and/or exposure-response therapy is many times more effective than drugs by actually correcting psychological problems, not masking them.

I believe our culture is too demanding of solutions in life that come quickly and in something as simple as a pill. We have become too eager to take medications despite the fact that psychiatry has only proven that there is a CORRELATION between brain chemistry imbalance and mental illness, *NOT* causation. The author jokes in the beginning of the book how the victor in a martial arts competition has a higher testosterone count (the 'chemical') than the person he defeated. Does that mean that the loser has some kind of "physical competition victory deficiency disorder?" Additionally, Jeffrey Schwartz has shown using PET scans how CBT and EX/RP (exposure-response therapy) can alter brain chemistry to healthier levels, without drugs.

To the skeptics and critics: Flora addresses the arguments presented in favor of drug intervention. The author will demonstrate how medications can even interfere with the effectiveness of CBT, not improve it. In fact, as you will read in the chapter on depression, if mental illness was a bona-fide chemical problem, why did more people improve with only placebos in one study vs. those who took actual medications (Duke University study)?

This was a very good read! I highly recommend it!