Mind the Science: Saving Your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry

Mind the Science: Saving Your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry by Jonathan N. Stea, PhD

BOOK REVIEW

Mind the Science: Saving Your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry

By Jonathan N. Stea, PhD

Oxford University Press, 2024; 264 pages

Reviewed by Awais Aftab, MD

In Mind the Science: Saving Your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry, clinical psychologist Jonathan N. Stea, PhD, presents a no-holds-barred critique of the wellness industry’s pervasive and pernicious influence on mental health care. Stea’s extensive experience in clinical psychology and his dedication to debunking mental health misinformation converge in this sharp, informative, and timely book. His work serves as both a guide and a shield for general readers navigating the murky waters of mental health advice in today's advertisement-saturated world.

The book is divided into 3 sections, each addressing a critical aspect of mental health misinformation. The first section equips readers with the knowledge of various red flags that help discern pseudoscience from legitimate science. Stea explores the historical roots of mental health misinformation, tracing its evolution from early misconceptions to contemporary antipsychiatry movement and the wellness industry. This initial groundwork is essential for readers to understand the pervasive nature of misinformation and prepare them for the more detailed analysis in subsequent sections.

The second section is essentially a training course in identifying misinformation and propaganda. Stea shines a light on various pseudoscientific practices, illustrating how they prey on those seeking mental health support. He offers psychological insights into why individuals are susceptible to these misleading practices, emphasizing the tactics and tropes used by purveyors of pseudoscience. Pseudoscientific ideas seduce vulnerable individuals, often by exploiting emotional and psychological triggers. This section enables readers to recognize common red flags, tropes, and dubious mental health interventions (there is also a wonderful tabulated summary of these at the end of the book).

The final section offers solutions grounded in mainstream science and medicine. Stea guides readers on what to look for in credible mental health treatments and professionals. He emphasizes the importance of evidence-based practices and provides practical advice for finding effective professional help.

Mind the Science seeks to inculcate a scientific sensibility in its readers, especially in those without a formal scientific background. Stea’s writing style is engaging, marked by empathy and humor, and he makes complex concepts digestible. The book provides practical, relatable scenarios that illustrate the dangers of pseudoscience. In Stea’s hands, the material is transformed into a practical guide for everyday life. He is plain-spoken and empathetic.

Throughout the book, Stea presents technical material in an accessible manner. As an example, in the chapter “Crash Course in Psychopathology,” he goes over the neo-Kraepelinian revolution in psychiatry; discusses the limitations of the DSM (“the sobering reality that the DSM is like a terrible map. Clinicians and researchers rightfully complain that it fails to accurately carve nature at its joints, so to speak… in the remarkably imperfect and difficult science of psychopathology, that’s better than no map at all.”); explains ideas such as “concept creep” and developmental principles such as equifinality and multifinality; and introduces categorical, dimensional, and network approaches to mental illness. I like the simple, catchy way in which he summarizes the network approach: “the relationship between various signs and symptoms is the disorder itself.” The end result is that when Stea criticizes common tropes around “chemical imbalance,” “root causes,” and “symptom checklists,” the readers can see for themselves how these tropes fall short of the actual complexity of psychopathology and the rigor of clinical practice.

At the same time, I should acknowledge what the book does not do. The discussion is aimed at general readers and would not be satisfactory to those seeking a philosophically rigorous account of misinformation and pseudoscience. Stea is careful to acknowledge the fuzzy nature of the boundary between science and pseudoscience and he disavows the existence of variables that reliably identify misinformation in any and all contexts, but his goal is not to settle conceptual controversies in this area nor to solve difficult boundary cases. Similarly, Stea’s treatment of antipsychiatry is superficial—correct in broad strokes but does not go into thorny philosophical and scientific details of psychiatric critiques that inevitably come up in this area. Academic scholars of misinformation, pseudoscience, or antipsychiatry will finish this book with various legitimate grievances, but this book is not really aimed at them; the intended audience is the lay person who will encounter and will likely be susceptible to health care misinformation from their peers on social media or from sources such as Goop, Joe Rogan, or the Church of Scientology.

In an endearing portion of the book, Stea shares his mother’s story, and how spinal surgery gone wrong left her with complex regional pain syndrome and mainstream medical treatments proved inadequate. Driven by pain and desperation, the family sought help in alternative medicine, “acupuncture, herbal remedies, reflexology, chiropractic, detox foot baths, Reiki, therapeutic touch, meditation, past life regression therapy, Rolfing, ear candling, healing crystals, cleansing bells, incense cleanses, psychics, and more,” practices that were either unhelpful or harmful.

Stea reflects, “To this day, we remain at the mercy of the limits of science and a chronic health condition with no known cure… it’s hard not to feel the stirs of resentment toward mainstream health care. Science can send us to the moon, but my mother was forced into a decades-long trek through a fog of health uncertainty that felt unguided because the offerings of scientific knowledge and effective treatments for what ailed her fell short. I too will get sick one day. Will I reach for the healing crystals?”

Mind the Science approaches alternative medicine and wellness industries with this human understanding of its seductive powers, especially for those suffering for whom standard medical treatments are often inaccessible or unhelpful. For general readers looking to navigate the confusing landscape of mental health advice, protect themselves and their loved ones from the exploitative tactics, and recognize the snake oil salesmen of our age, they cannot go wrong with Mind the Science.

Dr Aftab is a psychiatrist in Cleveland, Ohio, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University. He writes online on his blog Psychiatry at the Margins.