BOOK REVIEW: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry Author: Jon Ronson
Published by Riverhead Books( May 12, 2011)
by JOHN J. WERNERT, MD, MHA
This is a review of a 15-year-old book that explores the fallacies and missteps in attempting psychiatric diagnosis of aberrant behavior and personality disorders. Jon Ronson is a British American journalist known for such works as Them: Adventures with Extremists and The Men Who Stare at Goats( made into a movie with George Clooney). Ronson is known for his skeptical investigations of controversial social movements, politics and science and loves to uncover a hoax. In this 2011 book, Ronson investigates the multi-national psychiatric enterprise and the possible over-diagnosis of ordinary common human traits. In these 11 chapters, Ronson explores and highlights the ambiguities and pitfalls of psychiatric diagnosis and the unsettling realization of the unpredictable nature of the“ madness industry.” He uses interviews of famous sociopaths, clinical case reviews and personal experiences to take us on a journey in discovering the use of the“ psychopath test” often used to determine“ sane versus insane.” Ronson believes that you frequently walk past psychopaths on the street, or work with them every day and don’ t realize their true nature( and danger). You may recognize these people who have no empathy and are manipulative, deceitful yet charming. What objectively differentiates someone who is annoying and difficult, versus delusional and potentially harmful to others? Having no conscience and harming others are the key warning signs.
According to most research, around 1 % of the general population is considered psychopathic, but this prevalence rises considerably when considering prison populations( 15 – 25 %). It is easy to diagnose serial killers once they have murdered, but what about relatively ordinary people who might offend in the future? Our current tragedies of school shootings, terrorist attacks and mass casualties attest to this societal concern: we seem quite weak in identifying and apprehending dangerous individuals prior to their murderous acts. More and more, relatively ordinary people are being defined by“ their most insane edges.” In addition, he observes that the“ epidemic” of Asperger’ s and rates of diagnosis of autistic disorder children went from less than 1 in 2,000 to more than 1 in10. These children used to be called eccentric, but now are labeled autistic, and can be extremely irritable and moody with temper tantrums.
22 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE