cover image The Myth of Neurosis: Overcoming the Illness Excuse

The Myth of Neurosis: Overcoming the Illness Excuse

Garth Wood. HarperCollins Publishers, $15.45 (294pp) ISBN 978-0-06-015488-2

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. January 8