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From the author of Irreversible Damage, an investigation into how mental health overdiagnosis is harming, not helping, children

‘A pacy, no-holds barred attack on mental health professionals and parenting experts … thought-provoking’ Financial Times

‘A message that parents, teachers, mental health professionals and policymakers need to hear’ New Statesman

In virtually every way that can be measured, Gen Z’s mental health is worse than that of previous generations. Youth suicide rates are climbing, antidepressant prescriptions for children are common, and the proliferation of mental health diagnoses has not helped the staggering number of kids who are lonely, lost, sad and fearful of growing up. What’s gone wrong?

In Bad Therapy, bestselling investigative journalist Abigail Shrier argues that the problem isn’t the kids – it’s the mental health experts. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with child psychologists, parents, teachers and young people themselves, Shrier explores the ways the mental health industry has transformed the way we teach, treat, discipline and even talk to our kids. She reveals that most of the therapeutic approaches have serious side effects and few proven benefits: for instance, talk therapy can induce rumination, trapping children in cycles of anxiety and depression; while ‘gentle parenting’ can encourage emotional turbulence – even violence – in children as they lash out, desperate for an adult to be in charge.

Mental health care can be lifesaving when properly applied to children with severe needs, but for the typical child, the cure can be worse than the disease. Bad Therapy is a must-read for anyone questioning why our efforts to support our kids have backfired – and what it will take for parents to lead a turnaround.

Publisher Review

'Shrier's trenchant critiques of trauma-focused therapy, social-emotional learning curricula, and other well-intentioned practices are essential reading for parents, teachers, and mental health professionals' - Richard J. McNally, professor of psychology at Harvard University 'Shrier persuasively and forcefully demonstrates how mental health professionals (and some parents) often make things worse for the kids and adolescents they aim to help. With splendid writing and thought-provoking analysis, she offers a compelling vision for how to make things better' - Elizabeth Loftus, distinguished professor of psychological science at University of California, Irvine and former president of the Association for Psychological Science 'A dazzling combination of investigative reporting and storytelling. A groundbreaking book' - Gerald Posner, award-winning investigative journalist and author of Pharma 'A well-researched and engaging exploration of therapy's limitations and potential harms, and a powerful critique of a culture in which 'traumatic' describes anything from horrific abuse to your new laptop going on the blink' - Elizabeth Gaufberg, MD, associate professor of medicine and psychiatry at Harvard Medical School 'Abigail Shrier is the smartest and most courageous reporter in the country. There's a high cost to telling the truth, but for parents and kids, the rewards are beyond measure. Five stars' - Caitlin Flanagan, staff writer at The Atlantic Praise for Irreversible Damage A Times Best Book of 2021 'Punchy, analytical and written with the zest and elegance of a journalist at the top of her game' - Sunday Times 'In Irreversible Damage, Abigail Shrier provides a thought-provoking examination of a new clinical phenomenon mainly affecting adolescent females that has, at lightning speed, swept across North America and parts of Western Europe and Scandinavia. It is a book that will be of great interest to parents, the general public and mental health clinicians' - Dr Kenneth J. Zucker, adolescent and child psychologist and chair of the DSM-5 Work Group on Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders 'A work brimming with compassion for a vulnerable subset of our population: teenage girls. It is a work that makes you want to keep reading because it is accessible, lucid and compelling. A must-read for all those who care about the lot of our girls and women' - Ayaan Hirsi Ali 'A folksy, anecdotal tour of a well-evidenced phenomenon' - Private Eye 'A detailed look at the context and consequences of this rise in transgender identity' - Irish Independent 'Courageous. Vital. Brilliant. Humane' - Mail on Sunday 'Every parent needs to read this gripping travelogue through Gender Land, a perilous place where large numbers of teenage girls come to grief despite their loving parents' efforts to rescue them' - Helen Joyce, senior staff writer at The Economist