Dr Jessica Taylor New Book

[Seiheiki]

Hi,

Is anyone else going to the Birmingham book launch of Sexy But Psycho on Sunday night?

Jess surname was Eaton when she was married. I’m sure if there’s is some American poet with same name it’s unrelated

*married previously, she’s married now but has kept taylor!

'She complains that other radical feminists don't like her, as well'. We really don't. All the hard work and sacrifices that we have put in is dismissed which is a familiar scenario, but from a woman is particularly galling.

I imagine it's a technical mix up and that they are two different authors, same name.

I also work in the same field as JT, and while I agree with a lot of her ideas I think she comes across incredibly boastful and not especially professional.

There IS a world of difference between being an academic and a clinician in psychology, and writing a thesis just doesn’t give you the same experience as frontline healthcare.

She posted recently about how she was bullied by all these meanies at her university who picked on her because she was working class - this may well be the case and she certainly won her case in court, but I did think at the time it would be interesting to know what the other side perspective was.

For anyone interested, there’s a book by Lisa Appignanesi called ‘Mad, Bad and Sad: a history of women and the mind doctors from 1800 to the present’ which I highly recommend.

From back in the day - yellow paper etc dealt with the pathology of women's experience of medical care.

blog.prepscholar.com/the-yellow-wallpaper-summary-analysis

Wow! That's a blast from the past - I remember reading that years ago.

I don't really know all the details of the things people are objecting to and it does sound a bit like she's being held to a double standard and wouldn't face this kind of scrutiny if she were a man. What I would say is that I'm from a similar kind of background to Dr T, working class family from a small town with domestic violence and abuse. I simply wasn't prepared for the world, to function in social environments, particularly in the professional sphere. I got good grades in school, was clever, but socially clueless, because the way I'd been raised was so feral. When all you've ever known is those raising you having violent confrontations, confrontation is a very difficult thing to handle. I was bolshy and talked a lot of bullshit to hide my insecurity and fear. I would say and do completely inappropriate things at work, because I didn't know any better. Violent parents don't teach you the skills of diplomacy and negotiation, appropriate professional behaviour etc they teach you brute force, anger and fear. I like to think I'm a different person now, but it took years to adjust and learn these skills that a lot of people take for granted because their parents had helped them prepare for the world. So, maybe Dr T is talking a lot of shit, maybe it's just her manner that appears brusque and puts people off, maybe she just has a bit more work to do on herself before she can manage being in the public eye and being criticised, I don't know, but just putting this out there and giving my perspective.

I’ve been following her since she was Jess Eaton and I think she’s now coming across as someone who thinks she needs to adhere to this absolutist position about psychiatry because the more she does it, the more attention she is getting for her cause. Speaking as someone who will probably never be off psychiatric medication despite repeated efforts to do without it, I find her stance very troubling.

Another example that concerned me - and this is a controversial one - is her statements about ECT.

I realise many people would find the use of ECT abhorrent and it has very bad reputation for its past misuse by psychiatrists and its potential for side effects such as memory loss. However, for a small number of patients it has benefits and it is still in use. For some of them, it has saved their lives when nothing else worked.

This twitter thread was from a psychiatrist who performs ECT and who lays out the pros and cons very clearly. twitter.com/drjanaway/status/1045351278640025600?s=20&t=-8n_7W3os5-7Nj7xyHTSZQ

Her response was that it was "fucking wanton psychiatric harm": twitter.com/DrJessTaylor/status/1232238114426556416?s=20&t=-8n_7W3os5-7Nj7xyHTSZQ

She goes on to say she has supported children who have been given ECT after they were raped. Then says she supported a teenage girl who was given ECT for intractable depression (so which was it? Children or a teenage girl? She doesn't say and I suspect she's written it this way to encourage maximum alarm).

My issue with this is: ECT has a dreadful reputation but for some people it is useful and works, she either does not know this or refuses to believe that it's true. Women in the thread she creates tell her that she they have requested ECT, that it helped them, and she ignores them. Clinicians explain it, she ignores them, in favour of the most dramatic and alarmist interpretations possible (one at point she describes it as "the practice of electrocuting patients").

It has nothing to do with bringing a woman down, it's about noticing that she makes overly broad statements about therapies and medications she doesn't appear to understand and that has the potential to cause harm. Some of the language she uses sounds like it comes directly from a Scientology anti-psychiatry pamphlet.

There are plenty of things to critique about mental health services but I wish she would be more careful when she's talking about areas where she has no clinical experience because it shows.

I don't really know all the details of the things people are objecting to and it does sound a bit like she's being held to a double standard and wouldn't face this kind of scrutiny if she were a man

Nope. Jessica believes even people with severe psychiatric illnesses such as bipolar and schizophrenia don't need medication. She's dangerous and I would say the same of any man that promoted the same nonsense.

Many of you are saying exactly the same things that I have felt. I’m really worried about the basic message she’s putting out. It’s dangerous. I could say much much more but it seems I’m not able to because she’s a woman and if I question the basic premise, I’m not holding her to the same standards as men. (I would). I have tried to interact with Jess and ask questions regarding her theories and been shot down. I’ve seen well known women ask the same questions and had interactions… until they got shot down. Her theories don’t stand up and aren’t evidence based. She’s not opening a dialogue to help women. She really isn’t.

I have tried to interact with Jess and ask questions regarding her theories and been shot down. I’ve seen well known women ask the same questions and had interactions… until they got shot down. Her theories don’t stand up and aren’t evidence based. She’s not opening a dialogue to help women. She really isn’t

This^. The idea that she is promoting dialogue is daft. Jessica has shown time and time again that she is unwilling (or unable) to engage with people who have opposing views or concerns. She does not wish for conversation, she is brisk with those who have mental illness or who express concern or ask questions. She dismisses women all the time, especially those with mental illness, all the time (rather ironically!).

Have any of you though about joining her AVBTI network and asking these questions in her discussions? Would be interesting.

@BobLep0nge

I don't really know all the details of the things people are objecting to and it does sound a bit like she's being held to a double standard and wouldn't face this kind of scrutiny if she were a man

Nope. Jessica believes even people with severe psychiatric illnesses such as bipolar and schizophrenia don't need medication. She's dangerous and I would say the same of any man that promoted the same nonsense.

She's even gone so far to say that schizophrenia isn't a thing. And that there's no such thing as a mental health disorder....

"She's even gone so far to say that schizophrenia isn't a thing. And that there's no such thing as a mental health disorder"

See here's the thing, I get the impression that she's read "Schizophrenia: A scientific delusion" by Mary Boyle, and "The Medicalisation of Misery" by Richard Bentall (fantastic books, I highly recommend them) and she's ignored all of the context and nuance and publicised the inflammatory bit which gets lots of attention. Like a click bait headline. Hers are not original thoughts, these ideas are very badly communicated by her and I don't know if she lacks the intellectual prowess to defend them or just takes robust discussion as a personal attack and chooses not to engage in argument content.

@Thinkrr999

Have any of you though about joining her AVBTI network and asking these questions in her discussions? Would be interesting.

I’m just a lowly DV councillor. She won’t engage with me on any level.

There is a single 1 star review on Amazon, with justified reasons for that rating. All the rest are 5 star reviews. Posting crap like this is not something any respected academic should be doing.

I don't know if she lacks the intellectual prowess to defend them or just takes robust discussion as a personal attack and chooses not to engage in argument content.

On recent evidence, I think it’s both.

Thanks for the book recommendation Judy, I was going to ask if anyone had one.

Very interesting thread, thank you. In my work I have seen women being assessed during care proceedings and coming out with EUPD, and before that BPD, or complex PTSD too now, which then affects the outcome of their parenting assessment and whether their child is returned to them. These women have had lives of trauma upon trauma - it's no wonder they aren't functioning. In most cases the label isn't helpful as it doesn't lead to help, just judgement. There's a view that they can't change and if they could it would take so long it wouldn't be in the child's best interest to wait and give them the chance to try. Eg. If an assessment recommends 6-12 months of therapy, well care proceedings are meant to take 6 months max, there's no guarantee the therapy will work or mother will engage...Not that therapy is readily available anyway, so then you have to factor in the time spent on the waiting list too. It's like the cards are stacked against women who get these labels and unresolved trauma is often a huge factor.
I have not seen men getting the same sorts of diagnosis, and these assessments seem to be requested if men less often too.

From my own personal experience and from experiences through work, friends and family medication is absolutely the best thing for many MH conditions.

I am interested to read the book and will try to keep an open mind.

I was expecting the 1 star review to be nasty or something. It's 1 x 1 star review and the reason is that it's too simplistic and not detailed enough. Which is true. Surely anyone who puts work out there expects a little bit of criticism? I didn't realise by buying and reading the book and agreeing with some of what she was saying I was joining the Dr Jessica cult and couldn't criticise anything she says ever. How utterly egotistical. It's like she is to trauma and mental health what Mrs Hinch is to cleaning products. I didn't realise I was joining the Dr Jessica Army .

If anyone's interested here is a few threads around her claims of satanic ritual abuse being a real thing as opposed to a debunked hoax twitter.com/drjesstaylor/status/1417391730270298120?s=21

And various experts calling her to provide evidence - which she refused to beyond "trust me".
twitter.com/samuelvimes10/status/1417458447189221395?s=21
twitter.com/drjesstaylor/status/1417475502588190732?s=21

At some point David Aaronovitch (journalist written a lot about satanic ritual abuse) joined in and at that point I felt Jess revealed herself intellectually and also her relationship to the truth.
twitter.com/drjesstaylor/status/1417545676502745094?s=21

Parenting assessments are honestly shocking. Until it happened to me i had no idea that as the victim of domestic violence, trying to protect my children, it is me who would become under the greatest scrutiny and that I would have to fight tooth and nail to prove myself sane and mentally robust in the midst of a period of great turmoil, away from my support systems in refuge, isolated and traumatised. I have met many women who did not get out of it as well as I did, who lost their children to the system and even more ironically often to the abusive ex partners who put them in that situation in the first place. It was like 'well he's a bully, but you're crazy, so maybe he's not so bad' even in the face of indisputable evidence and convictions for domestic violence, it was insinuated that the problem was in my mind and that I was the wrong kind of victim, the wrong kind of woman, and not fit to be a mother. Witch hunting for the modern era!

I had to become beyond reproach as a parent, whilst parenting children who were also ripped from their support systems, surrounded by other traumatised people, in refuge, at new schools, etc. It is a massive burden to place on women who are at a time of fragility and vulnerability and need greater support not greater scrutiny. For me I left and abusive and violent situation for my kids, they were my reason in all things, and then to find out that by leaving I could be making myself vulnerable to losing them felt like a great betrayal. The number of times my 'lack of social support' was used as a reason that I was likely to fall apart mentally is shocking considering the reason I was away from my support systems was because I had been moved away from them to protect my and my children from the risk of violence from my ex. It was a catch 22 and felt like no matter what I did, I was in the wrong.

I used to really respect her hard work and self promotion and how proud she was, but after her bullshit claims in regards to mental illness I just can't stand her anymore. She seems to think because you don't get a blood test or a brain scan then your mental issue doesn't exist and all mental problems are actually because of trauma and things like PTSD and schizophrenia don't actually exist. She also seems to be very against anyone taking medication for mental health issues and makes very unfounded claims. This is why she is dangerous and needs to be criticised.

@HollowedOut

There is a single 1 star review on Amazon, with justified reasons for that rating. All the rest are 5 star reviews. Posting crap like this is not something any respected academic should be doing.

I'm glad that you said that, as I couldn't find these negative reviews.

There are some very detailed, very substantiated negative reviews of her previous book which I hope that she has taken on board in her use of source material in her new book.