Wendy Ch

Lacks integrity Not exactly ground breaking material - same old theories wrapped up in new jargon. The 'over-connectedness' described by Tantam could partly explain the cruel and dangerous behaviour adopted by the group of psychiatric nurses, who, under Tantam's influence and direction, tormented and bullied a vulnerable, new, young mum, who had genuine concerns about her baby's health. While her baby's health continued to deteriorate, the pack mentality took over as Tantam and his team turned a blind eye to obvious signals of the baby's distress. This 'connectedness' was so powerful that a group of nurses was able to ignore the fact that a baby was so very obviously ill - preferring to believe instead the 'deluded' theories of a psychodynamic psychiatrist. None of this 'interconnectedness' is new - just different terminology for age old psychological theories on the pack mentality. The fact that Tantam has written such a book provides evidence that he understood then and knows now the incredible harm he and his psychiatric team inflicted on me. Fascinating indeed! I cannot believe the author of this text book is the very same psychiatrist who wrongly diagnosed me as having schizophrenia when I was only suffering from post natal depression. I had the severe misfortune of finding myself in a mother and baby unit in Withington Hospital under his care in the 80's. My baby contracted a urinal tract infection, but because of this man's theories her infection went untreated and my concerns for her health were considered 'delusions' and symptoms of my condition. After two months without treatment, my baby went on to develop sepsis and ended up with a long term medical condition. My so called delusions were treated with a total of 21 ECT treatments together with a powerful cocktail of antipsychotic medication. Because of this man and his psychodynamic theories at the time, I was put through the most tremendous emotional torment imaginable, which still gives me nightmares all these many years later. I find it really hard to believe that this same man has gone on to become an 'expert' in emotional well-being and mental health, and I would not recommend his writings to anyone!