About Phil Hickey Ph.D

I am a licensed psychologist, presently retired. I have worked in clinical and managerial positions in the mental health, corrections, and addictions fields in the United States and England. My wife Nancy and I have been married since 1970 and have four grown children.

Psychiatry – the Pseudoscience

February 21, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

As most readers of this website are aware, there is a great deal of resistance to the soon-to-be-released DSM-5. There is even a Boycott DSM-5 Committee established by Jack Carney, and many people are suggesting that practitioners use the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) International Classification of Diseases (ICD) instead. In the general context of this… Continue Reading

Steven Novella M.D. and Mental Illness Denial

February 20, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

Recently Nick Stuart, a regular commenter on this website, drew my attention to Dr. Steven Novella. Dr. Novella is a strong supporter of the standard psychiatric system, and routinely refers to those of us who challenge these concepts as “mental illness deniers.”(Mental Illness Denial Part I) Nick referred me to some of Dr. Novella’s articles,… Continue Reading

Another Critic of the Illness Concept

February 18, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

I’ve recently come across another DSM critic – or as Dr. Novella terms us – a mental illness denier. His name is Peter Kinderman, and he is head of the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society at the University of Liverpool. He has recently written an article called “Grief and anxiety are not mental illnesses.”… Continue Reading

Beating the Blues

February 17, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

This post was updated on March 22, 2015 to incorporate suggestions from a reader. Recently I was asked by an acquaintance for some suggestions for dealing with a bout of depression. As I was writing these out it occurred to me that the material might have some general interest, so I decided to publish it… Continue Reading