Scott reviews 'Mount Misery' by Samuel Shem, a critique of psychiatric practices that emphasizes the importance of human connection in treatment. Longer summary

Scott reviews Samuel Shem's book 'Mount Misery', a sequel to 'House of God', which follows Dr. Roy Basch's psychiatric residency at Mount Misery hospital. The book critiques psychiatric practices, especially psychoanalysis, portraying most treatments as harmful and dehumanizing. It contrasts these with more humanistic approaches, praising Alcoholics Anonymous for its emphasis on human connection. Scott discusses the book's themes of narcissism in psychiatry, the potential harm of psychoanalysis, and the importance of genuine human connection in treatment, while also noting some limitations in Shem's proposed solutions. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander examines the effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous, finding it and other treatments only marginally better than no treatment, based on flawed and inconclusive studies. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews the evidence on Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) effectiveness, finding most studies to be flawed or inconclusive. He notes that AA seems to work about as well as other treatments, but only slightly better than no treatment at all. The post explores various studies, their methodologies, and their limitations, ultimately concluding that while AA and other treatments may help, their effects are small and often indistinguishable from each other or from brief interventions by doctors. Shorter summary