Enough Already With the Trauma

On May 18, 2013, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) published the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition—or DSM-5, the latest revision of the so-called psychiatric bible. On the very same day, the first and only edition of The Diagnostic Manual of Mishegas appeared, containing the writings of the brilliant, if frequently farmisht, Dr. Sol Farblondget MD, PhD, PTA. With yet another edition of the DSM coming out earlier this year (1,120 pages, $170), we asked Dr. Farblondget if he had any new case studies, any new thoughts or theories, that might be cause for a revision of his own work.

“Are you kidding me?” he said, after inviting us to lunch at his New York apartment. “At 74 pages and selling retail for only $10, the is as good a bargain as you’ll find anywhere south of Delancey Street—not only more informative than the APA’s cockamamie doorstop, but infinitely more useful.”