Making Sense of Psychiatric Diagnosis aims to cut through the misinformation, stigma, and assumptions that surround mental illness and give a clear picture of what mental illness really is.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-5) has been criticized for overly subjective diagnostic criteria and pathologizing normal human experience. This book will discuss the right and the wrong way to use the DSM, and the problems inherent in trying to diagnose oneself or others.
The book is structured based on diagnostic groupings in the DSM-5. It will help readers to understand the diagnostic criteria for a wide range of different mental illnesses, and gain an appreciation for what those criteria actually mean. Since symptom criteria can only capture a part of what a condition is truly like, many of the diagnoses in this book are paired with narratives from contributors with first hand lived experiences of these illnesses. The book is also infused with the author's 15 years of experience as a mental health nurse working with clients with a wide range of psychiatric illnesses, as well as her own experience living with depression.

With the fusion of diagnostic information, clinical experience, and lived experience, this book offers a unique, well-rounded perspective on the reality of mental illness.

Praise for Making Sense of Psychiatric Diagnosis:
"I love how it is written in a way that breaks the stigma of a psychiatric diagnosis meaning your mental illness defines you like a label. Ashley wrote this book in a way that teaches people what mental illness is and that a psychiatric diagnosis means what you want it to mean. I highly recommend reading this book. I learned facts about my social anxiety in this book that I never knew before. Only 12% of shy people have social anxiety. They aren't the same like I thought. From beginning to end, I was engaged." - Michelle Tikalsky, author of Shattered

"My favorite thing is that this book is partly factual with the great explanations of DSM-5 diagnoses, but it's also personal and relevant to real life. If I were a psych student in college, I'd want to read this. Because it's not just dull facts--it's the people behind the facts, the faces and voices behind the diagnoses." - Meg Kimball, author of Behold Her Majestic Fog