Jerome C. Wakefield

Jerome C. Wakefield is a University Professor at New York University with multidisciplinary appointments across multiple schools: NYU Silver School of Social Work, NYU School of Medicine, College of Global Public Health, and NYU College of Arts and Sciences. He holds roles as Professor of Social Work, Professor of Conceptual Foundations of Psychiatry, and affiliate faculty in philosophy and bioethics. His work bridges philosophy, psychiatry, and social work, focusing on mental disorder classification and the ethics of diagnosis.

Education: BA (Queens College, CUNY), MSW and MA (UC Berkeley), two PhDs (Social Welfare and Philosophy, UC Berkeley).

Research Interests: Wakefield is renowned for his 'harmful dysfunction' theory of mental disorder, challenging both anti-psychiatric critiques and traditional psychiatric approaches. He also explores Freudian theory through cognitive science and philosophy-of-science lenses. His work critiques DSM diagnostic criteria, emphasizing the distinction between normal distress and pathological disorders, particularly in depression and anxiety contexts.

Awards: Recipient of the 2007 Best Psychology Book award for The Loss of Sadness, Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work, and founder of the Council for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health.

Grants & Labs: Active in psychiatric epidemiology research using large datasets. Leads interdisciplinary projects on Freud’s case studies and the philosophy of mental disorder taxonomy.