The real problem is that many people didn't actually read the book or, if they did, they only took part of it seriously.

Each pattern chapter has a pretty long section that details when you should and should not use the pattern. The authors are very clear about understanding the context and not mis-applying patterns.

But once it became popular (which happened because these patterns are quite useful), it got cargo culted and people started over-applying them because it sent a social signal that, "Hey, I must be a good developer because I know all these patterns."

The software engineering world is a much better one today because of that book now that the pendulum has swung back some from the overshoot.