Open Letter to Politicians: How to Resolve the Mental Health Crisis

6
770

From Dr. Gary Sidley/Tales from the Madhouse blog: “Future generations will look back on our efforts to resolve our current ‘mental health’ crisis with a mixture of horror and amusement. I can imagine – in the year 2119 and beyond – social history courses exploring the underlying reasons as to why the so-called civilised societies of the early 21st century treated its distressed citizens so barbarically, ultimately concluding that a reliance on psychiatric pseudoscience and a tolerance of gross human-rights violations were the key factors.

The present focus on ‘mental health’ is unprecedented. A continual stream of media reports highlight failings in the current system, while celebrities and members of the royal family add their voices to the clamour for an expansion of services for the ‘mentally ill’. Although well intentioned, this energy is typically misplaced; we do not require more of the same. The illness-like-any-other approach to human distress, as espoused by Western psychiatry, has been an abject failure. Despite dominating research and practice for over 60 years, this bio-medical paradigm has benefited few and damaged many.

Let’s be clear.

  • We do NOT need ‘early detection’ in schools that tag more and more children with dubious diagnostic labels.
  • We do NOT need to drug more and more of our citizens with ‘antidepressants’ and ‘antipsychotics’.
  • We do NOT need more anti-stigma campaigns that worsen discrimination by implying that the ‘mentally ill’ are a distinct group, inherently different from everyone else.
  • We do NOT need to waste further millions in bio-genetic research, chasing non-existent ‘mental illness’ genes and the corresponding wonder drug.

So, what do we need to do to resolve the mental health crisis?”

Article →

Support MIA

MIA relies on the support of its readers to exist. Please consider a donation to help us provide news, essays, podcasts and continuing education courses that explore alternatives to the current paradigm of psychiatric care. Your tax-deductible donation will help build a community devoted to creating such change.

$
Select Payment Method
Personal Info

Credit Card Info
This is a secure SSL encrypted payment.

Billing Details

Donation Total: $20 One Time

6 COMMENTS

  1. My MP is very concerned about any Human Rights injustice any where in the world. But has little interest in any Mental Health approach that deviates from the “Norm”.

    It’s a bit like the Magdelan Laundry in full swing in Ireland (only it’s happening in England).

  2. Thanks for posting this article MIA. Hats off to Dr. Sidley! I hope many more doctors, psychologists etc can do the same and flood the media with these types of open letters. I sent a link to this letter to our regional health minister and included links to some blogs on MIA.

  3. “I urge [politicians] to grasp this opportunity so that future social commentators will show you respect rather than ridicule.” I agree, the current “mental health” paradigm deserves condemnation and ridicule, as do all who stand in support of it.

    I do agree, we need to outlaw the right to force treat people, and the resulting human rights violations. I also agree, “Typically, a person’s distress and overwhelm is understandable in the context of that individual’s past and present life experiences.” Thus we need to “Reduce adversity.”

    So I absolutely agree redirecting “resources into countering the following societal ills: poverty; inequality; discrimination; domestic violence; homelessness; childhood abuse; bullying; unemployment; alienation and violent crime” is needed.

    For goodness sakes, we’ve had our government functioning as puppets for the war mongering and profiteering, bailout needing, thus fiscally irresponsible, “banks steal $trillions worth of houses” – an article no longer available on our lacking in free speech internet – globalist banksters for decades, or over a century.

    Not to mention the number one function of both our psychologists and psychiatrists, historically and today, is covering up child abuse, NOT helping child abuse survivors.

    https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/01/23/18820633.php?fbclid=IwAR2-cgZPcEvbz7yFqMuUwneIuaqGleGiOzackY4N2sPeVXolwmEga5iKxdo

    https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/04/heal-for-life/

    And I also agree, “Substantial improvement in the mental wellbeing of our people will not be realised through the discovery of a new psychiatric drug or individual therapy. The solution is much simpler than that: enable distressed people to promptly access support from compassionate, non-judgmental human beings … indeed, it is better if [help] is offered by people unsullied by psychiatric training that, in the main, continues to peddle the ‘illness like any other’ delusion. For the most part, the essential criterion for the role is a genuine interest in listening to the multi-layered personal stories of those currently suffering.”

    I also would like to thank the doctors who are speaking the truth.