Must stigma be the answer?
Now that we are well into this new decade, I must broach modernity; specifically, modern American cultural considerations regarding the semantics of “schizophrenia.” My name is Robert Francis and I recently wrote a book titled On Conquering Schizophrenia: From the Desk of a Therapist and Survivor. Allow me to further clarify. I indeed wrote the book OCS; however, Robert Francis is my pen name. My true name I have chosen to keep private. Yes, it may be 2020, but in many ways modernity often reflects an antiquity, especially in regard to the specifier of schizophrenia and its associated semiotics.
I have lived with what psychiatry calls schizophrenia for 25+ years. Like most, I was diagnosed around age 22. In my early 30s, I returned to graduate school and obtained my master’s in social work in 2006. Over the course of my schizophrenia, I have been gainfully employed, for the most part. I have worked in the mental health field for some 20 years, with over 10 years spent as a post-master’s mental health talk-therapist. Currently, I work as a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with the geriatric population. Yet this, my literary premise, belies that fact; I am an active therapist and at the same time live with the often ominous diagnostic, paranoid schizophrenia. Given this provisional gestalt, why have I chosen to write a book, which inadvertently became a labor of love, under a pseudonym? Can the reason exude beyond an assumptive or presumptive sense of mandated personal stigma?
I perceive and attest that my schizophrenia is a persistent and formidable existential paradox. In order to cope with how I am rendered when amid its often heinous symptoms, I must self-talk quite the chatter that my perceptions, the very things that ostensibly look real and true, are in fact not real or true. I will retort to myself: “That which I perceive to be true is not.” My trials with schizophrenia have taught me that my perceptions carry no resemblance to the item we refer to as reality. De facto, I have learned that my perceptions provide me with a most unrelenting paradox. And similar to the paradoxical nature of this innate schizophrenia, the reason I chose to write under a pen name is also a paradox.
In my professional realms, I have always chosen not to disclose my mental illness. When writing my book (and this essay) therefore, using a pen name follows my preferred tradition. So can the choice of using a pen name reside in a subjective realm beyond the assumptive knee-jerk of an associated sense of cultural stigma? Yes: My reasoning is actually contrary to notions of personal stigma.
Primarily, I want to succeed based on merit, not sympathy. If I disclose my situation, then professionally, the attributional association of “the therapist with schizophrenia“ will necessarily and inevitably follow. But, I beg, this is not who I am. Rather, I am a therapist with a private medical issue and I prefer to maintain its confidentiality. In the end, for me, it boils down to a personal matter without further justification needed. Speaking its name I find superfluous.
You may think: If no stigma, why no mention? Might I be rationalizing, overcompensating for, or perhaps distorting my motives?
My answer resides in my personal reality: intrapsychically, the label known as schizophrenia has never struck me with a visceral connection to any sort of associated stigma. Its mention and symbolism induce in me no shame. Its personal attribution brings no personal angst. In fact, with the label of schizophrenia I feel a wholesome and holistic egosyntonic congruence. I suppose this outcome can be attributed to my innate disposition, or perhaps it is a simple case of good fortune.
Let us use my declarations as a type of case study (as a microcosm), following my conclusion: Stigma is foremost a personal issue. All types of stigma, be it due to schizophrenia or otherwise, first must be discerned specifically, each unto its own, rather than applied to a population in general. For some, certain words evoke stigma, while for others the exact same verbiage produces no reaction. Similar to views through a kaleidoscope, people react to the linguistic constant in varied manners and with discrete perceptions. Therefore, assumptions of stigma (perhaps based in cultural conditioning) can be unproductive and simply erroneous. When conceptualizing stigma, a priori, personal dispositions must be factored in before applications of any associated stigma pertain. In my instance, per my cogito, personality, and disposition, I am robustly copacetic with the linguistic use of “schizophrenia” as an attribute of mine. It is nothing more than a diagnostic, a descriptive veneer.
Not all the details behind the one’s social veil do we share with others, and this is a universal assertion. For me, schizophrenia comfortably resides enshrouded, but certainly not in shame. I have my secrets as you have yours. In my instance, I find “schizophrenia”, as a personal qualifier, superfluous. It is a part of my life, but it is not my identity. Thus, I choose to keep my schizophrenia private because I do not want others to confuse the two. I do not want to be the “schizophrenic therapist.“ I just want to be the “good therapist.“ I do not want to be the friend with schizophrenia, I just want to be the friend.
In many ways, personal disclosures regarding the generic term schizophrenia create a binding type of oppositional dualism. In its voiced revelation, an imposed cultural stigmata may result; but its unvoiced confidentiality, by its very avoidance, serves to reinforce that same stigma. Is it best proper, then, to stand tall and proud in one’s schizophrenia, and in such manner destigmatize its overt expression? Some may say such disclosures advance a cause. Personally, however, I have always felt it to be a most unnecessary declaration of what remains a personal and private issue. And so my lips remain pursed and my schizophrenia remains a social non-sequitur.
Make no mistake, my diatribe here certainly does not imply that others do not bear the burden of a schizophrenia stigma; I don’t wish to demean their experience. Further, for those who do feel an internalized stigma, such notions may significantly hinder recovery. And so, your choice to share or not share your experience must be assessed and addressed singularly and specifically. Because in the end, psychiatric recovery, and moving forward from debility to ability— or, better yet, transcendence— is the ultimate win in our modern age.
I’m anonymous on Mad In America because my background is my own business.
I’m a Catholic and I believe my religion promotes a certain amount of suffering in life – so if you can get on successfully with your life as you describe, then you have definitely conquered “schizophrenia”!
I’d love to read another article from you on how you did conquer “schizophrenia”. Because I would be completely amazed that anyone on “schizophrenic” medication would be capable of functioning at your level. So you must have either quit medication or survived on low doses.
Anyway I hope to see you again on MIA.
Fiachra, I don’t think things are the way the might seem. Given this quote from review of his book.
“Francis recognizes the vital role of proper pharmacologic treatment, emphasizing that the combination of medication, talk therapy, the practicing of coping skills as a way of life, and belief in something greater is what has enabled him to grow and thrive.”
And this quote from his article above: “My trials with schizophrenia have taught me that my perceptions carry no resemblance to the item we refer to as reality.”
Emotional reality IS reality, and in fact it’s the stuff of fantasy or imagination the same as fiction. Fiction, which also gives in a novel, for example, imagination or fantasy the space to depict interactions or communion that give perspective on life, and that’s more than anything “objective” could ever be. Without that being seen as real, it’s like saying you can make a violin without any tools to carve the wood. Your feelings, your instincts, your reflexes, your beliefs, all of what creates the images in our mind determining how we respond ARE what makes our life beyond anything you can pin down AT THAT MOMENT as being real or not real, because you can’t perceive the future. Nor do I believe it’s meant to have the limitations you get with “sanity,” with “statistical based norms,” or any of that belittling terminology that goes on with anyone that simply goes to that part of the mind that determines our reflexes, and allows it to speak. The SAD part is that when someone does that subconsciously, and aren’t able to themselves comprehend what that part of the mind is trying to say about reflexes, then instead of being greeted by people that have had such experiences, and do have such insight or at least believe that it’s possible, they are shut down by being told that it has nothing to do with “reality,” which we here again hear. And “medications” are nothing but a means to turn off the mind by giving it a chemical imbalance, and disabling it.
“We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep”
https://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/tempest/quotes/page/5/
Nice, Nijinsky
How can you be a helpful counselor to others if you labor under the disempowering belief that you “have” a literal disease called “schizophrenia” — at a time when even many “progressive” professionals are finally disavowing such labels?
Mr. Francis,
It is a blessing that you have survived psychiatry, and that you are on a path of discovering the truth about psychiatry. As you progress on that path, and you discover that “mental illness” is a myth, and so-called “schizophrenia” is what Thomas Szasz called “the sacred symbol of psychiatry,” I hope that you will help to expose these myths. If you haven’t yet read the book, I recommend Thomas Szasz’ “Schizophrenia: The Sacred Symbol of Psychiatry.” https://psychiatricsurvivors.wordpress.com/2016/06/19/schizophrenia-the-sacred-symbol-of-psychiatry/
Schizophrenia is the ‘bread and butter’ of Psychiatry.
I was diagnosed as the “worst schizophrenic in Ireland” by Galway University Neuroscients in 1984, and then went on to make full recovery.
Dr David Healy wrote me a Letter in 2018 saying that I never had it to begin with. Dr Healy was present at the Psychiatric Unit at Galway in 1984 during my last very brief instay.
As one who was forced to become a psychopharmacology researcher, so I could protect my children from the “genetics” deluded, systemic child abuse and rape covering up and profiteering, psychologists and psychiatrists.
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/01/23/18820633.php?fbclid=IwAR2-cgZPcEvbz7yFqMuUwneIuaqGleGiOzackY4N2sPeVXolwmEga5iKxdo
https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/04/heal-for-life/
And the “mental health” workers’ systemic, child rape covering up crimes are by DSM design. Since no “mental health” worker today may EVER bill ANY insurance company to EVER help ANY child abuse survivor, or their legitimately concerned parent, EVER, without first misdiagnosing them with one of the “invalid” DSM disorders.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-child-does-not-have-bipolar-disorder/201402/dsm-5-and-child-neglect-and-abuse-1
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/directors/thomas-insel/blog/2013/transforming-diagnosis.shtml
And I had to, twice, leave my childhood religion, because it stopped being a God trusting and Holy Bible believing religion. And instead turned itself into a psychologist trusting, DSM “bible” thumping, systemic child rape covering up and profiteering, religion. I’m one of the, likely many “widows,” mentioned in the Preface of this book.
https://books.google.com/books?id=xI01AlxH1uAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
But I am a psychopharmacology researcher that found the medical proof that the “schizophrenia” drugs – the antipsychotics/neuroleptics – do, indeed, create both the negative and positive symptoms of “schizophrenia.” The negative symptoms can be created via neuroleptic induced deficit syndrome. And psychosis and hallucinations, the positive symptoms of “schizophrenia,” can be created, via antidepressant and/or antipsychotic induced anticholinergic toxidrome.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroleptic-induced_deficit_syndrome
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxidrome
Your claims of being a “schizophrenic” do seem to claim you were defamed as a “schizophrenic” prior to being neurotoxic poisoned with the antipsychotics. But I’m not certain, yet this is relevant information, since the “schizophrenia” treatments can create both the negative and positive effects of that disorder. And the only difference between anticholinergic toxidrome poisoning, and “schizophrenia,” is that anticholinergic toxidrome makes one “hyperactive,” and the unproven disease of “schizophrenia” supposedly makes one “inactive.”
Since you’ve been active, perhaps you’ve been dealing with anticholinergic toxidrome poisonings your entire life, rather than “schizophrenia?” I don’t know, I’d need more information.
“…… Its mention and symbolism induce in me no shame. Its personal attribution brings no personal angst.”
I’m not sure any label given by those blessed with authority to do so, creates internal “shame”. It creates “powerlessness” in a very real context. It creates not “stigma” but rather discrimination within “medical” circles and in the case if you ever need legal representation.
In fact, even a nurse can make your life a living hell if she should choose to. The whole of the medical “profession” is much like a high school playground, where being accepted is everything. And it relies on THAT to remain credible, not on any other merit.
Actually that’s what “stigma” is — bigotry against the psychiatrically labeled. It’s not our job to “overcome” it, people should just stop doing it.
Exactly! That’s why I don’t use “stigma” and just call it “discrimination.” Stigma refers more to an internalized oppression – I feel bad because other people don’t accept me. Discrimination puts the responsibility where it belongs – on the person mistreating you based on their perception of your “otherness.”
I think the issue of stigma is really about the negative psychological effects of being treated like an “other” (marginalized), which can become internalized and that will lead to all kinds of troubles for a person that can be very challenging to overcome. There is no peace of mind in this, just constant rumination and inner struggle, either in despair or fighting to keep it at bay. Very easy to slip into hopelessness when living with stigma, so it can become lethal.
The act of stigmatizing a human being is a blatantly abusive act because it is detrimental to a person’s well-being, and it is based on the delusion of an entire society, a mass shadow projection. It’s just one big lie that everyone agrees to, and this becomes the social rule. That’s a society ripe for an awakening, and it won’t come easy because it means everyone will be forced to see their own shadow.
I agree that the burden is on society to do better by its own members, but in addition, it is traumatic to live with stigma. Social stigma is a reflection of what society will not see about itself, and it also deeply harms the individual who is the target of the social abuse. This is not about “hurt feelings.” This is about denying people respectability, rights, and quality of life.
Overcoming having been stigmatized involves specific healing. Otherwise, living with stigma is like having something draining you constantly, which becomes part of one’s own process. This is an issue of personal well-being and quality of life as well as human rights and social justice. These all go hand in hand and all of it must be addressed if we expect meaningful change to occur.
Well said Alex,
Along with stigma is usually a fine dose of discrimination and when it comes to the APA and the politicians, they mete it out and condone it.
It’s handy to create one’s own laws, discriminate against people , and then at the same time call that discrimination “stigma” “stigma done by others”.
It’s really an ingenious system
Yes, it is generated from within the industry and then projected outward. Society easily takes its cue from the psychiatric propaganda, which is what perpetuates the discrimination. All based on lies and mythology. It’s one big collective mind fuck, nature of the beast.
“That’s a society ripe for an awakening, and it won’t come easy because it means everyone will be forced to see their own shadow.”
You know Alex I often ponder the images of the Germans being marched past the corpses in the concentration camps after ‘liberation’. Holding hankerchiefs to their mouths and trying not to look at what they had been reduced to, their shadows. They may not have been directly responsible but could not deny that they had taken part in these crimes against humanity. So why did they rush past and try not to look at what they had done if they felt no shame?
Now try and take someone for a walk through a locked ward to look at their shadows. Will they see what they are doing? Or are we still at that point where we can deny that what we are doing is not an evil act, much like the German people did not see it until they were at the mercy of others, then they pray for humanity to spare them (though I recognise that some went to the gallows unrepentant).
I sometimes imagine what that day will look like where I live, the betrayal of community second only to a betrayal of God. What gives me hope is that the corruption of our politicians where I live is so open these days that it means we are ready for change.
I know those images well, boans, and that’s exactly what I mean. The mirror in real life. It is, indeed, a choice whether to see and acknowledge one’s own misguided actions when it is purely evident, or to remain defensive, rigid, avoidant, and in cold denial. Two different choices, two different paths. One of them is humble, courageous, truthful, and healing, to own our part in anything that is so life betraying, when we allow ourselves to wake up. That, and only that, is really and truly liberating, on all fronts.
“What gives me hope is that the corruption of our politicians where I live is so open these days that it means we are ready for change.”
Me too! May the doors blow wide open and all be revealed sooner than later. I think at this point, however, the battle is between those of us who really and truly are ready for change and are doing what we can to create and allow it, and those who resist change because the system works for them corrupt, one way or another.
We need a few honest to goodness “sinners-turned-repenters” on our side. They’d hold a lot of power in this because that would mean that they actually went through that transformation themselves, so they ARE the change we want to see in the world. When we stop fearing our shadows and face them with humility, along with any grave errors we may have commited along the way–and most of us have a few things we don’t like thinking about ourselves–we can practice radical self-compassion, and self-forgiveness, if it helps to release guilt. People can go through deep shifts in consciousness, but it does take work, along with the desire to make changes.
Many ways to go once we own our shit, but it’s the only way healing and change can happen. And once people change, the world can’t help but to follow. Can’t be any other way!
Alex — Though I wouldn’t routinely say this about your approach, this time you may be making it a little too complicated and inwardly-focused. “Stigma” IS bigotry, i.e. an act/attitude originating not in our own behavior or self-identification but in that of others; there is no blurry line.
Certainly, as with any form of oppression, it is possible for its objects to internalize and self-direct this oppressive “energy,” and sometimes project it outward in self-limiting ways; that’s always been there and is nothing new. But its important for victims of psychiatry to not be misled into believing that any of this bigotry/”stigma” has anything to do with them as individuals, or their “behavior.” They/we are being oppressed as a stereotype, a class, i.e. the class of people upon which psychiatric labels have been bestowed.
I agree with everything you say here, oldhead, especially this–
“But its important for victims of psychiatry to not be misled into believing that any of this bigotry/”stigma” has anything to do with them as individuals, or their “behavior.” They/we are being oppressed as a stereotype, a class, i.e. the class of people upon which psychiatric labels have been bestowed.”
–that, indeed, the stigma/bigotry is based on stereotyping and classism, and not on reality, this is not deserved. I’d call it scapegoating, and there are many ways to speculate or call out the motive for this abuse against an individual or class of people which threatens the status quo, one way or another. Not following the herd, thinking independently and critically, is one way to get scapegoated, because that person will not feed the system. And so the gaslighting, stigma projections, and systemic bullying begins, standard procedure.
I know that in the process, civil crimes are committed but that can be next to impossible to pinpoint and prove when this is the system itself at work. So with no practical legal recourse for being the victim of this particular brand of hate crime and discrimination, there is healing that can be done here, which is one way to exercise our power and create some kind of change, at least on the inside. That’s a start.
I went through this, very specifically, and got a bit of legal justice initially, but this trend continued as I created my way forward, I could see this was “the norm” all along the system and its tangents.
I called it out all I could and caused a bit of stir here and there, but the most important thing for me was to heal from having been deliberately lied to and about–repeatedly and relentelssly–in a way that specifically blocked my ability to make a living, all based on the negative stereotypes which drew a picture that was truly the opposite of who I was. With that mass delusion present in society already, it was maddening trying to get my truth out to save my own ass, it only caused more backlash. That’s how this works, and it is literally crazy-making.
What I internalized from this was some serious doubt about myself and the world, and in order for me to move forward with my own goals, I had to clear my head of all this treachery and general negativity, and also had to shift how I took on these experiences, give it meaning to my life and personal growth and guidance. I was, after all, making choices that led me to and through all of this. That’s the inner work which I talk about, waking up to many things here in the process, about myself mostly and how to move forward in a more aware, and therefore self-empowered, way.
I knew after a while it wasn’t me causing this, but still, I had to figure out how to best deal with this enormous obstacle (the injustice of stigma/bigotry, and the massive corruption which manifests from this, acting as saboteur to good works and quality of life) so as to meet my own needs and live my life the way I intend, freely.
I had to figure this out internally, by first feeling a lot of hard emotions generated from being ambushed and betrayed by those I had trusted to do their jobs with integrity and comptenece. Alright, so I woke up and discovered I was naive because apparently this was way too much to expect. Led to a lot of changes for me, based on a new truth. Best I could do, that I could think of! In the end, new perspective led to new reality. Exactly how it worked for me.
I’ve tried holding hope that others would change to suit me, but in the end, people change when they’re ready, not when I’m wanting them to–duh! I always have the power to work on myself, though. Not at all the same as self-blame, more like self-creating. This is why I focus inward on this issue, it’s an easier place of reference to create meaningful change.
I’ve had a feeling that the only way to truly thrive after being a psych patient is to keep your mouth shut about it and become a therapist. Smart to keep it private.
I tried to end stigma aka descrimination by outing myself. Big mistake. It was as effective as putting a person of color in the middle of a KKK gathering and having him remove his hood to end racism.
“I’ve had a feeling that the only way to truly thrive after being a psych patient is to keep your mouth shut about it and become a therapist. ”
Ever heard a psychiatrist “come out”? 🙂
I have not! Good point.
A lot of people go from “patient” to “mh professional” in the belief that it will prove they’ve “recovered.”
I so tried that. It’s insane!!! Worked in the same locked ward I’d been in myself as peer support. I wanted a badge so I could get out if I needed to when there was violence. I insisted at the next staff meeting so the bosses stepped aside to whisper and cancelled the on unit program. No notice. (Not sure where to put the quotation marks so I’ll leave a few extra… “””””””””””””””) If I hadn’t lived it I would think I was just one of the inmates imagining I was staff. Haha.
Honestly you couldn’t tell who was staff and who wasn’t except by the name tags.
Reminds me of when my college abnormal psych class took a field trip to the state “hospital” where I’d been committed earlier — I ended up hanging out with psychiatric inmates I knew and foregoing the bus ride back to school. I’m sure there was some chatter about that in my absence!
It’s a devastating loop. I’m not sure it’s done to prove they’ve recovered per se. I think it’s done because the only way to protect yourself from a devastating system and the people who adhere to it, is to end up becoming a part of it so that you have some say in it and some authority to keep people who use it against you at bay.
It’s absolutely horrific if you think of it.
That’s insightful as well. Some people emulate their oppressors in an attempt to share in their actual or perceived power.
There are also plenty of practical reasons to keep private…
Vipassana isn’t the only place that will ban you for life for a label.
I congratulate you on being able to function so well despite having difficult experiences and being labeled and treated by psychiatry. I didn’t fare as well after my experiences with the mental health industry.
I explain somewhat some of my own experiences of being labeled with mental illness in a piece that I have submitted to this website. At first, I was labeled with “depression.” Like you, I took some comfort in the label, because it seemed to validate some of my deep pain. Also, like you, I didn’t really want anyone to know that I was “mentally ill,” because, what would they think of me then? This is the inner stigma and turmoil that psychiatry puts in those they label and “treat.”
I would suggest that if you are labeling your clients “mentally ill,” you are doing them a disservice. You are separating them from the rest of humanity as somehow bad or inferior.
You are not bad or inferior either, as long as you are doing your best to be a good person.
Personally, I no longer believe in psychiatric labels. I find them dehumanizing and meaningless. And who gave psychiatrists, or anyone this authority to label other people because their inner worlds (which no one but God can know for sure) aren’t quite like everyone else’s? It isn’t based in science.
If we hope to transcend psychiatric labels and stigma, perhaps we need to abolish psychiatric labels and the concept of mental illness, as those things do separate some people from the rest of humanity. Saying that someone experiences depression, or anxiety, or hallucinations is just an experience, perhaps one that falls within the full spectrum of human experiences. And let us never forget that psychiatric drugs themselves can cause some of the most distressing emotional experiences.
We’re all at different places in our life journeys, and I appreciate that we may just have to agree to disagree on some issues.
If we hope to transcend psychiatric labels and stigma, perhaps we need to abolish psychiatric labels and the concept of mental illness,
Ding! Ding! Ding! This wins the “logical conclusion of the day” award! And after only a very short time at MIA. 🙂
Thanks, oldhead! 🙂
Hey, I didn’t know that there was such an award!
Oldhead, you might be interested in this new series of videos on the truth about psychiatry. This is video number 12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PeMqUuwK-c
OK Mr. Rogue Activist.
Or you might not.
To each his own.
I will definitely watch!
Unless you’re already teaching a class and have people signed up I’d say it makes more sense to stick with writing, which you’re naturally better at — or at least organize your thoughts & info more succinctly, and hire a professional narrator. People have no attention span for stuff longer than 10 minutes or so, especially if they can read it faster. They won’t even pay attention to the content unless it’s presented in an entertaining way.
I found the slander of the labels to be a direct function of how badly the hospital wanted to cover up their criminal conduct against me. The more I kept pointing out that they were committing (and had committed) serious offences, the more relevant my ‘diagnosis’ became.
At what point does a persons diagnosis become relevant to whether they are a victim of a crime or not? And I ask this in all seriousness. Because there is no doubt I was tortured and kidnapped. Simply can not be denied. Does this not qualify a person for a ‘diagosis’? What can be denied is my right to legal representation if someone else speaks for me as a ‘mental patient’ and therefore the State has maintained the fraud committed early in the piece to conceal the torture and kidnapping from the lawyers at the Mental Health Law Centre. Someone lied about having the right to speak for me, and the State has engaged in conspiring to committ offences with that person ever since. They simply do not like the truth that I was NOT a “patient” and therefore what they did was criminal. Were they aware of this? Absolutely, and in fact they did everything to conceal the fact and ensure they did not ask any relevant questions to allow their negligence to become a defence. Trying everything including torture to have me admit that I was a “patient”. 6 witnesses to a torture session and not one including my wife prepred to speak the truth. Still, with people being killed ……… like the FOI officer who knew very early on what I’m saying is true she told my wife “It might be best you don’t tell him”. How many families are threatend by the administrators who have access to the facts? Lets pit one family member against another and if someone gets killed, we’re off the hook.
That ‘poison’ they now distribute and deny any wrongdoing (while they attempted to murder me in the ED). Call that a delusion if you like, but do me and others who were not as fortunate the favor of checking before slandering. Those that have, have been shocked. But also find it easier to go along with the false narrative and assist in ensuring that my States sanctioning of torture and convenience killing (refoulment) is supported.
And who gets to check? Well, not the police unfortunately. Mainly because they don’t think that putting benzodiazepines into a citizens drink to render them unconcious to plant evidence for police is a crime. In fact, they don’t even think that loading up a ‘shot’ in the E.D. to overdose a ‘patient’ is a crime either. Best they don’t know about that they tell me (and a witness). Best they arrest me for having the documents proving what i’m saying they tell me (and a witness who now fears for his family). And because you didn’t answer an email you didn’t recieve over the evidence you have within 14 days, that’s the end of the matter as far as a Superintendent is concerned. A law unto themselves? You bet when mental health services can literally use the police to torture and kidnap any citizen they like, and then have police assist in the retrieval of the evidence of that torture and kidanapping to conceal their links with organised criminals operating in our hospitals. Not a good look.
But run advocates run, your hypocrisy is what is keeping you alive. Never will you be held to account for issuing one thing from your mouth, and another from your heart. And if my government wishes to torture someone surely they had good reason, and if they didn’t well, they will continue torturing until they have a good reason. I’m sure that pattern is not lost on those who have been touched by the ‘medicine’ that is mental health services. (I say MHS because I do believe it is the lackies and butt crawlers who assist psychaitry that are in many cases the problem and not psychiatrists themselves).
I guess at least you live in a country that does seem to respect the fact they have laws that protect your privacy Mr Frances. We have laws in my country that supposedly do that though I note the hospital concerned in the above matters did actually release a whole bunch of documents not requested by the lawyers at the Mental Health Law Centre as a means to get these misleading and fraudulent matters into the public arena. It’d be criminal in the US along with the conspiring etc. But not in a land where the Chief Psychiatrist wouldn’t pass a 1st year law course, and believes his Community Nurses can travel through time and space like Dr Who. A Land of Sweeping Plains and Lawlessness. Where psychiatry is a criminal enterprise supported by the negligence fraud and slander of the State and not a soul is prepared to stand up and say this is wrong. I can’t blame them, and nor would anyone else who has seen what has been done to me and my family by an Operations Manager who openly stated when I pointed out her criminality that they (meaning the State) would fuking destroy me.
I digress, you people are here to discuss the ways to change this system of abuse, not actually assist anyone who has been victimised by criminals within that system of abuse. That isn’t going to happen when we have slanderous labels to be applied to victims, and negligence, fraud and slander as a weapon to enable further abuses.
I would also warn that there are people who would take great joy in hacking your computer and exposing you. And they may not be the people who you might imagine (though they will claim it’s your paranoid delusions causing you to think this way). I, for example, found myself in possession of documents showing I had been ‘spiked’ and the clever Operations Manager figured out if she had police retrieve those documents she could then slander me as a paranoid delusional for actually speaking the truth. That’s actually quite clever when you think about it, have the poisoned poison themselves with the truth being the weapon. Making the claim you have been drugged without your knowledge being THE most common of the delusions (how convenient for these people in a position to drug you without your knowledge and then dispose of the evidence of that ‘spiking’. That is worthy of further consideration. It may also be exposed at some point in the future if the State stops killing whistleblowers in the Emergency Dept. A quick thanks to the Doc who interupted my ‘unintended negative outcome’, your a gem Professor.)
My Kingdom to be in the room when the Dr who was going to kill me was snatched away to be ‘interviewed’ and not know if he had been caught or not. Oh Dear, you really fell into the hands of a psychopath that day Doc. A cardiologist who knows of the evil in your heart? Yes, he would have gone through with it Doc, and does have the stomach for it (and the fat wallet to match one would assume). Luckily you can write your own prescriptions for anti psychotics as you get sick in the world of illusion you find yourself. And God sends upon them a Great Delusion that they might believe the Lie (2 Thessolonians 2)
Anyway, good luck with your book sales.
Congratulations on the work you’ve done on yourself, sounds as though it’s been quite fruitful in your healing journey. Certainly living by our values is our integrity and protecting ourselves in a stigmatizing and discriminating industry and community is understandable. However, I can’t see how it speaks of social change–or “rethinking” anything–because there is no challenge to that prejudice, so it remains status quo.
There is another perspective to consider when it comes to our relationships with ourselves and with society at large, and also pertaining to our roles in the world, which I think is well articulated in this quote by Marianne Williamson–
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
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