Bonnie: What excites me about your scholarship is that to the political & scientific arguments you have contributed a a necessary academic base. All my best wishes.
Actually I have lost touch with my colleagues since I retired. I began my career practicing as taught (neurotransmitter imbalances & the benefit of pills presented as undisputed truth). After a few years I started doing my own research & reading; I gradually changed the way I did my job. An example of one colleague’s response: Her son was diagnosed “schizophrenic”; in ten years he had gone from being admitted to a university physics program at the age of 16 to being obese, diabetic, living on disability & twice attempted suicide. He was on the usual deadly cocktail of antipsychotics/mood stabilizers/benzos. I shared my research with her. She said “no, it’s biological” & walked away, end of discussion. Another example: our ward was quick with prn’s in order to “help the patient maintain control”. I knew that with my patient this would entail calling a code white & forced injection, so I talked to him: “When you pace & shout & rant, it scares people & when people get scared things often don’t end well”. He stopped for a moment, said “OK OK I get what you’re saying” & was quiet the rest of the shift. I was told by another colleague that my nursing decisions were putting the rest of the staff at risk. I was no longer invited to lunches & the annual weekend getaways. I felt better about the way I was treating my patients but, like you say, I was still doing the work of the regime.
Yes, your book is painful to read. I will get a hold of your latest book; looking forward to the chapter on the colonization of nursing, psychology & SW. I don’t know where I can go with this, having burnt my bridges already. But I’m heartened & excited by your work.
Bonnie: I’m shaken by “Shrink Resistant” (found it in the public library along with “Psychiatry Disrupted”, to be read next). One commentator on this site said “we can’t forget the underground within the system, folks brave enough to stay but work underground to undermine psychiatry”. From the perspective of a (retired) nurse on the psych ward of a large acute care hospital: You can work underground during your shift, but this is only 8 hours of the patient’s 24 hr day. I never felt I was “undermining psychiatry” although I would like to think so.
Bonnie: I’m 67 years old, a retired psychiatric RN with a degree in psychology who wanted to help people & gradually grew ashamed of myself for colluding in bio-psychiatry. I’m surprised & delighted that you have thrived in the academic environment. I like your advice to “don’t keep peddling your default mode”. How I wish I was 40 years younger! Rock on!
In a way the psychiatrists are being consistent: having accepted what they were taught in med school (it’s only about neurotransmitters), then day-to-day stressors must be irrelevant & dismissable. When a distraught young woman was admitted to our ward the doctor’s note said “patient talks about the sudden death of a friend two years ago but this is too remote to be significant”. The DSM5 does say normal grief lasts 2 weeks(!?!), after that meds should be considered. Arghh!
Matt: Thanks for references for further reading (Jaakelainen, Benedetti, ISPS, etc). Without doubt mainstream psychiatrists dismiss any possibility of the relevance of environmental stress. The ones that lament about “stigma” seem clueless that declaring someone has an incurable brain disease increases stigma. And their criteria for “improvement” is how manageable & “in control” the patient’s behaviour is. I’m relieved to no longer count myself as a “mental health worker”. My job became a nightmare. When you begin to have doubts about the biogenetic model, your previously collegial relationship with co-workers evaporates; you enter a no-man’s land, neither staff nor patient. You are helping me get a perspective.
Thank you CatNight. “The process of coming to terms with fully acknowledging our history is a story in & of itself”. You have succinctly expressed something that I have been muddling toward. “Someday for me”.
Linda Lee: Like Stephen I say thank goodness for non-compliant you. I was a psych nurse (& still feel guilty). Towards the end of my career I became aware that I was pissing off my colleagues (slow to force prn’s). Nice to hear that a “non-compliant patient” did well away from the system.
As a remorseful retired psychiatric nurse I paid close attention to Matt’s & Franks’ dialogue. I agree with the advice to avoid entanglements in the system.
I love your term “betrayal trauma”. And your comment that the most powerful tool we have is to make sorely needed changes.
Absolutely a human rights issue. Absolutely be wary of “best intentions”
Dear Askforcor: I’m gobsmacked by your account. I sense that you are now a blessing in your son’s life. I loved:
-“I could regret but there’s no sense going backward”.
-“The problem for the emotionally attached is that we’re emotionally attached which may be counterproductive to his recovery. To facilitate this connection is something that would help. I have not yet figured out.”
Matt: I love your article & can’t wait for part 2. I agree with Fred that coping techniques to the problems of living don’t solve problems but perhaps are activities to be distracted long enough to make it through another day without attracting unwanted attention from authorities. I believe that things are this bad.
Like Californian said, medicine is an “inexact science”.
Despite my childhood I “functioned” & I grew up to become a psychiatric nurse (useless to my patients). I colluded in the failure to address “experiential, relational & stress related issues” (I’m retired). I’m not sure these drugs are safe for short periods considering their potential for physiological addiction.
Re: “Psychotic experiences not necessarily something to overcome”: Personally I have found that if you’re able to block psychotic experiences in a frantic desire to appear “normal” you eventually end up in a very ugly place .
And Pies implies that only the clinical experience of those who have the power to prescribe counts. And that somehow their clinical experience renders them exclusively able to evaluate studies.
I’m a retired psych nurse who belatedly started reading the scientific literature (inspired by Robert) & became appalled at myself for colluding in a brutal regime. Like Randall I understand Eric being pissed off but I don’t understand why his anger & scorn are directed at Robert. I waited to see how Robert would respond & I very much respect his response. He admits he doesn’t know what’s to be done to change societal narratives “away from commerce & guild interests towards science & the lived experience of individuals”. In the meantime he’s doing his best to make the scientific research public so that “patients” can make an informed decision about their “care” & ignorant workers in the mental health industry can think again about their participation in this mess.
Bonnie: What excites me about your scholarship is that to the political & scientific arguments you have contributed a a necessary academic base. All my best wishes.
Actually I have lost touch with my colleagues since I retired. I began my career practicing as taught (neurotransmitter imbalances & the benefit of pills presented as undisputed truth). After a few years I started doing my own research & reading; I gradually changed the way I did my job. An example of one colleague’s response: Her son was diagnosed “schizophrenic”; in ten years he had gone from being admitted to a university physics program at the age of 16 to being obese, diabetic, living on disability & twice attempted suicide. He was on the usual deadly cocktail of antipsychotics/mood stabilizers/benzos. I shared my research with her. She said “no, it’s biological” & walked away, end of discussion. Another example: our ward was quick with prn’s in order to “help the patient maintain control”. I knew that with my patient this would entail calling a code white & forced injection, so I talked to him: “When you pace & shout & rant, it scares people & when people get scared things often don’t end well”. He stopped for a moment, said “OK OK I get what you’re saying” & was quiet the rest of the shift. I was told by another colleague that my nursing decisions were putting the rest of the staff at risk. I was no longer invited to lunches & the annual weekend getaways. I felt better about the way I was treating my patients but, like you say, I was still doing the work of the regime.
Yes, your book is painful to read. I will get a hold of your latest book; looking forward to the chapter on the colonization of nursing, psychology & SW. I don’t know where I can go with this, having burnt my bridges already. But I’m heartened & excited by your work.
Bonnie: I’m shaken by “Shrink Resistant” (found it in the public library along with “Psychiatry Disrupted”, to be read next). One commentator on this site said “we can’t forget the underground within the system, folks brave enough to stay but work underground to undermine psychiatry”. From the perspective of a (retired) nurse on the psych ward of a large acute care hospital: You can work underground during your shift, but this is only 8 hours of the patient’s 24 hr day. I never felt I was “undermining psychiatry” although I would like to think so.
Bonnie: I’m 67 years old, a retired psychiatric RN with a degree in psychology who wanted to help people & gradually grew ashamed of myself for colluding in bio-psychiatry. I’m surprised & delighted that you have thrived in the academic environment. I like your advice to “don’t keep peddling your default mode”. How I wish I was 40 years younger! Rock on!
In a way the psychiatrists are being consistent: having accepted what they were taught in med school (it’s only about neurotransmitters), then day-to-day stressors must be irrelevant & dismissable. When a distraught young woman was admitted to our ward the doctor’s note said “patient talks about the sudden death of a friend two years ago but this is too remote to be significant”. The DSM5 does say normal grief lasts 2 weeks(!?!), after that meds should be considered. Arghh!
Matt: Thanks for references for further reading (Jaakelainen, Benedetti, ISPS, etc). Without doubt mainstream psychiatrists dismiss any possibility of the relevance of environmental stress. The ones that lament about “stigma” seem clueless that declaring someone has an incurable brain disease increases stigma. And their criteria for “improvement” is how manageable & “in control” the patient’s behaviour is. I’m relieved to no longer count myself as a “mental health worker”. My job became a nightmare. When you begin to have doubts about the biogenetic model, your previously collegial relationship with co-workers evaporates; you enter a no-man’s land, neither staff nor patient. You are helping me get a perspective.
Thank you CatNight. “The process of coming to terms with fully acknowledging our history is a story in & of itself”. You have succinctly expressed something that I have been muddling toward. “Someday for me”.
Linda Lee: Like Stephen I say thank goodness for non-compliant you. I was a psych nurse (& still feel guilty). Towards the end of my career I became aware that I was pissing off my colleagues (slow to force prn’s). Nice to hear that a “non-compliant patient” did well away from the system.
As a remorseful retired psychiatric nurse I paid close attention to Matt’s & Franks’ dialogue. I agree with the advice to avoid entanglements in the system.
I love your term “betrayal trauma”. And your comment that the most powerful tool we have is to make sorely needed changes.
Absolutely a human rights issue. Absolutely be wary of “best intentions”
Dear Askforcor: I’m gobsmacked by your account. I sense that you are now a blessing in your son’s life. I loved:
-“I could regret but there’s no sense going backward”.
-“The problem for the emotionally attached is that we’re emotionally attached which may be counterproductive to his recovery. To facilitate this connection is something that would help. I have not yet figured out.”
Matt: I love your article & can’t wait for part 2. I agree with Fred that coping techniques to the problems of living don’t solve problems but perhaps are activities to be distracted long enough to make it through another day without attracting unwanted attention from authorities. I believe that things are this bad.
Like Californian said, medicine is an “inexact science”.
Despite my childhood I “functioned” & I grew up to become a psychiatric nurse (useless to my patients). I colluded in the failure to address “experiential, relational & stress related issues” (I’m retired). I’m not sure these drugs are safe for short periods considering their potential for physiological addiction.
Re: “Psychotic experiences not necessarily something to overcome”: Personally I have found that if you’re able to block psychotic experiences in a frantic desire to appear “normal” you eventually end up in a very ugly place .
And Pies implies that only the clinical experience of those who have the power to prescribe counts. And that somehow their clinical experience renders them exclusively able to evaluate studies.
I’m a retired psych nurse who belatedly started reading the scientific literature (inspired by Robert) & became appalled at myself for colluding in a brutal regime. Like Randall I understand Eric being pissed off but I don’t understand why his anger & scorn are directed at Robert. I waited to see how Robert would respond & I very much respect his response. He admits he doesn’t know what’s to be done to change societal narratives “away from commerce & guild interests towards science & the lived experience of individuals”. In the meantime he’s doing his best to make the scientific research public so that “patients” can make an informed decision about their “care” & ignorant workers in the mental health industry can think again about their participation in this mess.