Psychiatry is ââŠ.a presumed medical specialty that has no reputable theory about the alleged internal dysfunction that causes mental illness, that has no biomarkers with which to diagnose those illnesses, yet that has a long history of coercing people to act, think, and feel in accordance with an ill-defined and ever-changing set of moral standards.â
Psychiatry is nothing more than a medicalized game of Blind Manâs Bluff. And itâs guilty of Willful Blindness until it changes.
Psychiatry has become the polite term for drug dealing, because instead of advocating for healthier mindsets, behaviors, and lifestyles, they create drug addicts.
So why wouldnât they want their âpatientsâ addicted to their âtreatmentsâ when thatâs their business? Very paternalistic, i.e. âBig Daddy Knows Bestâ.
Generally, I like what Gabor Mate says. However, I always had the strange sense that heâs missing something, which always left me wondering: Does he not appreciate the way most people are forced to live?
I could never decide if he was being cowardly, or if it just never occurred to him how much deferential treatment he receives because he has âDr.â in front of his name.
I read your essay yesterday and Iâm in awe of it and you. Your insights and intelligence are AMAZING. I see it as a blueprint for the future.
And thank you, thank you, thank you Lisa, for being you, above all else.
I just took a look at âThe Illusion of Psychotherapyâ on Amazon and it sounds well worth reading as Epstein addresses the many social-relational causes of psychic distress.
I look forward to getting a copy once I find one less pricey.
True.
Often people with money and/or advanced education (the so-called âelitesâ) either donât know or have forgotten what itâs like to be low man on the totem pole and the consequences that real people can face if they dare call out the powers that be.
âTo see what âScienceâ is made of, we need only observe what happens when it collides with power, pounds, payola, politics or promotional prospects, perhaps?â
âPeople need to ask about all those patients who as teenagers became patients in the late 1980âs with Prozac and have been compliant and ask simply where are they today? Homeless? Jobless? Severely ill or dead?â
Psychiatry would hide that âdataâ if they had itâor try to give it a âpositiveâ spin.
Correction: Whether psychiatry does this deliberately or not is of NO CONSEQUENCE, because the results are THE SAME: iatrogenic illness, disability and death, which makes psychiatryâs claims of bearing no responsibility completely invalid.
Aftab can soft-soap about psychiatry all he wants, but it doesnât change the fact that psychiatry is a dishonest, exploitative organization whose long history of misinforming the public has allowed it to misuse its power against the most vulnerable people with virtually NO consequences and continues to do so TO THIS DAY.
And this has happened because until now the public has lacked access to information that tells them THE TRUTH behind psychiatryâs many FALSE CLAIMS:
1. That psychiatric diagnoses are physically rooted
2. That psychiatric drugs correct âchemical imbalancesâ or other physical processes
3. That these drugs pose little risk to peopleâs physical and/or psychological health
And whether not psychiatry does or has done this deliberately is of NO CONSEQUENCE, because the results are THE SAME: iatrogenic illness, disability or even death.
And no amount of charm or savvy on the part of any slickly packaged internet shill can change this AWFUL TRUTH.
Correction: Any non-drug therapies psychiatry lays claim to are already being done by people and organizations that have no connections to the drug world, legal or illegal. And as a result, people are experiencing better outcomes than psychiatryâs depraved world of âmedicationâ side effects and any ensuing drug withdrawal.
Aftab is the face of something that has morphed into a world-wide, legalized drug ring. And no amount of philosophizing can change that.
Any other âtherapiesâ it lays claim to are already being done by other people or organizations with no connections to the drug world which just happen to be showing âbetter outcomesâ. And what are âbetter outcomesâ? No drug-induced side effects or withdrawal effects.
No one is safe from psychiatryâs clutches. It strategically targets the entire globe through its trademark insidious fashion: Direct To Consumer Advertising â
âThe DSM mindset is now so thoroughly embedded within the culture itâs massively eroding the ability of people in describe their uniqueness and shifting emotional reactions and states in anything other than psychiatric language.â
Itâs become the biggest source of cultural pollution.
âRecently, he [Aftab] has written a curious blog about the Power Threat Meaning Framework, in which he claims that a) no one has ever heard of it b) everyone thinks it is rubbish c) everyone needs to be warned against itâŠ.. and attributes the authorsâ motivations to âactive hostilityâŠ.against diagnosisâ. Which doesnât really stand up as an evidence-based refutation.â
He says that stuff because the PTMF rattles his cage. And donât be surprised if sooner or later he tries to hijack the idea with his own distorted version. But heâd be much better off if heâd a) own his own âactive hostilityâ, b) quit his twitter habit, and c) stop dabbling in philosophy that only makes him sound more ridiculous.
And as for him claiming that no one has ever heard of the Power Threat Meaning Framework: itâs my understanding that people at the World Health Organization have heard of it.
Iâve learned one thing dealing with psychiatry: itâs best not to engage with it at all, because itâs full of people like Aftab who will defend their dubious âdiagnosesâ till their dying day.
Thank you for the extraordinary work you do. Youâve created a template based on honesty, respect, trust, personal agency and mutual growth, which are the only things that make any sense, and things I found sorely lacking both in psychiatry and psychotherapy. Listening deeply with an open heart and open mind is whatâs most important in life.
Youâve given me a lot to think about.
And thank you for your links.
Birdsong
Psychiatryâs current recognition of trauma and neurodiversity just provides more opportunities for psychiatry to invent more meaningless and ultimately stigmatizing labels, and more opportunities for psychiatry to peddle more harmful drugs, which obviously means more money for them.
Psychiatry is Opportunistic Medicine, and labels and drugs are all theyâve got.
Tanya says, ââŠI think there is such a defensiveness on the part of many psychiatrists. I think that my narrative was perhaps just something that was too challenging and wouldâve caused a lot of reflection on their part, and that reflection could probably be very painful, Iâm sure.â
Psychiatry is the modern version of the Tower of Babel, and itâs DSM is its Book of Babble.
So expecting serious reflection from people schooled in psychiatry is like waiting for the second coming of Christ.
Psychiatry is immune to meaningful reflection, because it would mean the end of psychiatry.
Another look at Aftabâs twitter tells me heâs much too busy promoting himself to spend any time reading anything that doesnât flatter his already inflated ego. So hereâs something short and sweet from Psychology Today:
âReview: The Book of Woe: Why the DSM is doomed to failâ, by Helene Guldberg, PhD
And for something more visually entertaining, Aftab might watch this: âThe Myth of Low-Serotonin & Antidepressants – Dr. David Horowitzâ, courtesy After Skool
And if thatâs not too taxing, Aftab might pick up a copy of âA Profession Without Reason: The Crisis of Contemporary PsychiatryâUntangled and Solved by Spinoza, Free-Thinking and Radical Enlightenmentâ, by Bruce Levine, PhD.
Thank you for sharing your poignant story. Youâve been through hell and back, but congratulations on making it out alive. I totally relate to your saying this:
âThe only therapy that made sense to me was self-introspection and a lot of reading about trauma from compassionate expertsâŠâ
And youâre absolutely right that no one should have to experience and heal from psychiatric gaslighting and abuse. But itâs my belief believe that psychiatryâs current recognition of trauma and neurodiversity is no more than lip service.
Thank you very much, lcjohnstone. And thank you for the wonderful link.
Aftabâs inviting two senior psychiatrists to oppose you proves you set his pants on fire, but I bet he had the old farts lined up long before the interview, as anyone who dares speak the truth poses a threat their identity and Power. And Aftabâs insistence on proving abstractions proves heâs a fool, a fraud, and a fake.
Someone needs to ask Aftab about the philosophy of bait and switch.
Definition for Bait and Switch: Fraudulent or deceptive practice.
The ploy of offering a person something desirable to gain favor (such as political support), then thwarting expectations with something less desirable.
Aftabâs the perfect front man for a âprofessionâ that sees its days are numbered, but his carefully modulated hissy fits are a testament to MIAâs integrity. He sees the writing on the wall and it has him running scaredâŠ
You might find some videos and books by Daniel Mackler to be helpful, rasselas.redux. Heâs a former therapist who addresses childhood trauma and breaking from oneâs parents with a lot of understanding.
Psychiatry claims to be medicine, but itâs actually a socially acceptable form of drug trafficking that lobbied for DTCA at the end last century. Itâs not about health, but the bottom line.
I agree that much of whatâs labeled âgreat artâ is not relatable, and that womenâs perspective is often ignored or silenced. And art definitely attracts a lot of snobs.
To me, art is just another form of expression, to communicate soul to soul, to make the unconscious conscious.
You gotta hand it to psychiatry trying to walk back its biological reductionism. But itâs definitely overcompensating.
Hereâs what most people truly need: space and time to grieve unprocessed emotions – – unmolested by psychiatryâs intrusive machinations, pharmaceutical or otherwise.
Because the Federal Government has agreed to pay for psychiatryâs âstandard of careâ, which is primarily psychiatric drugs, and because the pharmaceutical industry is a huge part of the economy.
Psychiatryâs co-optation and de-radicalization of peer-support and psychedelics does nothing to change the fact that itâs CODIFIED BIGOTRY co-opted by financial interests.
âForcing agreement on one shared story, which will no doubt be created by those who hold the most power, is oppressive and dangerous for people who have experienced the dominant paradigm labels, diagnoses and âtreatmentsâ.â
Psychiatry and psychotherapy exploit peopleâs need for attachment and attention.
Traditional psychotherapy is a psychological trap based on an unnatural and unnecessary power imbalance imposed by those whose main goal is having power over vulnerable people. Itâs self-aggrandizing for the therapist and infantilizing for the client.
A peer-run approach is the only civilized way to conduct âtherapyâ, if one seeks it at all.
âIllness trajectories depend on developmental processes, learning, and behavioral interactions on multiple spatial and temporal scales, which involve levels of the organization across neurobiological, cognitive-affective, interpersonal, and social systems.â
Translation: LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE
And while youâre at it, try having a little respect for the people youâre dealing with.
Exposing children and adolescents to notions of âmental health awarenessâ is totally inappropriate because it makes them think thereâs something wrong with them for not feeling their best at all times; theyâre too young to have perspective about their feelings. Itâs a grossly irresponsible use of the power of suggestion.
Children need to know that feelings are a part of living, and be taught how to respond to their feelings in positive, self-affirming ways. Anything else is confusing and harmful.
Psychiatry is as much a political tool today as it was during the Nazi era, as its goal is essentially the same: power and control by whatever means necessary, which today includes psychedelics.
But has anyone imagined the iatrogenic damage in years to come?
Some people need to pull their heads out of their data-dependent asses and instead consider these novel ideas:
1. Maybe emotional distress isnât physical illness
2. Maybe psychoactive drugs arenât a good thing for most people
3. Maybe talk therapy isnât what itâs cracked up to be
Then finally ask themselves this burning question:
Is turning to a medicalized, data-dependent system for emotional distress good idea?
What do you know! Psychiatryâs finally come full circle with psychedelics. And who knows? Maybe with this latest twist, theyâll finally admit that psychiatry is drug pushingâŠ
Thereâs nothing more âdisalienatingâ than listening to people (be they men OR women) unconsciously guided by chauvinistic attitudes.
Definition for Chauvinistic: displaying excessive or prejudiced support for oneâs own cause or group; the irrational belief in the superiority or dominance of oneâs own group or people
And thereâs nothing more chauvinistic than psychiatry and its self-satisfied offshoot called âpsychotherapyâ, as both are based on gratifying the egos of their practitioners.
No one needs anyoneâs convoluted, self-serving theories regarding psychosis when the explanation is simple: people retreat from reality when life gets too painful. And if they sense safety, they often come back.
Intellectualism, as opposed to psychosis, is just another way to dissociate from intolerable feelings. And itâs long been a refuge for the intellectually pompous, i.e. âpsychiatryâ and itâs chronically confused cousin better known as âpsychologyâ.
There is such a thing as thinking too much. People need to get out of their heads and into their hearts.
I agree 100% with Lauraâs assessment of the situation regarding psychic distress in todayâs world; that itâs one of financial exploitation on top of personal victimization â which explains why so many people high on the abusive end of the narcissistic spectrum hold jobs as âmental health workersâ. And itâs definitely spread by the misuse and overuse of psychological language that characterizes emotions as illness. And any effort to reclaim the narrative, i.e. âDI Without The Disorderâ is definitely a step in the right direction.
The main problem with psychiatry is that all you need to do is say âbooâ to have the fools reach for their stupid DSM. And most psychologists are no different.
Worth a glance: âSplitting: The Psychology Behind Binary Thinking And How It Limits A Diversity Of Opinions,â by Ilana Redstone in Forbes Magazine
My takeaway was this quote from psychologist Andrew Hartz:
âThereâs an Islamic mystic who described how harmful it is to divide people into groups, say only good things about some and only bad things about othersâŠâ â something that accurately describes the âmental healthâ industry.
What I find remarkable about the enlightenment era is how adamant some people were about separating the mind and body. And I wonder if this had anything to do with the fact that these were men who never had to contend with the agonizing realities of either menstrual cramps or childbirth. Because if theyâd had to, I bet theyâd have stopped thinking like a bunch of stubborn two-years olds. And while I donât believe thereâs any such thing as the completely egotistical construct invented by the completely egotistical Freud called âpenis envyâ, there is definitely such a thing as âpenis privilegeâ.
Cartesian dualism is actually a form of âsplittingâ, the defense mechanism used by people unable to tolerate ambiguity. And âsplittingâ is what characterizes most of the people who practice psychiatry and psychologyâand when challenged, they resort to gaslighting.
So there you have it, the two things that characterize the system of âmental healthâ: splitting and gaslighting.
âIt is an extreme materialism and pro technocratic thinking based on labels, procedures and it will be worse.â
âThinking based on procedures and labels is a programming of the enlightenment era leading to technocracy.â
âAnd there is no sign of psychiatric victims in this corrupted evil society.â
This is an evil society and things probably will get worse in some ways. But I hold out hope for radical change in how people see âmental illnessâ.
âThe JHP was the venerable journal of a revolutionary movement begun in the 1950âs to provide a âthird forceâ in the field, to counter the two dominant movements of Freudâs psychoanalysis and B.F. Skinnerâs behaviorism.â
Human beings are not just their brain chemistry; they are mind, body and spirit/soul. In my mind, humanistic psychology recognizes what other psychologies and certainly psychiatry do not, which is the overriding reality and beauty of the human soul, without which life loses its purpose and meaning.
Check this out on YouTube: âThis Is Priceless – George Harrison On What Lies BeyondâŠâ T&H – Inspiration & Motivation
Psychology needs to shut up and change its name to cognicology. It doesnât belong in the âfeelingsâ business. And psychiatry needs to shut up entirely.
The field of psychology should be called âbehaviorismâ because thatâs all it is. After all, âpsycheâ means âsoulâ and souls canât be âclinically studiedâ.
And psychiatry should be called drug pushing, because thatâs EXACTLY what it is.
I was delighted to read something about human suffering that actually captures the essence of what it means to be human:
âTo have seen those JHP journals on the library shelves full of merciful caring about human suffering, was proof that the human heart and spirit could prevail over the head and the dangerous objectification of the disease model of psychiatry.â
âThe contrast was human-hearted compassion and potential for all, verses human-disordered abnormality/pathology and emotion-killing psych drugs for all.â
My thanks are to you, Dr. Coleman. A heart-centered approach should be the gold standard for helping people, and also for living a good life.
People donât need a disease-centered, agenda-laden system. They need caring human beings without an agenda who know how to listenâsomething that used to be called a very good friend.
Healing happens in understanding, NOT âdiagnosesâ.
Thank you for sharing your story. I relate to it because like you I believe much of what is thought to be âmental illnessâ is actually a spiritual breakthrough brought about by repeated moral injuryâinjuries usually made worse by a system that speaks a different language.
And I wish you many Happy Returns on your Spiritual Birthday!
And I wouldnât be surprised if higher rates of addiction to psychiatric drugs correlates with higher levels of income. After all, thatâs just what the pharmaceutical cartels are counting on.
I think it depends on what you consider âmental illnessâ.
Enduring financial hardship and deprivation can cause high levels of stress that can adversely affect peopleâs state of mind and ability to function. And unfortunately this usually gets categorized as âmental illnessâ.
âA man who says, âI want change, tell me how toâ, seems very earnest, very serious, but he is not. He wants an authority whom he hopes will bring about order in himself. But can authority ever bring about inward order? Order imposed from without must always breed disorder.â
– J. Krishnamurti
âAll ideologies are idiotic, whether religious or political, for it is conceptual thinking, the conceptual word, which has so unfortunately divided man.â – J. Krishnamurti
And thereâs nothing more divisive than psychiatry and psychology.
Definition for Divisive: alienating, estranging, isolating, schismatic, discordant, disharmonious, inharmonious â all of which aptly describes psychiatry and psychology.
Psychologically speaking, the author seems to have all his ducks in order. However, he contradicts himself when first saying:
âFrom the relational-intersubjective standpoint, both the therapist and the context/system are unavoidably a part of the very experiences that become pathologised as individual disorders.ââ
And then saying:
âThough in relational-intersubjective therapy there is an inevitable âasymmetryâ â as there necessarily is in any therapeutic relationship â the model [relational-intersubjective] assumes and encourages an epistemological equality with regards to what is occurring and what it means.â
Why canât he see that an âinevitable asymmetryâ directly contradicts any claims of âepistemological equalityâ â the lack of which is extremely pathologizing?
All heâs done is prove how some people will say anything to maintain a pathologizing power imbalance, which, incidentally, ensures him of being capitalistically compensated.
Itâs not that complicated. Peopleâs emotions and frames of mind are most often the result of their interactions with others, while people stuck in Cartesian thinking are usually the result of disconnected control freaks addicted to power.
Who in their right mind would assume thereâs no collusion between the FDA and Big Pharma when so much moneyâs at stake? And donât forgetâwhen their stint is up at the FDA, youâll find them on the board at some Big Pharma.
Judi Chamberlin: âPeople are unlikely to question the underlying premises of their occupations, in which they often have a large financial and emotional stake.â
This is why so few âcliniciansâ critically evaluate psychiatryâs many unprovable assumptions: the validity of their âdiagnosesâ, the reliability of their prognosis, and the necessity and safety of their so-called âmedicationsâ. And their habitual use of the word âclinicalâ hides the fact that they themselves are afraid of admitting their whole shebang is full of holes.
If you want to persuade people, just pepper your speech with scientific language, itâs an effective marketing tool for just about anything.
Traumatic injury/memory gets stuck in the body as much if not more than anywhere else. And this is where psychiatry, psychology, and western medicine in general miss the boat. The DSM is an extreme example of how fragmented western approaches are.
Psychiatry and psychology have destroyed peopleâs faith in their ability to process emotional trauma without drugs or reliance on some foolâs idea of âpsychotherapyâ.
Thatâs for damn sure. But itâs gotten even sicker since hitching its wagon to the pharmaceutical industry as anything thatâs profitable financially inevitably controls the narrative. But megavitamin therapy sounds interesting though, as it probably helps restore peopleâs messed up physiology from either psychiatric drugs or other psychoactive substances like alcohol, etc.
And anythingâs better than psychiatryâs sanitized drug hustling or psychologyâs mindless minds fucks.
Definition for Mind Fuck: the process of raping someoneâs intelligence and/or beliefs with lies and manipulation
Definition for Psychiatry and Psychology: the raping of someoneâs intelligence and/or beliefs with lies and manipulation
David,
Thank you for your generous offer, but right now Iâm not needing it. But I donât doubt EMDRâs effectiveness as trauma definitely gets stuck in the mind and memory, and people definitely need alternatives to psychiatryâs drug-happy medical model.
It would be great if psychiatry were disbanded altogether. But realistically this wonât happen anytime soon because real change rarely comes from the top down. More likely to happen is psychiatry eventually going the way of cigarette smoking, meaning it will probably take a long time for the majority of the population to learn from bitter experience that psychiatryâs sick assortment of diagnoses and drugs are not the best answer.
However, I think it inevitable that the DSM will be formally discredited, hopefully with an admission that most psychic distress is caused by relational-environmental factors. And who knows? Maybe sooner rather than later an increasing number of general practitioners will be less likely to automatically prescribe psychotic drugs.
I canât say enough good things about something that fosters reconnecting with oneself rather than symptoms, i.e. psychiatryâs superficial âdiagnosesâ. Reconnecting With Yourselfâ needs to be everyoneâs motto.
Your kind and considerate perspectives are EXACTLY where the âtherapeutic modelâ (and anyoneâs perspective for that matter) needs to be.
Thank you for sharing your personal observations about therapy; they closely mirror my own:
1. The dishonesty of paying for kindness and compassionâwhich is the opposite of kindness and compassion
2. Using âtransferenceâ to protect and maintain what is essentially a destructive power dynamic
3. Money wasted on bad memories âdug up about which nothing can be doneâ
4. Being told you are incurably ill and hopelessly broken from someone with something to gain
5. Forced to cope with abandonment from boundaries âsuddenly put up by a previously accepting therapistâ
6. That most therapists are egomaniacs
7. That most therapists like having power over vulnerable people for all the wrong reasons which DEFINITELY âtakes a certain level of arrogance to think that wayâ.
And I forgot to mention how IFS uses curiosity in untangling the complexity of the mind rather than shutting it down with drugs or other narrow-minded âtherapeuticâ methods.
I just visited your website (healingtheself.net) and am glad I did. Itâs thorough without being exhaustive and accessible without being simplistic, something essential in an area as broad as mental health. Your âPerspectivesâ section is particularly illuminating as it includes the most relevant topics: âThe Spectrum of Traumaâ, âBreaking the Trauma Cycleâ, âWestern Medicineâ, and âInternal Family Systems (IFS)â. Itâs important you placed these topics together as these are all interconnected, and connecting the dots is something too few people are doing. And the quotes youâve chosen are brilliant.
Thank you for devoting your life to something so important and central to what truly matters. I wish you the best in your new vocation.
Thank you for saying everything that needs to be said about a non-pathologizing approach to psychic distress. You succeed in making the complicated understandable in a beautifully cogent way.
I appreciate your explaining in detail how Internal Family Systems parts-centric approach acknowledges not only the impact of the subconscious, but also âthe notion of the Selfâ and how respecting that Self, oneâs âtrue essenceâ or innate dignity, is central to the healing process, i.e., âbecoming wholeâ. And I especially appreciate your mentioning how psychiatry is âlocked into a paradigm of neurotransmitters and genetics, [that] misses whatâs right in front of its face, and turns a blind eye to mountains of evidence supporting the role of environmental distressâi.e., traumaâin mental health.â Your ideas are SPOT ON.
I too believe âa revolution is brewing with respect to mental health treatment in our cultureâ, but more strongly I hope âthe beauty of IFSâ will be at the forefront thisâand perhaps eventually of life itself.
Imo, psychiatry is nothing more than an absurd gallery of pseudoscientific diagnoses whose DSM represents one gargantuan psychological autoimmune âdisorderâ.
Itâs too bad psychiatry canât diagnose its own own pathological tendency to diagnose and label everything under the sun.
In contrast, Internal Family Systems is a path towards true healing, as itâs based on compassion and common sense.
Psychiatry isnât about listening, itâs about imposing pseudoscientific beliefs on others.
And most of the time people are âdiagnosedâ before theyâve even uttered a wordâand most of the time their goose is cooked if the doctor doesnât like them.
I also bet Decartes, like most of todayâs psychiatrists and psychologists, was secretly one angry dudeâand Heaven knows thereâs nothing more destructive than unacknowledged angerâwhich I think is the foundation of all of psychiatry and most of psychology.
And thereâs nothing wrong with anger; itâs one of most instructive and protective emotions anyone can haveâif dealt with authentically.
Itâs heartening to know that Dr. Ophirâs book is receiving such positive scholarly reviews. I hope his bravery encourages others like him to speak out against the institutional gaslighting not only surrounding ADHD, but all the other scientifically baseless âdiagnosesâ that constitute the fallacious field of psychiatry. And I sincerely believe itâs only a matter of time before it collapses from the weight of its own lies.
ericwsetz says, âThe first step is a willingness to be there with the patient and understand what they are saying.â
Which just happens to be the basis of ANY healthy relationship, and most importantly needs to starts with the first: with oneâs parents/caregivers in childhood
ericwsetz says, âPatients are not out of their minds they are too deep in it.â
Yes! And itâs not just psychiatry â âpsychotherapyâ often sets up its own convoluted âclinicalâ traps for people needing to get OUT of their heads â
So-called âmental health awarenessâ in schools is about as helpful as an infestation of head liceâpsychological head lice, that is. They are no longer places to learn and be educated, they are places to be labeled and âmedicatedâ.
And children often live up to a teacherâs worst expectations.
âThe motivation to remove the symptom has resulted in what Poole calls a âever-increasing proliferation of context-less achievementsâŠlocal scientific successes which precede even the remotest notion of how to deal with them ethically or how to integrate them into the needs of the totality.â
That explains psychiatryâs main flaw: its refusal to see experience in context.
Charlotte says, âThe discipline [psychiatry] pretends to be an objective classification of people, borrowing language (âdiagnosisâ) from physical medicine, which assigns the label of disease following the identification of a pathology, which one hopes can be targeted and cured. But the analogy fails in psychiatry. There are few known biological pathologies. And who is to say what cure is?â
Not only thatâwhoâs to say what pathology is? And THATâS the problem with psychiatry: it uses medicalized name-calling (âdiagnosesâ) to sell its designer drugs. And thereâs a label for that: FRAUD â
Some wounds never heal completely, and sometimes forgiveness is impossible, but thereâs nothing shameful or âsickâ about this. Itâs just accepting emotional realityâsomething that leads to emotional maturityâwhich is the beginning of wisdom, something psychiatry knows little about.
Psychiatry is entirely subjective. Indeed, how objective can it be when itâs based entirely on labeling WHATEVER IT ALONE deems âabnormalâ or âunhealthyâ?
But the real tragedy is that it fails to see how much itâs shaped by its own biased thinking.
But psychiatry isnât about thinking; itâs about its practitioners NEEDING to think theyâre ALWAYS right: hence they thunk up a COLOSSALLY STUPID DSM.
And just WHAT did psychiatryâs carnival of catastrophe do for me besides create havoc with its debilitating drugs?
1. It made me doubt my reality
2. It hijacked my healthy sense of self
3. It convinced me I couldnât function without its patronizing âinterventionsâ
ALL of which proved untrue once I FINALLY got off its merry-go-round of so-called âmental illnessâ and smorgasbord of so-called âmedicationsâ.
âPsychiatry persists because of the professionâs strategies to manage its ignoranceâŠâ
Translation: psychiatry persists because it believes its own lies.
âIn order to make those changes and to promote those reinventions, psychiatrists engage in hype.â
Translation: psychiatry is more public relations than science.
âNow the flipside to hype is hubris. Psychiatrists believe the hype and then undertake these transformations in an incredibly aggressive way.â
Translation: psychiatryâs become big business by teaming up with the pharmaceutical industry and its advertising flunkies while sending its latest edition of the DSM to every doctor in town.
All of which leads to one conclusion: psychiatry is what happens when quackery meets propaganda.
In a word? Emphatically NO. But it might be a step in the right direction if psychiatry realized that stress and trauma are the true culprit, not its idiotic assumptions of biological/genetic whatnot.
Me too. After all, most religions are based on sacred texts that believe in salvation, whereas psychiatry, (a secular religion based on its DSM/bible) says youâre eternally damned â
Beatrice g,
I have to disagree with your saying that âfixing traumaâ requires âtherapeutic practicesâ when itâs been clearly demonstrated time and again that children, animals and adults heal best in loving, non-judgmental environments, which often means staying as far away as possible from the so-called âtrauma expertsâ.
Yes! The the social structure of todayâs society and modern family dynamics are EXACTLY where âpsychiatric problemsâ start. But psychiatryâs answer is to have the whole world drowning in âdiagnosesâ and drugs or endlessly spinning their wheels in diagnostic-infested âpsychotherapyâ.
Very true. Itâs sad reality when children arenât safe in the very places they need it the most: home and school.
And a lot of doctors and âtherapistsâ just continue the pattern of bullying and name-calling through âdiagnosingâ and labeling and call it âmental healthâ.
Itâs no wonder the kids are upset when thereâs nowhere to turn.
âWhat are the socio-cultural factors of modern society that drive [abuse and bullying]âŠ?â
Let me take a wild guessâŠhow about psychiatry!âŠ.you know, that marvelous bully-inspired invention that prescribes chemical dissociation instead of emotional integrationâŠ
ââŠ.and what can we do to reverse its course?â
First of all, QUIT making excuses by seeing people as âpatientsâ instead of full human beingsâbe they children OR adultsâwhich means DUMPING psychiatry and its endless list of invented âdiagnosesâ/âdisordersâ as soon as possible.
It all starts with seeing people as doing the best they can in a sick society, NOT the other way around.
And Iâve often thought thereâs way more to learn from watching âDog Whisperer with Cesar Millanâ than listening to so-called âtrauma-informedâ therapists or so-called âhumanâ psychiatrists.
Steve,
Freud chickened out alright. He turned out to be an egotistical coward more anything.
And thank you for pointing out the true reason behind blaming peopleâs brains: the refusal to face reality, both personally and collectively.
Looking at it historically, though, deflection has always been used by the ruling class, one way or another. Just look at the Middle Agesâbut instead of blaming the brain, they blamed the devil.
At least Freud had curiosity and imagination. But even these got out of control, not to mention his unhealthy need to always be right, a fixation no doubt shared by none other than the great Emil Kraepelin, the founder of psychiatric eugenics. (Opps! I think I meant âgeneticsââŠ.)
I donât think âexpertsâ like thinking too much (i.e. âmentalizationâ, or âreflective functioningâ), because questioning their assumptions means questioning their power. So conversations with them too often pointless, Iâve found.
So whatâs my answer? Hauling out the old âcaveat emptorâ approach. After all, doing your own research never hurt, and it just might save your life. Or just trust your own instincts and move on.
I think a lot of problems come from people unconsciously needing to feel more powerful than the next person so they can get away with bossing people around; power means more than truth to them.
And this most likely comes from not having their emotional needs met in childhood, so having power-driven jobs like psychiatry or psychotherapy fills their unmet need to feel powerful.
So life for them becomes one big long âI know more than youâ kind of game that they never outgrow, but instead of flexing their muscles, theyâre flexing their egos, imho.
âBecoming more resilient means, for me, that I take the fragments of my identity which have become lost in the course of my life so far, and carefully and attentively re-assemble them into an intact ego so that I can perceive myself ever more accurately and clearly.â
âI look back on past times until they feel alive and warmâŠ.I believe that is helpful â and an essential part of livingâŠ.â
âGiven these accumulating personal observations, I find it hard to understand why, even today, research on schizophrenia focuses so heavily on genetics; why helping affected persons involves antipsychotics above all; and why the knowledge and experience of affected persons are barely recognized.â
âIf we have an increased susceptibility to stress and psychosis, then there are always reasons for this, which are as individual as we ourselves are.â
âExcessive treatment with antipsychotics and psychiatric medication in general can hide the true causes of mental problems and disorders, stand in the way of real healing, and destroy real social interactions.â
âAs humans and as inhabitants of the Earth we all depend on each other: physically, intellectually, and emotionally. So all of us need to be willing to learn from and with each other in mutual respect, to live together and establish a resilient community.â
Thank you for sharing your remarkable story and insights, Moyu. Itâs a beautiful testament to the resilience of the human spirit. I hope it inspires real change in the mental health system and the world at large.
Moyu says, ââŠ(when I had finally found a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who treated me as an equalâŠâ
Being thought of as an equal and treated as an equal is where healing begins in any relationship.
I felt stigmatized by psychiatry, infantilized by psychotherapy, and demoralized by bothâand diagnoses and power imbalanceâthe foundation of bothâare the reasons why, imo.
No one seeking help needs to feel worse than they already do.
KateL says, âPeople who were abused in the mental health system are experts in how the system abuses people. I guess some people just can handle that objective fact.â
Very true. Your statement reveals how most âmental health expertsâ are incapable of self-reflection.
Thank you KateL, for pointing out how the âexpertsâ try to defend themselves by discrediting people who donât share their views with stupid phrases like, ââbe careful not to over generalizeâ, and flipping from âthis is objective factâ, to âah well, itâs more art than science.ââ
Did it ever occur to the âexpertsâ that psychiatry and psychology ARE BASED on over generalizations???
When it suits the âexpertsâ narrative they call it objective fact, and when THAT fails they haul out the old bromide, âitâs more art than scienceâ, which simply means they don’t know what they are talking about.
ââŠthe gaslighterâlike all verbal abusersâoperates from what they know to be your fears, insecurities, vulnerabilities, and neediness.â
âAdditionally, as in other types of verbal abuse, there has to be an imbalance of power with the gaslighter holding all the cards.â
âThis [your inclination to doubt yourself] is something the gaslighter knows about and he or she stands ready to exploit.â
Psychiatrists AND therapists will often use these gaslighting dynamics to gain an unfair advantage over vulnerable people.
And people saying, âThatâs just their training, theyâre really just trying to help,â IS BULLSHIT because for the most part, people who have no problem using these tactics are more interested in HAVING POWER OVER OTHERS more than EMPOWERING OTHERS; they obviously prefer infantilizing people.
ââŠ.sometimes all you need is a genuine person to help you stand up when you are down and reignite not the light at the end of the tunnel, but the light within yourself. Self-love and self-awareness are the key to a healthy life.â
Yes!!! THIS is the way to heal broken hearts, minds, lives and relationships, NOT name-calling (diagnoses) and âpsychiatric medicationsâ.
Thereâs nothing better than help from someone whoâs been there and sees you as capable of helping yourself.
Whether or not thereâs neurological evidence of emotional trauma, the bigger problem lies in seeing the results (âsymptomsâ) as medical issues, i.e. âpsychiatric diagnosesâ; the medical model just continues the trauma of disrespect, blame, and neglect.
3. Not only seriously curtail the use of psychiatric drugs, but stop saying these âtreatâ a âchemical imbalanceâ or other âmental illnessâ that need to be taken âthe rest of your lifeâ.
Thanks for the info, LivingPast27, though it looks like Europe has caught up: âHow depression treatment differs throughout Europeâ, from the Guardian. It shows how important it is that M.I.A. is getting a foothold in more and more countries around the world.
Yes!!! Apologizing and making amends to the patients theyâve harmed is as important as anything. But I was trying to stay within the realm of the possible.
Thank you Krista, for your detailed clarification.
I read Francesâ insulting rebuttal to the late Dr. Caplan, but I wasnât surprised by his blatantly condescending attitude and remarks. But I do consider it an excellent example of the attitudes psychiatric survivors are up against, which is why self-rescue is too often the only option.
Fraud, medical neglect, exploitation, and lack of patient/public education/information are what makes psychiatry psychiatry, and is why it needs to go the way of the dinosaur asap.
So what does âtreating patients betterâ actually mean? It means any one of the following, but should begin with the first:
1. Throw out the DSM and do not replace it
2. Stop claiming that psychiatric problems are biological or genetically linked
3. Seriously limit the prescribing of psychiatric medications
4. Seriously limit the use of ECT
5. Make it illegal for any physician to force medicate or medically incarcerate
6. Replace psychiatry with the many alternatives currently available
And when these happen, no one will be needing to find an exit.
âScreening for Mental Illness: The Merger of Eugenics and the Drug Industryâ, by Vera Hassner Sharav, MLS, from The Alliance for Human Research Protection
As I previously stated, if people want to take psychiatric drugs or undergo ETC, thatâs their business. What I object to is psychiatry falsely claiming that peopleâs problems are lifelong and biologically or genetically based, permitting the overprescribing of psychiatric drugs while downplaying the risks, and last but not least their ability to force treatments or involuntarily hospitalization on people which can be for indefinite periods of time.
Psychiatryâs abuse of medicine, power, and peopleâs human rights got a HUGE boost when psychiatrists collectively decided in 1980 to adopt the medical model through an admittedly flawed checklist system for their admittedly flawed DSM, which makes psychiatry not only misleading, but downright fraudulent. And the resulting devastation to both individuals and society are becoming increasingly apparent and definitively undeniable.
The body-brain chemical makeup can greatly affect how emotions are felt and thoughts are perceived. And lots of things can screw it up: too much stress (emotional, psychological or physical), prescription medications, environmental or recreational substances, and even bangs on the head. But none of these indicate biologically or genetically caused illnesses.
From the New York Post: âWhy more women, like me, are abandoning the pill over emerging health concernsâ by Rikki Schlott.
Correction: âIf people want to take âpsychiatric medicationâ or subject themselves to ECT, thatâs their business, but they need to be CLEARLY informed of significant risks of side effects and/or withdrawal reactions both immediate and future, and that NO âillnessâ is being âtreatedâ.
And NO ONE should have the legal authority to force any âtreatmentâ, or âhospitalizeâ someone who hasnât committed a crime.
Ideally, all medicine should be based in a Functional-Holistic paradigm. But present reality demands no longer seeing emotional distress through a medical/diagnostic lens, beginning with a dissolution of psychiatry and its DSM.
If people want to take âpsychiatric medicationâ thatâs their business, but they need to clearly know thereâs significant risk of side effects and/or withdrawal reactions, and that no âillnessâ is being âtreatedâ.
And no one should have the legal authority to hospitalize someone who hasnât committed a crime.
Itâs not hard seeing how disconnected modern society is when you stop to think how insane it is having people pay someone for emotional supportâand on top of THAT calling it âmental healthcareâ. Itâs not a sign of progress; itâs a sign of degradation.
And as corny as it sounds, things wonât change until people get out of their heads and into their hearts.
Richard says, âUnfortunately, you have fallen into Healyâs âoh so charmingâ trap of pragmatic rationalizations for justifying oppression.â
I agree with Richard.
IMHO, most psychiatrists are driven by an unconscious need to hide from their own hidden vulnerabilities. Why else would they seek to obliterate feelings through drugs and ECT?
And psychiatryâs veneer of science gives the illusion of invulnerability.
Itâs all about power, similar to what drives most bullies or those who want to be seen as saviors.
Freud was absolutely right about one thing: the unconscious influences behavior. And scientists are no exception.
Why rely on âexpertsâ who havenât experienced ECT?
Arenât peopleâs personal accounts enough?
Has anyone bothered to ask the dear Dr. Healy (or anyone else who canât make up their minds about the dangers of ECT) if theyâd be willing to subject themselves or their loved ones to ECT?
How much more âproofâ does anyone need?
Science has been put on a pedestal that leads people away from their intuition and common sense.
âThe expertsâ would be wise to remember thereâs a point at which ânuanceâ becomes a hindrance to seeing and accepting the cold, hard truth.
No one need rely on âpsychotherapistsâ to process their trauma. People can do a lot on their own, in their own time, in their own way: writing /journaling, reading, listening to peopleâs experience on podcasts and videos, talking with friends or family members, including animals, engaging in hobbies or creative pursuits, volunteering, and spending as much time as possible in nature.
âI suggest we all become shrinks or lawyers and then we will be safe from slander. It will then come down to who can outslander whom.â
THATâS what psychiatry boils down to: SLANDER â
âThey are a childish, immature, selfish hateful bunchâŠ.you better tread careful.â
Indeed. Only childish adults think the way most psychiatrists and psychotherapists do, i .e. having to believe theyâre always right, and having temper tantrums when âpatientsâ tell them theyâre not.
Wow. Who wouldâve guessed that talking to someone could be helpful??? And wouldnât it be great if people werenât made to believe they need an âexpertâ???
Iâm very sorry getting off the psych drugs is causing you so much pain and trouble. It can take a long time for your body to readjust. And itâs even harder when the people who should know something donât.
I donât know whatâs worse, the effects of the so-called âmedicationsâ or the stupidity of the so-called âtherapistsâ. The whole thingâs a scam, imho.
Just hang in there as best you can, believing you will get through this.
They it called âpsychopathyâ to make it sound impressive so they can charge a fee when all it is listening, and most psychotherapists do a lousy job of that.
The term âpsychotherapyâ implies illness which indicates medical which leads to the can of worms called âpsychiatric diagnosesâ. Itâs as weaponized as psychiatry.
On the other hand, the word âcounselingâ has a much less negative connotation, i.e. legal counsel, pastoral counsel, guidance counsel, parental counsel, etc. And in these situations, people are share knowledge, experience, wisdom and guidance that (hopefully) isnât biased on pseudoscientific âdiagnosticâ beliefs.
I no longer use words like âdepressionâ or âanxietyâ. I just say sad or apprehensive.
And the same goes if someone is acting in a way I dislike. So instead of saying something nasty like âsounds like someone has a personality disorderâ, I just take the time to describe their behavior.
But it IS consistently based on a âpower imbalanceâ and the exchange of money, something thatâs unfair, unnecessary, unhealthy and inappropriate when all it is is talking with someone.
And psychotherapists are trained in psychiatric ideologies, i.e. âmental illnessâ, âpsychiatric diagnosesâ; theyâre psychiatrists without a prescription pad which can be even more damaging.
Either way, itâs all about power, manipulation and money.
Thereâs one criticality important thing Ms.Heller doesnât mention, or perhaps is unable/unwilling to see: that itâs not uncommon for manipulative people to be working as mental health professionals.
Powerful organizations always try to fix things after the fact, and canât see how perhaps they and society are part of the problem.
Children and adults need emotional support from people who truly care about their wellbeing, but not from prying professionals paid to police their private lives.
This is true, but I think most are too dissociated to comprehend whatâs really going on. The ones at the top of the heap are another matter entirely.
Dear Ramesh,
You might look into something at The Withdrawal Project (TWP). Itâs part of ICI, the Inner Compass Initiative. These are dedicated to helping people who are looking to reduce or come off psychiatric drugs.
Birdsong made a mistake.
Bill Wells says, ââŠsome organizations can be extraordinarily closed.â
And Birdsong says, âMost of these belong to psychiatrists.â
HERE IT IS!!! In print! Just what Iâve always sensed and been trying to say here all along, which is that psychiatry (and its loyal sycophantic twin known as âpsychotherapyâ) are BULLSHIT GALORE â
âGoffman [a sociologist] emphasizes the role stigma plays in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment by expounding on its insidious barrier to recovery and the dehumanization and de-personalization which stimulates further damage and marginalizes victims. Essentially stigma breeds contempt and contempt breeds blame.â
Such are the so-called âhealingâ dynamics of psychiatry and its partner in crime âpsycho-therapy.â
To yinyang:
I wasnât fully aware of that, but I think MIA is as radical as Iâm comfortable with. And I also think itâs a good idea to post in a place that has a somewhat more broad appeal, as something more radical might be too radical and therefore reach fewer people.
Bill Wells says, âAs Tip OâNeill wound suggest, the politics start at the local level. And some organizations can be extraordinarily closed.â
Psychiatryâs not medical. Never was, never will be. Itâs political, which is why it needs to go.
The political (punitive) abuse of psychiatry already exists in some form as evidenced by peopleâs inaccurate beliefs and attitudes towards people with psychiatric labels and the laws permitting forced psychiatric drugging and detention. And this will continue as long as psychiatry exists in any form. And THATâS the truth and the horror OF IT ALL.
And psychiatry has people up a creek because being a former or current user can make it difficult to be taken seriously, or even ruin someoneâs life personally and professionally. (Did I say psychiatry is political? Yes I did!) So people are left with word of mouth that thankfully is often the most effective (and safest) way for real change to happen.
Violence isnât always physically brutal; sadism often looks benign.
Psychiatry is a case in point: it offers a way for traumatized people to unconsciously deny their trauma by wearing the mask of âdoctorâ so to legally traumatize people in the name of âtreatmentâ. Itâs sanitized sadism.
Psychiatryâs hauling out their old standby CYA (Cover Your Ass) medicine because theyâre afraid of the lawsuits headed their way. So theyâre jumping on the bandwagon before itâs too late.
Many thanks to MIA for giving voice to those who have been unfairly criticized, silenced, targeted, imprisoned, tortured, censured and censored by psychiatry and its advocates.
Kate W. writes, âThis is the problem with being a consumer â we get consumed.â
Wow. Reading this article confirmed my worst suspicions about people who work in the mental health system. Nonetheless I was deeply saddened as I read Kate W.âs painfully vivid account.
And itâs an eye opener for anyone holding illusions about creating alliances in a mental health system based on stigma and invasions of privacy.
âAll this focus on psychiatry is a bit old fashioned.â
Psychiatryâs history of human rights violations has continued unabated to this day and is becoming increasingly widespread due to the undeniable association among psychiatry, Big Pharma, mainstream media, academia, and the legislative/judicial/policy-making branches of government. So promoting alliance between supporters and opponents of the current mental health system reveals not only a serious lack of understanding and concern for those caught in the mental health system, but a disturbing complacency that is best described as irresponsible.
I don’t ever consider the fight for ANYONEâS human rights âold fashioned!”
People holding seriously different views can unite on individual issues; it happens every day and is called democracy.
However, psychiatry is the only branch of medicine that seriously infringes on peopleâs basic human rights.
I therefore see aligning with people who believe in psychiatry as making a deal with the devil; this, however, does not preclude aligning over specific issues.
Iâve never viewed all âconsumersâ as the same. Whatever someone decides to do is their business.
What I object to is psychiatryâs violating peopleâs human rights by feeding them lies.
And building alliances where thereâs major conflicts of interests is counterproductive, especially when one side has more power than the other. So in this area I see collaboration and half measures as ultimately harmful for those who need help the most.
Yes, and psychiatry uses fear (on some level) to âwinâ every argument, or âdiscussionâ, which makes things airtight for them, but suffocates others.
âWhen the oppressed set aside all disagreements with their oppressors, there will be no discussion, no collaboration, no compromise. Just capitulation and silence.â
Protecting and restoring human rights requires addressing and eradicating problems at their source, which in this case is psychiatry. But unfortunately, too many supporters of the current mental health system either cannot see or refuse to acknowledge this.
Fortunately, more and more people are gradually seeing what âpsychiatryâ actually stands for, which is the denial of human rights.
madmom asks, ââŠ.if you do not believe in constructive dialogues between psychiatric survivors, consumers, family members, and mental health professionals, if you do not believe in recruiting allies from within the helping professions, what is your preferred strategy for implementing a global revolution of the mental health system? What activities do you believe will result in a safer, more humane world?â
First of all, I DO believe in constructive dialogue with anyone. But that is not the same as forming alliances, something that is NOT constructive when fundamental beliefs are fundamentally incompatible.
And my strategy for implementing a global revolution of the mental health system is supporting and contributing to MIA which I believe IS resulting in a safer, more humane world, as speaking out in whatever way possible is the MOST concrete action ANYONE can take.
âAll this focus on psychiatry is a bit old fashioned.â
Human rights violations committed by psychiatry and its wide assortment of allied professionals has continued unabated to this very day, and are growing increasingly widespread due to the undeniable alliances formed among psychiatry, Big Pharma, mainstream media, academia, and the legislative/judicial/policy-making branches of government. So promoting alliances between supporters and dissenters reveals not only a serious lack of understanding and concern for those caught in todayâs mental health system, but a disturbing complacency that can only be described as irresponsible.
My question is this: WHO in their right mind would ever consider the fight for ANYONEâS human rights to be âold fashionedâ?
âAll this focus on psychiatry is a bit old fashioned.â
Violations committed by psychiatry and its wide assortment of cooperating practitioners not only continues unabated to this day, but are getting increasingly worse with the increasing coordination of psychiatry, big Pharma, academia, government agencies, courts, and the mainstream media. So promoting cooperation between supporters and dissenters reveals a disturbing complacency about the serious issues people face when caught in todayâs mental health system, which is not only very disturbing, but most irresponsible.
Janne says, âIt really bothers me that the whole belief that science can prove the necessity of something and that educated professionals can make good decisions for others has been going on for so long. When that happens some personal and political goals are pushed in the scientific evidence base and expressed as objective fact. But those that are interested in these kinds of philosophical problems seem few.â
Agreed. Where people used to automatically point to their bible, theyâre now saying, âitâs the scienceâ about darn near everything, from dog food to psychiatric drugs. Itâs become a meaningless trope.
And itâs societyâs collectively uncritical embrace of anything that looks or sounds remotely âscientificâ that has led to the neglect of teaching people how to think philosophically and critically question the prevailing narratives about âmental healthâ. What started as misguided Freudian interpretations gradually merged with âscienceâ and steadily morphed into the publicâs unquestioning acceptance of psychiatryâs medical model. Itâs become the worldâs latest and greatest example of mass indoctrination.
Janne says, âIt really bothers me that the whole belief that science can prove the necessity of something and that educated professionals can make good decisions for others has been going on for so long. When that happens some personal or political goals are pushed in the scientific evidence base and expressed as objective fact. But those that are interested in these kinds of philosophical problems seem few.â
Agreed. It used to be people automatically saying things like, âthe Bible says soâ, to where theyâre now automatically saying, âitâs the scienceâ about darn near everything, from psychiatric drugs to dog food.
Sadly, today our societiesâ collectively uncritical infatuation with science has led to not teaching people how to think critically and question prevailing theories. The mass indoctrination that began with Freud has morphed into the publicâs unquestioning acceptance of âbio-psychiatryâ.
Ms. Aybarâs says, âAs it is, the clinical psychology field continues to promote and monetize the dehumanization of mentally ill people. When will the dehumanization of people with lived experience in mental illness stop?â
Excellent question. But I doubt things will change anytime soon due to the prevailing satisfaction with the status quo from those in leadership positions. But thanks to stories like Ms. Aybarâs, peopleâs efforts now have a fighting chance, as her story powerfully and painfully pulls back the curtain on the poisonous mindsets currently being inculcated in the very places one would think there would be none.
But I never held many illusions, as I always had the uncomfortable sense that the psychotherapeutic field too often brings out the worst in very people who work in it.
My using the phrase âsleeping with the enemyâ was not intended to be a personal attack on Mr. Oaks or the work he does. I consider the phrase a reasonable choice for anyone who has experienced psychiatryâs abuses and therefore understandably disagrees with Mr. Oakâs efforts to unite people with markedly different perspectives.
I personally find psychiatryâs many documented malfeasances to be much too serious to allow for any common ground with those who harbor more sanguine feelings. And criticizing those who for good reason harbor less sanguine feelings seems counter to the purposes of this webzine, one of which, if Iâm not mistaken, is to give voice to those who have been unfairly targeted, criticized, silenced, tortured, censured and censored by psychiatry and its advocates. And I sincerely hope MIA continues refraining from such practices.
Unless they haul out that sorry substitute for âcollaborationâ they call âshared decisionâ, their pathetic attempt to maintain control by appearing cooperative.
But when push comes to shove, they know damn well who holds the power, and theyâll not likely to willingly relinquish ANY of it.
Thank you yinyang for shedding some light on the situation.
To me itâs mind-boggling how defensive most psychiatrists and their advocates get whenever people disagree with them, especially when presenting evidence of psychiatryâs many obvious harms and fallacies. They invariably go into attack mode attempting to shred someoneâs character, i.e. âshooting the messengerâ â
Stopping psychiatryâs obvious abuses, (involuntary commitment, forced drugging, ECT, or âpsychosurgeryâ) wonât be enough, because psychiatryâs harms are rooted in its own false premises; more colloquially, psychiatry is psychological vermin that needs to eradicated, not merely âtweakedâ.
Steve,
Thank you for this comment. It reminded me of the term âwillful ignoranceâ. So I looked up the definition and think it perfectly describes most âmental health professionalsâ, from instructor on down.
Willful ignorance is: âTactical Stupidity. The practice can entail completely disregarding established facts, evidence, and/or reasonable opinions if they fail to meet someoneâs expectationsâ
Itâs uncanny how typical it is for therapists and psychiatrists to turn a deaf ear to peopleâs real concerns, as they usually demand to be seen as having more knowledge than anyone else, especially when they know they donât!
Iâm not blaming Woanjun Lee. Iâm stating my opinion on the study heâs reporting on. And I think important to keep tabs on what passes for âscience.â.
And I fully agree with you that psychiatry is definitely unkind, and prescribes powerful neurotoxins.
ââŠat some point the best decision is to say, screw all the therapies.â
THAT was the beginning of healing for me.
âAt some point, the patient realizes that maybe the âtreatment providersâ enjoy seeing patients face rejection, suffer, fail. Itâs the only thing that makes sense.â
THATâS what Iâve always thought! I think a lot therapists unconsciously live to experience schadenfreude; why else would they seek power over others?
No one should be expected or pressured to form an alliance with people who refuse to fully accept and stop the harms they cause, even if they stop harming.
Survivors arenât responsible for appeasing their perpetrators.
Allying with psychiatry is allying with barbarism.
You learn how to live life THROUGH LIVING IT â not from âprofessionalsâ who donât have enough sense to know that psychiatric labels are BULLSHIT.
People need to learn better ways of taking care of themselves emotionally, and this doesnât happen through âdiagnosesâ. It happens by being with others who openly share their own struggles, not people who hide behind âcredentialsâ in order charge a fee.
âToday, there are few opportunities to get help without also receiving a diagnosis.â
This is the root of the problem caused by the current âmental health systemâ. As soon as a diagnosis is given, an insidious process of infantilization starts taking place that may not be dislodged until serious damage is done to someoneâs self-concept. Itâs as damaging as calling a child âbadâ.
âYou make yourself the master of another through language and the power inherent in language.â
This is exactly what psychiatric language does, FOR psychiatrists, and anyone else who uses it. It gives the illusion of power and knowledge when all it actually does is strip people of their own.
This conference is a huge step in the right direction. But Iâm afraid itâs just going to spawn another school of âtherapyâ that inevitably puts itself ahead the client. In other words, just another ego trip for unhealed, unconsciously insecure therapists.
What helped me get beyond therapy better than anything was learning to heal myself through self-therapy, courtesy Daniel Macklerâs many videos and books. No gimmicks, just truth, through and through.
âJohnstone points out that if you only have a trauma-informed focus, you can fall into a trap of becoming too individual-focused and forgetting the interaction with the power structures in society.â
This point canât be emphasized enough. Therapist who say they âtreat traumaâ are doing the same thing as those who use DSM labels, making âtraumaâ just another label that ignores the surrounding situation, or âstoryâ.
The only thing people need is to be heard by someone who doesnât hijack their story, âtraumaâ or not.
– âWords affect both the person who utters the words and those who receive them.â
THATâS an understatement. Psychiatric language devalues people and allows practitioners to talk down to them. Not very âtherapeuticâ.
– âBut psychiatry has the problem that it does not base itself on what people actually say, but what it thinks they mean.â
Hereâs what most psychiatrists (and psychologists) fail to see: that DSM âdiagnosesâ are no more accurate and even less useful than the Freudian interpretations of yesteryear. In other words, theyâve merely exchanged one bogus idea for another. Not very âinsightfulâ.
Itâs paternalistic, alright, and in all the worst ways.
All it proves is that people, both men and women, take for granted someone running their home or having their kids.
They need to remember that people are PAID for doing housework, and that women can now RENT OUT THEIR WOMBâand if THAT isnât âworkâ, I donât know what is.
And thatâs a lot more work than any man will ever do.
Iâm surprised they havenât already. Theyâve co-opted just about everything else: âart therapyâ, âdance therapyâ, âmusic therapyâ, andâhow could I forgetââtalk therapyâ.
Genuine acts of kindness and freely chosen social connections do more than improve so-called ânegative affectâ, they prevent it. And no one needs a study to know that.
Some people are too arrogant to grasp the true nature, meaning and reason for religion: feelings of awe, gratitude and humilityâall of which are spiritualâsomething theyâre loath to accept, for who knows what reason.
Itâs too bad when people have no sense of the transcendent. But some people have no ability to be humble.
People like E. Fuller Torrey are too arrogant to grasp the true nature and meaning and reason for religion: a sense of awe, humility, and gratitudeâwhich are non-material, which means spiritualâsomething he seems loath to understand.
Someday psychiatry and its âtherapeuticâ offshoots will be seen for what they truly represent: complicated defense mechanisms used to hide from emotional reality.
l.e._cox says, âThe biggest problem with most academics (not to generalize) is that they canât confront, and thus see problems as much more complicated than they really are.â
THATâS the godâs honest truth. But some people get a kick out of complicating things. Or maybe theyâre just cowards.
NEWSFLASH: Psychiatryâs not rocket science. And neither is psychology, for that matter. But making people think they are can bring in lots of self-satisfaction, not to mention plenty of dough.
Thank you Dr. Gotzsche for your dedication to truth and integrity. A textbook critical of psychiatryâs current inaccurate narrative is badly needed, and I hope it gains traction in mainstream circles.
âResearchers have debated what it means to recover from mental illness, with âprofessionalâ opinions often differing greatly compared to service user opinions.â
I think psychiatrists are extremely arrogant to think theyâre the ones to decide what ârecoveryâmeans.
And most think youâre âsickâ if youâre not punching someone elseâs time clock.
Psychiatryâs replaced it with diagnoses and drugs, while other psychs preach âresilienceâ, âmindfulnessâ or that granddaddy of them all, âpsychotherapyâ.
Sheltering in place was a huge relief because it gave me a reason to stay out of places where music is constantly played. And things are a lot quieter with the advent of earphones. A lot less musical bombardment, which helped me gain some mental and emotional equilibrium.
Psychiatry and psychology promote unrealistic standards for peopleâs thoughts, feelings and behavior. Theyâre very judgmental. Just like religion often is.
My late aunt was hospitalized only once in her life for the only psychotic episode she ever had. Thank goodness the attending psychiatrist realized she was suffering from a one-time event because she hadnât been that way before. So when she was discharged she didnât fill any prescriptions or continue with âtherapyâ. And she was never psychotic again.
And what was the matter? She was suffering from extreme loneliness.
I think people who donât realize theyâre psychiatric prisoners are unconsciously using defense mechanisms, i.e. âStockholm syndromeâ or âidentification with the aggressorâ) as a means of survival.
The only reason Allen Frances did an about-face on the DSM was because he saw it was becoming a laughing stock, not because he suddenly grew a conscience.
Thank you very much, justsayno86. I greatly appreciate your generous appreciation.
You are right. Psychiatry IS the greatest enemy. But itâs an invisible enemy, which makes it more dangerous. And people definitely need to be warned.
I also canât imagine why anyone would ever want to unite psychiatric survivors with psych consumers. And anyone who thinks itâs a good idea shows a serious lack of understanding.
Spirituality essentially means emotional growth, which means the broadening, deepening or âmaturingâ of a personâs soul, which means gaining an awareness and understanding of oneself and others and how this relates to the world around them.
But this is a deeply personal, complex process that tragically gets hijacked by psychiatric diagnoses, drugs, and even âpsycho-therapyâ.
sam plover says, âFunny how a shrink will accept that his patient is âsickâ, he never questions what you say and even has a bunch of diagnoses on hand.â
Fantastic article. It reveals like no other how one-sided and corrupt the psychiatric industry, Big Pharma, and the legal system have become.
âThe very fact that someone has been given any psychiatric label is used in a staggering variety of ways to deprive them of self-respect, dignity, self-confidence, employment, custody of their children, the right to make decisions about their medical and legal affairs, and even their livesâŠ.â
âAnyone in danger of losing their human rights â or their life â through a court proceeding should have someone like Gottstein advocating for them, because he is a tireless advocate, knows the law inside and out, and never loses sight of what is true, what is right, and what is humane in its respect for his clientsâ dignity.â
A YouTube video worth watching: âOH SH*T, THIS JUST HAPPENEDâ, by Russell Brand
These neuroscientists could have learned a lot from this YouTube video: âA Critique of NeuroscienceâAs it Relates to Psychological Healing From Traumaâ, by Daniel Mackler
Psychiatry unequivocally deprives people of their humanity with its pseudoscientific diagnoses, iatrogenically harmful drugs, damaging ECT, and forced medication/hospitalization. And none of these build diplomacy or allies, but definitely deny peopleâs human rights, which is criminal. So expecting meaningful dialogue with people who not only deny their humanity but also their human rights is not only unrealistic, it is illogical.
And while there are no laws demanding anyone face their inner demons, more than enough people have learned more than enough about psychiatryâs demons or âdark sideâ with its violations of social justice which is the reason for this website.
Nijinsky says, âSomething does happen when you step out of investing in using fear, trauma, coercion and physical violence to control peopleâŠThatâs what snake oil salesmen do, and lately the mental health system.â
Yes, and I would posit that miracles happen when people step out of psychiatry.
Steve says, âI think we should all be in touch with our own inner sense of what is ârightâ and true, rather than following some outside interpretation of reality.â
I agree completely. And I forgot that Buddhists donât believe in a deity, and that Quakers refer to God as Light Within, which to me means oneâs own intuition.
Iâm not dismissing anyoneâs claims of whatever they think is a miracle. I just donât think one group has the authority to decide whatâs a miracle.
And psychiatry and religion are about exerting authority more than anything else.
Nijinsky says, âReligion and psychiatry seem to be in the same boat as indoctrination rather than simply listening, being curious, and SHUTTING UP with their attempts at programming rather than allowing and showing decent curiosityâ.
Very true. Religion and psychiatry arenât about curiosity. Theyâre about conformity, how to think, talk and act like them.
And psychedelics arenât the answer anymore than psychiatric drugs.
I consider psychiatry the enemy because thatâs how I see it. And itâs not without reasoning OR content that Iâve come to this hard-won conclusion. And youâre assuming I donât use either reasoning or content is both disparaging and diminishing, and very presumptuous.
Steve says, ââŠ.generalizations about âtherapistsâ lead to mistaken ideas. Not all therapists are alike or believe in the same things.â
But they all believe in âtherapyâ, which creates more problems, in my experience.
I canât bring myself to defend anything about âtherapyâ because itâs a bad idea that only gets worse when people call themselves âtherapistsâ, no matter how well-intentioned they may be because they still represent and profit from an exploitive system based on irrational power dynamics and pseudoscientific diagnoses. So defending any part of it is morally inconsistent, imo.
And the saying, âthe road to hell is paved with good intentionsâ plays out again and again and again by people who practice âpsychotherapyâ.
And the Catholic Church arbitrarily changes its miracles checklist, as it used to demand three âmiraclesâ. I guess they got impatient in todayâs digital world.
Itâs like psychiatry arbitrarily changing its âDSMâ checklists.
And as for âmiraclesâ: for me, these mean good things that canât be explained. And I see no need for getting entangled in someone elseâs religiously tedious explanations, be they religious, or âscientificâ.
My question is this: why do some people insist on needing to explain the unexplainable? And my answer is this: some people need to be seen as god, and scientists are no exception.
The Catholic Church has its own arbitrary checklist for declaring new âsaintsâ, which includes at least two incidents they arbitrarily consider âmiraclesâ. This makes about as much sense as a group of psychiatrists arbitrarily declaring new âdiagnosesâ via arbitrary checklists for their own arbitrary bible, the DSM .
I was referring to the Catholic Church which has its own arbitrary criteria for determining whomever they arbitrarily deem a âgenuine saintâ, which includes at least two things they arbitrarily deem a âgenuine miracleâ, which makes about as much sense as psychiatryâs arbitrary checklists for its definitely ingenuine DSM.
Most people who work in the âmental health systemâ are obsessed with seeing whatâs âwrongâ in the person, instead of whatâs happened to the person. And even if they do happen to consider whatâs happened to the person, they still pathologize/label their reaction to whatâs happened to them.
How in godâs name does anyone think they know better than anyone else what qualifies a âgenuine miracleâ?
Oh, the ironyâŠ
The miracle is the fact that âeducatedâ people manage to keep a straight face while thinking like this. Which suggests they must be delusional, which makes sense regarding psychiatry, since that DEFINITELY qualifies as delusional.
Why has it taken so long for âthe expertsâ to figure out what lots of ordinary people have already known for a long time? Maybe theyâre finally realizing they can no longer ignore the handwriting on the wall.
Looks to me like theyâre trying to claim the narrative before getting caught with their pants down.
Everyone needs a sense of agency, control, freedom and privacy, of being heard, included and valued for who they are, not the objectification, isolation, exclusion and brute force used by traditional psychiatry, which is essentially sanitized brutality.
Universities claim to be dedicated to the transmission of knowledge and wisdom. But if this were true, why are so many dedicated to modeling and motivating some of the worst in human nature: bias, intolerance, favoritism.
People who work in areas like âpsychiatryâ and âpsychologyâ have reached the apex of dissociation, as they have the delusion theyâre helping people. But all these do is provide a way for them to intellectually distance themselves (dissociate) from feelings and fears they canât face in themselves. Another word for this is âotheringâ, or labeling, itâs âgold standardâ, which has always been a means of survival, conscious or not.
And universities are great places to academically dissociate.
Why does it take so long for âeducatedâ people to figure things out? Why canât they just admit the garbage theyâve been selling doesnât do anything but numb the brain???
It sounds like the jerks are starting to pay attention to whatâs happening on the sidelines and are trying to get ahead of the narrative thatâs being created by people who actually know what theyâre talking about. But as stupid as the âexpertsâ are showing themselves to be (once again), they at least sense theyâre starting to look stupid, which, btw, they actually are.
Darkness and silence invite sleep which quiets the mind and gives the body a chance to regenerate. And hormones can be very sensitive to light-dark cycles.
People have a right to âbelieveâ whatever they want. And I donât really give a damn one way or the other, as long as they donât try and shove what they âbelieveâ down my throat.
Traditional trappings of success (college degrees, professional/social distinction, expensive lifestyle) wards off unconscious feelings of dissatisfaction and prevents social rejection. And the university system, like the society that created it, capitalizes on these destructive dynamics to preserve societyâs distorted values.
Steve Spiegel says, ââŠonly psychiatry uses redundancy to promote legitimacy.â
Definition for redundancy: not or no longer needed or useful; superfluous
Freud was trained as a neurologist which was why psychiatry was believed to be a âmedical scienceâ. But since he hard time establishing his practice, he had plenty of time to wonder about patients whose problems defied physical explanation. And while many of his ideas were very insightful, a lot of them were just plain nuttyâproducts of his own out of control imagination and habitual misogyny. So eventually, a few people got wise to the guy and came up with their own take on things, but not before his ideas took root in the public consciousness.
Thereâs nothing more prone to fads then the âmental healthâ system. And psychiatryâs redundancy is reflected time and time again whenever the latest psychiatric drug comes on the market, or some half-cocked âtherapistâ writes another book to publicize their own brand of âgroundbreakingâ âpsychotherapyâ. And neither of these are legitimate.
boans says, âWhat sort of delusional visions are conjured up when people speak like this?â [âtreatmentâ]
The idea of âtreatmentâ itself is a delusional visionâand a lot of mental health âprofessionalsâ en-vision themselves as saviorsâwhich suits very nicely their visions of grandiosity.
And since emotional struggles are generally perceived as weakness, or in todayâs jargon âmental illnessâ, people who struggle (or viewed as âdifferentâ) are often met with suspicion and kept at an armâs length using various means of rejection and sometimes outright hostility.
Dynamics like these flourish in traditional college environments where competition is lauded and worldly success is venerated, so fears of ânot succeedingâ, or ânot fitting inâ make a lot of people nervous and therefore want to avoid like a contagion those experiencing difficulties because it reminds them of their own insecurities surrounding failure or not fitting in. And these feelings are often hidden underneath all the hype.
So people who donât fall in line with societiesâ expectations in thought, appearance or actions are often roundly criticized or even dismissed because people donât want to be associated with anything they perceive as âillnessâ/weakness i.e. âfailureâ (which equals rejection, the most primal fear) because vulnerability is antithetical to the whole college spiel of âwinningâ, something society lives and dies by. Itâs a vicious circle covered up by the ballyhoo of college life.
And fears of litigation are behind a lot of what drives the whole scenario these days.
Stigma (fear) against âmental illnessâ has primal origins.
Emotional struggle on some level means vulnerability, which generates feelings of overwhelm/weakness, which leads to feelings of helplessness, which ultimately triggers fears of rejection, a feeling first felt at some point in infancy. So receiving attention and feeling accepted (having oneâs need met) are associated with survival, both physical and emotional.
And most adults continue playing this out as soon as certain levels of prosperity are achieved, by running around seeking validation and grabbing whatever status they perceive as important in their environment, as this wards off feelings of isolation and helplessness felt as infants.
Thereâs not a chance in hell that psychiatrists will ever willingly âshareâ their power, because without it, what have they got? Not much more than anyone else, except an ability to write âprescriptionsâ for chemical junk. And so-called âpsycho-therapyâ is word junk.
Theyâre naked as jaybirds and deep down they know it.
Stigma around mental illness has been around for thousands of years. And fear is at the root of it. And contrary to popular belief, things like âpsychiatry, âpsychologyâ and the so-called âmental health systemâ are built on stigma (fear) and do a good job of passing it along.
And universities are products of elitist thinking, no matter their geographical location. And elitism breeds unhealthy competition and discrimination that leads to destructive power dynamics on which most societies (and families) are based.
What passes for âeducationâ about âmental illnessâ in traditional venues like universities actually promotes and continues spreading misinformation (fears) about what is believed to be âmental illnessâ while stoking feelings of superiority towards those who have either not had an opportunity for such âeducationâ, or have chosen to bypass it.
Imo, having exceptional intellectual ability has nothing to do with emotional intelligence. Unfortunately, the world values and operates on an ability to process large amounts of complex information or an ability to express oneself eloquently more than emotional intelligence. And the same goes for exceptional athletic or so-called artistic/creative ability. So universities, (especially private ones) end up being highly curated, controlling environments that are more concerned with liability because this affects their marketability (image) which ultimately affects their funding. Simply stated, universities are more concerned with their reputation.
Itâs too bad being a good person isnât enough.
Relying on âprofessionalsâ to help with personal matters, no matter how trying, provides a field day for opportunists.
No one can claim âexpertiseâ unless theyâve been through it themselves, or have been by the side of someone who has, and definitely NOT in a âclinicalâ sense.
The âclinical gazeâ is what psychiatry is all about. And psychology isnât much better. But itâs useful for keeping the powers that be and those who follow them comfortably dissociated.
Mr. Ruck is right. Healing is, above all, relational, and this includes the relationship one has with oneâs own self. But traditional âpsycho-therapyâ is not relational in any meaningful sense. Itâs a sad and sterile substitute for the real thing.
Imo, the world would be a much better place if people stopped feeding/paying the beasts of psychiatry and psychology and instead started feeding/paying each other in more ways than one. And creating awareness through MIA is how this is already happening.
Relationships that involve emotional intimacy should never be based on money, as money is never the right incentive, especially in relationships based on a power imbalance. And money is a major incentive, no matter what self-deluded do-gooders would have people think.
Could it be that articles like this signify the last gasps of a dying âprofessionâ? One can only hope. More likely itâs more lip service, or fear-induced naval-gazing in yet another feeble attempt to save their lying asses.
The only thing that needs to happen is for psychiatry and its cohorts to be liquidated, terminated, and utterly eradicated like any other failed business venture. And calling themselves âscienceâ or âhealing artsâ is the biggest load of bullshit ever perpetrated on society.
But psychiatry et al is far worse than a failed business or âhealingâ venture. They are the termites of modern society.
And what are the âtermites of societyâ? Well, according to academia.edu, it refers to people who exploit others. And I canât think of a better term for psychiatry and its cohorts.
And if they insist on pointing to âthe scienceâ, they need look no further than the increasing numbers of people âdiagnosedâ with a âdisorderâ and the steady accumulation of âdiagnosesâ in DSM. Itâs the manifestation of wish fulfillment for psychiatrists.
Research like this is a disgusting waste of resources that would have been better spent on feeding and housing those in need rather than feeding the egos of people more interested in adding to their curriculum vitae.
Religions metaphorically express the meaning and feeling of being alive. They hold intrinsic value individually and culturally.
But psychiatry and psychology have no intrinsic value, scientifically or spiritually, as both are ethically vacantâand take pride in being so. And the harder these pathetically gruesome quagmires try to be socially relevant, the more they fail society, as coldly analyzing the human experience dignifies no one. They are prime examples of intellectual perversity born of intellectual grandiosity, that mimics science while being religiously intolerantâthus wreaking havoc in peopleâs lives in all kinds of ways.
I believe thereâll come a day in the not-too-distant future when psychiatry disintegrates from its own unbridled confidenceâin no small part because MIA keeps spreading the word.
Years ago, I adopted a puppy dog from the local pound. She looked and acted fine, but she shook violently on the way to her new home, although I held her close and spoke to her gently. And when she got there, it became apparent that sheâd been badly mistreated. She wouldnât let anyone affectionately pat her near her rear, as she was afraid people were going to hit her. And for two weeks she wouldnât go near her bowl of food until no one was looking, and then sheâd grab most of it in her mouth and hide it. And she didnât want to get in the car because she thought she was going to be taken away from a home that loved her. But with unreserved affection, she eventually learned to feel secure and trust people. But up until she left this world, there were times she did things that revealed she never forgot what sheâd been through. And people are no different.
Breaking points arenât just physical, they emotional, psychological, and spiritual as well. And everything collapsing can open the way for reassessing and clarifying oneâs life. Some call it spiritual rebirth. âIllnessâ it is not.
Adding psychiatric âmedicationsâ to unprocessed trauma is a recipe for disaster like no other. But no one need depend on so-called âmental health professionsâ for this either. But thatâs something few âtherapistsâ have the brains to realize or balls to mention to anyone, especially their so-called âclientsâ. Most hide behind a useless alphabet of dubious âqualificationsâ, while lacking the most important one of all: an ability to listen respectfully.
Religions are ways for people to metaphorically express the beauty (and sometimes horror) of the human experience. Itâs what gives religion and experience of living their intrinsic value. Itâs the reason religions have existed since the beginning of time.
But psychiatry and psychology are different in all sorts damaging ways, as the purpose of both are perverse, imo. And the harder these try to be relevant (scientifically or religiously) the worse they fail, as coldly analyzing the human experience dignifies no one. They are monstrous examples of intellectual smugness born of hubris and self-absorbed grandiosity that mimics science while being religiously intolerant. And both need to dissolve, as neither are either religion OR science, but nevertheless wreak havoc in both ways.
Psychiatry and psychology habitually ignore the intrinsic value of the human heart, because doing so would weaken their foolishly incessant claim of being âscientificâ.
Imo, the only thing the âmental health professionsâ offer is a polluted stream of ever-increasing âpsychopathologiesâ, ever-increasing toxic substances to âtreatâ them, or one of its ever-increasing âpsychotherapiesâ, all of which are based on a pay-to-play, power-imbalanced, artificial ârelationshipâ. And with Big Pharmaâs steadfast contributions, itâs become a medicalized Ponzi scheme of epic proportions.
And while most religions are guilty at some time in history of inflicting damage in the name of their respective gods, most were originally based in honoring the dignity of each and every human being. And this ultimately brings out the best in people.
But psychiatry and psychology do nothing of the sort. They are fields obsessed with defining, redefining, and ultimately sentencing people to lives of needless limitation and psychological pain in the name of âtherapyâ, most of which can be avoided if people simply avoid those who work in the system, as most who do are obsessed with finding whatâs wrong in the person, instead of whatâs wrong in their past or present surroundings. And theyâre neglecting to do so, via their ridiculously vast roster of supposed âdiagnoses and treatmentsâ brings out the worst in peopleâand most clearly in the âtherapistsâ themselves.
And we all know who benefits most from such hopelessly dogmatic thinking.âŠ
Other mental health clinicians are just as limited as the psychiatric ones, as most operate from the same one-dimensional, sickness-obsessed perspective.
Psychiatry and psychology are definitely shibboleths. Itâs the only thing they can reasonably lay claim to. And deep down they know this, which is why they cling so tightly to their one-dimensional medical model with such religious fervor. And the insane part is they canât see how ridiculous this is. It shows their own incredible âlack of insightâ.
The main difference between psychology/psychiatry and religion is that where most religions offer some kind of redemption, psychiatry and psychology do not. All they offer is an endless stream of âpsychopathologyâ, which renders them incapable of seeing beyond peopleâs imperfections. And their âtreatmentsâ are an extension of their own pathology. Itâs all very nihilistic.
Psychiatry and psychology are definitely shibboleths. Itâs the only thing they can reasonably lay claim to. And deep down they know this, which is why they cling so tightly to their one-dimensional medical model with an almost religious fervor. And the insane part is they canât see how ridiculous this is. Itâs an incredible lack of insight.
The main difference between psychiatry/psychology and religion is that most religions offer some kind of redemption, whereas psychiatry/psychology canât see beyond peopleâs imperfections. All they offer is a stream of endless psychopathology. Theyâre the definition of nihilism. And whereas most religions seek god, most psychiatrists and psychologists believe (unconsciously) they ARE god.
Iâm sorry for what youâve been through. Mental health professionalsâ claims of confidentiality are false because patientsâ files are not. And the fact that few if any legislators recognize this as an abuse of confidentiality is unconscionable.
Correction: Psychiatry and psychology reliably, categorically and conveniently deny real science anytime it contradicts their carefully crafted false narrative.
Once upon a time, churches ruled large areas in the western world. These days itâs the mental health industrial complex.
Once upon a time, people who were castigated were called âsinnersâ. Today theyâre called âmentally illâ.
Once upon a time, the only means to absolution were to âconfess oneâs sinsâ to church officials. Nowadays people are compelled to confide in people they donât trust, claim diagnoses they donât agree with, and take psychiatric âmedicationsâ they donât want.
Whoever said âthe more things change, the more they stay the sameâ was spot on.
Psychiatry and psychology reliability and categorically deny real science anytime it goes against their carefully crafted false narrative. But they pretend to be scientific because they know it makes them sound convincing.
Their peculiar habit of denying real science clearly indicates how indoctrinated most psychiatrists and psychologists actually are, especially when doctors of other specialties happen to believe the patients who tell them of problems theyâre having with psychiatric âmedicationsâ. But this doesnât happen very often.
Most psychiatrists and psychologists harbor a religious belief in a medical model that not only distorts reality, but makes a mockery of the scientific method.
And while some define science as the act of interpreting an observation of the environment that is limited by the tools available for observing, most psychiatrists and psychologists fail to recognize the most important tool for observation and interpretation, and that is having an open mind. But thankfully most religions and art welcome imagination, while psychiatry and psychology definitely do not.
Psychiatry and psychologyâs inability to perceive value in the human experience is the reason they habitually disease-ify the human experience. Itâs how they fend off their own unconscious fears and desires.
Religion and art are symbolic (metaphorical) ways that humans use to create and express the truth, reality and meaning in the human experience. Itâs what gives them intrinsic value and is why they exist. Their power comes from acknowledging the dignity of the human experience (spirit), and is the reason both have existed since time immemorial. But religion goes from good to bad when it becomes dictatorial and intolerant, two words that best describe most psychiatry and psychology. And these two fields, unlike religion and art, flourish by medicalizing, categorizing, and coldly analyzing the human experience which dignifies no one. They are monstrous examples intellectual smugness brought on by huge amounts of hubris and self-congratulatory self-absorption that not only mimics religious intolerance, but actually is religious intolerance.
Psychiatry and psychology both claim to have discovered scientifically valid explanations for just about everything under the sun while failing to recognize that matters of the heart and mind are not matters to be approached âscientificallyâ.
And while psychiatry has proven itself to be scientifically invalid, psychology is equally vacant, as it also fails to offer much more than anyone with a modicum of common sense and insight would come up with on their own. Nor has either come to realize that observing and naming behavior is scientifically meaningless, whether or not itâs done âclinicallyâ, which makes both fields one huge cosmic joke.
And what is a cosmic joke? Believing the false projections of the limited mind.
Rasx asks, âWouldnât image-making then be closer to the truth about existence, or at least as close to it in some way, as analytic reasoning?â
Interesting question. I think things get confusing when essentially mushy stuff like psychology and psychiatry claim to be science while acting like religion. They try to be all things to all people, but end up having no claim to anything worthwhile. But they do manage to squeeze the meaning out of just about everything.
Rasx then asks, âWouldnât poetry and literature and religion and metaphor generally be valid means of expressing truth then?â
Poetry, literature, religion and metaphor are not just valid ways of expressing truth and experience, theyâre essential to sharing truth and experience. And analytical reasoning is another valid way of finding and expressing truth and experience. But this is where psychiatry and psychology fall off a cliff, so to speak, as neither deal meaningfully with either truth or experience, and definitely not analytical reasoning.
Image-making is the unique way humans find meaning. Poetry and literature and religion are all metaphors to find and express meaning. Which is essentially the meaning, purpose, or reason for art. Itâs something uniquely human.
Psychiatry and psychology are hopelessly materialistic, imo, as they stupidly think mouthing âscientificâ terms and engaging in âscientificâ research gives them credibility, which is stupider still, because thereâs nothing more meaningless than endless reams of âscientificâ data, most of which is meaningless either materially or spiritually. Itâs an expensive waste of time, a lose-lose situation thatâs all form and no substance. Itâs medicineâs junk food.
There is no âmeaning makingâ in psychiatry and psychology. Thatâs the first illusion. Unless you consider propping up some professionalâs ego and bank account meaningful.
Psychiatrists and psychologists are the worst people to turn to for things like that, imo. And I bet they make âmeaning makingâ a âdisorderâ if they havenât already.
Most psychiatrists and psychologists seek to reduce, control and define the indefinable because theyâre unconsciously terrified of lifeâs paradoxical vagueness and complexities. They childishly cling to science while stubbornly denying lifeâs ultimate uncertainty. But their stubborn belief in the reliability and appropriateness of a âscientificâ approach makes them a religion all their own as it seeks to perform the function of traditional religions, which is mainly to quell anxieties. But itâs a far more dangerous one, as their aping of scientific language and protocols give them an illusion of objective reality.
And how does this economic practice think itâs helping the human citizen?
By thinking too much of themselves and not enough of others, while enjoying too much the spoils of their profession, which primarily involve exerting power over others while living large.
I especially agree with your question regarding where the art and artistry has gone in the practice of learning how and why to be, and how to become, a better human. Itâs certainly not a question that science can answer, and itâs definitely not one it should even try answer. These questions are an anathema to the so-called âscience of psychiatryâ for obvious reasons, and also to its self-congratulatory cousin known as the âscience of psychologyâ for somewhat less obvious reasons, but the reasons for both are the same: big egos and even bigger hubris, as both are in areas they donât belong.
Much like religious leaders of the Middle Ages, most psychiatrists and psychologists take advantage of peopleâs lack of information about the dangers of psychiatric drugs and the manipulative nature of their power imbalanced âpsychotherapyâ â and for the same reason: use fear to collect money and maintain power. This was easy for religious leaders in the Middle Ages when most people didnât know how to read. Hopefully, the internet will continue informing more and more people about the dangers and abuses of the psychiatric/psychotherapeutic industry, and while providing viable alternatives to the sick medical model and power-inflated and money grubbing âpsychotherapyâ, much like the Gutenberg printing press did, once upon a time.
So true.
Visual noise: streets or freeways teaming with traffic, cluttered storefronts with loud signage or billboards. Not to mention digital, print, and tv advertisements. Itâs too much to process.
Quiet and darkness are incredibly healing. And so is silence.
I find the constant din of city noise (cars, trucks, sirens, air traffic, etc.) and background music constantly played in stores (and sometimes even in parking lots), or anyoneâs blaring tv set anywhere to be much worse than distracting. It agitates the whole nervous system and makes calming down impossible, which adds to pressure and stresses people out, which causes so-called âbipolar maniasâ, imo.
Psychiatry and psychology are malevolent fiction that have taken the place of traditional religion. They are secular religion, and are very destructive to people and cultures.
People have a right to expect that medical professionals will not lie to them about the cause, known or unknown, of their problems, and the mechanisms, known or unknown, of the âmedicationsâ they prescribe. Doctors using âuseful fictionâ is a weak excuse for patronizing, controlling, and exploiting peopleâs faith in them as trustworthy medical experts.
Todayâs psychiatry/psychology mirror the power of religion in Europe before the Gutenberg printing press and its subsequent Reformation. Both exhort a set of beliefs said to be âinfallibleâ, i.e. âscientificâ, and todayâs non-believers are scorned, punished, stigmatized, tortured and damned much the same way as religious non-believers in medieval times. And pressuring people to believe in psychiatryâs or psychologyâs dogmas and rituals, i.e. DSM diagnoses, drugs, âtreatmentsâ/âpsychotherapyâ, is just as irrational. But whereas religion has some redeeming features, such as believing in the reality and sanctity of the human soul/spirit, and respecting others and helping those in need, psychiatry and psychology do not. They are science imposters and soul killers. They are religionsâ evil twin.
A lie is a lie, and people have a right to expect that medical doctors will not lie to them, especially about the cause, known or unknown, of their problems, or about the medications they prescribe. Doctors using âuseful fictionâ is nothing more than a weak excuse to patronizing and control patients while exploiting their faith in them as trustworthy medical experts.
Psychiatry and psychology mirror the Christianity in the Middle Ages. Non-believers were scorned, punished, damned and tortured if you didnât believe in their god, their bible and its mandated rituals/âsacramentsâ. And the the invention todayâs internet is the electronic version of the gutenberg bible and subsequent Reformation.
Psychiatry and psychology are no different from the intolerance of medieval Christianity. Both exhort a set of unscientific beliefs professed to be true, and non-believers were scorned, punished, damned and tortured. And conforming psychiatryâs/psychologyâs beliefs in its diagnoses, drugs and âpsychotherapyâ is just as irrational.
Psychiatry/psychology are religionsâ evil twin. But unlike religion, psychiatry and psychology have no redeeming features.
I donât think many therapists are aware of the obstacles people can face in the healthcare system. What I was trying to say is that the therapist who said that sounds like someone who didnât appreciate what you went through.
KateL,
Youâve tried very hard in an impossible system where people fall through a cracks while running around in circles. And it sounds like the therapist who asked you, âDo you want to keep going in circles?â is part of the circle.
I looked up the difference between personality and temperament. According to my resources, people are born with certain temperaments, whereas personality is influenced by experience. Itâs all very confusing to me.
But the overriding factor is definitely the type (or lack thereof) of emotional bond/attachment between a baby and its parents/caregivers.
Any âfailureâ isnât yours. Youâre tried very hard in impossible system where people fall through the cracks while running around in circles. And I think the therapist who said that is part of the circle.
I donât think losing touch with your surroundings means anything other than losing touch with your surroundings. But I do think artistic or creative people are more sensitive to their surroundings, which doesnât mean anything other than artistic and creative people are more sensitive to their surroundings. And I donât mean to imply that artistic, creative, or sensitive people are more likely to experience âmental illnessâ later in life.
Labeling people with psychiatric disorders mostly helps the people doing the labeling, which means some people are hung up on controlling the people in their surroundings.
âAll you have is do is put some words together to construct your diagnostic criterion for something you observe, put in in print and all of a sudden it is reifiedâŠâ
Which means the DSM a totally subjective piece of socially biased junk. And your example of drapetomania shows exactly how, which means anyone tagged with a psychiatric diagnosis is suffering from âdrapetomaniaâ, to one extent or another.
Rasx,
I agree completely. Thereâs nothing more sensitive to the environment than an infant, both in the womb and after.
I agree with Jerome Kagan in concluding that âdifferent temperaments will express their attachment styles differentlyâ, and with your statement that âhigh reactivity or sensitivity is a complex developmental outcomeâ, and that âattachment style is nonetheless determined by parental behaviorâ. And I also agree that sensitivity isnât a risk factor for âmental illnessâ later in life.
But I still think people are born with their own unique personality, and also with their own abilities: artistic, athletic, intellectual etc. But ultimately, all this come down to, as you say, nature via nurture.
GPM says, âThe DSM needs to be trashed too. The completely failed âoperationalizationâ or biologizationâ or âgeneticizationâ of a diagnostic criteria pushed by Insel and others is itself a kind of cognitive pathology that ought to be the only entry in the DSM.â
Yes. People who believe in the DSM are the ones with a problem.
âThe idea that suffering, worried, scared, conflicted and traumatized people have a genetic brain disease is barbaric and Medieval and even nutty.â
Yes. Itâs barbaric and nutty.
I took a look at the paper, and was not surprised. My gut has always told me that stuff like this, i.e. foolish scientific extravaganzas, i.e. âmolecular psychiatryâ are products of a particular type of dissociated mind, its key feature being the uncontrollable urge to concoct excruciatingly complicated scientific explanations for easily explained phenomena. These types of seemingly rational activities are actually a function of the unconscious mindâs efforts to shield the conscious mind from painful emotional realities. Itâs a classic form of dissociative distraction, with no connection to the real world. Simply put, itâs scientific escapism.
Life isnât about seeing a âtherapistâ, or seeing âclientsâ. And itâs not about taking psych pills or being electrocuted, either. Itâs about sharing love and wisdom.
I remember reading the story of a woman who gave birth to a baby with Downs Syndrome. The doctors told her and her husband to institutionalize her. They refused and said, âSheâs ours and we love her, just as she is.â
Life can be harder for sensitive people, especially for those who donât fit in. And people get ostracized/labeled for not fitting in.
I use to wonder what happened to the kids who labeled/teased/bullied others. I think a lot grew up to be psychologists or psychiatrists, because I knew some who did!
Thereâs a reason why people describe their experience with so-called âmental illnessâ as âspiritualâ. Because it is. Itâs the self reconnecting to the soul, or âspiritâ.
People have been known to âgo insaneâ i e. âpsychoticâ when placed in intolerable circumstances, for instance, POWâs subjected to torture. But just too much stress in good situations can cause temporary breaks with reality. And too much stress makes it harder for the conscious mind to suppress painful (but unprocessed) thoughts, feelings, experiences, in other words, âtraumaâ.
I think most psychologists and psychiatrists unconsciously identify AS the aggressor. Because thatâs what they really are, and unconsciously want to be, imoâŠ.
â⊠psychiatry is also about the policing and the being part of humanity.â
Today I heard that someone in Britain was arrested for silently praying in public. (The person was near an abortion clinic). The police simply asked and the person said yes.
The âexpert-userâ dynamic is what I object to the most. And thereâs no need for it â except for blowing up someoneâs ego.
It amazes me how often so many psychologists and psychiatrists are the least helpful. Their humanity gets replaced with hubris, imo, so I think your request for a âcollaboration among equalsâ is too big an ask for most. And I wouldnât pay for it anyway.
I think being sensitive is both a gift and a curse. But strong feelings can be too intense for the conscious mind to process, especially when something traumatic is involved. Minds break from reality for a reason, and psychosis protects the conscious mind, and art is an expression of the mindâs unconscious.
Clinical psychologist: âGee, maybe we should learn to beâŠ.what was that thing called again?âŠoh yeah, humanâŠ.now I wonder what that means?âŠ.Guess weâll have a do more research!â
Psychologists should stop fooling themselves existentially by realizing that psychology isnât a science. Maybe then theyâd be ready to âhelpâ people. But Iâm not holding my breath.
Definition for Blind Manâs Bluff:
TAKING A CHANCE ON A SOMETHING WITHOUT RHYME OR REASON TO YOUR POSITION
Definition for Willful Blindness: intentionally keeping unaware of facts that would render liability or implication
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Psychiatry is ââŠ.a presumed medical specialty that has no reputable theory about the alleged internal dysfunction that causes mental illness, that has no biomarkers with which to diagnose those illnesses, yet that has a long history of coercing people to act, think, and feel in accordance with an ill-defined and ever-changing set of moral standards.â
Psychiatry is nothing more than a medicalized game of Blind Manâs Bluff. And itâs guilty of Willful Blindness until it changes.
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And hereâs where the âcureâ lies:
âDigging In the Dirtâ, by Peter Gabriel
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Psychiatry has become the polite term for drug dealing, because instead of advocating for healthier mindsets, behaviors, and lifestyles, they create drug addicts.
So why wouldnât they want their âpatientsâ addicted to their âtreatmentsâ when thatâs their business? Very paternalistic, i.e. âBig Daddy Knows Bestâ.
Itâs the new white collar crime.
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And hereâs a song that should be on everyoneâs playlist:
âTwistedâ, sung by Joni Mitchell
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Iâm dizzy with cognitive dissonance at the insanity of it allâŠ
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Definitely one of Class and privilege.
Generally, I like what Gabor Mate says. However, I always had the strange sense that heâs missing something, which always left me wondering: Does he not appreciate the way most people are forced to live?
I could never decide if he was being cowardly, or if it just never occurred to him how much deferential treatment he receives because he has âDr.â in front of his name.
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Your most welcome, Lisa.
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I read your essay yesterday and Iâm in awe of it and you. Your insights and intelligence are AMAZING. I see it as a blueprint for the future.
And thank you, thank you, thank you Lisa, for being you, above all else.
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Fascinating.
Brought to mind this classic music video from once upon a timeâŠ.
âShock The Monkeyâ, by Peter Gabriel
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What speaks to people is entirely personal, and often canât be anticipated. And Iâve no idea what âright-brain malenessâ means.
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Absolutely. But Iâm more committed to honoring the human being from which all art springs.
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Topher,
I just took a look at âThe Illusion of Psychotherapyâ on Amazon and it sounds well worth reading as Epstein addresses the many social-relational causes of psychic distress.
I look forward to getting a copy once I find one less pricey.
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And hereâs something NO ONE should miss:
âMay Cause Side Effectsâ, by Brooke Siem
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COMPLETELY INVALID!!!
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True.
Often people with money and/or advanced education (the so-called âelitesâ) either donât know or have forgotten what itâs like to be low man on the totem pole and the consequences that real people can face if they dare call out the powers that be.
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âTo see what âScienceâ is made of, we need only observe what happens when it collides with power, pounds, payola, politics or promotional prospects, perhaps?â
Welcome to the 21st century.
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âMy Story Is Full of Liesâ, by Pata Suyemoto
Moving. Haunting. AND FULL OF TRUTH.
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I feel the need to hurl every time I hear the term âcharacter defectâ.
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Big Pharma and Big Psychiatry are always planning ahead. Itâs what Big Business does.
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âPeople need to ask about all those patients who as teenagers became patients in the late 1980âs with Prozac and have been compliant and ask simply where are they today? Homeless? Jobless? Severely ill or dead?â
Psychiatry would hide that âdataâ if they had itâor try to give it a âpositiveâ spin.
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Agree 100%. All talk, no substance.
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And psychiatry DOESNâT GIVE A DAMN about the people it harms; it only sees âpatientsâ as COLLATERAL DAMAGE â
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ââŠideology over reality..â
Thatâs the perfect definition for psychiatry.
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Correction: Whether psychiatry does this deliberately or not is of NO CONSEQUENCE, because the results are THE SAME: iatrogenic illness, disability and death, which makes psychiatryâs claims of bearing no responsibility completely invalid.
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Aftab can soft-soap about psychiatry all he wants, but it doesnât change the fact that psychiatry is a dishonest, exploitative organization whose long history of misinforming the public has allowed it to misuse its power against the most vulnerable people with virtually NO consequences and continues to do so TO THIS DAY.
And this has happened because until now the public has lacked access to information that tells them THE TRUTH behind psychiatryâs many FALSE CLAIMS:
1. That psychiatric diagnoses are physically rooted
2. That psychiatric drugs correct âchemical imbalancesâ or other physical processes
3. That these drugs pose little risk to peopleâs physical and/or psychological health
And whether not psychiatry does or has done this deliberately is of NO CONSEQUENCE, because the results are THE SAME: iatrogenic illness, disability or even death.
And no amount of charm or savvy on the part of any slickly packaged internet shill can change this AWFUL TRUTH.
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Correction: Any non-drug therapies psychiatry lays claim to are already being done by people and organizations that have no connections to the drug world, legal or illegal. And as a result, people are experiencing better outcomes than psychiatryâs depraved world of âmedicationâ side effects and any ensuing drug withdrawal.
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Aftab is the face of something that has morphed into a world-wide, legalized drug ring. And no amount of philosophizing can change that.
Any other âtherapiesâ it lays claim to are already being done by other people or organizations with no connections to the drug world which just happen to be showing âbetter outcomesâ. And what are âbetter outcomesâ? No drug-induced side effects or withdrawal effects.
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But maybe heâd be able to catch the beat by cranking up the hurdy gurdy to this snappy tune: âOne Thing Leads To Anotherâ, by The Fixx
But I doubt he could handle the lyrics.
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No one is safe from psychiatryâs clutches. It strategically targets the entire globe through its trademark insidious fashion: Direct To Consumer Advertising â
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Correction: Psychiatryâs a profession of Power, HUGE egos, and deliberate MISREPRESENTATION.
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Or maybe itâs groupthink. Or even gaslightingâŠ.
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And dispensing an endless supply of cognitive dissonance.
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And VERY thirsty for validation.
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Heâs tripping over himself trying to dance the Ad Hominem Shuffle.
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Hereâs Aftabâs idea of progress:
1. More diagnoses
2. More drugs
3. Less dissenting opinion
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âThe DSM mindset is now so thoroughly embedded within the culture itâs massively eroding the ability of people in describe their uniqueness and shifting emotional reactions and states in anything other than psychiatric language.â
Itâs become the biggest source of cultural pollution.
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Aftabâs keeping busy, alright. He just posted a response to Mr. Whitakerâs essay, which, unsurprisingly, is quite condescending.
All I can say is Aftab seems like one touchy guy.
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lcjohnstone says:
âRecently, he [Aftab] has written a curious blog about the Power Threat Meaning Framework, in which he claims that a) no one has ever heard of it b) everyone thinks it is rubbish c) everyone needs to be warned against itâŠ.. and attributes the authorsâ motivations to âactive hostilityâŠ.against diagnosisâ. Which doesnât really stand up as an evidence-based refutation.â
He says that stuff because the PTMF rattles his cage. And donât be surprised if sooner or later he tries to hijack the idea with his own distorted version. But heâd be much better off if heâd a) own his own âactive hostilityâ, b) quit his twitter habit, and c) stop dabbling in philosophy that only makes him sound more ridiculous.
And as for him claiming that no one has ever heard of the Power Threat Meaning Framework: itâs my understanding that people at the World Health Organization have heard of it.
Iâve learned one thing dealing with psychiatry: itâs best not to engage with it at all, because itâs full of people like Aftab who will defend their dubious âdiagnosesâ till their dying day.
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Dear Lauren,
Thank you for the extraordinary work you do. Youâve created a template based on honesty, respect, trust, personal agency and mutual growth, which are the only things that make any sense, and things I found sorely lacking both in psychiatry and psychotherapy. Listening deeply with an open heart and open mind is whatâs most important in life.
Youâve given me a lot to think about.
And thank you for your links.
Birdsong
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âBPDâ is a wastebasket diagnosisâŠâ.
So is every other âpsychiatric diagnosisâ.
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Correction: BPD is the medicalized TERM for âbitchâ.
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Psychiatryâs current recognition of trauma and neurodiversity just provides more opportunities for psychiatry to invent more meaningless and ultimately stigmatizing labels, and more opportunities for psychiatry to peddle more harmful drugs, which obviously means more money for them.
Psychiatry is Opportunistic Medicine, and labels and drugs are all theyâve got.
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Tanya says, ââŠI think there is such a defensiveness on the part of many psychiatrists. I think that my narrative was perhaps just something that was too challenging and wouldâve caused a lot of reflection on their part, and that reflection could probably be very painful, Iâm sure.â
Psychiatry is the modern version of the Tower of Babel, and itâs DSM is its Book of Babble.
So expecting serious reflection from people schooled in psychiatry is like waiting for the second coming of Christ.
Psychiatry is immune to meaningful reflection, because it would mean the end of psychiatry.
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âThis story is all too typical of psychiatric oppression.â
Absolutely. And itâs a story that needs to be told, desperately.
Thank you Tanya.
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But Aftab obviously has Schizoid disorder. Must be from trying to mix psychiatry with philosophy.
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More on Bait and Switch:
1. Psychiatry promises relief from pain through drugs that cause iatrogenic harm, which it then denies
2. Psychotherapy promises psychological freedom by creating emotional dependence on âtherapyâ, which it then denies
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Rasx says, ââŠ.ad hominem is psychiatryâs stock in tradeâŠâ.
You forgot drug pushing.
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Another look at Aftabâs twitter tells me heâs much too busy promoting himself to spend any time reading anything that doesnât flatter his already inflated ego. So hereâs something short and sweet from Psychology Today:
âReview: The Book of Woe: Why the DSM is doomed to failâ, by Helene Guldberg, PhD
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Correction: Aftabâs inviting two psychiatrists to oppose you proves his pants are on fire.
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But like all politicians, Aftabâs greatest strength lies in talking out of both sides of his mouth.
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And for something more visually entertaining, Aftab might watch this: âThe Myth of Low-Serotonin & Antidepressants – Dr. David Horowitzâ, courtesy After Skool
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Correction: psychiatry is a profession of insults (DSM) practiced by insulting people.
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And if thatâs not too taxing, Aftab might pick up a copy of âA Profession Without Reason: The Crisis of Contemporary PsychiatryâUntangled and Solved by Spinoza, Free-Thinking and Radical Enlightenmentâ, by Bruce Levine, PhD.
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BPD is medical misogyny.
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Dear Lisa,
Thank you for sharing your poignant story. Youâve been through hell and back, but congratulations on making it out alive. I totally relate to your saying this:
âThe only therapy that made sense to me was self-introspection and a lot of reading about trauma from compassionate expertsâŠâ
And youâre absolutely right that no one should have to experience and heal from psychiatric gaslighting and abuse. But itâs my belief believe that psychiatryâs current recognition of trauma and neurodiversity is no more than lip service.
Thank you again for your remarkable testimony.
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I believe itâs called collective insanity.
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Or their half-cocked âgeneticsâ theory.
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Definition for Magical Thinking: believing that genetics explains psychic suffering
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Psychiatry is a profession of Power, big egos, and deliberate misperception.
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Itâs obvious that getting under Aftabâs skin is easy.
Heâd be well advised to fix the carefully concealed chip on his shoulder.
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Correction: psychiatry is a religion more than anything else, because it believes in magical thinking.
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And psychiatry has no answers to explain that either.
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Psychiatryâs poisoned chalice is a jug of Kool-Aid. And Aftabâs the perfect Kool-Aid Man.
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He clearly loves being psychiatryâs latest Golden Boy.
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Thank you very much, lcjohnstone. And thank you for the wonderful link.
Aftabâs inviting two senior psychiatrists to oppose you proves you set his pants on fire, but I bet he had the old farts lined up long before the interview, as anyone who dares speak the truth poses a threat their identity and Power. And Aftabâs insistence on proving abstractions proves heâs a fool, a fraud, and a fake.
And thank you for lighting the match.
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Aftabâs a politician, more than anything else, because psychiatry is politics, more than anything else.
And if that were not the case, thereâd be no cause for argument.
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Correction: Aftab needs to realize he canât out-philosophize the truth.
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BPD is the medicalized form for âbitchâ.
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Iâm so glad you finally you finally heard a voice. It must have been your own.
Daniel was that voice for me.
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An even better question: What makes Aftab want to be a publicity hound?
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Hereâs the âscienceâ behind Aftabâs psychiatry: âIt IS so because we SAY so!â
Yet for all his disorganized rhetoric, he fails to answer the most basic philosophical question: WHAT THE FUCK IS PSYCHIATRY TRYING TO DO?
Hereâs more food for thought: âOn the Heels of Ignorance: Psychiatry and the Politics of Not Knowingâ by Owen Whooley
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Is psychiatry mostly hard or soft power?
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How is Brand a hypocrite?
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I think Aftab wears two hats at the same time: drug-pushing theologian AND drug-pushing propagandist.
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You gotta hand it to Aftab. After all, it must be tough being an apologist for psychiatry in this day and age.
But as the saying goes, âItâs a dirty job, but somebodyâs gotta do it.â
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Maybe Aftab should spend a little less time twittering and a little more time listening.
And hereâs something that just might expand his awareness a wee bit:
âPsychiatryâs Cycle of Ignorance and Reinvention: An Interview with Owen Whooleyâ, a conversation with Ayurdhi Dahl, PhD, courtesy MIA
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Someone needs to ask Aftab about the philosophy of bait and switch.
Definition for Bait and Switch: Fraudulent or deceptive practice.
The ploy of offering a person something desirable to gain favor (such as political support), then thwarting expectations with something less desirable.
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Psychiatry needs to go the way of the girdle.
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Believe this:
Psychiatry has no facts to back up its claims, by god.
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Doctors in general give me the creeps.
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It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same:
âMotherâs Little Helper: The History of Valiumâ, historyhit.com
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If Aftab felt secure in his convictions, he wouldnât bother with MIA â
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Psychiatry doesnât âtreat diseaseâ, it creates iatrogenic illness.
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Correction: Aftab needs to realize he canât outtalk the truth.
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What Aftab fails to see is this:
Psychiatry will eventually collapse under the weight of its own liesâwith or without MIA.
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Aftab needs to check his calendar: itâs 2023, not 1983, so controlling the narrativeâs a thing of the past, thanks to the internet.
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It used to be barefoot and pregnant. Now itâs drugged and compliant.
âMotherâs little helperâ: Vintage Drug Ads Aimed at Women, goretro.com
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Aftab needs to realize he canât outrun the truth.
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Aftabâs the perfect front man for a âprofessionâ that sees its days are numbered, but his carefully modulated hissy fits are a testament to MIAâs integrity. He sees the writing on the wall and it has him running scaredâŠ
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No, but the robots who prescribe sure do.
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You might find some videos and books by Daniel Mackler to be helpful, rasselas.redux. Heâs a former therapist who addresses childhood trauma and breaking from oneâs parents with a lot of understanding.
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Psychiatry claims to be medicine, but itâs actually a socially acceptable form of drug trafficking that lobbied for DTCA at the end last century. Itâs not about health, but the bottom line.
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What world do these researchers live in?
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Sad how much things have changedâŠ.
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Doctors will remain ignorant and afraid of lawsuits until theyâre offered more guidelines.
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I agree. Psychedelics have the potential to make opiates look like childâs play.
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I agree 100%. The professionalization of emotional support is a terrible invention.
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I agree that much of whatâs labeled âgreat artâ is not relatable, and that womenâs perspective is often ignored or silenced. And art definitely attracts a lot of snobs.
To me, art is just another form of expression, to communicate soul to soul, to make the unconscious conscious.
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You gotta hand it to psychiatry trying to walk back its biological reductionism. But itâs definitely overcompensating.
Hereâs what most people truly need: space and time to grieve unprocessed emotions – – unmolested by psychiatryâs intrusive machinations, pharmaceutical or otherwise.
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Psychiatry isnât medicine. Itâs a criminal enterprise of drugging and jailing.
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Hereâs a novel idea: Donât start antidepressants in the first place.
A YouTube video to watch BEFORE starting antidepressants:
âThe Myth of Low-Serotonin & Antidepressants – Dr. Mark Horowitzâ, courtesy After Skool
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Living in a state of numbness is not living.
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Perhaps it shouldnât be.
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Reductionism is not the answer. But neither is brain clutter.
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A drug-dependent society is a terrible legacy to pass onto the young.
A related video on YouTube: âHOLY SH*T! Big Food Is Profiting Off Sick Kidsâ, courtesy Russell Brand
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I wish you good luck, as you certainly have your work cut out for you!
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Itâs long been an open secret: âpsychotherapyâ is a potential playhouse for predators.
And why doesnât it matter to these people that the psychiatric drugs already prescribed produce similarly negative outcomes?
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I donât think increasing disability rates spell victory, especially when accompanied by a rise in psychiatric drug prescribing.
The side effects of psychiatric drugs are destroying peopleâs ability to support themselves in increasingly large numbers.
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Exactly. Psychiatry is all about âdiseases and disordersâ, and imaginary ones at that.
And âpsychotherapyâ is no better in that it creates an unhealthy dependence on âtherapyâ.
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Maintaining the status quo through drug sedation (psychiatry) is a form of oppression.
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Not quite the same. Psychiatry claims to be medicine.
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Psychiatry and its drugs ruins the quality of life for many.
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Art, humanities and psychiatry do have something thing in common: all are unwisely placed on pedestals.
Living should be revered, not someoneâs rendition of it.
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Indeed. The arts give meaning and expression to the human experience, whereas psychiatry destroys what it means to be human.
And âpsychotherapyâ caricatures human relationships.
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Because the Federal Government has agreed to pay for psychiatryâs âstandard of careâ, which is primarily psychiatric drugs, and because the pharmaceutical industry is a huge part of the economy.
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YES!!! Psychiatry doesnât âtreatâ drug dependence, it PRESCRIBES drug dependence, INDEFINITELY â
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Psychiatryâs co-optation and de-radicalization of peer-support and psychedelics does nothing to change the fact that itâs CODIFIED BIGOTRY co-opted by financial interests.
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Your welcome, Lauren, and thank you for your warmly insightful article.
I agree. Open minds and hearts works wonders. And BELIEVING in ourselves is key.
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Psychiatry is the only profession where a practitionerâs self-actualization depends on destroying the self-actualization of others.
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âForcing agreement on one shared story, which will no doubt be created by those who hold the most power, is oppressive and dangerous for people who have experienced the dominant paradigm labels, diagnoses and âtreatmentsâ.â
Psychiatry and psychotherapy exploit peopleâs need for attachment and attention.
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Thereâs nothing more co-dependent than the therapist-client ârelationshipâ.
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Good article.
The arts and humanities embrace and express the reality of human suffering in ways that are incredibly healing.
Neuropsychiatry is a haven for the heartless, and for those unable to accept the vagaries of life.
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Traditional psychotherapy is a psychological trap based on an unnatural and unnecessary power imbalance imposed by those whose main goal is having power over vulnerable people. Itâs self-aggrandizing for the therapist and infantilizing for the client.
A peer-run approach is the only civilized way to conduct âtherapyâ, if one seeks it at all.
People heal best on their own.
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Get a load of this:
âIllness trajectories depend on developmental processes, learning, and behavioral interactions on multiple spatial and temporal scales, which involve levels of the organization across neurobiological, cognitive-affective, interpersonal, and social systems.â
Translation: LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE
And while youâre at it, try having a little respect for the people youâre dealing with.
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People who abuse psychiatric patients need to be held accountable.
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Psychiatry dominates and disempowers through diagnoses and drugs.
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Who needs psychiatryâreductionist or otherwiseâwhen a little Jung is all you need?
On YouTube: âCarl Jung – How to Find Your Soulâ, courtesy After Skool
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Psychiatrists, and medical doctors in general, are now the âmiddle menâ of the pharmaceutical industry.
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Psychiatry needs to learn one thing: wordiness only goes so far.
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âPsychiatric disordersâ are autoimmune âdiseasesâ of the soul.
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By choosing to disregard the data compiled by Robert Whitaker and Joanna Moncreiff, psychiatry is guilty of criminal negligence.
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Psychiatry is the elephantâs turd.
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Exposing children and adolescents to notions of âmental health awarenessâ is totally inappropriate because it makes them think thereâs something wrong with them for not feeling their best at all times; theyâre too young to have perspective about their feelings. Itâs a grossly irresponsible use of the power of suggestion.
Children need to know that feelings are a part of living, and be taught how to respond to their feelings in positive, self-affirming ways. Anything else is confusing and harmful.
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Psychiatry has all the data it needs, thanks to Robert Whitaker and Joanna Moncreiff.
And by ignoring this data, it remains a profession of negligence by its own choice.
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Conventional psychiatry isnât medicine, itâs the nuclear option.
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Healing comes from collaboration, not domination.
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Psychiatry is as much a political tool today as it was during the Nazi era, as its goal is essentially the same: power and control by whatever means necessary, which today includes psychedelics.
But has anyone imagined the iatrogenic damage in years to come?
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Trauma has turned the world into a gathering of re-traumatizing psychiatrists and psychotherapists.
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Whatâs a âsuccessful outcomeâ in psychiatry? People chronically dependent on its âmedicationsâ.
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Psychiatry will never admit to being a total crock of shit.
But thanks to the internet, fewer and fewer people look to the likes of âJAMAâ.
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maradel says, âThey [doctors] are very insecure and enjoy their massive power trips.â
100% TRUTH.
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Doctors who rely on the DSM are completely irrational.
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Maybe people should stop being data-dependent and instead ask themselves this burning question:
WHY rely on âdataâ more than your own intuition?
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Some people need to pull their heads out of their data-dependent asses and instead consider these novel ideas:
1. Maybe emotional distress isnât physical illness
2. Maybe psychoactive drugs arenât a good thing for most people
3. Maybe talk therapy isnât what itâs cracked up to be
Then finally ask themselves this burning question:
Is turning to a medicalized, data-dependent system for emotional distress good idea?
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Psychiatry is colonialism at its most extreme.
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What do you know! Psychiatryâs finally come full circle with psychedelics. And who knows? Maybe with this latest twist, theyâll finally admit that psychiatry is drug pushingâŠ
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The people at JAMA need to pull their heads out of their data-dependent asses and instead consider these novel ideas:
1. Maybe emotional distress isnât illness
2. Maybe psychiatric drugs are a bad thing
3. Maybe talk therapy isnât what itâs cracked up to be
Then finally ask each other this burning question:
Why turn to the medical community for emotional distress in the first place?
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Thereâs nothing more âdisalienatingâ than listening to people (be they men OR women) unconsciously guided by chauvinistic attitudes.
Definition for Chauvinistic: displaying excessive or prejudiced support for oneâs own cause or group; the irrational belief in the superiority or dominance of oneâs own group or people
And thereâs nothing more chauvinistic than psychiatry and its self-satisfied offshoot called âpsychotherapyâ, as both are based on gratifying the egos of their practitioners.
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No one needs anyoneâs convoluted, self-serving theories regarding psychosis when the explanation is simple: people retreat from reality when life gets too painful. And if they sense safety, they often come back.
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Definition for Intellectualism: the exercise of the intellect at the expense of the emotions.
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No one learns to empathize by living in an intellectual bubble.
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Who would have thought that treating people with dignity could actually be a good thing?
But I guess thatâs not enough for people more interested in making a name for themselves, i.e. Freud, Lacan, etc.
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Intellectualism, as opposed to psychosis, is just another way to dissociate from intolerable feelings. And itâs long been a refuge for the intellectually pompous, i.e. âpsychiatryâ and itâs chronically confused cousin better known as âpsychologyâ.
There is such a thing as thinking too much. People need to get out of their heads and into their hearts.
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I agree 100% with Lauraâs assessment of the situation regarding psychic distress in todayâs world; that itâs one of financial exploitation on top of personal victimization â which explains why so many people high on the abusive end of the narcissistic spectrum hold jobs as âmental health workersâ. And itâs definitely spread by the misuse and overuse of psychological language that characterizes emotions as illness. And any effort to reclaim the narrative, i.e. âDI Without The Disorderâ is definitely a step in the right direction.
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The mental illness industry is exactly that, as itâs misuse of language has infected an entire generation.
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Never underestimate the power of words.
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Itâs all a matter of subjective interpretation, imo. And why define it at all?
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Well, I have to admit Iâve never thought that much about it, so Iâll leave the answer to that question up to youâŠ
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You can add Charlie Chaplin to the mix: âA Message For All Of Humanity – Charlie Chaplinâ courtesy T&H – Inspiration & Motivation on YouTube
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And thatâs about as far as it goesâyâall can keep your stupid floppy-sack!
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The main problem with psychiatry is that all you need to do is say âbooâ to have the fools reach for their stupid DSM. And most psychologists are no different.
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Worth a glance: âSplitting: The Psychology Behind Binary Thinking And How It Limits A Diversity Of Opinions,â by Ilana Redstone in Forbes Magazine
My takeaway was this quote from psychologist Andrew Hartz:
âThereâs an Islamic mystic who described how harmful it is to divide people into groups, say only good things about some and only bad things about othersâŠâ â something that accurately describes the âmental healthâ industry.
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What I find remarkable about the enlightenment era is how adamant some people were about separating the mind and body. And I wonder if this had anything to do with the fact that these were men who never had to contend with the agonizing realities of either menstrual cramps or childbirth. Because if theyâd had to, I bet theyâd have stopped thinking like a bunch of stubborn two-years olds. And while I donât believe thereâs any such thing as the completely egotistical construct invented by the completely egotistical Freud called âpenis envyâ, there is definitely such a thing as âpenis privilegeâ.
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Cartesian dualism is actually a form of âsplittingâ, the defense mechanism used by people unable to tolerate ambiguity. And âsplittingâ is what characterizes most of the people who practice psychiatry and psychologyâand when challenged, they resort to gaslighting.
So there you have it, the two things that characterize the system of âmental healthâ: splitting and gaslighting.
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I agree, feeling and thinking are intricately intertwined. But as you say, âFeelings do not lieâŠâ
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However, I do consider âmental illness industryâ an appropriate metaphor.
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James Hillman is brilliant:
ââŠ.medical jargon refers to nothing.â
âIt is an extreme materialism and pro technocratic thinking based on labels, procedures and it will be worse.â
âThinking based on procedures and labels is a programming of the enlightenment era leading to technocracy.â
âAnd there is no sign of psychiatric victims in this corrupted evil society.â
This is an evil society and things probably will get worse in some ways. But I hold out hope for radical change in how people see âmental illnessâ.
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Your most welcome, Penni.
And I agree, the metaphors used by the mental illness industry are a huge disservice to humankind.
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Correction: Dr. Cornwall, not âColemanâ. I do apologize for my oversight.
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Listen and enjoy: âAwaiting on You Allâ by George Harrison, courtesy Soft lyric on YouTube
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âThe JHP was the venerable journal of a revolutionary movement begun in the 1950âs to provide a âthird forceâ in the field, to counter the two dominant movements of Freudâs psychoanalysis and B.F. Skinnerâs behaviorism.â
Human beings are not just their brain chemistry; they are mind, body and spirit/soul. In my mind, humanistic psychology recognizes what other psychologies and certainly psychiatry do not, which is the overriding reality and beauty of the human soul, without which life loses its purpose and meaning.
Check this out on YouTube: âThis Is Priceless – George Harrison On What Lies BeyondâŠâ T&H – Inspiration & Motivation
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Uncomfortable feelings labeled as âmental illnessâ are messages from within that something is wrong in our life, not in our âbrain chemistryâ.
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What happens in a world without mercy? You get things like psychiatry and psychology.
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By the time some chooses to train as a psychiatrist, itâs usually too late to make any headway.
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For the most part, NAMI is a support group for the families of âThe Identified Patientâ.
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Psychology needs to shut up and change its name to cognicology. It doesnât belong in the âfeelingsâ business. And psychiatry needs to shut up entirely.
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I used to think having a medical degree indicated an ability to think critically. Needless to say I no longer think this way.
But Dr. Gotzsche is that rare exception.
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And sometimes extremes states are caused by living under too much stress.
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The field of psychology should be called âbehaviorismâ because thatâs all it is. After all, âpsycheâ means âsoulâ and souls canât be âclinically studiedâ.
And psychiatry should be called drug pushing, because thatâs EXACTLY what it is.
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I was delighted to read something about human suffering that actually captures the essence of what it means to be human:
âTo have seen those JHP journals on the library shelves full of merciful caring about human suffering, was proof that the human heart and spirit could prevail over the head and the dangerous objectification of the disease model of psychiatry.â
âThe contrast was human-hearted compassion and potential for all, verses human-disordered abnormality/pathology and emotion-killing psych drugs for all.â
My thanks are to you, Dr. Coleman. A heart-centered approach should be the gold standard for helping people, and also for living a good life.
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Correction: SHARING kindness and REALLY meaning it â
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Wonderful article and wonderful quote:
âMerciful love can help relieve the emotional suffering of extreme states.â
Not receiving merciful love is usually the reason people find themselves in an extreme state. And showing kindness can bring them back.
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The âmental health systemâ mutilates human relationships.
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All part of the new colonialism.
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A scarily accurate depiction of modern medicineâand psychiatry in particular.
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Psychiatry calls it psychosis.
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People donât need a disease-centered, agenda-laden system. They need caring human beings without an agenda who know how to listenâsomething that used to be called a very good friend.
Healing happens in understanding, NOT âdiagnosesâ.
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Someone should ask these characters if theyâd feel comfortable having a robot look after their kids.
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Dear Penni,
Thank you for sharing your story. I relate to it because like you I believe much of what is thought to be âmental illnessâ is actually a spiritual breakthrough brought about by repeated moral injuryâinjuries usually made worse by a system that speaks a different language.
And I wish you many Happy Returns on your Spiritual Birthday!
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âEgo collapseâ is a great term. When the ego dies the spirit survives.
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And I wouldnât be surprised if higher rates of addiction to psychiatric drugs correlates with higher levels of income. After all, thatâs just what the pharmaceutical cartels are counting on.
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I agree, physics canât replace the psyche. And for the most part, distressed people are suffering from soul sickness, not âmental illnessâ.
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I think it depends on what you consider âmental illnessâ.
Enduring financial hardship and deprivation can cause high levels of stress that can adversely affect peopleâs state of mind and ability to function. And unfortunately this usually gets categorized as âmental illnessâ.
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Who needs âbrain imagingâ to prove that poverty and maltreatment damages children in lasting ways?
Only idiots needs brain scans to realize that emotional scars are as real as physical ones.
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The researchersâ stupidity is rooted in assuming that âdepressionâ is an illness in the physical sense.
Itâs time these people put away their electronic toys and signed up for some courses in semantics and logic.
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ââŠ.the moment we want to be something we are no longer free.â – J. Krishnamurti
âFreedom from the desire for answer is essential for the understanding of a problem.â – J. Krishnamurti
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âDo not pursue what should be, but understand what is.â – J. Krishnamurti
Thought is never free because it is based on knowledge, and knowledge is always limited.â – J. Krishnamurti
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âA man who says, âI want change, tell me how toâ, seems very earnest, very serious, but he is not. He wants an authority whom he hopes will bring about order in himself. But can authority ever bring about inward order? Order imposed from without must always breed disorder.â
– J. Krishnamurti
âAll ideologies are idiotic, whether religious or political, for it is conceptual thinking, the conceptual word, which has so unfortunately divided man.â – J. Krishnamurti
And thereâs nothing more divisive than psychiatry and psychology.
Definition for Divisive: alienating, estranging, isolating, schismatic, discordant, disharmonious, inharmonious â all of which aptly describes psychiatry and psychology.
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Correction: Ramesh is the author, not Rasx.
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âThey talk about the psyche without the psyche itself, it is as if they were talking about theology without God. It is insanity.â
Psychiatry and psychology are the products of an insane society.
Psychiatry and psychology fail society because they ignore the reality and transcendence of the human soul.
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âThe primary cause of disorder in ourselves is the seeking of reality promised by another.â – J. Krishnamurti
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âIf you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.â – J. Krishnamurti
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If more people found peace in themselves, fewer would end up taking psychiatric drugs or paying some mannequin to listen to them.
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Rasx says, ââŠnot to project the image of what you want to be as against paying attention to what you areâŠâ
Psychiatry and psychology exploit peopleâs confusion.
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The author asks, âWhat alternatives do you have to simply coping with it? Simply adjusting to it?â
I think finding some kind of peace within yourself is what needs to happen before anything else.
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Imo, âtherapyâ itself is a pathololgized relationship.
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Psychologically speaking, the author seems to have all his ducks in order. However, he contradicts himself when first saying:
âFrom the relational-intersubjective standpoint, both the therapist and the context/system are unavoidably a part of the very experiences that become pathologised as individual disorders.ââ
And then saying:
âThough in relational-intersubjective therapy there is an inevitable âasymmetryâ â as there necessarily is in any therapeutic relationship â the model [relational-intersubjective] assumes and encourages an epistemological equality with regards to what is occurring and what it means.â
Why canât he see that an âinevitable asymmetryâ directly contradicts any claims of âepistemological equalityâ â the lack of which is extremely pathologizing?
All heâs done is prove how some people will say anything to maintain a pathologizing power imbalance, which, incidentally, ensures him of being capitalistically compensated.
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Thereâs no point in having a discussion with people already convinced the moon is made of green cheese.
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Itâs not that complicated. Peopleâs emotions and frames of mind are most often the result of their interactions with others, while people stuck in Cartesian thinking are usually the result of disconnected control freaks addicted to power.
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This article does a good job of explaining how Freud and Descartesâ dissociative ideas became a gaslighting technique that exists to this day
âRelational-intersubjectiveâ is just a fancy term for seeing the person in front of you.
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Dr. Gotzsche says, âADHD is the product of vested commercial, political, and institutional interests.â
Psychiatry itself is a product of vested commercial, political, and institutional interests.
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Who in their right mind would assume thereâs no collusion between the FDA and Big Pharma when so much moneyâs at stake? And donât forgetâwhen their stint is up at the FDA, youâll find them on the board at some Big Pharma.
Financial interests always win out.
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Psychiatry is propaganda disguised as science.
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Judi Chamberlin: âPeople are unlikely to question the underlying premises of their occupations, in which they often have a large financial and emotional stake.â
This is why so few âcliniciansâ critically evaluate psychiatryâs many unprovable assumptions: the validity of their âdiagnosesâ, the reliability of their prognosis, and the necessity and safety of their so-called âmedicationsâ. And their habitual use of the word âclinicalâ hides the fact that they themselves are afraid of admitting their whole shebang is full of holes.
If you want to persuade people, just pepper your speech with scientific language, itâs an effective marketing tool for just about anything.
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Correction: âdoubt my realityâ means doubt my intuition
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And I donât think anyone can successfully argue that psychiatry is anything more than a glorified drug racket and medicalized con game.
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Removed for moderation.
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The complexity of the mind first and foremost includes the emotions, as these are ultimately what guides peopleâs thoughts and actions.
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Traumatic injury/memory gets stuck in the body as much if not more than anywhere else. And this is where psychiatry, psychology, and western medicine in general miss the boat. The DSM is an extreme example of how fragmented western approaches are.
Psychiatry and psychology have destroyed peopleâs faith in their ability to process emotional trauma without drugs or reliance on some foolâs idea of âpsychotherapyâ.
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Thatâs for damn sure. But itâs gotten even sicker since hitching its wagon to the pharmaceutical industry as anything thatâs profitable financially inevitably controls the narrative. But megavitamin therapy sounds interesting though, as it probably helps restore peopleâs messed up physiology from either psychiatric drugs or other psychoactive substances like alcohol, etc.
And anythingâs better than psychiatryâs sanitized drug hustling or psychologyâs mindless minds fucks.
Definition for Mind Fuck: the process of raping someoneâs intelligence and/or beliefs with lies and manipulation
Definition for Psychiatry and Psychology: the raping of someoneâs intelligence and/or beliefs with lies and manipulation
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David,
Thank you for your generous offer, but right now Iâm not needing it. But I donât doubt EMDRâs effectiveness as trauma definitely gets stuck in the mind and memory, and people definitely need alternatives to psychiatryâs drug-happy medical model.
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Correction: psycho-TROPIC drugs, not âpsychoticâ drugs, although in my experience thereâs not much difference â
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Scwnorway,
Thank you for the fantastic link.
It would be great if psychiatry were disbanded altogether. But realistically this wonât happen anytime soon because real change rarely comes from the top down. More likely to happen is psychiatry eventually going the way of cigarette smoking, meaning it will probably take a long time for the majority of the population to learn from bitter experience that psychiatryâs sick assortment of diagnoses and drugs are not the best answer.
However, I think it inevitable that the DSM will be formally discredited, hopefully with an admission that most psychic distress is caused by relational-environmental factors. And who knows? Maybe sooner rather than later an increasing number of general practitioners will be less likely to automatically prescribe psychotic drugs.
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I canât say enough good things about something that fosters reconnecting with oneself rather than symptoms, i.e. psychiatryâs superficial âdiagnosesâ. Reconnecting With Yourselfâ needs to be everyoneâs motto.
Your kind and considerate perspectives are EXACTLY where the âtherapeutic modelâ (and anyoneâs perspective for that matter) needs to be.
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And âtalk therapyâ is not only the epitome of capitalism, itâs capitalism at its worst â
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maedhbh,
Thank you for sharing your personal observations about therapy; they closely mirror my own:
1. The dishonesty of paying for kindness and compassionâwhich is the opposite of kindness and compassion
2. Using âtransferenceâ to protect and maintain what is essentially a destructive power dynamic
3. Money wasted on bad memories âdug up about which nothing can be doneâ
4. Being told you are incurably ill and hopelessly broken from someone with something to gain
5. Forced to cope with abandonment from boundaries âsuddenly put up by a previously accepting therapistâ
6. That most therapists are egomaniacs
7. That most therapists like having power over vulnerable people for all the wrong reasons which DEFINITELY âtakes a certain level of arrogance to think that wayâ.
Thank you maedhbh for saying it all.
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And I forgot to mention how IFS uses curiosity in untangling the complexity of the mind rather than shutting it down with drugs or other narrow-minded âtherapeuticâ methods.
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Yes! Psychiatryâs continuous diagnostic rambling is enough to drive anyone batty.
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And because pharmaceutical companies are greedy â
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So whatâs the point of âtalk therapyâ?
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Pictures speak louder than words.
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Thank you for agreeing with me, Someone Else. I just hope the world is finally ready to listen to something thatâs long overdue.
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Terry,
I just visited your website (healingtheself.net) and am glad I did. Itâs thorough without being exhaustive and accessible without being simplistic, something essential in an area as broad as mental health. Your âPerspectivesâ section is particularly illuminating as it includes the most relevant topics: âThe Spectrum of Traumaâ, âBreaking the Trauma Cycleâ, âWestern Medicineâ, and âInternal Family Systems (IFS)â. Itâs important you placed these topics together as these are all interconnected, and connecting the dots is something too few people are doing. And the quotes youâve chosen are brilliant.
Thank you for devoting your life to something so important and central to what truly matters. I wish you the best in your new vocation.
Birdsong
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My anger at psychiatry ultimately lead to my leaving psychiatryâand in that way anger proved valuable.
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Dear Terry,
Thank you for saying everything that needs to be said about a non-pathologizing approach to psychic distress. You succeed in making the complicated understandable in a beautifully cogent way.
I appreciate your explaining in detail how Internal Family Systems parts-centric approach acknowledges not only the impact of the subconscious, but also âthe notion of the Selfâ and how respecting that Self, oneâs âtrue essenceâ or innate dignity, is central to the healing process, i.e., âbecoming wholeâ. And I especially appreciate your mentioning how psychiatry is âlocked into a paradigm of neurotransmitters and genetics, [that] misses whatâs right in front of its face, and turns a blind eye to mountains of evidence supporting the role of environmental distressâi.e., traumaâin mental health.â Your ideas are SPOT ON.
I too believe âa revolution is brewing with respect to mental health treatment in our cultureâ, but more strongly I hope âthe beauty of IFSâ will be at the forefront thisâand perhaps eventually of life itself.
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Psychiatry isnât about humility, itâs about disconnection and judgment; itâs a psychological cancer that affects all of society.
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Imo, psychiatry is nothing more than an absurd gallery of pseudoscientific diagnoses whose DSM represents one gargantuan psychological autoimmune âdisorderâ.
Itâs too bad psychiatry canât diagnose its own own pathological tendency to diagnose and label everything under the sun.
In contrast, Internal Family Systems is a path towards true healing, as itâs based on compassion and common sense.
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Psychiatry isnât about listening, itâs about imposing pseudoscientific beliefs on others.
And most of the time people are âdiagnosedâ before theyâve even uttered a wordâand most of the time their goose is cooked if the doctor doesnât like them.
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Never underestimate the power of the internet, and M.IA. is a good place to start.
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Correction: DIDDLY-SQUAT
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You canât talk yourself into forgivingâit has to be feltâsomething I suspect Decartes knew diddly about.
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And psychiatry is neither intuitive NOR thoughtfulâbut it IS emotional nitpicking – –
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CORRECTION: Healthy forgiveness isnât about inducing shame through emotional power plays.
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Imho, healthy forgiveness isnât about inflicting guilt through emotional power plays.
And I think itâs more important to forgive oneself for not wanting to forgive those who have hurt us.
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I also bet Decartes, like most of todayâs psychiatrists and psychologists, was secretly one angry dudeâand Heaven knows thereâs nothing more destructive than unacknowledged angerâwhich I think is the foundation of all of psychiatry and most of psychology.
And thereâs nothing wrong with anger; itâs one of most instructive and protective emotions anyone can haveâif dealt with authentically.
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Thereâs nothing objective about psychiatry; it sees people through a psychologically distorted lens.
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Dear Dr. Ophir,
Thereâs now a fighting chanceâthanks to people like youâfor which Iâm eternally grateful.
And as word of your book gets out among the general public, I seriously believe youâll find way more allies than foes.
Thank you for fighting the good fight, Dr. Ophir. I wish you all the best from now on in your truth-telling quest.
Birdsong
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Rasx,
Thank you for the wonderful quote from Heidegger:
ââŠthere are thoughtless emotions but no emotionless thoughtsâŠâ
I think CBT is an exceptionally thoughtless approach. And how do I know this? UmmmâŠIâm not sureâŠI just had a feeling.âŠ
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Thank you for thoroughly explaining the true nature of healthy forgiveness and questioning its value when itâs used to control people.
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Yet another attempt by the âmental health industryâ to psychiatrize every culture with its tone-deaf heavy-handedness.
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Thank you for an outstanding article.
Itâs heartening to know that Dr. Ophirâs book is receiving such positive scholarly reviews. I hope his bravery encourages others like him to speak out against the institutional gaslighting not only surrounding ADHD, but all the other scientifically baseless âdiagnosesâ that constitute the fallacious field of psychiatry. And I sincerely believe itâs only a matter of time before it collapses from the weight of its own lies.
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ericwsetz says, âThe first step is a willingness to be there with the patient and understand what they are saying.â
Which just happens to be the basis of ANY healthy relationship, and most importantly needs to starts with the first: with oneâs parents/caregivers in childhood
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ericwsetz says, âPatients are not out of their minds they are too deep in it.â
Yes! And itâs not just psychiatry â âpsychotherapyâ often sets up its own convoluted âclinicalâ traps for people needing to get OUT of their heads â
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CORRECTION: Decartesâ way of thinking always struck me as pretty ONE-SIDED â which has turned out to be a detriment to humanity, imho.
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So-called âmental health awarenessâ in schools is about as helpful as an infestation of head liceâpsychological head lice, that is. They are no longer places to learn and be educated, they are places to be labeled and âmedicatedâ.
And children often live up to a teacherâs worst expectations.
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And for what itâs worth, Descartesâ way of thinking always struck me as pretty narrow-mindedâand I bet he was an egomaniac to boot!
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Psychological issues donât belong in a medical textbook.
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Making value judgments based on forgiveness is not conducive to the healing process; itâs an entirely personal matter that canât be dictated.
People forgive in their own time and in their own way, if at allâand whether or not thatâs good or bad is for them alone to decide.
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Rebel,
Please note: nowhere did I claim that âforgiveness is impossibleâ â I said forgiveness is SOMETIMES impossible.
And I respectfully find your attitude towards a lack of forgiveness to beâfor lack of a better wordâunforgiving.
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CORRECTION: âThat explains psychiatryâs main flaw: it refuses to see âSYMPTOMSâ in context.
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Psychiatric labeling isnât medical progress; itâs pejorative language/thinking caught in a time warp.
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âThe motivation to remove the symptom has resulted in what Poole calls a âever-increasing proliferation of context-less achievementsâŠlocal scientific successes which precede even the remotest notion of how to deal with them ethically or how to integrate them into the needs of the totality.â
That explains psychiatryâs main flaw: its refusal to see experience in context.
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Charlotte says, âThe discipline [psychiatry] pretends to be an objective classification of people, borrowing language (âdiagnosisâ) from physical medicine, which assigns the label of disease following the identification of a pathology, which one hopes can be targeted and cured. But the analogy fails in psychiatry. There are few known biological pathologies. And who is to say what cure is?â
Not only thatâwhoâs to say what pathology is? And THATâS the problem with psychiatry: it uses medicalized name-calling (âdiagnosesâ) to sell its designer drugs. And thereâs a label for that: FRAUD â
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Some wounds never heal completely, and sometimes forgiveness is impossible, but thereâs nothing shameful or âsickâ about this. Itâs just accepting emotional realityâsomething that leads to emotional maturityâwhich is the beginning of wisdom, something psychiatry knows little about.
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Fear of emotion is why some people see intellect as separate from the somatic.
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And the irony is psychiatry lacks the insight it accuses âpatientsâ of lackingâwhich is WHY itâs ethically and scientifically vacant.
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The DSM isnât objective; itâs evidence of psychiatryâs warped subjectivity.
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Psychiatry is entirely subjective. Indeed, how objective can it be when itâs based entirely on labeling WHATEVER IT ALONE deems âabnormalâ or âunhealthyâ?
But the real tragedy is that it fails to see how much itâs shaped by its own biased thinking.
But psychiatry isnât about thinking; itâs about its practitioners NEEDING to think theyâre ALWAYS right: hence they thunk up a COLOSSALLY STUPID DSM.
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CORRECTION:
Psychiatry INVENTS âillnessâ to defend its ignorance.
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Psychiatry creates âillnessâ to DEFEND its ignorance â
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Psychiatryâs âcycle of ignoranceâ is a revolving door that creates âillnessâ to maintain its ignorance.
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Psychiatry taught me to hate myself.
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Psychiatry isnât medicine; itâs a medicalized Hall of Mirrors.
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And just WHAT did psychiatryâs carnival of catastrophe do for me besides create havoc with its debilitating drugs?
1. It made me doubt my reality
2. It hijacked my healthy sense of self
3. It convinced me I couldnât function without its patronizing âinterventionsâ
ALL of which proved untrue once I FINALLY got off its merry-go-round of so-called âmental illnessâ and smorgasbord of so-called âmedicationsâ.
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Professor Whooley says:
âPsychiatry persists because of the professionâs strategies to manage its ignoranceâŠâ
Translation: psychiatry persists because it believes its own lies.
âIn order to make those changes and to promote those reinventions, psychiatrists engage in hype.â
Translation: psychiatry is more public relations than science.
âNow the flipside to hype is hubris. Psychiatrists believe the hype and then undertake these transformations in an incredibly aggressive way.â
Translation: psychiatryâs become big business by teaming up with the pharmaceutical industry and its advertising flunkies while sending its latest edition of the DSM to every doctor in town.
All of which leads to one conclusion: psychiatry is what happens when quackery meets propaganda.
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In a word? Emphatically NO. But it might be a step in the right direction if psychiatry realized that stress and trauma are the true culprit, not its idiotic assumptions of biological/genetic whatnot.
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And the same goes for psychology, too.
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Me too. After all, most religions are based on sacred texts that believe in salvation, whereas psychiatry, (a secular religion based on its DSM/bible) says youâre eternally damned â
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And whatâs the BIGGEST source of neuroticism be it animal or human? The âmental healthâ industry, imho; itâs one big neuroticism factory
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Beatrice g,
I have to disagree with your saying that âfixing traumaâ requires âtherapeutic practicesâ when itâs been clearly demonstrated time and again that children, animals and adults heal best in loving, non-judgmental environments, which often means staying as far away as possible from the so-called âtrauma expertsâ.
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Yes! The the social structure of todayâs society and modern family dynamics are EXACTLY where âpsychiatric problemsâ start. But psychiatryâs answer is to have the whole world drowning in âdiagnosesâ and drugs or endlessly spinning their wheels in diagnostic-infested âpsychotherapyâ.
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Very true. Itâs sad reality when children arenât safe in the very places they need it the most: home and school.
And a lot of doctors and âtherapistsâ just continue the pattern of bullying and name-calling through âdiagnosingâ and labeling and call it âmental healthâ.
Itâs no wonder the kids are upset when thereâs nowhere to turn.
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I see psychiatry as medicalized bullying, and itâs important to stop bullying at its source.
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âWhat are the socio-cultural factors of modern society that drive [abuse and bullying]âŠ?â
Let me take a wild guessâŠhow about psychiatry!âŠ.you know, that marvelous bully-inspired invention that prescribes chemical dissociation instead of emotional integrationâŠ
ââŠ.and what can we do to reverse its course?â
First of all, QUIT making excuses by seeing people as âpatientsâ instead of full human beingsâbe they children OR adultsâwhich means DUMPING psychiatry and its endless list of invented âdiagnosesâ/âdisordersâ as soon as possible.
It all starts with seeing people as doing the best they can in a sick society, NOT the other way around.
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And Iâve often thought thereâs way more to learn from watching âDog Whisperer with Cesar Millanâ than listening to so-called âtrauma-informedâ therapists or so-called âhumanâ psychiatrists.
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Is there a difference between genetics and eugenics in psychiatry? Not much, imho.
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Psychiatry is just another way for egotistical people to deny reality in any way possible at otherâs expense in more ways than one.
Alice Miller places blame where it belongs.
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Steve,
Freud chickened out alright. He turned out to be an egotistical coward more anything.
And thank you for pointing out the true reason behind blaming peopleâs brains: the refusal to face reality, both personally and collectively.
Looking at it historically, though, deflection has always been used by the ruling class, one way or another. Just look at the Middle Agesâbut instead of blaming the brain, they blamed the devil.
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At least Freud had curiosity and imagination. But even these got out of control, not to mention his unhealthy need to always be right, a fixation no doubt shared by none other than the great Emil Kraepelin, the founder of psychiatric eugenics. (Opps! I think I meant âgeneticsââŠ.)
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Imo, psychiatry keeps going around in circles because itâs main goal is power, not truth.
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I donât think âexpertsâ like thinking too much (i.e. âmentalizationâ, or âreflective functioningâ), because questioning their assumptions means questioning their power. So conversations with them too often pointless, Iâve found.
So whatâs my answer? Hauling out the old âcaveat emptorâ approach. After all, doing your own research never hurt, and it just might save your life. Or just trust your own instincts and move on.
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I think a lot of problems come from people unconsciously needing to feel more powerful than the next person so they can get away with bossing people around; power means more than truth to them.
And this most likely comes from not having their emotional needs met in childhood, so having power-driven jobs like psychiatry or psychotherapy fills their unmet need to feel powerful.
So life for them becomes one big long âI know more than youâ kind of game that they never outgrow, but instead of flexing their muscles, theyâre flexing their egos, imho.
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The honor and pleasure is mine, Moyu. The world needs more people like you
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Dear Moyu,
Your art is amazing, just like you.
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Krista says, âThe lack of apparent insight by the self-appointed âexpertsâ in human behavior is perfect bitter irony.â
Not only perfect bitter irony, but an uniquely cruel one that places misery upon misery, imho.
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Moyu says:
âBecoming more resilient means, for me, that I take the fragments of my identity which have become lost in the course of my life so far, and carefully and attentively re-assemble them into an intact ego so that I can perceive myself ever more accurately and clearly.â
âI look back on past times until they feel alive and warmâŠ.I believe that is helpful â and an essential part of livingâŠ.â
âGiven these accumulating personal observations, I find it hard to understand why, even today, research on schizophrenia focuses so heavily on genetics; why helping affected persons involves antipsychotics above all; and why the knowledge and experience of affected persons are barely recognized.â
âIf we have an increased susceptibility to stress and psychosis, then there are always reasons for this, which are as individual as we ourselves are.â
âExcessive treatment with antipsychotics and psychiatric medication in general can hide the true causes of mental problems and disorders, stand in the way of real healing, and destroy real social interactions.â
âAs humans and as inhabitants of the Earth we all depend on each other: physically, intellectually, and emotionally. So all of us need to be willing to learn from and with each other in mutual respect, to live together and establish a resilient community.â
Thank you for sharing your remarkable story and insights, Moyu. Itâs a beautiful testament to the resilience of the human spirit. I hope it inspires real change in the mental health system and the world at large.
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Excellent comment.
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Moyu says, ââŠ(when I had finally found a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who treated me as an equalâŠâ
Being thought of as an equal and treated as an equal is where healing begins in any relationship.
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Thereâs a world of difference between trying to help people and trying to âfixâ them. And imo, psychiatry doesnât see the difference.
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I felt stigmatized by psychiatry, infantilized by psychotherapy, and demoralized by bothâand diagnoses and power imbalanceâthe foundation of bothâare the reasons why, imo.
No one seeking help needs to feel worse than they already do.
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Why not just leave âthe expertsâ out of it?
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Hereâs another word for shape-shifter: VAMPIRE.
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ââŠa shape-shifter who knows how to market himself.â
THAT says it all.
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Psychology has always had an inferiority complex when it comes to other sciences, but adding neurology to the mix just adds to the confusion.
Come to think of it, both psychology and psychiatry have an identity crisis because both believe theyâre sciences.
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Professor Whooley says:
âPsychiatry persists because of the professionâs strategies to manage its ignoranceâŠâ
âIn order to make those changes and to promote those reinventions, psychiatrists engage in hype.â
âNow the flipside to hype is hubris. Psychiatrists believe the hype and then undertake these transformations in an incredibly aggressive way.â
Excellent interview, but imho itâs just a long way of saying psychiatry is quackery.
And the definition for quackery is: dishonest practices and claims to have special knowledge and skill in some field, typically medicine.
Sounds like psychiatry to me.
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KateL says, âPeople who were abused in the mental health system are experts in how the system abuses people. I guess some people just can handle that objective fact.â
Very true. Your statement reveals how most âmental health expertsâ are incapable of self-reflection.
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Thank you KateL, for pointing out how the âexpertsâ try to defend themselves by discrediting people who donât share their views with stupid phrases like, ââbe careful not to over generalizeâ, and flipping from âthis is objective factâ, to âah well, itâs more art than science.ââ
Did it ever occur to the âexpertsâ that psychiatry and psychology ARE BASED on over generalizations???
When it suits the âexpertsâ narrative they call it objective fact, and when THAT fails they haul out the old bromide, âitâs more art than scienceâ, which simply means they don’t know what they are talking about.
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ââŠthe gaslighterâlike all verbal abusersâoperates from what they know to be your fears, insecurities, vulnerabilities, and neediness.â
âAdditionally, as in other types of verbal abuse, there has to be an imbalance of power with the gaslighter holding all the cards.â
âThis [your inclination to doubt yourself] is something the gaslighter knows about and he or she stands ready to exploit.â
Psychiatrists AND therapists will often use these gaslighting dynamics to gain an unfair advantage over vulnerable people.
And people saying, âThatâs just their training, theyâre really just trying to help,â IS BULLSHIT because for the most part, people who have no problem using these tactics are more interested in HAVING POWER OVER OTHERS more than EMPOWERING OTHERS; they obviously prefer infantilizing people.
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ââŠ.sometimes all you need is a genuine person to help you stand up when you are down and reignite not the light at the end of the tunnel, but the light within yourself. Self-love and self-awareness are the key to a healthy life.â
Yes!!! THIS is the way to heal broken hearts, minds, lives and relationships, NOT name-calling (diagnoses) and âpsychiatric medicationsâ.
Thereâs nothing better than help from someone whoâs been there and sees you as capable of helping yourself.
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Whether or not thereâs neurological evidence of emotional trauma, the bigger problem lies in seeing the results (âsymptomsâ) as medical issues, i.e. âpsychiatric diagnosesâ; the medical model just continues the trauma of disrespect, blame, and neglect.
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Addition to number 3:
3. Not only seriously curtail the use of psychiatric drugs, but stop saying these âtreatâ a âchemical imbalanceâ or other âmental illnessâ that need to be taken âthe rest of your lifeâ.
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Thanks for the info, LivingPast27, though it looks like Europe has caught up: âHow depression treatment differs throughout Europeâ, from the Guardian. It shows how important it is that M.I.A. is getting a foothold in more and more countries around the world.
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Yes!!! Apologizing and making amends to the patients theyâve harmed is as important as anything. But I was trying to stay within the realm of the possible.
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True. But I think things will eventually change; itâs just going to take a lot more time and lot more needless suffering.
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Thank you Krista, for your detailed clarification.
I read Francesâ insulting rebuttal to the late Dr. Caplan, but I wasnât surprised by his blatantly condescending attitude and remarks. But I do consider it an excellent example of the attitudes psychiatric survivors are up against, which is why self-rescue is too often the only option.
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Fraud, medical neglect, exploitation, and lack of patient/public education/information are what makes psychiatry psychiatry, and is why it needs to go the way of the dinosaur asap.
So what does âtreating patients betterâ actually mean? It means any one of the following, but should begin with the first:
1. Throw out the DSM and do not replace it
2. Stop claiming that psychiatric problems are biological or genetically linked
3. Seriously limit the prescribing of psychiatric medications
4. Seriously limit the use of ECT
5. Make it illegal for any physician to force medicate or medically incarcerate
6. Replace psychiatry with the many alternatives currently available
And when these happen, no one will be needing to find an exit.
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Psychiatry is eugenics in action:
âScreening for Mental Illness: The Merger of Eugenics and the Drug Industryâ, by Vera Hassner Sharav, MLS, from The Alliance for Human Research Protection
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As I previously stated, if people want to take psychiatric drugs or undergo ETC, thatâs their business. What I object to is psychiatry falsely claiming that peopleâs problems are lifelong and biologically or genetically based, permitting the overprescribing of psychiatric drugs while downplaying the risks, and last but not least their ability to force treatments or involuntarily hospitalization on people which can be for indefinite periods of time.
Psychiatryâs abuse of medicine, power, and peopleâs human rights got a HUGE boost when psychiatrists collectively decided in 1980 to adopt the medical model through an admittedly flawed checklist system for their admittedly flawed DSM, which makes psychiatry not only misleading, but downright fraudulent. And the resulting devastation to both individuals and society are becoming increasingly apparent and definitively undeniable.
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The body-brain chemical makeup can greatly affect how emotions are felt and thoughts are perceived. And lots of things can screw it up: too much stress (emotional, psychological or physical), prescription medications, environmental or recreational substances, and even bangs on the head. But none of these indicate biologically or genetically caused illnesses.
From the New York Post: âWhy more women, like me, are abandoning the pill over emerging health concernsâ by Rikki Schlott.
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Correction: âIf people want to take âpsychiatric medicationâ or subject themselves to ECT, thatâs their business, but they need to be CLEARLY informed of significant risks of side effects and/or withdrawal reactions both immediate and future, and that NO âillnessâ is being âtreatedâ.
And NO ONE should have the legal authority to force any âtreatmentâ, or âhospitalizeâ someone who hasnât committed a crime.
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Ideally, all medicine should be based in a Functional-Holistic paradigm. But present reality demands no longer seeing emotional distress through a medical/diagnostic lens, beginning with a dissolution of psychiatry and its DSM.
If people want to take âpsychiatric medicationâ thatâs their business, but they need to clearly know thereâs significant risk of side effects and/or withdrawal reactions, and that no âillnessâ is being âtreatedâ.
And no one should have the legal authority to hospitalize someone who hasnât committed a crime.
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Itâs not hard seeing how disconnected modern society is when you stop to think how insane it is having people pay someone for emotional supportâand on top of THAT calling it âmental healthcareâ. Itâs not a sign of progress; itâs a sign of degradation.
And as corny as it sounds, things wonât change until people get out of their heads and into their hearts.
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Worth a listen: âRelease Trapped Emotions in 2023â, a video by Eckhart Tolle
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Daisy Valley is right. Psychiatry and Big Pharma have become a huge, financially driven bureaucracy.
If only more people knew just how petty psychiatry really is, then maybe things would start to change.
And all they need to do is look in the DSM.
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dogworld says, ââŠthe power structure of psychiatry is the root of the issueâŠâ
Thatâs where the problem begins and why psychiatry needs to end.
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Richard says, âUnfortunately, you have fallen into Healyâs âoh so charmingâ trap of pragmatic rationalizations for justifying oppression.â
I agree with Richard.
IMHO, most psychiatrists are driven by an unconscious need to hide from their own hidden vulnerabilities. Why else would they seek to obliterate feelings through drugs and ECT?
And psychiatryâs veneer of science gives the illusion of invulnerability.
Itâs all about power, similar to what drives most bullies or those who want to be seen as saviors.
Freud was absolutely right about one thing: the unconscious influences behavior. And scientists are no exception.
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Psychiatry uses science as a smokescreen for its evil.
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Most psychiatrists unconsciously expect people to kowtow to their supposed âexpertiseâ.
And those who wonât can expect to be punished, i.e. diagnoses, drugs, and ECT.
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Thereâs one way people can cut their losses: simply call a spade a spade.
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Thereâs surgical lobotomy, chemical lobotomy, and electrical lobotomy.
What more does anyone need to know???
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ââŠ.an impoverished sense of selfâŠ.â
THATâS the defining feature of âpsychiatryâ and âpsychologyâ.
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Thank you for pointing this out. Your example sounds much better. My sentence wasnât grammatically correct, but I do try my best.
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Steve,
Expecting people to kowtow reveals the kind of people working in the âmental healthâ system.
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Freud was by no means the first to divine the meaning of dreams. Any study of ancient cultures would show you that.
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KateL says, âWe have a basic right to human dignityâŠI was robbed of that rightâŠâ
This is why psychiatry should be abolished.
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Why rely on âexpertsâ who havenât experienced ECT?
Arenât peopleâs personal accounts enough?
Has anyone bothered to ask the dear Dr. Healy (or anyone else who canât make up their minds about the dangers of ECT) if theyâd be willing to subject themselves or their loved ones to ECT?
How much more âproofâ does anyone need?
Science has been put on a pedestal that leads people away from their intuition and common sense.
âThe expertsâ would be wise to remember thereâs a point at which ânuanceâ becomes a hindrance to seeing and accepting the cold, hard truth.
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No one need rely on âpsychotherapistsâ to process their trauma. People can do a lot on their own, in their own time, in their own way: writing /journaling, reading, listening to peopleâs experience on podcasts and videos, talking with friends or family members, including animals, engaging in hobbies or creative pursuits, volunteering, and spending as much time as possible in nature.
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Sam Plover says:
âI suggest we all become shrinks or lawyers and then we will be safe from slander. It will then come down to who can outslander whom.â
THATâS what psychiatry boils down to: SLANDER â
âThey are a childish, immature, selfish hateful bunchâŠ.you better tread careful.â
Indeed. Only childish adults think the way most psychiatrists and psychotherapists do, i .e. having to believe theyâre always right, and having temper tantrums when âpatientsâ tell them theyâre not.
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Wow. Who wouldâve guessed that talking to someone could be helpful??? And wouldnât it be great if people werenât made to believe they need an âexpertâ???
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Psychiatry and psychology are the inevitable result when the denigration and exploitation of human beings becomes second nature.
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Thank you, Lori.
Iâm very sorry getting off the psych drugs is causing you so much pain and trouble. It can take a long time for your body to readjust. And itâs even harder when the people who should know something donât.
I donât know whatâs worse, the effects of the so-called âmedicationsâ or the stupidity of the so-called âtherapistsâ. The whole thingâs a scam, imho.
Just hang in there as best you can, believing you will get through this.
Birdsong
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Yes!!! Everything in psychiatry and psychology is morally wrong and NOTHING they believe is beneficial and therefore IS NOT JUSTIFIED.
And spending time in nature is magical.
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Psychiatryâs political abuse ALWAYS exists in some form, beginning with its so-called âdiagnosesâ.
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They it called âpsychopathyâ to make it sound impressive so they can charge a fee when all it is listening, and most psychotherapists do a lousy job of that.
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Somehow, the destructive idea that psychological problems are medical has to be discredited and dismantled.
Universities no longer educate; they complicate and discriminate.
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Most psychotherapists see people as âdisorderedâ, just like most psychiatrists do
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The term âpsychotherapyâ implies illness which indicates medical which leads to the can of worms called âpsychiatric diagnosesâ. Itâs as weaponized as psychiatry.
On the other hand, the word âcounselingâ has a much less negative connotation, i.e. legal counsel, pastoral counsel, guidance counsel, parental counsel, etc. And in these situations, people are share knowledge, experience, wisdom and guidance that (hopefully) isnât biased on pseudoscientific âdiagnosticâ beliefs.
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And THAT goes for âprofessionalsâ as much as ANYONE ELSE â
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I no longer use words like âdepressionâ or âanxietyâ. I just say sad or apprehensive.
And the same goes if someone is acting in a way I dislike. So instead of saying something nasty like âsounds like someone has a personality disorderâ, I just take the time to describe their behavior.
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But it IS consistently based on a âpower imbalanceâ and the exchange of money, something thatâs unfair, unnecessary, unhealthy and inappropriate when all it is is talking with someone.
And psychotherapists are trained in psychiatric ideologies, i.e. âmental illnessâ, âpsychiatric diagnosesâ; theyâre psychiatrists without a prescription pad which can be even more damaging.
Either way, itâs all about power, manipulation and money.
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Thereâs one criticality important thing Ms.Heller doesnât mention, or perhaps is unable/unwilling to see: that itâs not uncommon for manipulative people to be working as mental health professionals.
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Sounds like just more Big Brother.
Powerful organizations always try to fix things after the fact, and canât see how perhaps they and society are part of the problem.
Children and adults need emotional support from people who truly care about their wellbeing, but not from prying professionals paid to police their private lives.
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This is true, but I think most are too dissociated to comprehend whatâs really going on. The ones at the top of the heap are another matter entirely.
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Dear Ramesh,
You might look into something at The Withdrawal Project (TWP). Itâs part of ICI, the Inner Compass Initiative. These are dedicated to helping people who are looking to reduce or come off psychiatric drugs.
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Birdsong made a mistake.
Bill Wells says, ââŠsome organizations can be extraordinarily closed.â
And Birdsong says, âMost of these belong to psychiatrists.â
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And btw, Freud wasnât the first to notice the importance of dreams. Just look in bible.
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Beatrice g asks, âWhat lie are you referring to?
I can think of two, right off the bat: little girls have âpenis envyâ, and little boys want to sleep with their mother.
Worth a glance: âWas Freud right about anything? Spoiler: not really., By Benjamin Plackett, from LIVESCIENCE
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Itâs been said many times before: itâs important live with both eyes WIDE OPEN â
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Brilliantly written and powerfully cogent article.
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HERE IT IS!!! In print! Just what Iâve always sensed and been trying to say here all along, which is that psychiatry (and its loyal sycophantic twin known as âpsychotherapyâ) are BULLSHIT GALORE â
âGoffman [a sociologist] emphasizes the role stigma plays in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment by expounding on its insidious barrier to recovery and the dehumanization and de-personalization which stimulates further damage and marginalizes victims. Essentially stigma breeds contempt and contempt breeds blame.â
Such are the so-called âhealingâ dynamics of psychiatry and its partner in crime âpsycho-therapy.â
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Dear Beata,
Youâre not alone in your efforts in truth telling. These videos might be of interest to you, at least in spirit:
âThis Changes Everything|Graham Hancock Interviewâ with Russell Brand
âFree Julian Assange: Noam Chomsky, Dan Ellsberg, & Jeremy Corbyn Lead Call at Belmarsh Tribunalâ from Democracy Now!
Take care,
Birdsong
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To yinyang:
I wasnât fully aware of that, but I think MIA is as radical as Iâm comfortable with. And I also think itâs a good idea to post in a place that has a somewhat more broad appeal, as something more radical might be too radical and therefore reach fewer people.
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And worth watching:
âBill Gates Said WHAT About Vaccines?!â By Russell Brand
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Worth reading:
âPolitical Abuse of PsychiatryâAn Historical Overviewâ, by Robert van Voren
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âToday, the vast majority of psychiatric drugs are prescribed by general practitioners.â
Psychiatric drugs are harmfulâno matter how you get them.
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Another good question.
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Bill Wells says, âAs Tip OâNeill wound suggest, the politics start at the local level. And some organizations can be extraordinarily closed.â
Psychiatryâs not medical. Never was, never will be. Itâs political, which is why it needs to go.
The political (punitive) abuse of psychiatry already exists in some form as evidenced by peopleâs inaccurate beliefs and attitudes towards people with psychiatric labels and the laws permitting forced psychiatric drugging and detention. And this will continue as long as psychiatry exists in any form. And THATâS the truth and the horror OF IT ALL.
And psychiatry has people up a creek because being a former or current user can make it difficult to be taken seriously, or even ruin someoneâs life personally and professionally. (Did I say psychiatry is political? Yes I did!) So people are left with word of mouth that thankfully is often the most effective (and safest) way for real change to happen.
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I refuse to become someoneâs puppet, psychiatryâs or M.I.A.âs â
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Itâs collective denial.
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Violence isnât always physically brutal; sadism often looks benign.
Psychiatry is a case in point: it offers a way for traumatized people to unconsciously deny their trauma by wearing the mask of âdoctorâ so to legally traumatize people in the name of âtreatmentâ. Itâs sanitized sadism.
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Psychiatry is inverted psychopathy: I see it as sadism disguised.
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You learn everything except whatâs most important. And whatâs most important? How to steer clear of the âmental health systemâ.
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I believe it. And itâs why I keep saying psychiatry is drug pushing.
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Neoliberalist gives advice:
b. Individuals experiencing misery are strongly urged to âget into therapyâ.
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All that garbage to get into college so you can become a âpsychiatristâ. Explains a lot.
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This is how I see it:
Psychiatryâs hauling out their old standby CYA (Cover Your Ass) medicine because theyâre afraid of the lawsuits headed their way. So theyâre jumping on the bandwagon before itâs too late.
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Many thanks to MIA for giving voice to those who have been unfairly criticized, silenced, targeted, imprisoned, tortured, censured and censored by psychiatry and its advocates.
I hope someday there will be no need for it.
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JamesHillmamdownwiththereligionofscientism says:
âThis a killing game from the beginning. This is not even a human relationship. It is artificial relation based on false assumptionsâŠâ
Exactly! The standard âIâm fine, youâre not,â paradigm works great for âmental health professionalsâ. Now how can that be?âŠ.
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And if THAT ever happens, Iâm getting the HELL outta here!
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yinyang :
âPsychiatry works to preserve the unjust corporate-dominated system under which we live.â
Thatâs the truth. They simply go along to get along.
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And all you need to do is follow the money.
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Itâs wonderful when people support each other.
But most psychiatric prisoners have no support.
Has anyone thought if there were no âpsychiatryâ thereâd be no Jim Flannerys???
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yinyang says, âThese people can NEVER speak for us.â
Absofuckinlutely.
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Bradford,
How very sweet of YOU!!!
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Amen, Bradford! Iâve no doubt it will eventually happenâŠ
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To yinyang,
I donât have a public email, but Iâm honored by your suggestion.
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I think legally banning the DSM should be FIRST on the list.
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Kate W.âs story painfully illustrates how nothing messes with your identity more cruelly and unjustly than a psychiatric diagnosis.
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Kate W. writes, âThis is the problem with being a consumer â we get consumed.â
Wow. Reading this article confirmed my worst suspicions about people who work in the mental health system. Nonetheless I was deeply saddened as I read Kate W.âs painfully vivid account.
And itâs an eye opener for anyone holding illusions about creating alliances in a mental health system based on stigma and invasions of privacy.
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David Oaks says:
âAll this focus on psychiatry is a bit old fashioned.â
Psychiatryâs history of human rights violations has continued unabated to this day and is becoming increasingly widespread due to the undeniable association among psychiatry, Big Pharma, mainstream media, academia, and the legislative/judicial/policy-making branches of government. So promoting alliance between supporters and opponents of the current mental health system reveals not only a serious lack of understanding and concern for those caught in the mental health system, but a disturbing complacency that is best described as irresponsible.
I don’t ever consider the fight for ANYONEâS human rights âold fashioned!”
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People holding seriously different views can unite on individual issues; it happens every day and is called democracy.
However, psychiatry is the only branch of medicine that seriously infringes on peopleâs basic human rights.
I therefore see aligning with people who believe in psychiatry as making a deal with the devil; this, however, does not preclude aligning over specific issues.
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Thank you, Bradford for CLEARLY stating:
âA psychiatric âdiagnosisâ is the medical equivalent of a six-pointed yellow star pinned on your clothingâŠ.â
Truer words were never spoken.
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I second those measures.
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Thank you, yinyang, for pointing out this important distinction.
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Iâve never viewed all âconsumersâ as the same. Whatever someone decides to do is their business.
What I object to is psychiatryâs violating peopleâs human rights by feeding them lies.
And building alliances where thereâs major conflicts of interests is counterproductive, especially when one side has more power than the other. So in this area I see collaboration and half measures as ultimately harmful for those who need help the most.
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Yes, and psychiatry uses fear (on some level) to âwinâ every argument, or âdiscussionâ, which makes things airtight for them, but suffocates others.
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Exactly. And thatâs just the way psychiatry wants it!
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SoSaysAbilene says:
âWhen the oppressed set aside all disagreements with their oppressors, there will be no discussion, no collaboration, no compromise. Just capitulation and silence.â
Welcome to the world of âpsychiatryâ.
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Protecting and restoring human rights requires addressing and eradicating problems at their source, which in this case is psychiatry. But unfortunately, too many supporters of the current mental health system either cannot see or refuse to acknowledge this.
Fortunately, more and more people are gradually seeing what âpsychiatryâ actually stands for, which is the denial of human rights.
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madmom asks, ââŠ.if you do not believe in constructive dialogues between psychiatric survivors, consumers, family members, and mental health professionals, if you do not believe in recruiting allies from within the helping professions, what is your preferred strategy for implementing a global revolution of the mental health system? What activities do you believe will result in a safer, more humane world?â
First of all, I DO believe in constructive dialogue with anyone. But that is not the same as forming alliances, something that is NOT constructive when fundamental beliefs are fundamentally incompatible.
And my strategy for implementing a global revolution of the mental health system is supporting and contributing to MIA which I believe IS resulting in a safer, more humane world, as speaking out in whatever way possible is the MOST concrete action ANYONE can take.
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David Oaks says:
âAll this focus on psychiatry is a bit old fashioned.â
Human rights violations committed by psychiatry and its wide assortment of allied professionals has continued unabated to this very day, and are growing increasingly widespread due to the undeniable alliances formed among psychiatry, Big Pharma, mainstream media, academia, and the legislative/judicial/policy-making branches of government. So promoting alliances between supporters and dissenters reveals not only a serious lack of understanding and concern for those caught in todayâs mental health system, but a disturbing complacency that can only be described as irresponsible.
My question is this: WHO in their right mind would ever consider the fight for ANYONEâS human rights to be âold fashionedâ?
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David Oaks says:
âAll this focus on psychiatry is a bit old fashioned.â
Violations committed by psychiatry and its wide assortment of cooperating practitioners not only continues unabated to this day, but are getting increasingly worse with the increasing coordination of psychiatry, big Pharma, academia, government agencies, courts, and the mainstream media. So promoting cooperation between supporters and dissenters reveals a disturbing complacency about the serious issues people face when caught in todayâs mental health system, which is not only very disturbing, but most irresponsible.
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Janne says, âIt really bothers me that the whole belief that science can prove the necessity of something and that educated professionals can make good decisions for others has been going on for so long. When that happens some personal and political goals are pushed in the scientific evidence base and expressed as objective fact. But those that are interested in these kinds of philosophical problems seem few.â
Agreed. Where people used to automatically point to their bible, theyâre now saying, âitâs the scienceâ about darn near everything, from dog food to psychiatric drugs. Itâs become a meaningless trope.
And itâs societyâs collectively uncritical embrace of anything that looks or sounds remotely âscientificâ that has led to the neglect of teaching people how to think philosophically and critically question the prevailing narratives about âmental healthâ. What started as misguided Freudian interpretations gradually merged with âscienceâ and steadily morphed into the publicâs unquestioning acceptance of psychiatryâs medical model. Itâs become the worldâs latest and greatest example of mass indoctrination.
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Kudos to you, Beata, for bravely standing up for the truth. Your courage is truly inspiring.
Please know Iâm sending you my heartfelt thanks and support, and am wishing you the best of luck.
Birdsong
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Many thanks and kudos to you, Beata, for your bravery in standing up for the truth. Your courage is truly inspirational.
Please know Iâm sending you my heartfelt support, and am wishing you the best of luck,
Birdsong
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And Iâll keep hoping Iâm not mistaken in thinking that allowing dissenting opinions is what MIA is all about.
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Many thanks and kudos to you, Beata, for standing up for what you believe in.
Bravery has tragically become a scarce commodity in the world these days.
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Janne says, âIt really bothers me that the whole belief that science can prove the necessity of something and that educated professionals can make good decisions for others has been going on for so long. When that happens some personal or political goals are pushed in the scientific evidence base and expressed as objective fact. But those that are interested in these kinds of philosophical problems seem few.â
Agreed. It used to be people automatically saying things like, âthe Bible says soâ, to where theyâre now automatically saying, âitâs the scienceâ about darn near everything, from psychiatric drugs to dog food.
Sadly, today our societiesâ collectively uncritical infatuation with science has led to not teaching people how to think critically and question prevailing theories. The mass indoctrination that began with Freud has morphed into the publicâs unquestioning acceptance of âbio-psychiatryâ.
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Shaming and excluding people for not sharing oneâs sanguine sentiments is intolerant, and collectively breeds authoritarianism.
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Ms. Aybarâs says, âAs it is, the clinical psychology field continues to promote and monetize the dehumanization of mentally ill people. When will the dehumanization of people with lived experience in mental illness stop?â
Excellent question. But I doubt things will change anytime soon due to the prevailing satisfaction with the status quo from those in leadership positions. But thanks to stories like Ms. Aybarâs, peopleâs efforts now have a fighting chance, as her story powerfully and painfully pulls back the curtain on the poisonous mindsets currently being inculcated in the very places one would think there would be none.
But I never held many illusions, as I always had the uncomfortable sense that the psychotherapeutic field too often brings out the worst in very people who work in it.
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To Robert Whitaker and Anyone Else,
My using the phrase âsleeping with the enemyâ was not intended to be a personal attack on Mr. Oaks or the work he does. I consider the phrase a reasonable choice for anyone who has experienced psychiatryâs abuses and therefore understandably disagrees with Mr. Oakâs efforts to unite people with markedly different perspectives.
I personally find psychiatryâs many documented malfeasances to be much too serious to allow for any common ground with those who harbor more sanguine feelings. And criticizing those who for good reason harbor less sanguine feelings seems counter to the purposes of this webzine, one of which, if Iâm not mistaken, is to give voice to those who have been unfairly targeted, criticized, silenced, tortured, censured and censored by psychiatry and its advocates. And I sincerely hope MIA continues refraining from such practices.
Respectfully,
Birdsong
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âPsychiatric diagnosingâ is a euphemism for shooting the messenger or blaming the victim. More plainly, itâs medicalized hate speech.
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Unless they haul out that sorry substitute for âcollaborationâ they call âshared decisionâ, their pathetic attempt to maintain control by appearing cooperative.
But when push comes to shove, they know damn well who holds the power, and theyâll not likely to willingly relinquish ANY of it.
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And how do most psychiatrists âshoot the messengerâ?
By doling out âdiagnosesâ.
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Yup! Itâs âmy way or the highwayâ for most psychiatrists, thatâs for sure â
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Thank you yinyang for shedding some light on the situation.
To me itâs mind-boggling how defensive most psychiatrists and their advocates get whenever people disagree with them, especially when presenting evidence of psychiatryâs many obvious harms and fallacies. They invariably go into attack mode attempting to shred someoneâs character, i.e. âshooting the messengerâ â
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Stopping psychiatryâs obvious abuses, (involuntary commitment, forced drugging, ECT, or âpsychosurgeryâ) wonât be enough, because psychiatryâs harms are rooted in its own false premises; more colloquially, psychiatry is psychological vermin that needs to eradicated, not merely âtweakedâ.
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Yes!!! Subjugation rules the day in psychiatry.
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Youâre probably right, yinyang. However, most psychiatrists have no concern for the hatred, confusion and pain their profession creates.
And no one ever attained meaningful change using euphemisms.
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Steve,
Thank you for this comment. It reminded me of the term âwillful ignoranceâ. So I looked up the definition and think it perfectly describes most âmental health professionalsâ, from instructor on down.
Willful ignorance is: âTactical Stupidity. The practice can entail completely disregarding established facts, evidence, and/or reasonable opinions if they fail to meet someoneâs expectationsâ
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Itâs uncanny how typical it is for therapists and psychiatrists to turn a deaf ear to peopleâs real concerns, as they usually demand to be seen as having more knowledge than anyone else, especially when they know they donât!
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The hypocrisy begins with saying that âexperts know bestâ. The fraud begins when theyâre paid for it.
Learning to live comes from actually living, not from those paid to read from a script.
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Problems begin in assuming that âprofessionals know bestâ. And hypocrisy begins when theyâre paid for it.
You learn to live from actually living, not from people who read from a script.
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Bradford ,
Iâm not blaming Woanjun Lee. Iâm stating my opinion on the study heâs reporting on. And I think important to keep tabs on what passes for âscience.â.
And I fully agree with you that psychiatry is definitely unkind, and prescribes powerful neurotoxins.
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KateL,
Your DBT therapist was gaslighting you. Itâs the typical therapistâs modus operandi.
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KateL says:
ââŠat some point the best decision is to say, screw all the therapies.â
THAT was the beginning of healing for me.
âAt some point, the patient realizes that maybe the âtreatment providersâ enjoy seeing patients face rejection, suffer, fail. Itâs the only thing that makes sense.â
THATâS what Iâve always thought! I think a lot therapists unconsciously live to experience schadenfreude; why else would they seek power over others?
And some are definitely full-blown sadists.
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Psychiatric survivors donât need any more burdens placed upon them.
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To my dear friend Bradford,
Are you asking me? If so, hereâs my answer:
No one should be expected or pressured to form an alliance with people who refuse to fully accept and stop the harms they cause, even if they stop harming.
Survivors arenât responsible for appeasing their perpetrators.
Allying with psychiatry is allying with barbarism.
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Thank you, Someone Else. THATâS what psychology is: âThe Study of the Blatantly Obviousâ.
And so is psychiatry.
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You learn how to live life THROUGH LIVING IT â not from âprofessionalsâ who donât have enough sense to know that psychiatric labels are BULLSHIT.
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Someone Else is right. The whole âmental health systemâ is âintrusive, insane, and devoid of common sense.â
And most people who work in it get drunk on power, sooner or later.
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Thank you, anotherone. Thatâs very kind of you.
And it actually means something because no one made you say it.
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People need to learn better ways of taking care of themselves emotionally, and this doesnât happen through âdiagnosesâ. It happens by being with others who openly share their own struggles, not people who hide behind âcredentialsâ in order charge a fee.
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âThe Power Imbalanceâ
âToday, there are few opportunities to get help without also receiving a diagnosis.â
This is the root of the problem caused by the current âmental health systemâ. As soon as a diagnosis is given, an insidious process of infantilization starts taking place that may not be dislodged until serious damage is done to someoneâs self-concept. Itâs as damaging as calling a child âbadâ.
âYou make yourself the master of another through language and the power inherent in language.â
This is exactly what psychiatric language does, FOR psychiatrists, and anyone else who uses it. It gives the illusion of power and knowledge when all it actually does is strip people of their own.
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This conference is a huge step in the right direction. But Iâm afraid itâs just going to spawn another school of âtherapyâ that inevitably puts itself ahead the client. In other words, just another ego trip for unhealed, unconsciously insecure therapists.
What helped me get beyond therapy better than anything was learning to heal myself through self-therapy, courtesy Daniel Macklerâs many videos and books. No gimmicks, just truth, through and through.
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Just goes to show what some people are made of.
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And most therapists âtreat traumaâ like itâs the flu.
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Art can threaten those in power because it reflects the unconscious, something they instinctively know they canât control.
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âJohnstone points out that if you only have a trauma-informed focus, you can fall into a trap of becoming too individual-focused and forgetting the interaction with the power structures in society.â
This point canât be emphasized enough. Therapist who say they âtreat traumaâ are doing the same thing as those who use DSM labels, making âtraumaâ just another label that ignores the surrounding situation, or âstoryâ.
The only thing people need is to be heard by someone who doesnât hijack their story, âtraumaâ or not.
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Psychiatrists and psychologists donât âdiagnoseâ anything, but they frequently do misinterpret EVERYTHING â
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– âWords affect both the person who utters the words and those who receive them.â
THATâS an understatement. Psychiatric language devalues people and allows practitioners to talk down to them. Not very âtherapeuticâ.
– âBut psychiatry has the problem that it does not base itself on what people actually say, but what it thinks they mean.â
Hereâs what most psychiatrists (and psychologists) fail to see: that DSM âdiagnosesâ are no more accurate and even less useful than the Freudian interpretations of yesteryear. In other words, theyâve merely exchanged one bogus idea for another. Not very âinsightfulâ.
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Artistic ability is one of the greatest gifts to give the world. But unfortunately, most of it isnât respected unless itâs profitable.
But I think it goes deeper than that, as art sometimes reflects things people arenât willing to see. And a lot of the hostility comes from jealousy.
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Itâs paternalistic, alright, and in all the worst ways.
All it proves is that people, both men and women, take for granted someone running their home or having their kids.
They need to remember that people are PAID for doing housework, and that women can now RENT OUT THEIR WOMBâand if THAT isnât âworkâ, I donât know what is.
And thatâs a lot more work than any man will ever do.
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Sure sounds like it.
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Iâm surprised they havenât already. Theyâve co-opted just about everything else: âart therapyâ, âdance therapyâ, âmusic therapyâ, andâhow could I forgetââtalk therapyâ.
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Genuine acts of kindness and freely chosen social connections do more than improve so-called ânegative affectâ, they prevent it. And no one needs a study to know that.
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Some people are too arrogant to grasp the true nature, meaning and reason for religion: feelings of awe, gratitude and humilityâall of which are spiritualâsomething theyâre loath to accept, for who knows what reason.
Itâs too bad when people have no sense of the transcendent. But some people have no ability to be humble.
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People like E. Fuller Torrey are too arrogant to grasp the true nature and meaning and reason for religion: a sense of awe, humility, and gratitudeâwhich are non-material, which means spiritualâsomething he seems loath to understand.
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Why would anyone want to unite with people who promote themselves to persecute others?
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Emotional distress and psychological collapse doesnât come from out of the blue. It comes from one of two things:
1. Bad things happening that no one can be blamed for, or
2. Getting treated like shit from people who should know better
Kindness and social connection are the foundation of any healthy relationship, NOT âchemical imbalancesâ
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Someday psychiatry and its âtherapeuticâ offshoots will be seen for what they truly represent: complicated defense mechanisms used to hide from emotional reality.
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l.e._cox says, âThe biggest problem with most academics (not to generalize) is that they canât confront, and thus see problems as much more complicated than they really are.â
THATâS the godâs honest truth. But some people get a kick out of complicating things. Or maybe theyâre just cowards.
NEWSFLASH: Psychiatryâs not rocket science. And neither is psychology, for that matter. But making people think they are can bring in lots of self-satisfaction, not to mention plenty of dough.
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And what is âspontaneous social connectionâ? Friendship. And no one should have to pay for that, i.e. âpsycho-therapyâ.
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Spirituality is innate. Religions are arbitrary inventions.
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Someone Else says, ââŠ.declaring all âwomanâs workâ volunteer workâŠis a staggeringly paternalistic attitude.â
Some do âwomanâs workâ for a living. Theyâre called nannies, housekeepers and cooks.
Some unfairly judge and denigrate for a living. A lot of them are psychiatrists and therapists.
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Thereâs no love in psychiatry.
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Psychiatric drugs numb the emotions and thus prevent the processing of trauma.
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Thank you Dr. Gotzsche for your dedication to truth and integrity. A textbook critical of psychiatryâs current inaccurate narrative is badly needed, and I hope it gains traction in mainstream circles.
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âResearchers have debated what it means to recover from mental illness, with âprofessionalâ opinions often differing greatly compared to service user opinions.â
I think psychiatrists are extremely arrogant to think theyâre the ones to decide what ârecoveryâmeans.
And most think youâre âsickâ if youâre not punching someone elseâs time clock.
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Doctors are the ones who are addicted to drugs. Patients are just being âcompliantâ.
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Psychiatric drugs prevent the processing of grief from trauma.
Feeling the feelings is how healing happens.
And no one âneeds a therapistâ to do it.
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âMeth but for childrenâ.
Scary but true.
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Psychiatryâs replaced it with diagnoses and drugs, while other psychs preach âresilienceâ, âmindfulnessâ or that granddaddy of them all, âpsychotherapyâ.
The un-psyched call it âproactiveâ.
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Itâs spiritual gaslighting.
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Beautiful. Only love. No labels, drugs, or âpsycho-therapyâ.
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Thatâs the gist of it all.
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Breakdowns could be breakthroughs, if psychiatry left people alone.
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Psychiatric diagnosing is codified abuse. Itâs medicalized gaslighting.
And psychiatryâs only concern is protecting its own turf.
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These researchers need to grow up, get real, and to quit trying to win the science fair.
Itâs way past time to feed someoneâs empty stomach instead of their own bloated ego.
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Howâs this for an alternative: find something to do other than ruining peopleâs lives.
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Telling children thereâs something wrong with their brain damages their budding sense of self.
Itâs a sanitized form of psychological abuse.
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Sheltering in place was a huge relief because it gave me a reason to stay out of places where music is constantly played. And things are a lot quieter with the advent of earphones. A lot less musical bombardment, which helped me gain some mental and emotional equilibrium.
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Psychiatry and psychology promote unrealistic standards for peopleâs thoughts, feelings and behavior. Theyâre very judgmental. Just like religion often is.
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My late aunt was hospitalized only once in her life for the only psychotic episode she ever had. Thank goodness the attending psychiatrist realized she was suffering from a one-time event because she hadnât been that way before. So when she was discharged she didnât fill any prescriptions or continue with âtherapyâ. And she was never psychotic again.
And what was the matter? She was suffering from extreme loneliness.
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Thank you again, Bradford, for your steadfast support.
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justsayno86,
I think people who donât realize theyâre psychiatric prisoners are unconsciously using defense mechanisms, i.e. âStockholm syndromeâ or âidentification with the aggressorâ) as a means of survival.
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The only reason Allen Frances did an about-face on the DSM was because he saw it was becoming a laughing stock, not because he suddenly grew a conscience.
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âOne thing psychiatrists will never invent is Ethics Deficit Disorder and put themselves or their own brethren through some brain scan studies.â
âEthics Deficit Disorder is no more or less real than Borderline Personality Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder or Internet Gaming Disorder.â
Terrific comments, registeredforthissite.
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I would never tell someone to drink from a poisoned well, nor to walk over quicksand.
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Good question.
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Thereâs nothing ethical about the mental health system.
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Thank you very much, justsayno86. I greatly appreciate your generous appreciation.
You are right. Psychiatry IS the greatest enemy. But itâs an invisible enemy, which makes it more dangerous. And people definitely need to be warned.
I also canât imagine why anyone would ever want to unite psychiatric survivors with psych consumers. And anyone who thinks itâs a good idea shows a serious lack of understanding.
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Thank you, Bradford. Your kind words and support mean a lot to me.
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Lawsuits and snobbery are the name of of the game.
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Constantly hearing music stresses me out, and I never knew how much until the pandemic.
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I doubt Ghandi or Dr. King would criticize or censor someone speaking what is true for them, as this is inhumane.
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One definition of science is âinterpreting an observation of the environment that is limited by the tools available for observingâ.
But most psychiatrists and psychologists lack the most important tool: an open mind.
Psychiatry and psychology see people through a diagnostic lens, which is the epitome of evil in anyoneâs language.
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And what is âsoul growthâ? Itâs the âevolution of a personâs spirit on the journey from fear to loveâ.
And whatâs the purpose of âspiritual growthâ? âTo help you embody your soul or Higher Self, to shift from ego to Soulâ.
But psychiatry and psychology call people âsickâ, which makes these both the Devil Incarnate.
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Spirituality essentially means emotional growth, which means the broadening, deepening or âmaturingâ of a personâs soul, which means gaining an awareness and understanding of oneself and others and how this relates to the world around them.
But this is a deeply personal, complex process that tragically gets hijacked by psychiatric diagnoses, drugs, and even âpsycho-therapyâ.
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Itâs all about emotional growth.
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Sam says, âAn authentic attempt at âhelpâ looks nothing like what is occurring.â
Medicine has no business involving itself in peopleâs emotional/psychological matters.
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sam plover says, âFunny how a shrink will accept that his patient is âsickâ, he never questions what you say and even has a bunch of diagnoses on hand.â
Yeah, and they call it âmedicineâ.
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Fiachra quotes, ââŠ. I was told I would have to take Mind-numbing Thorazine-like drugs for the rest of the lifeâŠâ
So was I, which was THE BIGGEST BULLSHIT GOING.
âMental Health Diagnosis is mostly a play on words, and the idea that psychiatric drugs are medicine is rubbish.â
Psychiatry is nothing more than a play on words, and this makes (most) psychiatrists THE BIGGEST liars out there.
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Fiachra says, âI think some of these âpsychiatric controllersâ must be psychopathsâŠâ
Iâd bet my life on that.
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Fantastic article. It reveals like no other how one-sided and corrupt the psychiatric industry, Big Pharma, and the legal system have become.
âThe very fact that someone has been given any psychiatric label is used in a staggering variety of ways to deprive them of self-respect, dignity, self-confidence, employment, custody of their children, the right to make decisions about their medical and legal affairs, and even their livesâŠ.â
âAnyone in danger of losing their human rights â or their life â through a court proceeding should have someone like Gottstein advocating for them, because he is a tireless advocate, knows the law inside and out, and never loses sight of what is true, what is right, and what is humane in its respect for his clientsâ dignity.â
A YouTube video worth watching: âOH SH*T, THIS JUST HAPPENEDâ, by Russell Brand
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These neuroscientists could have learned a lot from this YouTube video: âA Critique of NeuroscienceâAs it Relates to Psychological Healing From Traumaâ, by Daniel Mackler
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Psychiatry unequivocally deprives people of their humanity with its pseudoscientific diagnoses, iatrogenically harmful drugs, damaging ECT, and forced medication/hospitalization. And none of these build diplomacy or allies, but definitely deny peopleâs human rights, which is criminal. So expecting meaningful dialogue with people who not only deny their humanity but also their human rights is not only unrealistic, it is illogical.
And while there are no laws demanding anyone face their inner demons, more than enough people have learned more than enough about psychiatryâs demons or âdark sideâ with its violations of social justice which is the reason for this website.
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I was replying to David.
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Miracles happen when you treat people with dignity.
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Steve,
Hereâs an article from the New York Times about how Quakers deal with âmental illnessâ:
âFor 175 Years: Treating the Mentally Ill With Dignityâ by Debbie M. Price
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Whatâs the definition for enemy? A thing that harms or weakens something else.
This describes psychiatry and those who practice it and is the reason I have no respect for either.
And if you want to talk about âsweeping generalizationsâ I suggest you start with the DSM.
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Nijinsky says, âSomething does happen when you step out of investing in using fear, trauma, coercion and physical violence to control peopleâŠThatâs what snake oil salesmen do, and lately the mental health system.â
Yes, and I would posit that miracles happen when people step out of psychiatry.
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Steve says, âI think we should all be in touch with our own inner sense of what is ârightâ and true, rather than following some outside interpretation of reality.â
I agree completely. And I forgot that Buddhists donât believe in a deity, and that Quakers refer to God as Light Within, which to me means oneâs own intuition.
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Anonymity on MIA provides safety for people to express themselves authentically, which is no laughing matter, âalliesâ or not.
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Have it your way.
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Spirituality is not conformity; itâs reality. Religion is not spirituality or reality; itâs conformity.
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What do you mean âNot ALL religions are about conformityâ
when all religions require believing the supernatural?
Being in a religion means conforming to some notion of spirituality. How is this generalization untrue?
Trying to âbelieveâ in anything more than my own intuition made me feel more disconnected, almost psychotic.
Realityâs enough to deal with.
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oldhead says, âStrategizingâ towards what end?â
THATâS the real question.
As long as thereâs money in it, itâll come to no good.
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Iâm not dismissing anyoneâs claims of whatever they think is a miracle. I just donât think one group has the authority to decide whatâs a miracle.
And psychiatry and religion are about exerting authority more than anything else.
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Nijinsky says, âReligion and psychiatry seem to be in the same boat as indoctrination rather than simply listening, being curious, and SHUTTING UP with their attempts at programming rather than allowing and showing decent curiosityâ.
Very true. Religion and psychiatry arenât about curiosity. Theyâre about conformity, how to think, talk and act like them.
And psychedelics arenât the answer anymore than psychiatric drugs.
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I see no value in watering down or sugarcoating my opinions in order to make others more comfortable.
Thereâs no point in living if you canât be authentic.
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Someone Else says, âThe scientific fraud based âmental healthâ industries are corrupted to the bone.â
I couldnât agree more.
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I consider psychiatry the enemy because thatâs how I see it. And itâs not without reasoning OR content that Iâve come to this hard-won conclusion. And youâre assuming I donât use either reasoning or content is both disparaging and diminishing, and very presumptuous.
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I thought religion and science are both driven by fear of the unknown.
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Sleeping with the enemy is still too dangerous, especially when the enemy has more power than you.
And itâs hard having to sleep with one eye open.
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The saying, âThe road to hell is paved with good intentionsâ gets played out again and again and again by âtherapistsâ with good intentions.
And this is not a mistaken idea.
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Steve says, ââŠ.generalizations about âtherapistsâ lead to mistaken ideas. Not all therapists are alike or believe in the same things.â
But they all believe in âtherapyâ, which creates more problems, in my experience.
I canât bring myself to defend anything about âtherapyâ because itâs a bad idea that only gets worse when people call themselves âtherapistsâ, no matter how well-intentioned they may be because they still represent and profit from an exploitive system based on irrational power dynamics and pseudoscientific diagnoses. So defending any part of it is morally inconsistent, imo.
And the saying, âthe road to hell is paved with good intentionsâ plays out again and again and again by people who practice âpsychotherapyâ.
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I think religion and science are both driven from fears of the unknown.
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Few can distinguish ego from instinct, which leads to all kinds of problems, western medicine being one.
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And the Catholic Church arbitrarily changes its miracles checklist, as it used to demand three âmiraclesâ. I guess they got impatient in todayâs digital world.
Itâs like psychiatry arbitrarily changing its âDSMâ checklists.
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And as for âmiraclesâ: for me, these mean good things that canât be explained. And I see no need for getting entangled in someone elseâs religiously tedious explanations, be they religious, or âscientificâ.
My question is this: why do some people insist on needing to explain the unexplainable? And my answer is this: some people need to be seen as god, and scientists are no exception.
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The Catholic Church has its own arbitrary checklist for declaring new âsaintsâ, which includes at least two incidents they arbitrarily consider âmiraclesâ. This makes about as much sense as a group of psychiatrists arbitrarily declaring new âdiagnosesâ via arbitrary checklists for their own arbitrary bible, the DSM .
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I was referring to the Catholic Church which has its own arbitrary criteria for determining whomever they arbitrarily deem a âgenuine saintâ, which includes at least two things they arbitrarily deem a âgenuine miracleâ, which makes about as much sense as psychiatryâs arbitrary checklists for its definitely ingenuine DSM.
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Craziness is defining whatâs subjective as objective.
Psychiatry and psychology are perfect examples.
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The university system, like the societies that create them, capitalize on destructive dynamics that preserve societiesâ distorted values.
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The author is looking for clarity in all the wrong places.
Even her writing is over the top.
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Anthony Knox says, âBelieving in the existence of something for which there is no evidence is the very definition of âreligionâ.
That makes psychiatry a religion, âevidentlyâ.
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Most people who work in the âmental health systemâ are obsessed with seeing whatâs âwrongâ in the person, instead of whatâs happened to the person. And even if they do happen to consider whatâs happened to the person, they still pathologize/label their reaction to whatâs happened to them.
Itâs a bollixed system from start to finish.
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How in godâs name does anyone think they know better than anyone else what qualifies a âgenuine miracleâ?
Oh, the ironyâŠ
The miracle is the fact that âeducatedâ people manage to keep a straight face while thinking like this. Which suggests they must be delusional, which makes sense regarding psychiatry, since that DEFINITELY qualifies as delusional.
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Thank you, sam.
I forgot to add that while most psychiatrists have lost their nerve, they still have plenty of gall.
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Thank you, boans.
Yes, I agree. (Most) psychiatrists are masters of looking good, and not much else.
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Why has it taken so long for âthe expertsâ to figure out what lots of ordinary people have already known for a long time? Maybe theyâre finally realizing they can no longer ignore the handwriting on the wall.
Looks to me like theyâre trying to claim the narrative before getting caught with their pants down.
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Everyone needs a sense of agency, control, freedom and privacy, of being heard, included and valued for who they are, not the objectification, isolation, exclusion and brute force used by traditional psychiatry, which is essentially sanitized brutality.
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Universities claim to be dedicated to the transmission of knowledge and wisdom. But if this were true, why are so many dedicated to modeling and motivating some of the worst in human nature: bias, intolerance, favoritism.
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Itâs mystifying how seemingly intelligent people manage to find ways to further complicate their already confused lives.
A little caution goes a long way.
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People who work in areas like âpsychiatryâ and âpsychologyâ have reached the apex of dissociation, as they have the delusion theyâre helping people. But all these do is provide a way for them to intellectually distance themselves (dissociate) from feelings and fears they canât face in themselves. Another word for this is âotheringâ, or labeling, itâs âgold standardâ, which has always been a means of survival, conscious or not.
And universities are great places to academically dissociate.
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Why does it take so long for âeducatedâ people to figure things out? Why canât they just admit the garbage theyâve been selling doesnât do anything but numb the brain???
It sounds like the jerks are starting to pay attention to whatâs happening on the sidelines and are trying to get ahead of the narrative thatâs being created by people who actually know what theyâre talking about. But as stupid as the âexpertsâ are showing themselves to be (once again), they at least sense theyâre starting to look stupid, which, btw, they actually are.
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Darkness and silence invite sleep which quiets the mind and gives the body a chance to regenerate. And hormones can be very sensitive to light-dark cycles.
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People have a right to âbelieveâ whatever they want. And I donât really give a damn one way or the other, as long as they donât try and shove what they âbelieveâ down my throat.
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I donât get itâŠ
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Traditional trappings of success (college degrees, professional/social distinction, expensive lifestyle) wards off unconscious feelings of dissatisfaction and prevents social rejection. And the university system, like the society that created it, capitalizes on these destructive dynamics to preserve societyâs distorted values.
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Steve Spiegel says, ââŠonly psychiatry uses redundancy to promote legitimacy.â
Definition for redundancy: not or no longer needed or useful; superfluous
Freud was trained as a neurologist which was why psychiatry was believed to be a âmedical scienceâ. But since he hard time establishing his practice, he had plenty of time to wonder about patients whose problems defied physical explanation. And while many of his ideas were very insightful, a lot of them were just plain nuttyâproducts of his own out of control imagination and habitual misogyny. So eventually, a few people got wise to the guy and came up with their own take on things, but not before his ideas took root in the public consciousness.
Thereâs nothing more prone to fads then the âmental healthâ system. And psychiatryâs redundancy is reflected time and time again whenever the latest psychiatric drug comes on the market, or some half-cocked âtherapistâ writes another book to publicize their own brand of âgroundbreakingâ âpsychotherapyâ. And neither of these are legitimate.
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The only thing that most âmental health expertsâ know how to do better than others is how to con vulnerable people.
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boans says, âWhat sort of delusional visions are conjured up when people speak like this?â [âtreatmentâ]
The idea of âtreatmentâ itself is a delusional visionâand a lot of mental health âprofessionalsâ en-vision themselves as saviorsâwhich suits very nicely their visions of grandiosity.
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And since emotional struggles are generally perceived as weakness, or in todayâs jargon âmental illnessâ, people who struggle (or viewed as âdifferentâ) are often met with suspicion and kept at an armâs length using various means of rejection and sometimes outright hostility.
Dynamics like these flourish in traditional college environments where competition is lauded and worldly success is venerated, so fears of ânot succeedingâ, or ânot fitting inâ make a lot of people nervous and therefore want to avoid like a contagion those experiencing difficulties because it reminds them of their own insecurities surrounding failure or not fitting in. And these feelings are often hidden underneath all the hype.
So people who donât fall in line with societiesâ expectations in thought, appearance or actions are often roundly criticized or even dismissed because people donât want to be associated with anything they perceive as âillnessâ/weakness i.e. âfailureâ (which equals rejection, the most primal fear) because vulnerability is antithetical to the whole college spiel of âwinningâ, something society lives and dies by. Itâs a vicious circle covered up by the ballyhoo of college life.
And fears of litigation are behind a lot of what drives the whole scenario these days.
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Stigma (fear) against âmental illnessâ has primal origins.
Emotional struggle on some level means vulnerability, which generates feelings of overwhelm/weakness, which leads to feelings of helplessness, which ultimately triggers fears of rejection, a feeling first felt at some point in infancy. So receiving attention and feeling accepted (having oneâs need met) are associated with survival, both physical and emotional.
And most adults continue playing this out as soon as certain levels of prosperity are achieved, by running around seeking validation and grabbing whatever status they perceive as important in their environment, as this wards off feelings of isolation and helplessness felt as infants.
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Thereâs not a chance in hell that psychiatrists will ever willingly âshareâ their power, because without it, what have they got? Not much more than anyone else, except an ability to write âprescriptionsâ for chemical junk. And so-called âpsycho-therapyâ is word junk.
Theyâre naked as jaybirds and deep down they know it.
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Stigma around mental illness has been around for thousands of years. And fear is at the root of it. And contrary to popular belief, things like âpsychiatry, âpsychologyâ and the so-called âmental health systemâ are built on stigma (fear) and do a good job of passing it along.
And universities are products of elitist thinking, no matter their geographical location. And elitism breeds unhealthy competition and discrimination that leads to destructive power dynamics on which most societies (and families) are based.
What passes for âeducationâ about âmental illnessâ in traditional venues like universities actually promotes and continues spreading misinformation (fears) about what is believed to be âmental illnessâ while stoking feelings of superiority towards those who have either not had an opportunity for such âeducationâ, or have chosen to bypass it.
Imo, having exceptional intellectual ability has nothing to do with emotional intelligence. Unfortunately, the world values and operates on an ability to process large amounts of complex information or an ability to express oneself eloquently more than emotional intelligence. And the same goes for exceptional athletic or so-called artistic/creative ability. So universities, (especially private ones) end up being highly curated, controlling environments that are more concerned with liability because this affects their marketability (image) which ultimately affects their funding. Simply stated, universities are more concerned with their reputation.
Itâs too bad being a good person isnât enough.
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Mutual collaboration with people who legally have the upper hand is impossible, and attempts at doing so is nothing but a performance in futility.
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Psychiatry canât change in any meaningful way because itâs foundation is flawed, the flaw being a belief in âmental illnessâ.
And mouthing terms like âbio-psycho-socialâ doesnât change anything. But it is good for a laugh or two.
Psychiatry wonât change because it works in ways that matter most to those who practice it, those ways being power, prestige, and money.
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Psychiatry canât change in any meaningful way because itâs flawed at its core, and the core is âmental illnessâ.
And idiotic mouthfuls like âbio-psycho-socialâ donât change anything. But it is good for a laugh or two.
And psychiatry wonât change because it works in ways that matter most to those who âpracticeâ it, those ways being power, prestige and money.
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Neuroleptics used to be called chemical lobotomies or chemical straight-jackets, which is exactly what they are.
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Relying on âprofessionalsâ to help with personal matters, no matter how trying, provides a field day for opportunists.
No one can claim âexpertiseâ unless theyâve been through it themselves, or have been by the side of someone who has, and definitely NOT in a âclinicalâ sense.
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The âclinical gazeâ is what psychiatry is all about. And psychology isnât much better. But itâs useful for keeping the powers that be and those who follow them comfortably dissociated.
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Mr. Ruck is right. Healing is, above all, relational, and this includes the relationship one has with oneâs own self. But traditional âpsycho-therapyâ is not relational in any meaningful sense. Itâs a sad and sterile substitute for the real thing.
Imo, the world would be a much better place if people stopped feeding/paying the beasts of psychiatry and psychology and instead started feeding/paying each other in more ways than one. And creating awareness through MIA is how this is already happening.
Relationships that involve emotional intimacy should never be based on money, as money is never the right incentive, especially in relationships based on a power imbalance. And money is a major incentive, no matter what self-deluded do-gooders would have people think.
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âPsychiatry at a Crossroadsâ???
Psychiatryâs a dead end that insists on calling itself a âcul de sacâ.
And it isnât âat a crossroadsâ. Itâs driving the wrong way down a one-way street on an endless road to nowhere.
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Could it be that articles like this signify the last gasps of a dying âprofessionâ? One can only hope. More likely itâs more lip service, or fear-induced naval-gazing in yet another feeble attempt to save their lying asses.
The only thing that needs to happen is for psychiatry and its cohorts to be liquidated, terminated, and utterly eradicated like any other failed business venture. And calling themselves âscienceâ or âhealing artsâ is the biggest load of bullshit ever perpetrated on society.
But psychiatry et al is far worse than a failed business or âhealingâ venture. They are the termites of modern society.
And what are the âtermites of societyâ? Well, according to academia.edu, it refers to people who exploit others. And I canât think of a better term for psychiatry and its cohorts.
And if they insist on pointing to âthe scienceâ, they need look no further than the increasing numbers of people âdiagnosedâ with a âdisorderâ and the steady accumulation of âdiagnosesâ in DSM. Itâs the manifestation of wish fulfillment for psychiatrists.
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Research like this is a disgusting waste of resources that would have been better spent on feeding and housing those in need rather than feeding the egos of people more interested in adding to their curriculum vitae.
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Itâs not about the lies. Itâs about people believing the lies.
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Itâs not about the lies. Itâs about people believing the lies.
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sanneman says, âThe ADHD narrative is severely polluted and many professionals should reconsider the information they provide.â
People should reconsider ANY information ANY professional provides.
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Some say cruelty is the point. So is greed.
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Religions metaphorically express the meaning and feeling of being alive. They hold intrinsic value individually and culturally.
But psychiatry and psychology have no intrinsic value, scientifically or spiritually, as both are ethically vacantâand take pride in being so. And the harder these pathetically gruesome quagmires try to be socially relevant, the more they fail society, as coldly analyzing the human experience dignifies no one. They are prime examples of intellectual perversity born of intellectual grandiosity, that mimics science while being religiously intolerantâthus wreaking havoc in peopleâs lives in all kinds of ways.
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I believe thereâll come a day in the not-too-distant future when psychiatry disintegrates from its own unbridled confidenceâin no small part because MIA keeps spreading the word.
Thank you, MIA.
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Years ago, I adopted a puppy dog from the local pound. She looked and acted fine, but she shook violently on the way to her new home, although I held her close and spoke to her gently. And when she got there, it became apparent that sheâd been badly mistreated. She wouldnât let anyone affectionately pat her near her rear, as she was afraid people were going to hit her. And for two weeks she wouldnât go near her bowl of food until no one was looking, and then sheâd grab most of it in her mouth and hide it. And she didnât want to get in the car because she thought she was going to be taken away from a home that loved her. But with unreserved affection, she eventually learned to feel secure and trust people. But up until she left this world, there were times she did things that revealed she never forgot what sheâd been through. And people are no different.
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An article worth reading from the New York Times: âFor 175 Years: Treating the Mentally Ill With Dignityâ, by Debbie M. Price.
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Well said, Nijinsky.
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Breaking points arenât just physical, they emotional, psychological, and spiritual as well. And everything collapsing can open the way for reassessing and clarifying oneâs life. Some call it spiritual rebirth. âIllnessâ it is not.
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Adding psychiatric âmedicationsâ to unprocessed trauma is a recipe for disaster like no other. But no one need depend on so-called âmental health professionsâ for this either. But thatâs something few âtherapistsâ have the brains to realize or balls to mention to anyone, especially their so-called âclientsâ. Most hide behind a useless alphabet of dubious âqualificationsâ, while lacking the most important one of all: an ability to listen respectfully.
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Psychotherapy is just as barbaric, imo.
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Religions are ways for people to metaphorically express the beauty (and sometimes horror) of the human experience. Itâs what gives religion and experience of living their intrinsic value. Itâs the reason religions have existed since the beginning of time.
But psychiatry and psychology are different in all sorts damaging ways, as the purpose of both are perverse, imo. And the harder these try to be relevant (scientifically or religiously) the worse they fail, as coldly analyzing the human experience dignifies no one. They are monstrous examples of intellectual smugness born of hubris and self-absorbed grandiosity that mimics science while being religiously intolerant. And both need to dissolve, as neither are either religion OR science, but nevertheless wreak havoc in both ways.
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Psychiatry and psychology arenât science. Theyâre religious propaganda, period.
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Psychiatry and psychology habitually ignore the intrinsic value of the human heart, because doing so would weaken their foolishly incessant claim of being âscientificâ.
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Imo, the only thing the âmental health professionsâ offer is a polluted stream of ever-increasing âpsychopathologiesâ, ever-increasing toxic substances to âtreatâ them, or one of its ever-increasing âpsychotherapiesâ, all of which are based on a pay-to-play, power-imbalanced, artificial ârelationshipâ. And with Big Pharmaâs steadfast contributions, itâs become a medicalized Ponzi scheme of epic proportions.
And while most religions are guilty at some time in history of inflicting damage in the name of their respective gods, most were originally based in honoring the dignity of each and every human being. And this ultimately brings out the best in people.
But psychiatry and psychology do nothing of the sort. They are fields obsessed with defining, redefining, and ultimately sentencing people to lives of needless limitation and psychological pain in the name of âtherapyâ, most of which can be avoided if people simply avoid those who work in the system, as most who do are obsessed with finding whatâs wrong in the person, instead of whatâs wrong in their past or present surroundings. And theyâre neglecting to do so, via their ridiculously vast roster of supposed âdiagnoses and treatmentsâ brings out the worst in peopleâand most clearly in the âtherapistsâ themselves.
And we all know who benefits most from such hopelessly dogmatic thinking.âŠ
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Removed for moderation.
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Other mental health clinicians are just as limited as the psychiatric ones, as most operate from the same one-dimensional, sickness-obsessed perspective.
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Religious blasphemy has some new names: ânon-complianceâ and âtreatment resistanceâ.
The DSM is no more medical than the Bible. Itâs a book of psychiatric sins.
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Most religions donât pretend to be science, except for â of course â the religion of psychiatry/psychology.
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Religion offers hope. Psychiatry/psychology offer confusion.
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Psychiatry and psychology are definitely shibboleths. Itâs the only thing they can reasonably lay claim to. And deep down they know this, which is why they cling so tightly to their one-dimensional medical model with such religious fervor. And the insane part is they canât see how ridiculous this is. It shows their own incredible âlack of insightâ.
The main difference between psychology/psychiatry and religion is that where most religions offer some kind of redemption, psychiatry and psychology do not. All they offer is an endless stream of âpsychopathologyâ, which renders them incapable of seeing beyond peopleâs imperfections. And their âtreatmentsâ are an extension of their own pathology. Itâs all very nihilistic.
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Psychiatry and psychology are definitely shibboleths. Itâs the only thing they can reasonably lay claim to. And deep down they know this, which is why they cling so tightly to their one-dimensional medical model with an almost religious fervor. And the insane part is they canât see how ridiculous this is. Itâs an incredible lack of insight.
The main difference between psychiatry/psychology and religion is that most religions offer some kind of redemption, whereas psychiatry/psychology canât see beyond peopleâs imperfections. All they offer is a stream of endless psychopathology. Theyâre the definition of nihilism. And whereas most religions seek god, most psychiatrists and psychologists believe (unconsciously) they ARE god.
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Hi Boans,
Iâm sorry for what youâve been through. Mental health professionalsâ claims of confidentiality are false because patientsâ files are not. And the fact that few if any legislators recognize this as an abuse of confidentiality is unconscionable.
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Correction: Psychiatry and psychology reliably, categorically and conveniently deny real science anytime it contradicts their carefully crafted false narrative.
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Once upon a time, churches ruled large areas in the western world. These days itâs the mental health industrial complex.
Once upon a time, people who were castigated were called âsinnersâ. Today theyâre called âmentally illâ.
Once upon a time, the only means to absolution were to âconfess oneâs sinsâ to church officials. Nowadays people are compelled to confide in people they donât trust, claim diagnoses they donât agree with, and take psychiatric âmedicationsâ they donât want.
Whoever said âthe more things change, the more they stay the sameâ was spot on.
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Psychiatry and psychology reliability and categorically deny real science anytime it goes against their carefully crafted false narrative. But they pretend to be scientific because they know it makes them sound convincing.
Their peculiar habit of denying real science clearly indicates how indoctrinated most psychiatrists and psychologists actually are, especially when doctors of other specialties happen to believe the patients who tell them of problems theyâre having with psychiatric âmedicationsâ. But this doesnât happen very often.
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Most psychiatrists and psychologists harbor a religious belief in a medical model that not only distorts reality, but makes a mockery of the scientific method.
And while some define science as the act of interpreting an observation of the environment that is limited by the tools available for observing, most psychiatrists and psychologists fail to recognize the most important tool for observation and interpretation, and that is having an open mind. But thankfully most religions and art welcome imagination, while psychiatry and psychology definitely do not.
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Psychiatry and psychologyâs refusal to perceive the intrinsic value of the human heart is what makes them so harmful and dangerous.
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Psychiatry and psychologyâs inability to perceive value in the human experience is the reason they habitually disease-ify the human experience. Itâs how they fend off their own unconscious fears and desires.
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Religion and art are symbolic (metaphorical) ways that humans use to create and express the truth, reality and meaning in the human experience. Itâs what gives them intrinsic value and is why they exist. Their power comes from acknowledging the dignity of the human experience (spirit), and is the reason both have existed since time immemorial. But religion goes from good to bad when it becomes dictatorial and intolerant, two words that best describe most psychiatry and psychology. And these two fields, unlike religion and art, flourish by medicalizing, categorizing, and coldly analyzing the human experience which dignifies no one. They are monstrous examples intellectual smugness brought on by huge amounts of hubris and self-congratulatory self-absorption that not only mimics religious intolerance, but actually is religious intolerance.
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Thank you for sharing your heartbreaking story. Itâs a testament for why psychiatry needs to be deemed a criminal enterprise.
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You canât find meaning in things that are intrinsically meaningless.
And psychiatry and psychology are intrinsically meaningless as both insist on ignoring the intrinsically important role of the human heart.
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Psychiatry and psychology both claim to have discovered scientifically valid explanations for just about everything under the sun while failing to recognize that matters of the heart and mind are not matters to be approached âscientificallyâ.
And while psychiatry has proven itself to be scientifically invalid, psychology is equally vacant, as it also fails to offer much more than anyone with a modicum of common sense and insight would come up with on their own. Nor has either come to realize that observing and naming behavior is scientifically meaningless, whether or not itâs done âclinicallyâ, which makes both fields one huge cosmic joke.
And what is a cosmic joke? Believing the false projections of the limited mind.
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âBut they (psychiatrists and psychologists) manage to squeeze the meaning out of just about everything.â
CLARIFICATION: In my experience, psychiatry and psychology manage to obscure or destroy worthwhile meaning in and of just about everything.
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Come to think of it, psychiatry or psychology is more like using a chain saw in the dark, thatâs for sure.
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Using science to âtreatâ the soul is about useful as using a sledgehammer to trim oneâs hair.
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Rasx asks, âWouldnât image-making then be closer to the truth about existence, or at least as close to it in some way, as analytic reasoning?â
Interesting question. I think things get confusing when essentially mushy stuff like psychology and psychiatry claim to be science while acting like religion. They try to be all things to all people, but end up having no claim to anything worthwhile. But they do manage to squeeze the meaning out of just about everything.
Rasx then asks, âWouldnât poetry and literature and religion and metaphor generally be valid means of expressing truth then?â
Poetry, literature, religion and metaphor are not just valid ways of expressing truth and experience, theyâre essential to sharing truth and experience. And analytical reasoning is another valid way of finding and expressing truth and experience. But this is where psychiatry and psychology fall off a cliff, so to speak, as neither deal meaningfully with either truth or experience, and definitely not analytical reasoning.
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Image-making is the unique way humans find meaning. Poetry and literature and religion are all metaphors to find and express meaning. Which is essentially the meaning, purpose, or reason for art. Itâs something uniquely human.
Psychiatry and psychology are hopelessly materialistic, imo, as they stupidly think mouthing âscientificâ terms and engaging in âscientificâ research gives them credibility, which is stupider still, because thereâs nothing more meaningless than endless reams of âscientificâ data, most of which is meaningless either materially or spiritually. Itâs an expensive waste of time, a lose-lose situation thatâs all form and no substance. Itâs medicineâs junk food.
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Psychiatry and Psychology try to be religion AND science while failing at both.
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Psychiatry and psychology arenât medical practice. Theyâre propaganda, imo.
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There is no âmeaning makingâ in psychiatry and psychology. Thatâs the first illusion. Unless you consider propping up some professionalâs ego and bank account meaningful.
Psychiatrists and psychologists are the worst people to turn to for things like that, imo. And I bet they make âmeaning makingâ a âdisorderâ if they havenât already.
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Most psychiatrists and psychologists seek to reduce, control and define the indefinable because theyâre unconsciously terrified of lifeâs paradoxical vagueness and complexities. They childishly cling to science while stubbornly denying lifeâs ultimate uncertainty. But their stubborn belief in the reliability and appropriateness of a âscientificâ approach makes them a religion all their own as it seeks to perform the function of traditional religions, which is mainly to quell anxieties. But itâs a far more dangerous one, as their aping of scientific language and protocols give them an illusion of objective reality.
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And how does this economic practice think itâs helping the human citizen?
By thinking too much of themselves and not enough of others, while enjoying too much the spoils of their profession, which primarily involve exerting power over others while living large.
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Thank you, Mr. Wells. I like your comments, too.
I especially agree with your question regarding where the art and artistry has gone in the practice of learning how and why to be, and how to become, a better human. Itâs certainly not a question that science can answer, and itâs definitely not one it should even try answer. These questions are an anathema to the so-called âscience of psychiatryâ for obvious reasons, and also to its self-congratulatory cousin known as the âscience of psychologyâ for somewhat less obvious reasons, but the reasons for both are the same: big egos and even bigger hubris, as both are in areas they donât belong.
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And what are psychiatry and psychology trying to be? A religious science. And they will never be either.
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Much like religious leaders of the Middle Ages, most psychiatrists and psychologists take advantage of peopleâs lack of information about the dangers of psychiatric drugs and the manipulative nature of their power imbalanced âpsychotherapyâ â and for the same reason: use fear to collect money and maintain power. This was easy for religious leaders in the Middle Ages when most people didnât know how to read. Hopefully, the internet will continue informing more and more people about the dangers and abuses of the psychiatric/psychotherapeutic industry, and while providing viable alternatives to the sick medical model and power-inflated and money grubbing âpsychotherapyâ, much like the Gutenberg printing press did, once upon a time.
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Whatâs the definition of psychology?
The scientific study of the human mind and its functions.
Whatâs the definition of âpsycheâ?
The human soul, mind or spirit.
Psychology and psychiatry should stop using the word âpsycheâ. They need to stop trying to be what theyâre not.
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So true.
Visual noise: streets or freeways teaming with traffic, cluttered storefronts with loud signage or billboards. Not to mention digital, print, and tv advertisements. Itâs too much to process.
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Unprocessed feelings (traumas) are what causes most âmental illnessâ.
Todayâs mental health industrial complex (diagnoses, drugs, power imbalanced âpsychotherapyâ) maintain the status quo.
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Quiet and darkness are incredibly healing. And so is silence.
I find the constant din of city noise (cars, trucks, sirens, air traffic, etc.) and background music constantly played in stores (and sometimes even in parking lots), or anyoneâs blaring tv set anywhere to be much worse than distracting. It agitates the whole nervous system and makes calming down impossible, which adds to pressure and stresses people out, which causes so-called âbipolar maniasâ, imo.
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Psychiatry and psychology are malevolent fiction that have taken the place of traditional religion. They are secular religion, and are very destructive to people and cultures.
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They use propaganda and call it science.
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A lie is a lie is a lie.
People have a right to expect that medical professionals will not lie to them about the cause, known or unknown, of their problems, and the mechanisms, known or unknown, of the âmedicationsâ they prescribe. Doctors using âuseful fictionâ is a weak excuse for patronizing, controlling, and exploiting peopleâs faith in them as trustworthy medical experts.
Todayâs psychiatry/psychology mirror the power of religion in Europe before the Gutenberg printing press and its subsequent Reformation. Both exhort a set of beliefs said to be âinfallibleâ, i.e. âscientificâ, and todayâs non-believers are scorned, punished, stigmatized, tortured and damned much the same way as religious non-believers in medieval times. And pressuring people to believe in psychiatryâs or psychologyâs dogmas and rituals, i.e. DSM diagnoses, drugs, âtreatmentsâ/âpsychotherapyâ, is just as irrational. But whereas religion has some redeeming features, such as believing in the reality and sanctity of the human soul/spirit, and respecting others and helping those in need, psychiatry and psychology do not. They are science imposters and soul killers. They are religionsâ evil twin.
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A lie is a lie, and people have a right to expect that medical doctors will not lie to them, especially about the cause, known or unknown, of their problems, or about the medications they prescribe. Doctors using âuseful fictionâ is nothing more than a weak excuse to patronizing and control patients while exploiting their faith in them as trustworthy medical experts.
Psychiatry and psychology mirror the Christianity in the Middle Ages. Non-believers were scorned, punished, damned and tortured if you didnât believe in their god, their bible and its mandated rituals/âsacramentsâ. And the the invention todayâs internet is the electronic version of the gutenberg bible and subsequent Reformation.
Psychiatry and psychology are no different from the intolerance of medieval Christianity. Both exhort a set of unscientific beliefs professed to be true, and non-believers were scorned, punished, damned and tortured. And conforming psychiatryâs/psychologyâs beliefs in its diagnoses, drugs and âpsychotherapyâ is just as irrational.
Psychiatry/psychology are religionsâ evil twin. But unlike religion, psychiatry and psychology have no redeeming features.
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Whatâs the unconsciously aggressive motive behind most therapists?
Wanting power over others through a âpower imbalanceâ.
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Thank you, Rasx. I wish you the best.
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Youâre welcome KateL.
I donât think many therapists are aware of the obstacles people can face in the healthcare system. What I was trying to say is that the therapist who said that sounds like someone who didnât appreciate what you went through.
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Rasx,
I wish you well.
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KateL,
Youâve tried very hard in an impossible system where people fall through a cracks while running around in circles. And it sounds like the therapist who asked you, âDo you want to keep going in circles?â is part of the circle.
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I looked up the difference between personality and temperament. According to my resources, people are born with certain temperaments, whereas personality is influenced by experience. Itâs all very confusing to me.
But the overriding factor is definitely the type (or lack thereof) of emotional bond/attachment between a baby and its parents/caregivers.
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The DSM is a totally subjective piece of socially biased
BULLSHIT â
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Alex said, âThe last one was the one that convinced me that something was wrong with me, whereas now, I can see that she was judging me, purely.â
Psychiatric diagnosing is a judgmental act, pure and not so simple.
Define judgmental: critical, fault finding, censorious, condemnatory, disapproving, disparaging, deprecating,
I would add insulting, infantilizing, self serving, egotistical, narrow minded, and most of all, passive-aggressive.
Define passive-aggressive: behavior that is seemingly innocuous, accidental or neutral, but that indirectly displays an unconscious aggressive motive.
And whatâs the aggressive motive behind most therapists?
Holding power over others â
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Scientists who choose not to believe what the data is telling them have Selective Psychosis: âSEâ.
Scientists who cover up what they see are Lying Cheats: âLCâ
I think most psychiatrists and psychologists are cult members AND marketing agents.
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KateL,
Any âfailureâ isnât yours. Youâre tried very hard in impossible system where people fall through the cracks while running around in circles. And I think the therapist who said that is part of the circle.
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Correction: âBut ultimately, all this comes down to, as you say, nature via nurture.â
I believe everything is affected by, as you say, ânature via nurtureâ.
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Some of my replies to Rasx are out of order. If itâs my fault, I apologize.
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Thatâs true. But somethingâs definitely wrong with people who refuse to see whatâs in front of them. At least I think so.
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I donât think losing touch with your surroundings means anything other than losing touch with your surroundings. But I do think artistic or creative people are more sensitive to their surroundings, which doesnât mean anything other than artistic and creative people are more sensitive to their surroundings. And I donât mean to imply that artistic, creative, or sensitive people are more likely to experience âmental illnessâ later in life.
Labeling people with psychiatric disorders mostly helps the people doing the labeling, which means some people are hung up on controlling the people in their surroundings.
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And the DSM is, as you say, socially constructed:
âAll you have is do is put some words together to construct your diagnostic criterion for something you observe, put in in print and all of a sudden it is reifiedâŠâ
Which means the DSM a totally subjective piece of socially biased junk. And your example of drapetomania shows exactly how, which means anyone tagged with a psychiatric diagnosis is suffering from âdrapetomaniaâ, to one extent or another.
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Rasx,
I agree completely. Thereâs nothing more sensitive to the environment than an infant, both in the womb and after.
I agree with Jerome Kagan in concluding that âdifferent temperaments will express their attachment styles differentlyâ, and with your statement that âhigh reactivity or sensitivity is a complex developmental outcomeâ, and that âattachment style is nonetheless determined by parental behaviorâ. And I also agree that sensitivity isnât a risk factor for âmental illnessâ later in life.
But I still think people are born with their own unique personality, and also with their own abilities: artistic, athletic, intellectual etc. But ultimately, all this come down to, as you say, nature via nurture.
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Temperaments are inherited. And sensitivity is temperament. But looking for âmental illnessâ genes is looking for needles in a haystack.
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Getting immersed in scientific data is just another way of channeling unconscious existential fears/angst.
And psychiatryâs fruitless search for genetic evidence is its latest attempt to deny the existence of psychiatryâs nonexistence.
And some people take comfort in the complicated, as itâs very distracting. No wisdom there.
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âdystopian Don Quixotesâ â thatâs the truth! They canât see how they make things worse.
And anyone who disagrees with them is given a âdiagnosisâ, even people they donât even know!
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Itâs also an example of Dissociative Distraction: âDPâ
Hereâs four new diagnoses for the DSM:
Cognitive Pathology: âCPâ
Dissociative Distraction: âDDâ
Dissociative Projection: âDPâ
Scientific Escapism: âSEâ
And who qualifies? People who take themselves too seriously.
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But it makes them feel important, i.e. âbig egoâ. And people like this are usually in need of a serious spiritual laxative.
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Kids who are different get picked on in school, and this can drive them over the edge, âCNVâsâ or otherwise.
Who needs study to see that? Some people have way too much time on their hands.
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GPM says, âThe DSM needs to be trashed too. The completely failed âoperationalizationâ or biologizationâ or âgeneticizationâ of a diagnostic criteria pushed by Insel and others is itself a kind of cognitive pathology that ought to be the only entry in the DSM.â
Yes. People who believe in the DSM are the ones with a problem.
âThe idea that suffering, worried, scared, conflicted and traumatized people have a genetic brain disease is barbaric and Medieval and even nutty.â
Yes. Itâs barbaric and nutty.
I took a look at the paper, and was not surprised. My gut has always told me that stuff like this, i.e. foolish scientific extravaganzas, i.e. âmolecular psychiatryâ are products of a particular type of dissociated mind, its key feature being the uncontrollable urge to concoct excruciatingly complicated scientific explanations for easily explained phenomena. These types of seemingly rational activities are actually a function of the unconscious mindâs efforts to shield the conscious mind from painful emotional realities. Itâs a classic form of dissociative distraction, with no connection to the real world. Simply put, itâs scientific escapism.
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DSM labeling is a passive-aggressive act disguised in medical language. Itâs the professionalsâ way of lashing out/acting out.
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âthe illusion of psychotherapyâŠâ
Yes. Itâs a contrived, pseudo-relationship.
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beokay quotes, âOne colleagueâŠdescribed DSM diagnosis and treatment as âhate language.â
Hate language. Thatâs what DSM diagnoses really are: codified hate language.
âFor this is the language one would use to describe people they not only did not believe but also disliked.â
Yes. Most âtherapistsâ are professional hypocrites.
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dogworld says, âPsychiatry does not allow recovery only perpetual victimizationâŠ.â
Over and over and over againâŠ.their narrative never changes.
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The most helpful people were not professionals, in my experience.
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Life isnât about seeing a âtherapistâ, or seeing âclientsâ. And itâs not about taking psych pills or being electrocuted, either. Itâs about sharing love and wisdom.
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I remember reading the story of a woman who gave birth to a baby with Downs Syndrome. The doctors told her and her husband to institutionalize her. They refused and said, âSheâs ours and we love her, just as she is.â
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dogworld says, âMIA may become as narrow and as strict as psychiatry itself.â
It will if MIAâs not careful. And I bet the psychiatric industry is eyeing it nowâŠ
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Life can be harder for sensitive people, especially for those who donât fit in. And people get ostracized/labeled for not fitting in.
I use to wonder what happened to the kids who labeled/teased/bullied others. I think a lot grew up to be psychologists or psychiatrists, because I knew some who did!
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Thereâs a reason why people describe their experience with so-called âmental illnessâ as âspiritualâ. Because it is. Itâs the self reconnecting to the soul, or âspiritâ.
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People have been known to âgo insaneâ i e. âpsychoticâ when placed in intolerable circumstances, for instance, POWâs subjected to torture. But just too much stress in good situations can cause temporary breaks with reality. And too much stress makes it harder for the conscious mind to suppress painful (but unprocessed) thoughts, feelings, experiences, in other words, âtraumaâ.
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Because their actions are the same, they just give a different name, i.e. âresearchâ.
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Correction: âPsychiatry is also about policing the thinking and the being part of humanity.â
There should be a law against THAT â
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âThe rest was all giving a shit about the others personâs life.â
And no one needs a degree for that.
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I think most psychologists and psychiatrists unconsciously identify AS the aggressor. Because thatâs what they really are, and unconsciously want to be, imoâŠ.
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â⊠psychiatry is also about the policing and the being part of humanity.â
Today I heard that someone in Britain was arrested for silently praying in public. (The person was near an abortion clinic). The police simply asked and the person said yes.
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Good question.
The âexpert-userâ dynamic is what I object to the most. And thereâs no need for it â except for blowing up someoneâs ego.
It amazes me how often so many psychologists and psychiatrists are the least helpful. Their humanity gets replaced with hubris, imo, so I think your request for a âcollaboration among equalsâ is too big an ask for most. And I wouldnât pay for it anyway.
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I think being sensitive is both a gift and a curse. But strong feelings can be too intense for the conscious mind to process, especially when something traumatic is involved. Minds break from reality for a reason, and psychosis protects the conscious mind, and art is an expression of the mindâs unconscious.
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Clinical psychologist: âGee, maybe we should learn to beâŠ.what was that thing called again?âŠoh yeah, humanâŠ.now I wonder what that means?âŠ.Guess weâll have a do more research!â
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Psychologists should stop fooling themselves existentially by realizing that psychology isnât a science. Maybe then theyâd be ready to âhelpâ people. But Iâm not holding my breath.
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How in the hell does someone seeking âtherapyâ get rejected from âtherapyâ? I donât call that âtherapyâ.
KateL, YOUâRE the one who should be a therapist, instead of the goons, kooks and quacks out there that you had to deal with.
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Rasx says, ââŠ.because the REASON they responded that way was because they were traumatized IN THE PAST.â
Very true.
And these traumas arenât forgotten; theyâre stored in the unconscious BECAUSE theyâre overwhelming, which the reason for an unconscious.
And memories, both good and bad, are triggered in unexpected ways. And thereâs nothing âinherently wrongâ with THAT â
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