antipsychiatry.org

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Just discovered this web site:

http://antipsychiatry.org/

Having been harmed by mental health professionals in the past, I agree with a lot of what these people are saying. I would have broadened it to include therapists as well, but it's a good start.

I might have to archive it before my phone is cut off.

That looks like an interesting site! I'll definitely check it out.

Wow. Thanks so much. I've been harmed by the psychiatric system.

I don't agree with the suicide article though.

except for the medicine part, the rest is scientology propaganda BS

I don't know why all rights got relegated into the "civil rights" category. Suicide is a natural right stemming from self-ownership, not a civil right, which some may consider contrary to natural rights.

I've just finished reading the suicide article.

While I think the discussion of brain disease is irrelevant and only serves as a red herring, I agree with virtually everything else written.

I still find the title to be completely in error. A "civil right" is access to a social or government function, like voting. There is no way you could twist the act of suicide to fit this definition. Only assisted suicide could be considered a "civil right." Suicide is a natural right.

Speaking as a person with a mental illness and with mentally ill family members, I find this website repulsive. Why? Because it ignores the real issue of those who are mentally ill but don't get proper care because society still doesn't recognize it as a "real" medical problem. Therefore, they don't get the insurance coverage other types of illnesses get...if they have insurance at all. You're treated as if it's your fault, that it's a character defect you need punishment for and if you don't have insurance, you either have to rely on the state healthcare system that couldn't care less or get sicker and sicker until you end up getting thrown in jail where, ironically, you finally are obligated to receive treatment.

The denial that mental illnesses are just as real as "medical" ones is part of the reason why psychiatry is 50 years behind all the other fields. If people believe something isn't real, they're far less likely to be motivated in making changes and research needed to find more effective treatments and medications. There are incompetant psychiatric professionals out there just like in every other field but to make a blanket statement that all psychiatry is bad or false is to deflect attention from the much larger issue that people who need treatment don't have access to it.

Nonexistance of Schizophrenia??? Please... I could agree with the nonexistance of coherent and completely related Schizophrenias. They're all grouped behaviorally instead of causally.

And I agree that many are harmed by psychiatrists. That's why knowledge, not avoidance, is one's best protection. Medications in moderation. And skepticism of the actual knowledge of the psychiatrist. One needs to remember that the psychiatrist is performing a job for you. And you have every single right to fire him/her and hire someone else. And since pdocs really are too med-happy these days, insistance on low doses is the safest.

But as for going all out and saying these disorders don't exist... um, no. I don't buy that. I've learned too much about them and seen them in too many people, despite that inaccurate diagnoses are frequent. Getting the right dx can be the most frustrating. But that doesn't mean the misdxed disorder doesn't exist in someone else.

So would that put us stuck about 75-100 years behind advancements made in other illnesses when it comes to social and political acceptance? That would seem about right to me.

Whether or not psychological disorders have endogenous causes has absolutely no bearing on whether society should be subsidizing treatment.

It shouldn't in either case.

Regardless if your problems are your fault or not, nobody GAVE you a mental disorder. It's not like a truck hit you and caused you to become bipolar.

Nobody GAVE me bad feet which required reconstruction and society doesn't owe me a red cent!



And how have these treatments and medications fared so far? Not very well!

I suppose if the current medicine isn't working, just try more! Or sorry, not medicine...policy.

I don't agree with everything on this site, but if anything it's food for thought. The whole world view of mental disease and disorder which can be cured or remedied by medicine ought to be challenged.

I just finished the diatribe on depression for example. I often am severely depressed and can best describe it as a chemical addiction. Obviously I don't agree with everything on this site, but we ought to give pause and consider what are the real-world gains of this treatment philosophy.

Then again, there are people (like me) who have been proven by scientific testing to be in need the chemicals that are in the psychiatric meds. I will agree that many shrinks are quick to drug you into a stupor and send you away.

I would also like to add that just because something isn't labeled a disorder doesn't mean you shouldn't take a drug to change your psychological state.

If someone feels pensive and consumes alcohol change his psychological state, that's his right. You don't have to frame everything into the classical medical structure of disease, remedy, and cure. In fact doing so only puts the psych in the drivers seat, where he is supposedly in a better position to know how to treat the patient.

It's a bunch of baloney, and it's no wonder people are often hurt with this methodology.

If you want to achieve a different mental state and a psych thinks a drug may help accomplish that, by all means experiment. Just don't let yourself be treated like an invalid.

Uh, how did they do that? Did they take chemical samples from your brain?

I'm also unsure what you meant by "need" in that context.

Evolving Minds: social exclusion and the medical model

interesting article on alternative viewpoints and therapies.
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:mW ... =firefox-a

http://www.undercurrents.org/minds/Evol ... andout.rtf (if ^ doesnt work)

I believe it's general policy, though not general practice, that no one is forced into treatment unless they are a minor and their parents give the okay, if they are unable to represent themselves, or if they are endangering themselves or others.

Professionals frequently find a way to get around this. But I don't believe they are supposed to. Also, goating someone into treatment or taking advantage of a lack of knowledge of the situation or the effects of the treatment should be included under "getting around this". Many patients respect the recommendations of the professional because they are a "professional". This isn't always so safe.

Unfortunately, professionals are very human and don't always listen too well. Most of the psychiatrists I've had didn't give a crap about my opinion. But those bad experiences don't make me throw the baby out with the bathwater.