I dislike the way that it and the phrase ‘user movement’ have been hijacked by the antipsychiatry brigade as though they are the only ones with an intelligent and legitimate opinion on mental health.
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The best way to frame a debate to your advantage (or prevent it) is to co-opt the language being used. Works very well for politicians.
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I always wonder why the anti-psychiatry brigade seems to get really worked up and emphatic.
For a little bit… there were some guys in my support group who got physically mad at me because I “sold out” or “I’m faking recovery by using a crutch” by taking meds.
I always wonder… why does it matter to them?
I KNOW I need meds… but if someone I know doesn’t… and they do well… I’m still happy for them…
Do you dislike the phraseology or the fact that there is opposition to psychiatry (as a harmful practice) in the first place? Where did the term “anti-psychiatry”, as a derogative, come from?
I get the impression those most adamantly “pro-psychiatry” are the same ones advocating for forced treatment (via needles and straps, if necessary).
I’m neither pro nor anti.
I can understand the frustration and even the anger though. I’ve been wronged in the past by psychiatry and from what I’ve seen of my records and doctors notes, grossly misunderstood from the beginning. That said, I’m not running around telling others to stop going to see their docs. I’m not against medication and more than willingly take a reasonable dose of it myself.
I’m just…done with the mental health thing right now. I can’t do it anymore. For whatever reason it hasn’t made any sense in a decade. I trusted blindly in the beginning, went through hell and lost all trust in it, but came back, got better again and began to trust again. Now it’s become obvious that this was a mistake.
Wait though, what are the options for those of us with a diagnosis of mental illness who wish to take medication but have had their experience with mental health services nearly irreversibly ruined? Hmm.
I dislike the ‘destruction for destruction’s sake’ mentality and the intellectual arrogance.
I don’t know anything about that.
Squeaky wheels get the grease.
(I hate that phrase but it really does apply).
Cheerleaders rarely make the news.
“Yay psychiatry! woot woot!” “Can I get a ‘p’, can I get an ‘s’…”
I actually appreciate people who have crticisms of psychiatry. Personally I cant stand my psychiatrist. I want to change him but I’ll have difficulties as Im in he public sector.
I like to hear people who bash psychiatry sa I feel Im not alone.
Oh, when I saw the phrase ‘psychiatric survivor’ I thought it meant someone victorious over mental illness! ???
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I do not like the term ‘consumer’ when referring to a mentally ill person.
Psychiatric Survivor is a very broad term - I mean I have had some pretty shitty psychiatrists in my past - they did cause more harm than good. I do not consider myself as a Psychiatric Survivor - not all psychiatrists are ‘bad’, so I am not going blame all of psychiatry - there are some very good psychiatrists that know how to help and genuinely want to help
'‘Psychiatric survivor’ suggests you have survived something terrible ie psychiatry and I just can’t buy into that any more than I can buy into psychiatry being beyond criticism and need of improvement.
Psychiatry has flaws but it is not evil.
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Misdiagnoses, involuntary treatments, addiction, metabolic disorders, tardive dyskinesia, alterations in brain functioning, causing the very mental illnesses to be treated.
There’s plenty to survive, plenty to criticize. For a while I thought of my psychiatrist as nothing more than an upscale drug dealer. It can be so much more dangerous, though, because psychiatrists hold people’s lives in their hands, and that is a responsibility I’m unconvinced they’re equipped to handle.
misdiagnoses- definitely an issue
Involuntary treatments- there is a legitimate case for judicious use of them
addiction- for drugs like benzos-yes
metabolic disorders- agree this is a problem
tardive dysinesia- can be a problem but can and does occur in higher rates than normal in treatment naive patients with psychosis.
alterations in brain functioning- some grounds for arguing this but also alterations in brain functioning in treatment naive patients.
I think that it is all very individualized - I mean there are a lot of poor quality psychiatrists, and in their hands, I agree a lot of damage to the patient can be done. On the other had there are some good, ethical, high quality psychiatrists that can help the patient. Anti - psychiatry movements make a lot of generalizations - they feel that ALL of psychiatry is harmful, and this is not the case.
One cannot make blanket statements like Psychatry as a whole is harmful, it all depends on the individual psychiatrist.
You can say this about medicine in general - good docs, bad docs and everything in between -
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The reason there is so much resistance to psychiatry as a whole is because of the cozy business relationship between psychiatrists and the pharmaceutical industry. It is in the doctor’s financial interest to push drugs that may in fact be counterproductive, detrimental, and harmful.
My brother who is an executive at a big player major pharmaceutical company, knows what happens behind the scenes.
There was a time, not so long ago, where doctors/psychiatrists had a cozy relationship with certain sales reps and certain drugs - they would recieve ‘gifts’ from the pharmaceutical companies.
He tells me that today the laws and regulations make this kind of business relationship between the pharma sales reps and psychiatrists illegal. Its not what it used to be. Sure doctors have their favorite drugs - but again a good doctor will not push certain drugs on patients if the med does not fit their needs. Doctors no longer get compensated by big pharma - the laws have changed
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