PSYCHIATRIC JERKY III

Let’s glimpse into the traumatic impact that capitalistism has on individuals, families and intern society at large. When one starts to look for the root causes and connections that are contributing to and maintaining this culture of “madness”  that is making and keeping people “sick”, an act that proves to be very lucrative for medical research, Big Pharma, as well as, for the psychiatrists who invest in the drug companies who they support, by prescribing the drugs that are connected to their investments. Even more disturbing, are the new “disorders” that continue to be defined and in turn more drugs are designed and prescribed. Some disorder are suspect like the diagnosis and drug treatment for “Oppositional Disorder” which pathologized behaviors that I believe are important to have in society, to help keep things from really getting out of hand by the powers that be. These are behaviors that challenge the status quo and authority through various descenting reactions to the androcentric oppressive systems that we find ourselves in, with or without our knowledge, that these oppressive systems exist and how these systems impact and control individuals and societal behaviors. We might think we have free will but I beg to differ.

Also, problematic is the early detection and medical intervention that is now on its way to becoming a common approach even in Canada.  It is a program for early detection “Prodormal” before the onset of a mental disorder. The result is administration of a diagnosis and psych meds to young children and teenagers because a series of questions deems them at risk of developing mental illness down the road. 

Prodomal treatment is dangerous on so many levels. This discussion l will save for another column…but one can intuitively and logically induce a whole set of potential problems coming from prodromal diagnosis. And in turn, there will be a dramatic increase in the number of young people labeled and treated with psych meds for potential mental disorders. And as a result, Big Pharma’s and their shareholders line their pockets with huge profits well they are putting children and teens at great psychological and physiological danger.

As Ron Sakolsky, a local Surrealist/Anarchist writer points out that “mutual acquiescence”, a term describing blind servitude to the oppressive institutions and systems of control, a term coined by him, can be overcome with the recognition that we can recreate reality from our desire for poetic lives that embodies joy, mutual-aid and freedom to become whatever we can envision ourselves to be. Thus, being a positive contributor to a healthy vibrant life for oneself, others, ones community and society at large.

A new society of mutual aid and connected care is needed for creating a strong community that encourages and embraces neurodiversity and allows people to freely express themselves as they see fit, that which does no harm. In terms of mental health l call for a new poetic all inclusive healthy society free of oppression and control. That has a whole facet of different behaviors and values that are not dictated by the elite self-serving androcentric governments and corporations that continually plague our well being. One that offers support via community care, not hospitalization and meds, and also practises non-invasive radical therapies with a political analysis …along with such things as Open Dialogue, peer-support, community care and outreach, safe care houses plus the many other alternatives that have interested caring people available to help one and another in times of need.

We need a personal, a societal and a political transformation if we are to

shift into a new reality that operates intriguingly differently and enhances our lives. What does a change in reality look like? How does it come about? Questions like these are where the imagination needs to go in order to envision creative ways to transform and liberate ourselves from involuntary servitude, illness and misery.

Let’s do it….let’s make the needed transformations happen and live better radiant poetic lives…why not it’s possible!

Insanity – a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world.

R. D. Laing

          PSYCHIATRIC JERKY II

The conventional “Medical Model” approach to treating people experiencing extreme states of consciousness, the so-called “mentally ill”, is that of diagnostic labels from the Diagnostic Statistical Manual 5 (DSM) that stigmatizes people and puts them at risk of harm by others or themselves. The present model says that one’s neurological rmakeup is not “normal” if it doesn’t function in specific areas of the brain like everyone else’s does. Therefore, you have a disorder, an illness to be treated by the administration of medication, or even electro shock or some other invasive technique, that can sometimes be helpful or lead to lasting mental or physiological damage.

However, given that the medication today is not that of the past where the side effects were substantially debilitating, one can perhaps find that many of the psychiatricmedications of today work at relieving or settling down specific symptoms that are detrimental to the individual without horrible side effects. So yes, there can be a time and place for using Psychmeds to relieve someone’s intense suffering and allow one to be able to participate in non-invasive therapeutic sessions.

Also, there is no room in which neurodiversity can be looked at as an important contribution to a healthy diverse heterogeneous population where it should be, at times, embraced.  Science has demonstrated that diversity within populations whether human, plant or animal is very healthy in ensuring the survival of the species.

The Medical Model premises neurological dysfunctions as the cause of a variety of mentaldisorders is suspect as many scientific studies have resulted in inclusive results. Especially, because there is difficulty discerning if a “neurological dysfunction” is a causation vs consequence of a particular “disorder”. Such as, are the high dopamine levels seen in people labeled as Schizophrenic a consequence of having the so-called disorder or is it the cause of it?

Regardless of causes and consequences and whether your brain has been pathologized because it’s not doing the same thing as everyone else’s, mentaldiversity should not be labelled as an illness, because is that really the case?  Hmmm, interestingly people labelled as Schizophrenic, a diagnosis that many people are extremely afraid of having assigned to them or are equally afraid of someone that has Schizophrenia, are seen as unpredictable and dangerous thanks to the stigma forwarded by the new media, Hollywood and the medical community. When actually it has been demonstrated that people labelled as such, are in fact less risky to the general public then the average “normal” white male is.

 Intriguing, in our culture “strange behaviors’ ‘, hearing voices and having hallucinations are symptoms that have been pathologized and given a grim prognosis with labels such as, psychosis and schizophrenia. Whereas, in some cultures these are signs that spiritual enlightenment is occurring or a new shaumn has presented themselves and, thus the person is embraced by the community and taken in by other shaumns that guide the person to become a powerful healer or visionary for their community.  Or community care is given to people in mentaldistress by simply being there with them, or performing rituals guiding them through difficult times.

 But what remains scary about the conventional androcentric psychiatric treatment world is that more often than not, if your behavior is at a point that it crosses social norms or your deemed a threat to one’s self or others, the police are called in usually they will restrain you and arrest you under the Mental Health Act.  Which is then followed by hospital incarceration, forced medication and other possible problematic treatments if you don’t comply with the doctors orders.  What’s missing from the treatment program is the need to understand and to address the root causes, such as family disfunction and abuse, and the social/political environment that contributes to the origins of trauma.  An equally important factor that accounts for the number of repeat psychiatricward stays for many people, is that after a period of hospitalization and the administration of  meds, people are spit back out into the dysfunctional society that impacted one’s mental wellbeing in the first place…so the cycle continues and return trips to the psych ward usually means new meds are administered or there are increased dosages of the current ones that the person is on.

To be continued in the next issue.