Posted by med_empowered on December 2, 2006, at 15:06:17
In reply to Re: I think shrinks lie, posted by notfred on December 2, 2006, at 14:45:22
Here's the deal: we're led to believe meds are good and that they help and that, for certain disorders, they are necessary. In fact, meds are considered so necessary for certain disorders that individuals (usually poor and/or ethinic minority individuals) can be forefully "treated" without their consent. This has never happened to me, fortunately, but I think it is a vile practice must be ended, sooner rather than later.
Just think about the BILLIONS spent on ineffective or marginally effective meds that could have been spent on anything else. Like stopping hunger, AIDS, cancer, ending sexism/homophobia, pursuing psychological treatment, giving people adequate housing...basically making the world a better place. But psychiatry doesn't want to make the world a "better" or more "humane" place: the overriding concern seems to be with making the world a more "normal" and "mentally healthy" place. The fact that these 2 goals sometimes are sometimes incompatible raises serious concerns (for me, at least) about just how "helpful" psychiatry really is.
So, here are my theories: locking people up (who aren't criminals) isn't humane or good. Forcing drugs on people isn't humane or good. Labelling people and then filling them with drugs without explaining their mechanisms of action or potential side effects is not a good thing. Making money medicating the suffering is only a good thing if the suffering stops, or those suffering lead better lives. Since this seems to not happen too often, then this practice is not a good one.
To recap: pursuit of happiness and self-expression and kindness: good.
Alot of what psychiatry has done and continues to do: bad.
poster:med_empowered
thread:708890
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061129/msgs/709723.html