Posted by Christ_empowered on April 10, 2016, at 3:03:19
In reply to Re: Mad in America » Christ_empowered, posted by Chris O on April 10, 2016, at 2:03:33
I'd say...I'm unsure of how I think/feel about psychiatry. My thoughts change from time to time. When I was flat broke, my experience was of elites (the shrinks) and the peons (counselors) doing their best to "keep me in line."Now that I have my "genteel" (other peoples' words, not mine) family behind me, my experience is different. So, social class is a big deal...I think that's particularly true when you're "severely mentally ill," and therefore (more) dependent on your people. Their social status can be a huge issue.
Having said that...I dunno. Low status people seem to get one psychiatry, middle class people another, and the more affluent classes...quite another.
Plus, they deal in stigma. Reduce the stigma of mental illness? Hardly!!! My experience has been that they use stigma to control people. label people, disempower people. "oh, he has schizophrenia." Cruel compassion, just like szasz wrote about.
I'm a Christian. I'm more than a little..disturbed...by how many 21st century churches are encouraged to send the more troubled souls to the pros. Then again, the various modes of "Christian" counseling are often harsh and punitive to the core. But...ministers are called to shepherd a flock. Problem is...community and family bonds have disintegrated, and a lot of times...well, I guess even the role of spiritual mentor and leader is now in the hands of "the helping professions."
Psychiatry clearly has a punitive, authoritarian element. Maybe that's all it is, at its core. I dunno. I've experienced psychiatry as a stigmatized low status person and now as the "mentally ill" offspring of a relatively high status, "genteel" family. I think there's a control element in both, but in the second scenario...well, there's more dialogue, less punishment, more emphasis on "recovery."
I appreciate the anti-psychiatry and critical psychiatry people for their insights and such, I really do. I just don't yet have a firm opinion on Mental Health, Inc. I'm leaning more towards medicalization of deviance as the explanation for psychiatry's existence and power, but...I haven't settled for one position just yet.
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1088004
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160331/msgs/1088017.html