Posted by James K on January 2, 2006, at 22:24:12
In reply to Psychiatrist's opinion on the state of psychiatry, posted by Phil on January 2, 2006, at 16:04:39
I've been reading and rereading this man's editorial, trying to see if I understand it correctly. If he made a distinction between concrete illnesses such as schizophrenia and ptsd versus more behavior "illnesses" such as pedoephilia or narcissism (all my opinions), I could at least understand his point. As it is I think he is just plain wrong or at least didn't get his point across very well.
I think one area where he might run into trouble, and I want to phrase this very carefully - My brain and the actions and thoughts it produces feels attacked by his article. Although i've done nothing wrong I feel that he is calling me bad. Nothing in the moral code in my brain prevents me from attacking him if I met him. He might find that bad or wrong, society might find that bad or wrong, but my brain (me) works in such a way that it isn't wrong it is almost necessary. Psychiatry keeps me from taking the actions I have programmed myself, and have been programmed by others to take. But they are my brain signals and according to him they are my business. My moral code just happens to be different than his.
Now is the answer a pill, or talk therapy, or a combination? I'm not sure. He doesn't seem to think I need either. I'm just bad. By his standard. Not mine.
That puts me in an unhappy place, but it could put him in a worse place. I'm not advocating violence, and I'm not threatening violence, I'm just discussing the chemical and electrical reactions taking place inside my skull that produce thoughts that produce actions. I chose to seek out the best treatment I can find to see if I can change or control those thoughts. But that is only because I want to be happier and I want the world to become a better place. If the writer of this editorial would prefer that I be placed in a prison (which is not a hospital by the way), that's his business. There is nothing intellectually stopping me from doing anything that crosses my mind.
Maybe the problem is that I was dropped on my head when I was a baby (true), and my brain is hurt. but that would be disease - like tendonitis.
Irritated that I can be irritated so easily
James K
poster:James K
thread:594408
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060102/msgs/594571.html