Discussion Mental Health Professionals: Please Stop Defending Yourselves and Listen

[Your Own Ghost]

Dear Mental Health Professionals: Please Stop Defending Yourselves and Listen

I thought I'd post this column from the website MadInAmerica.com. It echoes many of the sentiments about the mental health field shared here and is a good read overall.


An excerpt:

"...in an article that an Irish news source was brave enough to publish, a woman describes her experience of fighting back against the mental health system, the trauma she experienced through so-called 'treatment', the harm from diagnoses, and her own recovery journey supported by Intervoice and the Hearing Voices Movement.

Rather than listen, engage, and try to learn more, professionals flooded the comment section with threats to the editorial board. In addition to reactive defensiveness, most of the comments claimed that this article was a public health danger, and was irresponsible and "unbalanced" (apparently balanced means that every statement made by a person with a viewpoint other than the status quo must be followed or preceded by an 'expert' statement refuting the perspective).

This is standard practice — assuming that the "experts" must be right and any opposing perspective is 'dangerous' or 'uninformed'. This would be an understandable concern if it were true. But do you ever consider the possibility that it just might not be?

Most people who enter the mental health field do so with good intentions. Plus, aspects of mental health treatment can be very helpful for many. This can be true at the same time as the fact that much about the system and standard operating procedures are extremely harmful and based on elitism, oppression, and lies.

Perhaps you might take a few moments to consider: What if everything you think you know isn't quite so?"

...

 

[esclava]

I occasionally browse MIA; they have some very informative articles. I had not see this one. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Jessica-]

Thanks for the link, it's very true and it's a real shame that so few psychiatrists admit to what was written and continue to harm the masses.

 

[TAW122]

This is a good read and goes in line with my beliefs of how suicide prevention and mental health treatment causes more harm (not just financially, socially, professionally, legally and civilly, etc.) than good, yet people refuse to accept dissenting evidence or point of views. The worst people are the ones who even try to justify such barbaric treatment of patients and other people.

Thanks for the link, it's very true and it's a real shame that so few psychiatrists admit to what was written and continue to harm the masses.

Indeed, and I believe there are two motivating incentives,

1) The moral and religious values that they still desperately cling to such as: "Life is sacred! Life is great and anything that says otherwise is WRONG!"

2) Money and power. In this capitalistic society, everyone wants to make money and if they admit the truth, they will lose their customers and they don't want to lose their precious cash cows.

Hopefully one day enough of the masses will be woke enough to fight back and push for significant change. However, I don't see that even in 2019 (at least not yet). One can only hope that they will wake up soon enough, before it's too late.

 

[Jessica-]

This is a good read and goes in line with my beliefs of how suicide prevention and mental health treatment causes more harm (not just financially, socially, professionally, legally and civilly, etc.) than good, yet people refuse to accept dissenting evidence or point of views. The worst people are the ones who even try to justify such barbaric treatment of patients and other people.


Indeed, and I believe there are two motivating incentives,

1) The moral and religious values that they still desperately cling to such as: "Life is sacred! Life is great and anything that says otherwise is WRONG!"

2) Money and power. In this capitalistic society, everyone wants to make money and if they admit the truth, they will lose their customers and they don't want to lose their precious cash cows.

Hopefully one day enough of the masses will be woke enough to fight back and push for significant change. However, I don't see that even in 2019 (at least not yet). One can only hope that they will wake up soon enough, before it's too late.

I agree totally. But I fear that the masses would be too incapacitated to take a meaningful stance against the psychiatrists and the big pharmas. I sure wish I have the strength but I am too damaged.

 

[alizee]

The mental health "professionals" are the closest field to a religious cult. It used to be when a person was perceived as "different" they would be considered possessed by an evil spirit. The priest would visit the "different" person's home and be condemned with the expert being the religion knowing best. Anyone who questioned it was treated the same as what's happening today with questioning mental health and asserting it produces unhealthy outcomes; basically damaging an already harmed person by life events outside the control of the "ill" person.

 

[Funkbunny]

OK. So, my training in counselling only goes to BSC (hons) level. But, I believe there is no such thing as a mental health expert. Science cannot locate the mind, and cannot expansion full functionality of the brain let alone how they interact. It's educated guesswork.

All I can say is when I was practicing I wanted to help, I wanted to ease suffering but there was too much that got in the way. How can I build real trust when the fundamental rule was to take steps against someone who was believed to be of danger to themself or others? Thanks for having the courage to tell me that, I'm now going to report you to x, y and z. No. Just no. Every theory has inbuilt excuses for when therapy goes wrong, it's the clients fault thus further promoting delusions of grandeur in many 'professionals'.

I still think therapy can help, to a point, but it's not a fix all solution.

 

[Jessica-]

OK. So, my training in counselling only goes to BSC (hons) level. But, I believe there is no such thing as a mental health expert. Science cannot locate the mind, and cannot expansion full functionality of the brain let alone how they interact. It's educated guesswork.

All I can say is when I was practicing I wanted to help, I wanted to ease suffering but there was too much that got in the way. How can I build real trust when the fundamental rule was to take steps against someone who was believed to be of danger to themself or others? Thanks for having the courage to tell me that, I'm now going to report you to x, y and z. No. Just no. Every theory has inbuilt excuses for when therapy goes wrong, it's the clients fault thus further promoting delusions of grandeur in many 'professionals'.

I still think therapy can help, to a point, but it's not a fix all solution.

Thanks for your honesty, what are your thoughts on medications?

 

[TAW122]

OK. So, my training in counselling only goes to BSC (hons) level. But, I believe there is no such thing as a mental health expert. Science cannot locate the mind, and cannot expansion full functionality of the brain let alone how they interact. It's educated guesswork.

All I can say is when I was practicing I wanted to help, I wanted to ease suffering but there was too much that got in the way. How can I build real trust when the fundamental rule was to take steps against someone who was believed to be of danger to themself or others? Thanks for having the courage to tell me that, I'm now going to report you to x, y and z. No. Just no. Every theory has inbuilt excuses for when therapy goes wrong, it's the clients fault thus further promoting delusions of grandeur in many 'professionals'.

I still think therapy can help, to a point, but it's not a fix all solution.

Well written and yes when you explained the fundamental rule, that rule alone is very dangerous and also why this field has done more harm to people and continues to keep people in a vicious cycle of abuse (basically a positive feedback loop of we're right and the patient is wrong, including being skeptical or questioning the actions.). I don't think there will be significant progress or real recovery until patients and clients are able to "truly" open up without the threat of involuntary force or treatment.

 

[Funkbunny]

Thanks for your honesty, what are your thoughts on medications?

This is personal experience of taking some of them only. I used to be 100% against them. After going on and off them I changed my mind somewhat as I felt I was getting some relief. But, was it placebo? I couldn't say. I feel just as crap not taking them than I did on them but without sickness, hot flushes etc.

One thing I think we all know, they are big business. Not a fan myself. The only drug that gave me a wanted effect was tamazapam. That was like turning off the internal chatter. Didn't do anything else, but I certainly got a 'mental break' that was very much needed.

I've not taken many. Citalopram gave me chronic. .. um. .. shits to put it bluntly. Mirtazapine left me even more tired all day every day, and zoloft had minimal so called side effects. I was on it for roughly 20 years. I took myself off them about 6 months ago. No bad effects at all for me. Very much aware others suffer terribly when they come off.

 

[Walilamdzi]

Great info, thanks.