| Similar to psychiatric diagnoses, individuals who do not | | | | know the child have left him to be in a subdued, |
| understand my conceptions of the need for a | | | | 'zombie-like' state. |
| paradigm shift in the field of mental health are prone to | | | | This is one of only countless similar stories related to |
| ascribe labels. The common label I have received is to | | | | me. Are we expecting that this type of 'treatment' is |
| be part of 'anti-psychiatry'. First, similar to Laing, I do not | | | | supposed to evoke some sort of 'cure'? To whose |
| deny the value of aiding individuals undergoing mental | | | | benefit is this sort of 'treatment', and what do we |
| distress, rather I disagree with the means to carry this | | | | expect the exact outcome to be? Where is the child's |
| out and am opposed to means that would be | | | | experience heard in the midst of this 'treatment'. It |
| oppressive, forced, coercive, or do not respect the | | | | appears that the child who was abused has only been |
| autonomy and dignity of the individual. | | | | abused further by the system under the guise of 'help'. |
| It is my view that merely seeing the emotional world of | | | | The bottom line is money. The complaint has always |
| individuals as chemical accidents rather than examining | | | | been that psychotherapy and human services are |
| experience is a misguided and mistaken approach. | | | | costly and time consuming. But what we fail to realize |
| Thus, I can view current psychiatric practice as akin to | | | | is that these drugs are not only expensive in |
| a materialistic religion, and it often has become the | | | | themselves but expensive in their cost on human lives. |
| replacement for spirituality today. My other objection | | | | To actually address the core root of the child's distress |
| comes in that whereas we may find things to have an | | | | may take some time, but would produce an outcome |
| evidence base, we also need to be reality based- | | | | far better than making the child a life long mental |
| science must always be tied with ethics and the | | | | patient required to take toxic drugs for an indefinite |
| premise of to first do no harm. Because we can | | | | period of time. It is also unfortunate that disadvantaged |
| scientifically validate something does not always mean | | | | families are often lured into the psychiatric system |
| it is ethical and good. | | | | because for many it is seen as one of few ways out. |
| What has becoming particularly distressing is to see | | | | The government provides money for a psychiatric |
| within psychiatric practice, that a 10 minute or less | | | | diagnosis, its cheaper to pay out these checks than to |
| interview with information solely obtained from sources | | | | really invest in programs that would address the needs |
| who in some instances may have their own agendas | | | | of children and tackle issues of poverty and social |
| can produce live long labels and scripts for often | | | | justice. And yes, there sadly do exist some parents |
| dangerous drugs. One example that a colleague | | | | who in selfishness would prefer to have their child |
| related is that a mother who has many abusive | | | | considered to be incapacitated (though they are not) |
| relationships had a child who began acting out after he | | | | than to actually address the reasons for their distress. |
| himself was a victim of abuse. The communication | | | | If labels must be used, I would prefer to use |
| between the mother and child was poor and the home | | | | 'post-psychiatry' and in this what I mean is that the |
| environment was frequently chaotic. The history of | | | | entire system must be deconstructed. The medical |
| trauma was never explored in a less than 10 minute | | | | model must vanish and be replaced with a model |
| interview, and the child was placed on multiple | | | | which takes into account the experiences of individuals |
| psychiatric drugs which teachers and others who | | | | and which ties science with ethics. |