I have always said that if I ever agree with the Church of Scientology that that would definitely be the day that hell has frozen over. Well, the river Styx is waxing solid, and Cerberus himself is howling in displeasure as he is not able to adequately protect his now icy domain.
What the heck is this all about? Well, I have done a lot of reading and skulking around the atmosphere we like to call the world wide web and have come to find out that I am not the only lonely out there who is sure that our trust in men in white coats is not all that warranted. In point of fact the particular group of folks I'm not so sure about are called Phd's. I know, scary territory, right?
Now, I've been a card carrying member of the wacko-religious-right-conservative movement since the days of Reagan, so I don't mind wearing labels like "fundamentalist" or "homophobic" or "closed-minded" or "radical." But what I have come to realize is that I have lost my faith in yet another American institution, namely Psychology/Psychiatry. This probably makes me a fringe group person of some kind, but I cannot hold back and pretend that real, actual evil is not being perpetrated in the name of "mental health."
I had one of those aha! moments the other day or so while watching the tube. A commercial came on which had the look of a public service announcement that described people who were, "disorganized, unable to concentrate at work, and always looking around for things." So what do you think I said about that? "Sounds like a normal person to me." But, no, apparently I, and maybe you, have Adult ADHD.
"Life can be a balancing act for any adult, but if you find yourself constantly late and disorganized, overly distracted and forgetful, and overwhelmed by your responsibilities, you may have Adult ADD/ADHD."
Sound like you? Yeah, I thought so. So what do you think the "cure" for this is? Why, drugs, of course! Lots of drugs. I won't bore you with numbers, but let's just say that Merck, Pfizer, and all the other drug companies are raking in billions with this scam. In fact, it makes illegal drug trafficking money look paltry in comparison. And the best part for these drug pushers is that it's not like you take an aspirin and your headache goes away. Oh, No! You are told by a man or woman in a white coat that you or your loved one have some kind of a "chemical imbalance" in your brain, and that you need these drugs to fix this imbalance, usually for life!
"Chemical imbalance! In my BRAIN! Quick, get it fixed!"
Well, it doesn't exactly work like that. You see, there is a test to see if your pancreas is working, or your liver or kidneys. And, if they are not working, there are ways to help. But there is no such thing for the brain. In fact, there is no real proof that there really is a "balance" in the brain chemistry to keep in the first place.
No proof, no test? No problem.
"We'll just fill you full of these drugs and over time see which one works for you."
"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"
If a man in a white coat offers you a pill to fix your "chemical imbalance," he is really offering you a drug that is a derivative of cocaine, or worse, and will cause you to become dependent. Now, just so you know how evil these people are, when you ask them if the drugs are addictive, they will tell you "no." But you see, they have redefined the term "addictive" and "addiction" and now refer to this class of drugs effects as causing "dependence." Get it? In my world, if I have to take a certain drug and cannot stop because I am "dependent" on it, I am an addict.
All jokes about my caffeine addiction aside, this is very serious. People's lives are being destroyed because of the damage being done from these drugs.
Well, it just so happens that the Church of Scientology got together with a famous critic and Psychiatrist, Thomas Szasz, author of the book The Myth Of Mental Illness, and created a group to challenge the psychiatrists and drug companies who hurt people in the name of "science." They created a group called CCHR, the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights, and you can check out what they do at http://www.cchr.org. I wasn't so sure about all of their claims, because of how incredible they seemed, but I have found multiple other sources that back up their claims and research.
So as I said, my brain is hurting from all the information I have been overwhelmed with about the abuse of depressed and struggling patients and their families from the greedy and remorseless partnership of drug companies and the so-called mental health professionals.
I recommend the books and website by Robert Whitaker at www.madinamerica.com. His first book on this subject, Mad In America, was a Pulitzer finalist and covered the bizarre history of the Psychiatric profession and its past treatment of those who are often the most vulnerable people in our society. His new book, Anatomy Of An Epidemic, is about the development of drug therapies used in psychotherapy and the explosion of people being affected by them, including millions of children. The video interviews are excellent, and probably the shortest distance to getting up to speed on a very overwhelming topic.
Let's stand with our friends and loved ones who are going through "the valley of the shadows" and help them as best we can, by first taking away the stigma of struggle and suffering, and next by protecting them from the wolves in white coats who would use them to profit from their pain.
Cliff,
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post. Thank you.