The Aims and Goals of Psychiatry
The stated Aims of Psychiatry are not in alignment with the general medical profession. The medical profession has the Hippocratic Oath; you can read the entire oath here: Doctor's Oath
And then there are the intentions of the Industry of Psychiatry. Here is a quote from Brock Chisolm, first head of the World Federation of Mental Health
"The re-interpretation and eventually eradication of the concept of right and wrong which has been the basis of child training, the substitution of intelligent and rational thinking for faith in the certainties of the old people, these are the belated objectives of practically all effective psychotherapy."
- Brock Chisholm (1946) The Psychiatry of Enduring Peace and Social Progress. p. (1896-1971) Canadian World War I veteran, medical practitioner, first Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), first head of the World Federation of Mental Health.
Your Dictionary
Eradicating the concept of right and wrong? That allows for any immoral or illegal act to become justified. If that is the actual goal of the psychiatric industry, then I believe any sane person knowing this would justifiably throw the whole industry into the scrap heap.
At the end of one article elucidating the above he closes with this:
“There is something to be said for taking charge of our own destiny, for gently putting aside the mistaken old ways of our elders if that is possible. If it cannot be done gently, it may have to be done roughly or even violently--that has happened before.“
(Brock Chisolm Quote)
Brock Chisolm is justifying force to make you or me, or more specifically our children, think and behave the way that he sees fit. Maybe that is what justifies such barbaric practises as electro-convulsive therapy, lobotomies, or drugs like lithium.
And then there are some less violent definitions.
What is the goal of psychiatry?
“Psychiatry is a medical specialty dealing with the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of mental illness. Its primary goal is the relief of mental suffering associated with disorder and improvement of mental well-being.”
from sciencedaily.com
Voltaire said, “If you wish to converse with me, define your terms.”
I tend to agree. I’ve seen more arguments occur for lack of this.
We should then define ‘mental illness’ and what we mean by terms like ‘disorders’.
From https://www.psychiatry.org
“Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses are associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities.”
And this from mayoclinic.org,
“Mental illness, also called mental health disorders, refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. Examples of mental illness include depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors.”
I have several issues with the above definition. ‘Health Conditions’ and ‘Disorders’. It is kind of broad. And it allows far too many things in life to be included as “disorders” or ‘health conditions’. Additionally, in the real world, mental illness has been redefined as a disease.
If we are going to define mental illness as an actual disease or some sort of physical illness, then there needs to be a test for it. Otherwise, the door opens to all sorts of misdiagnosis and the application of the incorrect solutions. If you read Dr Sydney Walker’s ‘A Dose of Sanity’, you will find that he was pretty much always able to find some physical problem behind a mental one. From that correct diagnosis, he was able to prescribe the correct procedure. Whether it be removing the brain tumour that Prozac had been prescribed for or something as simple as removing a child’s allergens from his or her environ. This particular child having been prescribed Ritalin due to being ADHD. With the allergens removed from the environment, the symptoms disappeared as well.
There are numerous psychiatrists and doctors that would also argue that often there is nothing wrong at all with the child in the first place. Peter Breggin MD in his book ‘Reclaiming Our Children’ gives numerous examples of helping parents and kids work things out with communication and understanding and various agreements. He doesn’t automatically assume there is a disorder or a disease. And again he consistently solves family issues. He is seen to be an extremely warm and caring individual as can be seen by reading any of his books.
Here we have two psychiatrists that have consistently solved ‘mental illness’ without prescribing drugs. These doctors among many many others, fulfill the above stated goal of psychiatry: “Its primary goal is the relief of mental suffering associated with disorder and improvement of mental well-being.”
Urban Legend?
“disorders that affect your mood”
And then what do you consider a disorder? Any emotion? Extreme emotions? What constitutes ‘clinical depression’? There is no physical test in existence for this ‘disorder’. The ‘chemical imbalance in the brain’ is right up there with the ‘Lemmings committing mass suicide’. In case you are wondering about the Lemmings thing, it never happened. It is an urban legend. So is the ‘chemical imbalance in your brain’ statement. If it were true, then a doctor or psychiatrist could do a test or series of tests and show exact results.
I think it is amazing that in spite of the fact that there has never been a valid physical test for things like depression and other mental illnesses, the idea that there is a chemical balance behind them all persists throughout society.
Ask your doctor. Or your shrink. Get him or her to tell you what the exact physical test is for these so called diseases. If there is something physically wrong, what is the test to show this?
If you really feel there is something physically wrong, persist in asking your doctor to help find out what the problem is. Do not just let him or her ask you a few questions and write a prescription for some drug or other.
Both doctors and psychiatrists are bound by The Hippocratic Oath. And thus they are supposed to do you no harm. If they are giving you a drug it may have no effect on the problem or may do more damage and could very likely be addictive. In this case, then, these medical professionals aren’t being so professional! They are doing you more harm than good.
You have a responsibility to your own health and well-being to ask questions.
And something about your health and marijuana