Homosexuality was a Disease: Industrial Psychiatry Defrauds and Harms Everyone
"No further evidence is needed to show that 'mental illness' is not the name of a biological condition whose nature awaits to be elucidated, but is the name of a concept whose purpose is to obscure the obvious." —Thomas SzaszMany people claim that mental illnesses are biological diseases. Yet, mental illnesses are diagnosed on behavior via the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Mental illnesses are not diagnosed from samples of a disease. There is no organ or tissue with a lesion. Brain scans do not find consistent or applicable differences in people with mental illness versus those who are healthy. There is no measure a psychiatrist can take of neurotransmitters to determine bad levels (see video below for more information).
It is also no surprise that antidepressants and antipsychotics don't work over the long term. Besides the fact that the brain compensates for the effect of these drugs, and creates more problems with neurotransmission; these drugs do not solve the underlying psychological problems that alter brain function and structure. Thus, it is not a "brain disorder" that causes psychological disturbances, it is psychological disturbances that cause "brain disorder."
Currently, modern psychiatry has not been able to admit to how much relationships, behavior, and thinking contribute to what they refer to as "mental illness." They believe that the brain is broken from the start or genetics ultimately led to the problem. Yet, they still use the DSM to diagnose mental illness, which is based on behavior, thinking, and emotional analysis.
But tragically, this is pseudo-medical. It is based on the subjective valuations of psychiatrists. This is why homosexuality was in the DSM, and I don't think many people will dare argue that homosexuality was ever an actual "disease."
My name is Sterlin. I am the Psychologic Anarchist. Find me over at www.psychologic-anarchist.com, on Facebook, or YouTube, where we are trying to build more compassionate and loving anarchist communities. We also discuss psychology, therapy, communication, and the many faces of love.
Hey Sterlin, good to see your posts are picking up some momentum.
I've had a conversation a few times that goes like this:
"How do you know ADHD/depression/manic-depression is caused by a cerebral chemical imbalance?"
"Well, I researched it."
"But did they do any chemical tests?"
"They did behavioural tests."
"So how do you know you have a chemical imbalance?"
Of course, it's very rare that people can formulate a clear answer to that line of questioning.
In Australia, many people use the socialised health system, and because the government pays the doctors for the number of patients, not the quality of consultations, it can provide an incentive to give drugs to as many patients as possible. Naturally, some sort of psychotherapy or CBT, or something else, could be much more beneficial.
I shared this on Facebook, and I also added you to a couple of Steem groups on there to help promote your posts.
Kurt
Awesome, sir. Thanks for the support. I am glad I had a community base to help me get this kicked off, w d so far my posts are performing well.
To your comment, I am a firm believer that psychotherapy is the best approach for issues regarding mental distress. As you eloquently pointed out, there is no way to determine a chemical imbalance. That idea is a debunked bit of psychiatric Woofuckery.
Nice Sterlin! I agree the current system in place seems to need major reform. I've seen so many friends get addicted to pharmaceuticals because a therapist told them they needed to take a pill to "fix" the problem.
Yeah, it is ironic that some of these psychiatric meds are as addictive and habit forming as the "illegal drugs." But it's okay because they are "legal." Must be safe!
I know and even more disgusting is the amount of money those pharmaceutical companies will continue to pump into the State lobbying to keep potential life saving natural drugs like cannabis, peyote, or LSD illegal while they continue to maximize profits off deadly drugs like Oxycontin, Morphine, and Adderall. It's such a sad world to leave for our children when we profit off each other's suffering.
Nice post, so you are saying that some people who may have "mental illness" may just be an expression of variety in humans just as with homosexual are just a different expression of sexuality?
Precisely. You nailed it.
People from the autism community have a word for this; they call themselves "neurodivergent." This is a term that encapsulates everyone who is simply genetically different and gifted. Now, there are actually medical conditions that can present as "mental illness," such as neurosyphilis, but most of what we call "mental illnesses" are just subjective evaluations of behavior we see as odd or dislike.
Good to see you on Steemit, Sterlin!
Thanks a lot, Luke. I am super glad I got here. Now, I wish I would have jumped on months ago. But everything is still young and ripe. :)
I know what you mean! I was told about the site by @sean-king weeks ago and I was still on the road with my family attending PorcFest. When I got back, I didn't check it out again until a couple weeks later. Glad to be here now though... this stuff is addictive! Facebook seems pretty boring in comparison.
Oh man. I am prioritizing this platform as my main one. I almost believe I could make a living posting content if I really wanted to. However, I am still going to use Facebook and my other platforms because that is where my audience resides. I just wish they would hurry about and allow me to install a plugin for my personal website. It seems like a fossil compared to this.
You might want to check this out: https://streemian.com/ I haven't used it myself yet, but I was looking at possibly setting it up for an author friend of mine.
I'm not even a writer, and I've been loving the conversations here. It's sucking me away from my business.
This is one of the most intelligent posts I have seen here in a while! Way to use knowledge to bring something new to the Steemit table!
Thanks a million, Benji. Also feel free to watch the video I made that is embedded here and subscribe to the YouTube channel.
You say that many psychiatric mental illnesses have turned out to not be illnesses but you only mention homosexuality. I would have liked to hear more than just one example. It would be good to have three or four. The reversal of the position that homosexuality was a disease, is something that happens in science all the time.
Consider the term 'hysteria' and the 'hysterectomies' that were performed in order to 'cure' women. Why didn't you mention this one? And another thing, you really should listen to what happened to the genius that discovered why women were dying in a particular hospital following this link here http://mikerowe.com/2016/05/the-way-i-heard-it-little-pieces-of-corpse/.
This link tells a short true story which is very related to this:
http://mikerowe.com/2016/05/the-way-i-heard-it-little-pieces-of-corpse/
Wait. I want more. Good article.