I should just read some good fanfic instead, shouldn't I?

[floatingleaf]

A disturbing article on how pharmaceutical companies in the US create and "promote" new mental disorders in order to sell more drugs:

http://www.alternet.org/story/153634/7_reasons_america%27s_mental_health_industry_is_a_threat_to_our_sanity/?page=1

Ever wonder why we suddenly have so many mentally ill people in need of drug treatment, including small children?... Yeah, that would be why. If you're feeling brave, read the story of a four-year-old who died of a massive overdose. She had been diagnosed with ADHD AND bipolar disorder, and prescribed three different psychotropic drugs. Yeah, a four-year-old. Why? Because she was "hyper". And even though her parents went to jail after she died, the psychiatrist who prescribed the drugs wasn't even put on trial. She's still treating small children according to the same guidelines, "without any restrictions, penalties or supervision."

And here's the conclusion of the article, which I completely agree with:

When we hear the words disorder, disease or illness, we think of an individual in need of treatment, not of a troubled society in need of transformation. Mental illness expansionism diverts us from examining a dehumanizing society.

In addition to pathologizing normal behavior, the mental health profession also diverts us from examining a society that creates the ingredients — helplessness, hopelessness, passivity, boredom, fear, and isolation — that cause emotional difficulties. We are diverted from the reality that many emotional problems are natural human reactions to loss in our society of autonomy and community. Thus, the mental health profession not only has financial value for drug companies but it has political value for those at the top of societal hierarchies who want to retain the status quo.

In other words, apparently being human is now a disorder. We all need medication that will transform us into unfeeling, unthinking, unquestioning, docile androids. And if it kills us in the process, then oh well... accidents happen. At least someone made a profit.:/

Which reminds me of how a year ago, when I had landed myself in a nasty financial pickle and was feeling pretty crappy because of it, some people immediately suggested that I should seek "treatment for depression". Which, had I done it, would have most likely resulted in being handed a prescription for some mind-numbing pills. It kind of shocked me that this was apparently the most obvious "solution" to the problem in the eyes of those people - but perhaps I understand it better now. Not that I find it any less troubling - but at least I can see where it comes from...

Comments

[surreysmum.livejournal.com]

I don't for a minute dispute that psychotropic meds are over-prescribed. But if it weren't for those same meds for (in my case) hereditary and decidedly non-temporary clinical depression, I would have taken my own life several times over by now (an absurd statement, but you know what I mean). And, for the record, they don't numb a damn thing - they just help to protect against the wilder imbalances of brain chemicals that completely skew your ability to deal with the realities of life.

Therapy most emphatically helps as well, but I would not have been able to take advantage of it without the meds stabilizing the underlying chemical problem.

Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater, please.

[floatingleaf.livejournal.com]

And I don't for a minute dispute that SOME people really do need those meds. For example, my ex - the 'toxic' one - definitely had a very severe bipolar disorder (she displayed, in abundance, all the symptoms listed in the above article, and then some). Had she been properly diagnosed and treated (she wasn't, to my knowledge), perhaps her life (and mine, by default, during the time we spent together) wouldn't have been such a black pit of confusion and misery.

But I see a marked difference between her and a distracted kid who can't sit still in class, or someone who is simply going through a tough life experience. In other words, I believe that the over-diagnosing and over-prescription phenomenon actually trivializes the plight of people who are truly suffering from mental illness. It is also effectively destroying people's trust in the credibility of mental health professionals. For example, if I ever need to see a psychiatrist, I will be in an agony of doubt over whether this person is actually interested in helping me, or merely in pushing the next prescription out.

That's all I'm saying.

Also, I definitely didn't mean to upset you, but in a way I am glad that this post provoked a reaction, since I hadn't heard from you in ages...;)