This is Part 2 of Bernadine’s chat’s with Irit Shimrat, author, editor, advocate and agitator around her experience of being psychiatrized. Irit has a long history being involved in and critiquing the mental health field - although she would label that differently: health being the misnomer. We address the problems of language, the shadow reports she is a part of writing for the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and why she feels she is the luckiest person in the world.
Thank you Eva for these well thought out comments. Clearly there is much to think about around what is psychiatry and why we give it so much clout around labelling people. I am learning so much. And unfortunately "garbage bin" seems all too sadly fitting.
One more comment. All societies, All family units, across histories as far back as the beginning, including animals, have a "norm". So in this way, religions, or whatever structure the hierarchy puts in place, rules. Psychiatry is the new "norm", but let's call it what it serves, not "medicine", nor "medical". If anything, it is more brutal than any other structures and the worst of it is that it is now hidden, and in light of increasing awareness that it serves as a garbage bin. There is no honor in having a "doctorate" in front of your name, if you lie and hide to and about any people in vulnerable positions, especially kids.....to earn your income.
One really has to be defiant of being labeled. And really, the biggest offenders are within the medical community, and I do NOT include psych as part of the "medical community". The labeling is nothing more than high-school name calling, where the onlookers sometimes cast their eyes down, and others follow suit just to be not excluded from the heirarchy group. That IS what psychiatryzing people is. And no, they are not "diagnoses", nor are they "meds". As Irit said, she could talk about "STIGMA"...that word was made up by the very people who label you, to use as a smokescreen, and of course it worked well on the public. Just because there are people who act "crazy", or have behaviours that do not meet with a family, or societal expectations, is no reason to adopt a pseudoscience. It's actually disturbing that people are generally so far removed from the ability to think this thing through. Nope. they keep coming back to "well look at him/her/them, look how "disturbed" they are". So it must be "illness", or "disorder". And so, with that firmly held belief, or convenient usage (as medical docs use) we cannot advance even in disease of the body. Neurology is perplexed by the body, and so they forward their cases to psych. Neurology/reumatology/ etc etc have a hard time even with autoimmune diseases, and many suffer for years before "diagnosis", and even at that, the drugs to control it are harmful with many bad effects. Funny how Psych knows brain "disease" and miraculously needs only a short conversation to "discover disorders" and has the drugs to treat it. Best one yet is the "personality disorders", no treatment at all. And every tom dick and harry now diagnoses people that rub them the wrong way with a "disorder". Is there something "wrong" with those people? Perhaps it's none of anyone's business. You really don't need to label people. You could stick to real words, real phrases. "she frustrates me". Stick to you, not other people. It is so easy to label and call names. That is NOT science.
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