Drop the Disorder!: Challenging the culture of psychiatric diagnosis

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I live in a place where cultural norms are much more accepting of LGBT, of “sexual diversity,” of gender, and a bit more tolerant in regard to identity politics, so I guess I haven’t thought about it’s impact and connection to psychiatric diagnostic labels much, but I can certainly see there is a deep stigma.

I would also suggest from a psychological perspective, in the current sociological context, a label can also represent a recognition of the pain an individual is experiencing and give meaning to their cry for help. A label such as ‘clinical depression’ or ‘schizophrenia’ written on a health record can often be an essential requirement for accessing state benefits and a necessary passport into specialist mental health services” (chapter 10, p127). I figured that getting people together to initiate a conversation about psychiatric diagnosis would be a pretty good start. Just to add to the chorus here as a survivor of the psychiatric system in the United States for over ten years, one of the most helpful components in helping me weather the storm and come to a strong realization that psychiatric drugs were not helping, but making my situation worse than it already was–was and is my therapist. The first stanza of Thomas’ poem is anything but on topic with psychiatric drugs, but it’s how I can relate my mind to feeling on many crazy doctor drugs in that there’s a fight for consciousness, a weary battle like Thomas captures at the end of his father’s life to keep the spark of life alive (it’s a battle for one’s soul after all!Challenges your view of the medical model and shows the links with our current and past experiences, the traumas we’ve faced and the adversity we live with. Celebrity and comedian Ruby Wax was on a riotous roll, and everywhere you looked, it seemed, someone was promoting the “broken brain” message. I feel enlivened by changes in my thought process and possibilities of working with a different mind-set.

Also there are many people who are critical of diagnosis are very open about their own lived experience. an institutional process that absolved my lack of human connection and moral responsibility because I wasn’t caring for this patient, I was prison guarding them. However, I have been moved by the thoughtfulness and warmth people have shown to each other as they share feelings, experiences and dilemmas about working in, and being on the receiving end of, the psychiatric system.

Thank you so much to all concerned for playing this part in helping to give our humanity a chance by producing and publishing this book! We bring together people who want to see a change in how we understand and respond to emotional distress. This of course is rubbish and yet many people live their whole life taking drugs to ‘treat’ said ‘imbalance’ whilst never giving any time or attention to the trauma / experience / circumstance that actually caused the distress. I have many friends who still drink the koolaid and strongly think that their psych drugs are really helping them out and I must admit that I can totally relate to that mindset. assembles a group of cutting-edge contributors to shine a light on some of the most contested issues of modern psychiatric practice.

What then pushed me over the edge was yet another celebrity-inspired media frenzy about a psychiatric “illness. Joining me on our admin team are activist and blogger Nicky Hayward, clinical psychologist and author Gary Sidley, counselor Teri Tivey, lived experience educator Joanne Newman and social worker Lanie Pianta. With allusion to the song “My Boy Builds Coffins” by Florence + The Machine that was written back in the year of two thousand and ten). As a counsellor with 18 years under my belt, I've listened to many life-stories, read many books, attended many sceminas and training courses.However, I hope the people involved are arriving from all political worldviews, otherwise it will devolve into just another groupthink, echo-chamber community. But the current promotional pitch of raising awareness often feels like it just reinforces a greater attachment to the label for me. And I again find myself worrying that the nuance of this book’s message is consequentially being lost even within an admirable effort to create positive action. An excellent collection and combination of like minded reputable authors challenging the way that Medical Health is creating labels and failing to meet the needs of those who it should be serving.

It was because I couldn’t get away from the reality of how difficult the message it communicates so brilliantly still remains such a challenge. My core team of 30 counsellors and college students will all be reading this book because quite frankly it would be an outrage not to. The group provides a space to discuss important but controversial issues that arouse strong feelings, and at times it has felt like a bit of a roller coaster. So therefore, in many ways, this book started to become somewhat revolutionary for me the more I read.But if I’m to find flickers of hope in response to my deflation It comes in every new story told from sheep analogies to octopus tentacle terminology.