{"ops":[{"insert":"As aspiring critical thinkers one important dimension of our thought is understanding our own psychology with emphasis on how it impedes our development as thinkers, primarily through our egocentric and sociocentric thinking. When we lose control of our thinking we enter into realms of darkness that lead us to behave in ways that are destructive – to ourselves and/or others. There are many activities in our community you can work through, which will help you gain control of your thinking and move in the direction of self-actualization and fulfillment. You will find activities focused on understanding the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and desires here: https://community.criticalthinking.org/triangleOfThinking.php \nYou will find activities that will help you gain command of your egocentric and sociocentric tendencies here:\nhttps://community.criticalthinking.org/wallOfBarriers.php \n\nIf you are experiencing depression, anxiety or any number of other unproductive emotional states that seem to have you under their control, you can seek help through the works of those in Rebt, originally developed by Albert Ellis (I recommend "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"A Guide to Rational Living"},{"insert":" by Ellis and Robert Harper). And of course you may need to seek professional help if you are in immediate danger of losing, at least for the moment, control over your mind. But where would you go to get the help you need, and what if you don't get help, but instead get addicted to pharmaceuticals over the long run?\n\nInstead of using the tools of critical thinking to help clients gain command of the thinking controlling their behavior, psychiatry and psychology, for the most part, have bought into the seriously flawed medical model for understanding problems in human psychology. This has led to gross overuse of pharmaceuticals and gross over dependence on medications for solving what are in fact problems of the mind. One of our community members sent the following notice to us about an upcoming one-day conference on the destructive propaganda of the mental health industry, held by the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"International Society For Ethical Psychology And Psychiatry"},{"insert":"; in case you would like to expand your understanding in this area, I am happy to share it with you. What follows is their description and information:\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"  "},{"attributes":{"align":"center"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"The Destructive Propaganda of the Mental Health Industry: "},{"attributes":{"align":"center"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"How Did We Get Here?"},{"attributes":{"align":"center"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"Where Are We Going?"},{"attributes":{"align":"center"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"October 9-10, 2021"},{"attributes":{"align":"center"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"align":"center"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Hosted by the"},{"attributes":{"align":"center"},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"bold":true},"insert":"International Society For Ethical Psychology And Psychiatry"},{"attributes":{"align":"center"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"align":"center"},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"Since the dawn of civilization, the human species has struggled with the \"other,\" the foreign, the different, the unusual, the suffering,\nthe mad, the crazy, the psychotic, and those deemed \"less than,\" sometimes kindly, many times with great cruelty.\n \nJoin us a we critically examine how Big Pharma and Psychiatry influence our lives and our thinking.\n \nRead more and register: https://psychintegrity.org/isepp-23rd-annual-conference-virtual/\n"}]}