{"ops":[{"insert":"In my upcoming book: "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"Critical Thinking Therapy for Happiness and Self-Actualization"},{"insert":", I offer a brief critique of the still pervasive and problematic medical model as the primary guide for mental well-being. For anyone concerned with this issue, I recommend that you attend the "},{"attributes":{"italic":true},"insert":"25th Annual Conference of the International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry"},{"insert":" (ISEPP) to be held both in person and online, October 27 - 29, 2023 in California. According to the "},{"attributes":{"background":"white"},"insert":"society’s announcement, “"},{"insert":"ISEPP's annual conference is a time for practitioners, academicians, educators, lawyers, and those who have been harmed by the conventional mental health system to gather together in solidarity. It is a time for strengthening our bonds, sharing our work, and reaching out to others who haven't yet heard our message. Our mission is to critique mainstream mental health professional practices that are based on a medical model, and explore alternative ways of helping people in distress without abandoning the cherished principles of informed consent and self-determination.” You can read more about the conference and register here: "},{"attributes":{"color":"#0563c1","link":"https://app.ce-go.com/25th-annual-isepp-conference/home"},"insert":"https://app.ce-go.com/25th-annual-isepp-conference/home"},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"The treatment of mental health issues through physiological treatments such as medications (Psychopharmacology) is still the primary line of defense for psychiatrists, who are first trained medical doctors and who then specialize in psychiatry. Psychiatrists typically prescribe medications, and some "},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e","italic":true},"insert":"may"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":" engage in talk therapy. They base their medical prescriptions on the notion that mental health issues are characteristically caused by diseases of the brain."},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"However, the medical model of mental health is fraught with conceptual and practical problems. Though there are clear connections between brain and mind, we are in the infancy stages in terms of understanding these connections in ways useful to mental health. And though drugs are typically given to people with all types of emotional issues, the long-term efficacy of these drugs, and their safety must frequently be called into question. As medical doctors, psychiatrists have an interest in advancing the medical model of the mind since they are medical doctors. This viewpoint seems to take precedence over the scientific studies that frequently show serious adverse consequences for people taking psychiatric drugs long-term."},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"Here are a few primary questions you can ask of your psychiatrist:"},{"insert":"\n\t"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"1. Do you use a medical model for understanding the mind? In other words, do you see "},{"attributes":{"color":"black"},"insert":"pharmaceuticals and medical procedures as primary methods for helping clients?"},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"2. What studies can you point me to that show this medication you are prescribing is safe to use and under what conditions it is safe? How do I know it is safe to use all these medications together?"},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\t"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"3. Do you also offer therapy sessions? If so, what theories do you use in therapy to help clients?"},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":" "},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"Thomas Szasz (1974; 2010), a long-term critic of traditional psychiatry, points out that psychiatrists tend to perceive and present psychiatry as scientific in nature, with their reliance on pharmaceuticals and other medical treatments, while also routinely engaging clients in any form of talk therapy (which is certainly not scientific). Szasz sees this mixture as a clear contradiction:"},{"insert":"\n\n\t"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"… there is no such thing has “mental illness.” … Alchemist and astrologers … spoke of mysterious substances and concealed their methods from public scrutiny. Psychiatrists have similarly persisted in speaking of mysterious mental maladies and have continued to refrain from disclosing fully and frankly what they do. Indeed, whether as theorists or therapists, they may do virtually anything and still claim to be, and be accepted as, psychiatrists (p. 1)."},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n\n"},{"insert":"\t"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"There is… a serious discrepancy between what psychotherapists and psychoanalysts do and what they say they do. What they do, quite simply, is to communicate with other persons (often called “patients”) by means of language, nonverbal signs, and rules; they analyze—that is, discuss, and explain, and speculate about—the communicative interactions which they observe and in which they themselves engage; and they often recommend engaging in some types of conduct and avoiding others… But what do these experts tell themselves and others concerning their work? They talk as if they were physicians, physiologists, biologists, or even physicists. We hear about “sick patients” and “treatments,” “diagnoses” and “hospitals,” “instincts” and “endocrine functions” and of course “libido” and “psychic energies,” both “free” and “bound.” All this is fakery and pretense whose purpose is to medicalize certain aspects of the study and control of human behavior (pp. 3-4)."},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":" "},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"In his book "},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e","italic":true},"insert":"Smoke and Mirrors: How You Are Being Fooled About Mental Illness, An Insider’s Warning To Consumers"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":", Chuck Ruby, clinical psychologist and Executive Director of the "},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e","italic":true},"insert":"International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry "},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"eschews the medical model and argues for rethinking how we label those considered mentally ill:"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"Using different terms when talking about human suffering would make things clearer and more honest. We would be better served with terms that don’t give the impression of illness, disease, and medicine but more accurately described the very real and distressing problems people endure. It would be especially helpful if we could find good substitutes for the very terms “mental illness” and “mental health,” as they falsely imply medical problems and defective people (p. 7)."},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":" "},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"This medical language is probably the single most deceptive, yet subtle, influence in perpetuating the myth [of mental illness]. You are being fooled about it by the very language used in talking and thinking about it (p. 8)."},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n"},{"insert":"\nFor more on the problem of the medical model for mental well-being, attend the ISEPP’s upcoming annual event. I also recommend these books:\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"Moncrieff, J. (2008). "},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e","italic":true},"insert":"The myth of the chemical cure: A critique of psychiatric drug treatment"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":". New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan."},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"Ruby, C. (2020). "},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e","italic":true},"insert":"Smoke and mirrors: How you are being fooled about mental illness"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":". Welcome, MD: Clear Publishing."},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"Whitaker, R. (2015). "},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e","italic":true},"insert":"Anatomy of an epidemic: Magic bullets, psychiatric drugs, and the astounding rise of mental illness in America"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":". New York, New York: Broadway Books."},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"Whitaker, R. and Cosgrove, L. (2015). "},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e","italic":true},"insert":"Psychiatry Under the Influence: Institutional Corruption, Social Injury, and Prescriptions for Reform"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":". NY: Palgrave Macmillan."},{"attributes":{"indent":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":" "},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"---"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"References:"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":" "},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"Ruby, C. (2020). "},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e","italic":true},"insert":"Smoke and mirrors: How you are being fooled about mental illnes"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"s. Welcome, MD: Clear Publishing. "},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"Szasz, T. (1974:2010). "},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e","italic":true},"insert":"The Myth of Mental Illness"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":". NY: Harper Perineal."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"---"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":" "},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":"Some of the content in this blog was taken or modified from my book: "},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e","italic":true},"insert":"Critical Thinking Therapy for Happiness and Self-Actualization"},{"attributes":{"color":"#211d1e"},"insert":", in press, to be published 2024, copyright Linda Elder."},{"insert":"\n"}]}