UBT This Word Salad Apology

I’m not currently in the US either, not most of the year anyway, but there’s no denying that the US psychiatric establishment has too much power to influence and dominate policies around the world, particularly related to psychopharm. Journalist Robert Whitaker and his advocacy organization Mad in America publish a lot on this subject. So does David Healy (UK) and Peter Breggin.

Personally I can’t stand the whole corrupt, politicized racket and have worked with psychiatric reform activists and organizations (none with connections to Scientology) for more than two decades. I first got involved when I discovered how battered women were being clinically re-abused and then started doing research and editing for disability rights lawyers and eco health organizations when I learned about rates of death and injuries, especially among the disabled, due to psychiatric practices like restraint and seclusion, aversive shock, medication mandates, psychosurgery, unethical human research, etc.

But as much as I question the legitimacy of psychiatry, there’s also no denying that laws and policies are often based on science for better or worse. I see forensic research as potentially powerful in that sense, especially after seeing how research and statistics influenced the criminalization of coercive control in the UK.

But there’s also obviously a “for better or worse” element with criminology. On the one hand I sort of prefer it in a political sense since it’s working backwards from concrete actions and behaviors which are defined by laws, courts and juries, not merely ephemeral psychobabble concepts drummed up by the industry-fattened shills on the DSM panel or holding posts in psychiatric institutions. But even if forensic psychology– via the justice system– theoretically has more checks and balances than the whimsical biases of typical shrinks, forensic science– like criminal justice– can be especially terrifying when corrupted. On the dark end of this are things like the endless hunt for so-called “crime genes” which I think is basically dystopian eugenic junk science with the potential to be weaponized against the usual targets– minorities, the disabled and ethnic groups in resource rich third world countries which are the targets of hegemonic schemes.

Anyway, it’s all the more reason for average people to gain a degree of literacy in science and view this as a political duty in any democracy since otherwise they won’t understand a lot of what they’re voting on.

Speaking of which, things are getting super trippy in the US in this regard due to Trump’s election. Kind of like a stopped clock is right twice a day, Trump’s general jaundice towards the psychopharmaceutical industry and psychiatric establishment could have some interesting effects on US and, by extension, global policy. I would definitely welcome certain reforms but it feels really uncomfortable and grotesque that this may be happening under such a dangerous administration. Frankly I feel a bit like a vegan or animal rights activist under Hitler and I’m sure a lot of the aforementioned psychiatric reformists feel the same, kind of like “Great, Adolf loves puppies and doesn’t eat meat… while murdering millions of humans, retch.”