Comments on: From advocating humanistic psychiatric care to opposing it

By: Harry Jones

Harry Jones — Sun, 07 Nov 2021 14:46:34 +0000

For all public policy purposes whatsoever, there are three categories of people:

1 Those who are a danger to no one.
2 Those who are a danger to themselves but not to others.
3 Those who are a danger to others.

Crazy or sane? Good or evil? Smart or stupid? Those are distinctions without distinction. Only the three categories matter, and they’re easy to apply.

Any policy that fails to focus on the three categories will be disastrous.

By: VXXC

VXXC — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 12:09:30 +0000

God’s justice can quite wait until decades after the deaths of the above mentioned liars and psychopaths.

I’d settle for them all being out of power.

If one considers the effects of any policy one sees the actual policy. In this case the policy was to let the mad wander the streets, to the benefit of those who sow chaos then build prisons.

By: Longarch

Longarch — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 02:50:24 +0000

Unquestionably, some psychiatrists have had long careers with no malpractice. Unfortunately, malpractice exists in every branch of the medical profession. The difficulty is in accurate investigation and prosecution. Full disclosure: I am in the camp that demands more stringent prosecution of malpractice.

Some groundbreaking psych professionals, such as Kevin Dutton, are absolutely beneficial to society because they expose the damage done by psychopaths. (Michel Foucault may have been a psychopath; I do not condone any of Foucault’s actions. I believe anti-psychiatry is a valid view, but I do not condone unethical or psychopathic actions done in the name of anti-psychiatry.)

Many psych professionals operate in a murky gray area, where reasonable people cannot agree on their honesty. Trying to get a consistent evaluation of (e.g.) Jordan Peterson is futile; his fans love him, his enemies hate him, and many of his former customers simply regret spending money on his products but are not willing to explore whether he is deceptive or simply a bad fit for their needs. Whether or not he might be guilty of malpractice, he is certainly not a menace like the infamous John Money of New Zealand.

Unquestionably, some theoretically inclined psychiatrists have committed scientific fraud. Sigmund Freud and Alfred Kinsey were committed liars. A few theorists such as William James deserve praise.

I cannot hold out any realistic hope for any intelligent reform of the psychiatric profession. However, I can say that a large fraction of the public is aware of the abuses of John Money, Alfred Kinsey, and the like. I tremble for the psychiatric profession when I reflect that God is just and that his justice cannot be indefinitely delayed.

By: Gavin Longmuir

Gavin Longmuir — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 14:20:53 +0000

“Before 1500, the mad wandered freely in Europe, Foucault argued.”

In the hard world before 1500, it is a good guess that every person — except for the mad offspring of the elite — had to work, and work hard, every day to get enough food to eat. Wander around truly mad, making no preparations for the coming winter with its freezing temperatures and starvation — early death was inevitable. Problem of mad people solved.

Foucault just made stuff up. Maybe a sign of madness? Maybe simply a manipulative personality?