Anti Psychiatry - Tumblr Posts

i think the anti-psychiatry movement has a lot of insight that (i desperately hope) the “physical” disability justice movement will continue to ally ourselves with and incorporate, in particular abolishing the concept of noncompliance. my ideal medical system as a severely chronically ill person is one where no one bats an eye at a person’s decision to not do things that might—or definitely would—lessen their symptoms, or their decision to do things that actively exacerbate their symptoms.

it should not be acceptable for a medical provider to force you into the decisions they think you should make about your body, but so often that’s the case, usually with life-changing or -saving medications and other treatment ransomed for your “good behavior” (most frequently with regard to diet and exercise).

there should be no such thing as “doctor’s orders.” there should just be what you want your life to look like and your informed decision about what will get you closest to that existence.

isn't it insane though how schizophrenic people are viewed as violent and dangerous by the majority of society when in reality schizophrenic people are nearly 14 times more likely to be on the receiving end of violence than to be the perpetrators...

as some1 who has cPTSD i definitely agree w/ this, i think it's also worth noting that this also effects how ppl who r not even weird ""professionals"" try 2 help but also just well meaning friends n stuff, i was talking w/ my friend [qpr buddy] abt this last night actually, but like, idk if any1 else who has PTSD or cPTSD relates but 4 me at least when im having a paranoia spike and some1 tries 2 help calm me down by focusing on the idea that there's nothing 4 me 2 b afraid of and that bc im at home im safe doesn't help me bc that just 2 me makes it feel like they don't get that that's not how that works like,,, my own experiences r proof that just bc ur in a "safe place" doesn't always mean ur actually safe and it doesn't mean that there's no possibility that anything bad will happen

4 those wondering, while i can't speak 4 every1 4 me at least what helps more is some1 reassuring me that if something bad does happen we can deal w/ it, or better yet them saying that they can watch my back and b the 1 keeping an eye out 4 a bit so i can take a break from being on high alert all the time, so ig like, 4 me the phrase "ur just at home, ur safe" as caring as the intentions may b will never b as helpful as the phrase "ik ur used 2 being on high alert all the time but i can protect u/keep u safe/watch ur back so u can take a break 4 a bit, u can just relax and let me worry abt that 4 now" the 1st 1 feels like some1 trying 2 convince me that the world is a safe place and we don't need any1 trying 2 keep an eye out when my experiences contradict that, the 2nd 1 feels like the job of keeping an eye out is being delegated 2 some1 else who i trust, also worth pointing out that ppl acting like protecting some1 is an inherently romantic act or like it's "cringe" 2 wanna feel protected or w/e tf kinda bs toxic thing ur trying 2 say it is this day of the week isn't helping and it just makes it even more difficult 4 ppl like me 2 talk abt what would actually help us feel safe 4 once in our goddamn lives

mainly posting this 2 c if any1 else can relate but if this furthers some1's understanding of mental health that'd b great 2

“Many of these so-called symptoms are, in fact, well-known and well-documented coping strategies commonly and purposively employed by people who are traumatized. It is reductionistic to ignore purposiveness and to assume that the behavior and orientations in question are the product of a disorder. […] What underpins this inadequate conceptualization of the response, the underlying assumption embedded in a PTSD diagnosis, and, indeed, in many other diagnoses, is that the world is essentially a safe and benign place. In this view, there is something wrong with people who see or respond to the world as if it were otherwise.”

— Bonnie Burstow, A Critique of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and the DSM

“A picture showing a man or a woman jumping off a window is a picture of a person with psychiatric issues who, suddenly, acts in an incomprehensive way, if we exclusively frame the person leaning out of the window or falling from it. However, were we to enlarge the field of vision in order to obtain the whole image, we would be able to see, for example, a line of police vans with military equipment about to evict the person in question.

The real reason behind the act is the situation of vulnerability with regards to basic items necessary to live that many people experience in our time. Knowledge of the specific facts, the missing parts of the image, make the supposed psychiatric issues melt like snow in the sun.

Psychiatry is the act of eliminating context. Psychiatry doesn’t listen, it doesn’t want to listen, it doesn’t want to know. It only considers the fragment, an unjustified behavior or an idea openly in contrast with social conventions and it silences it.

Going back to the picture of the person who jumps off the window: the cut that eliminates the police aggression will be made by, for instance, a newspaper that belongs to the bank who evicts the person. This would lead to the apparent non-existence of a cause for the search for death, in order to direct the discourse towards the psychiatric issues of a sick person. In other words, psychiatry is at the service of power. Of course, it is much easier to quickly eliminate those who denounce important issues rather than confronting and solving them, like guaranteeing everyone, no exception, a house and an equitable distribution of the planet’s resources.”

 — Paolini, M. 2018. Preface. In: Antonucci, G. El prejuicio psiquiátrico. Pamplona: Katakrak. [Translation mine]