Bruce Levine
Surviving the Pain of an Authoritarian Demagogue Any Way We Can
Until recently, the predominant life pains that I have long seen in my psychologist day job include: abusive and neglectful parents, dysfunctional families, loveless marriages, lifelong loneliness, soul-crushing jobs, oppressive bosses, dehumanizing bureaucracies, and a variety of losses. However, the rise to power in the U.S. of an authoritarian demagogue has resulted in another major source of pain created not only by his actions but by his very being. From what I gather, many other mental health professionals are also hearing about the pains generated by him
Surviving the Pain of an Authoritarian Demagogue Any Way We Can
Until recently, the predominant life pains that I have long seen in my psychologist day job include: abusive and neglectful parents, dysfunctional families, loveless marriages, lifelong loneliness, soul-crushing jobs, oppressive bosses, dehumanizing bureaucracies, and a variety of losses. However, the rise to power in the U.S. of an authoritarian demagogue has resulted in another major source of pain created not only by his actions but by his very being. From what I gather, many other mental health professionals are also hearing about the pains generated by him.
Is Psychiatry’s Myth of Mental Health as Damaging as Its Myth of Mental Illness?
Myths include unfounded beliefs and fictional narratives used to explain frightening natural phenomena. Those of us who agree with Szasz that “mental illness” is a myth will often put quotes around the term to bring attention to its problematic nature. Should we also be bringing attention to the problematic nature of the term “mental health”?
Is Psychiatry’s Myth of Mental Health as Damaging as Its Myth of Mental Illness?
Myths include unfounded beliefs and fictional narratives used to explain frightening natural phenomena. Those of us who agree with Szasz that “mental illness” is a myth will often put quotes around the term to bring attention to its problematic nature. Should we also be bringing attention to the problematic nature of the term “mental health”?
Psychiatry’s Rightwing and Progressive Bigotries: How Each Enables the Megamachine
In the last century, whether the brand of the autonomy-stripping megamachine has been German Nazi fascism, Soviet totalitarian communism, or U.S. corporate capitalism, psychiatry has been an enabler of the megamachine—more later on psychiatry’s role in each of these systems.
Psychiatry’s Rightwing and Progressive Bigotries: How Each Enables the Megamachine
In the last century, whether the brand of the autonomy-stripping megamachine has been German Nazi fascism, Soviet totalitarian communism, or U.S. corporate capitalism, psychiatry has been an enabler of the megamachine—more later on psychiatry’s role in each of these systems.
Celebrating Lenny Bruce’s 100th Birthday: “The World is Sick and I’m the Doctor”
At the time of his death, Bruce was blacklisted by almost every venue in the United States, as owners feared that they too would be arrested for obscenity. One of the New York district attorneys who prosecuted Bruce’s last 1964 obscenity case, Assistant District Attorney Vincent Cuccia, later admitted, “We drove him into poverty and bankruptcy and then murdered him. I watched him gradually fall apart. . . . We all knew what we were doing. We used the law to kill him.”
Celebrating Lenny Bruce’s 100th Birthday: “The World is Sick and I’m the Doctor”
At the time of his death, Bruce was blacklisted by almost every venue in the United States, as owners feared that they too would be arrested for obscenity. One of the New York district attorneys who prosecuted Bruce’s last 1964 obscenity case, Assistant District Attorney Vincent Cuccia, later admitted, “We drove him into poverty and bankruptcy and then murdered him. I watched him gradually fall apart. . . . We all knew what we were doing. We used the law to kill him.”
How “Garbage-In-Garbage-Out” Academic Psychiatry Research Has Become Even More Ridiculous, and How Taking It Seriously Impoverishes Critical Thinkers
This deterioration from bad science to no science has created a dilemma for critical thinkers. On the one hand, society today takes psychiatry’s claims more seriously than ever, and thus many critical thinkers may feel a social obligation to debunk its claims. However, given the obvious nonscientific nature of these claims, critical thinkers who become consumed by these cla
How “Garbage-In-Garbage-Out” Academic Psychiatry Research Has Become Even More Ridiculous, and How Taking It Seriously Impoverishes Critical Thinkers
This deterioration from bad science to no science has created a dilemma for critical thinkers. On the one hand, society today takes psychiatry’s claims more seriously than ever, and thus many critical thinkers may feel a social obligation to debunk its claims. However, given the obvious nonscientific nature of these claims, critical thinkers who become consumed by these claims and by the social obligation to debunk them can find themselves intellectually impoverished.
