Bruce Levine
Why Failed Psychiatry Lives On: Its Industrial Complex, Politics & Technology Worship
by interviewers, I have talked about the components of the psychiatric-pharmaceutical-industrial complex, along with how psychiatry meets the political needs of the ruling class and dysfunctional families. In addition to these financial and political explanations, a fundamental cultural reason why psychiatry lives on is Western society’s worship of technology.
Why Failed Psychiatry Lives On: Its Industrial Complex, Politics, & Technology Worship
How can psychiatry retain its authority and influence despite its scientific failures? That’s been the question posed to me in 2023 by interviewers, I have talked about the components of the psychiatric-pharmaceutical-industrial complex, along with how psychiatry meets the political needs of the ruling class and dysfunctional families. In addition to these financial and political explanations, a fundamental cultural reason why psychiatry lives on is Western society’s worship of technology.
Psychiatry’s Control-Freak Medical Model vs. Healing and Healers
If one has a dark sense of humor, psychiatry’s medical model can be seen as the root cause of a comical farce in which an institution charged by society to decrease suffering actually increases it. What then is a helpful alternative to psychiatry’s medical model? The simplest answer is its complete opposite. Here, I will spell out exactly what that means.
Psychiatry’s Control-Freak Medical Model vs. Healing and Healers
If one has a dark sense of humor, psychiatry’s medical model can be seen as the root cause of a comical farce in which an institution charged by society to decrease suffering actually increases it. What then is a helpful alternative to psychiatry’s medical model? The simplest answer is its complete opposite. Here, I will spell out exactly what that means.
Back from the Borderline with Mollie Adler: The Crisis of Contemporary Psychiatry with Dr. Bruce Levine
UC Health Fails to Back up Electroshock Claims
Cincinnati Enquirer July 25th, 2023 Many people are surprised to discover that electroconvulsive therapy, commonly called electroshock, is offered by UC Health in Cincinnati. The UC Health’s “Electroconvulsive Therapy” website claims, “Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the gold standard for treatment of severe depression, and other psychiatric disorders,” and that “ECT is an extremely effective form of treatment.” […]
The Tragedies of Ted Kaczynski
Of all the public figures I profile in this book, Ted Kaczynski’s story is, for me, the most tragic—tragic, of course, for his murder victims; tragically traumatizing for his injury victims and near-miss victims; tragic for the position that he put his family members in; tragic for enabling authoritarians to marginalize causes that many nonviolent […]
The Tragedies of Ted Kaczynski
Below is a profile on Ted Kaczynski (May 22, 1942 – June 10, 2023) excerpted from Resisting Illegitimate Authority (AK Press, 2018) from the chapter “Violent Anti-Authoritarians.” Of all the public figures I profile in this book, Ted Kaczynski’s story is, for me, the most tragic—tragic, of course, for his murder victims; tragically traumatizing for […]
The APA’s Apology for Racism Omits Psychiatry’s Essential Bigotry
In 2021, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the guild of U.S. psychiatrists, acknowledged its history of racism. However, it is difficult to imagine how psychiatry will ever acknowledge that its entire edifice is built on a fundamental bigotry. Bigotry is defined by Merriam-Webster as: “obstinate or intolerant devotion to one’s own opinions and prejudices.” Racism […]
The APA’s Apology for Racism Omits Psychiatry’s Essential Bigotry
In 2021, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the guild of U.S. psychiatrists, acknowledged its history of racism. However, it is difficult to imagine how psychiatry will ever acknowledge that its entire edifice is built on a fundamental bigotry. Bigotry is defined by Merriam-Webster as: “obstinate or intolerant devotion to one’s own opinions and prejudices.” Racism […]
