The Electrical Abuse of Women—Does Anyone Care?
Many Americans are unaware that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)—more commonly known as electroshock—continues to be widely utilized by U.S. psychiatry. In the current issue of the journal Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, psychologist John Read and co-author Chelsea Arnold note, “The archetypal ECT recipient remains, as it has for decades, a distressed woman more than 50 […]
Presidential Misogyny: From Jefferson to Trump
Perhaps something useful can be accomplished as a consequence of the transparently repulsive Trump: rousing Americans to reconsider honoring US presidents with Presidents’ Day, and replacing it with a holiday that recognizes a more respectable group of people. Trump’s misogyny has long inflamed Democrats, but now even Republicans, including Paul Ryan and Lindsey Graham, have […]
“Hegemony How-To”: Rethinking Activism and Embracing Power
Occupy Wall Street insider Jonathan Smucker’s recently published Hegemony How-To: A Roadmap for Radicals (AK Press, 2017) is the post-Occupy guide for how to be smarter about politics. Smucker, a long-time grassroots organizer, does not dismiss what Occupy did right but is honest about its failures. The 99% remain just as powerless as ever, and […]
Anti-Authoritarian Options for Suicidal Anti-Authoritarians
Suicide rates in the US have surged to a 30-year high at the same time that US antidepressant use has skyrocketed. While correlation is not the same as causation, this concurrence naturally raises questions from people comfortable challenging authorities—including mental health authorities. Does it help all people to view being suicidal as a symptom of […]
‘CRAZY’: Courageous Documentary about Forced Psychiatric Treatment
The issue of control is front and center of “CRAZY,” Lise Zumwalt’s new documentary. “I’ve always been interested in stories where there is a tension between social policy and law and individual rights—and mental illness is a great lens to look at that tension,” says Zumwalt, who has produced, written and edited films for National […]
Leading Psychiatrists Follow Top-Dog Bankers’ Guide to Career Advancement
It should not be surprising that cynicism is increasingly the U.S. national pastime, as we regularly observe top-dog bankers avoiding criminal prosecution for crimes they preside over, and we see prominent professionals—including psychiatrists—gaining career advancement after disgraceful actions. First, a quick review of the recent career arc of Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan. In 2013 […]
Humiliation Porn: Trump’s Gift to His Faithful—and Now the Blowback
“Humiliation porn” is much about transforming the shame and pain of victimization and powerlessness into some kind of sexual pleasure. If mainstream institutions ignore a large number of people who feel powerless, victimized and angry, that’s easy pickings for a demagogue, who knows that a politician’s campaign promises may not hook a distrusting crowd but […]
Killing “Schizophrenics”: Contemporary U.S. Psychiatry versus Nazi Psychiatry
In any society that prioritizes economic efficiency, productivity and order above life and all of life’s varieties, people experiencing altered and extreme emotional states will be seen as defective and as burdens—monkey wrenches that disturb the societal assembly line. To be clear, contemporary American society is not Nazi-German society when it comes to treating people […]
Stripped of False Realities: Americans’ Political “Psychotic Break”
Stripped of the false realities of democracy, legitimate media authorities, and American exceptionalism, U.S. society is having a “psychotic break” of sorts. What many Americans have previously believed to be “reality” is disintegrating. Science provides us with no monolithic explanation for what is commonly called a psychotic break, but for some people who have lived […]
Is Society or Psychiatry to Blame for the “Seriously Mentally Ill” Dying 25 Years Prematurely?
“Adults in the U.S. living with serious mental illness die on average 25 years earlier than others, largely due to treatable medical conditions,” according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. This is not controversial, as establishment psychiatry and its critics agree. What is controversial is who is to blame—society, psychiatry, or the victims themselves? […]
