Behaviorism and Mental Health

Alternative perspective on psychiatry's so-called mental disorders | PHILIP HICKEY, PH.D.

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Do We Need More Mental Health Services?

May 2, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 2 Comments

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In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, there were a great many calls for “more mental health services” or “better access to mental health services.”

Many of us on this side of the fence groaned, because we knew that any official or private response to this call would be on the lines of more of the same.  The same spurious concepts; the same pseudo-illnesses; the same destructive drugging; the same destructive electric shock “treatment”; the same involuntary confinement; and the same stigmatization and loss of empowerment.

Many of us spoke out, of course, but we were the voices in the wilderness, and our pleas were drowned by the psychiatry/pharma-inspired clamor for more.

There’s an excellent post on Mad in America this week by Deron Drumm which addresses this matter from a survivor’s point of view.  It’s called Family Members – Allies or Adversaries?  Here are some quotes:

“I will point out flaws in the system.  I will become emotional when I see the medical model rearing its ugly head.  I will also speak out on the mechanisms that humans have used to deal with troubling experiences for hundreds of years;”

“We can better encourage parents who are currently screaming for more access to the status quo – to be angry that the status quo is not good enough and needs to do better than just prescribing drugs.”

It’s an important article – well worth a read.

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Filed Under: A Behavioral Approach to Mental Disorders Tagged With: dealing with problems of daily living, Mad in America, over-medicalization of everyday life

About Phil Hickey

I am a licensed psychologist, presently retired. I have worked in clinical and managerial positions in the mental health, corrections, and addictions fields in the United States and England. My wife Nancy and I have been married since 1970 and have four grown children.

 

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The phrase "mental health" as used in the name of this website is simply a term of convenience. It specifically does not imply that the human problems embraced by this term are illnesses, or that their absence constitutes health. Indeed, the fundamental tenet of this site is that there are no mental illnesses, and that conceptualizing human problems in this way is spurious, destructive, disempowering, and stigmatizing.

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The purpose of this website is to provide a forum where current practices and ideas in the mental health field can be critically examined and discussed. It is not possible in this kind of context to provide psychological help or advice to individuals who may read this site, and nothing written here should be construed in this manner. Readers seeking psychological help should consult a qualified practitioner in their own local area. They should explain their concerns to this person and develop a trusting working relationship. It is only in a one-to-one relationship of this kind that specific advice should be given or taken.

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