Behaviorism and Mental Health

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

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A Glimmer of Light

May 23, 2013 By Phil Hickey |

This is an anti-psychiatry website.  I say this with no apology.  I am opposed to psychiatry because:

  • Its concepts are pathetically spurious, and have no explanatory value.
  • Its practices are harmful, disempowering and stigmatizing.
  • It is routinely deceptive towards it clients and towards the general public.
  • It has avidly sustained a corrupt and corrupting relationship with pharma.

But every once in a while I come across a psychiatrist who is different.  Recently I came across a post written by 1 Boring Old Man.  The post – titled no further comment – is dated February 20 2012.

Here are two quotes:

“I think it’s time for the body of Psychiatry to look back on the last thirty years, particularly the last twenty, and acknowledge that there has been a lot of just outright wrong: producing and accepting lousy science; signing on to lousy science produced by others; colluding with the Pharmaceutical Industry in recommendations and prescriptions; corruption involving ghost-writing, guest authoring, conflicts of interest, direct drug promotion, downplaying or ignoring adverse effects.”

“I was a Silent Witness to something pretty rotten, and I didn’t take the time or put in the effort to scope it out. So I share in the shame. Like a lot of us, I quit the APA instead of going to the meetings and offering an opposing and questioning voice. I am truly sorry about that. No further comment to follow…

Writing something like that takes a lot of courage.

Filed Under: A Behavioral Approach to Mental Disorders Tagged With: honest psychiatrist

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.

Disclaimer

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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