Behaviorism and Mental Health

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

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You are here: Home / Archives for survivors of psychiatry

Another Survivor’s Tale

April 29, 2014 By A reader | 52 Comments

My Story I tried to commit suicide for the first time when I was 15. I spent my 16th birthday locked up in Dammasch State Mental Hospital, I freaked out when I was told I was going to have to stay so my clothes were ripped off me, by male aids and I was thrown naked in a… Continue Reading

Involuntary Mental Health Commitments

March 20, 2014 By Phil Hickey | 267 Comments

The recent publicity surrounding the Justina Pelletier case has focused attention, not only on the spurious and arbitrary nature of psychiatric diagnoses, but also on the legitimacy and appropriateness of mental health commitments.  It is being widely asserted that these archaic statutes are fundamentally incompatible with current civil rights standards, and the question “should mental… Continue Reading

Clubfoot – A Story of Hope

January 30, 2014 By Phil Hickey | 2 Comments

On January 27, NPR ran a short piece on a new treatment for clubfoot.  Here’s a quote from the transcript: “Just a decade ago, up to 90 percent of babies…were treated with surgery that usually had to be repeated several times. That created a buildup of scar tissue that often left patients with a lifetime… Continue Reading

Murphy’s Mental Health Bill: An Update

December 27, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 9 Comments

Yesterday, December 26, at 8:25 p.m., the following comment was posted on my December 16 post on the Murphy Mental Health Bill. “Read the article in today’s Wall Street Journal (12/26/13), ‘A Mental-Health Overhaul’, and you cannot help but be in favor of the Murphy Bill. It is a huge misrepresentation to say it is… Continue Reading

Murphy’s Mental Health Bill

December 16, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 14 Comments

It is no secret that pharma-psychiatry has come under considerable criticism in recent years.  In general, they do not respond to these criticisms, but instead they continue to beat the same old drum:  mental illness is becoming increasingly prevalent; we need more mental health screenings; we need more funding for “treatment”; and we need wider… Continue Reading

Mental Illness: A Man-made Monster

December 9, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 26 Comments

  I found the above image online yesterday, at the site The Things We Say. Mental illness is also man-made.  It is the invention of psychiatry – their spurious medicalization of all significant problems of thinking, feeling, and/or behaving.  Its purpose is to legitimize the prescription of dangerous psychotropic drugs to as many people as… Continue Reading

The Galvanizing of a POOR HISTORIAN

November 5, 2013 By A reader | 1 Comment

In hospital ED records from 2007, there is a mention made by a doctor who was dictating his activities, observations of and involvement with me during 5 hours, that I am a”poor historian.” Ironically, I have to this day never met with or even seen this doctor, and vice versa. The conclusion was followed by a little post-script stating… Continue Reading

Drugs Out: Brain Stimulators In: Psychiatry’s Next Assault On Our Humanity?

October 2, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 12 Comments

On September 21, the Guardian/Observer (UK) ran an online article by Vaughan Bell titled Changing brains: why neuroscience is ending the Prozac era.  Thanks to Paul Mace on Twitter for the link. The gist of the article is that although the use of psycho-pharmaceutical products is at an all-time high and is still rising in… Continue Reading

Dr. Lieberman’s Latest

September 19, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 5 Comments

On September 12, Jeffry Lieberman, MD, President of the APA, posted an article on Psychiatric News titled IPS to Feature Patrick Kennedy, Celebrate Community Psychiatry. The article is a preview of an APA conference scheduled for October 10-13 in Philadelphia: “Transforming Psychiatric Practice, Reforming Health Care Delivery.” Dr. Lieberman tells us that he is very… Continue Reading

Madness Contested: An Outstanding Book

August 28, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 6 Comments

The book Madness Contested has recently been published by PCCS Books.  It’s a collection of articles, edited by Steven Coles, Sarah Keenan, and Bob Diamond. The book is a remarkable piece of work.  It covers just about every contentious concept in the present “mental illness” debate, and brings to bear an abundance of new insights and… Continue Reading

Physical Restraints

June 19, 2013 By Phil Hickey | Leave a Comment

There’s an article titled Restraint – 10 ways it harms psychiatric patients on Sectioned’s blog today. It describes Sectioned’s own experience in this area. Sectioned lists ten ways he/she was harmed by this practice, and the article is well worth reading.

Going Against the Stream

June 7, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 2 Comments

AN INTERESTING STORY Yesterday I came across the following on Twitter from Mental Health @Sectioned_. “I just met someone who told me their remarkable story about falling down the rabbit hole into psychiatric sectioning and forced medication.  I listened with fascination to their intricate story in all its twists and turns, looping backwards and forwards… Continue Reading

Can Abuse in Childhood Make You Crazy?

June 4, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 22 Comments

A NEW PARADIGM I’ve recently read an interesting article by Jacqui Dillon, Lucy Johnstone and Eleanor Longden.  It’s titled Trauma, Dissociation, Attachment &Neuroscience: A new paradigm for understanding severe mental distress.  The article was published in the Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy (Vol 12, No 3, September 2012) Here are some quotes: “A… Continue Reading

A Victim of Psychiatry Speaks Out

May 28, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 5 Comments

I’ve recently come across an October 2012 article by Ted Chabasinski.  It’s on Mad in America and it’s called:  Our Task Is to Take Away the Power of Psychiatry. Ted tells us that he was was subjected to electric shock “treatment” when he was six years old.  You can see a brief bio here. Here… Continue Reading

A Survivor’s Story: The Dark Threads

April 17, 2013 By Phil Hickey | Leave a Comment

I have just read The Dark Threads, by Jean Davison (Accent Press Ltd, 2009) It’s autobiographical, and describes with great detail and insight how a young woman of 18 years, whose only problem was acute shyness coupled with a yearning for some meaning in life, made the mistake of visiting a psychiatrist. Jean describes how… Continue Reading

Shock “Treatment” Is Not Safe and Provides Little If Any Benefit

March 27, 2013 By Phil Hickey | 4 Comments

DELICATE THINGS REQUIRE DELICATE HANDLING When I was a teenager, one of my hobbies was making small transistor radios.  It sounds complicated, but is well within the reach of an average 15-year-old.  You get some magazine articles, learn how to read a circuit, and learn how to use a soldering iron. A transistor is a… Continue Reading

 

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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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