Since I am proposing that the field of psychiatry is motivated by problematic ideologies, based on problematic assumptions, and subject to problematic influences, many of which depend on each other, a proposed journey would address topic as it is structured.
- The concept of mental health
- The concept of mental illness
- The biological model of mental illness, and the fact that it’s taken as given, and actioned as such
- The implication that psychosocial factors have little or no importance
- The concept of a mental illness diagnosis
- The practice of defining diagnoses (nosology)
- The motives of, influences on, and validity of the DSM, and the diagnoses therein
- The global acceptance of the DSM
- The definition / diagnostic criteria of bipolar disorder, mania, depression, anxiety
- The suggested prognosis
- The clinical trials
- The trial results, and their validity
- The marketing of the medication, and accepted concepts (eg. chemical imbalance, kindling, cognitive decline)
- The treatment recommendation for a particular disorder
- The field of Psychiatry
- Psychopharmacology
- Individual psychiatrists
- Their psychosocial methodology
- Their evaluation and diagnostic methodology, based on the DSM
- Their diagnosis of you or your care
- Their treatment recommendation
- What they say is happening when the drugs fail to work and the patient deteriorates
- Their treatment recommendation
This is a large area to cover, so I start with more pressing topics that relate directly to you or your care, and – only then – work outwards.
Watch this space.
