Addressing the real causes of mental pain
The scientific evidence in support of Jaime’s view is very sketchy indeed and far from conclusive.
I would acknowledge though that some people may have a genetic predisposition towards certain behavioural or emotional problems.
Some studies have suggested this but there is no convincing evidence as yet. I believe that societal/environmental factors exert a far greater influence and that these problems are best addressed through counselling and caring or supportive services.
Neurotoxic and disabling psychiatric drug ‘treatments’ do not address these problems though, as they largely have a mental and emotional deadening effect.
There is no evidence that they correct brain chemical imbalances which psychiatry believes is a primary cause of what it would judge to be ‘mental illness’. The chemical imbalance theory is unfounded because we have no understanding of what constitutes a chemically-balanced brain in the first place.
Jaime Hyland should also remember that psychiatry has never been able to prove a biological cause to even one of the so-called behavioural disorders or mental illnesses.
Psychiatry’s inference that psychiatric patients are genetically defective or are suffering from a brain chemical imbalance is one that must be challenged.
A social and humanistic model of psychiatry which addresses the real causes of their mental and emotional pain is, I believe, the best way forward. Instead of negating people’s life experiences, it would give this primary importance. The profits and prestige of the psychiatric-pharmaceutical complex would simply not feature.
Sean Fleming,
Leafonney Cottage,
Kilglass,
Co. Sligo
