I think that this will be the most provoking blog I have ever written. As parents we are uneducated about illnesses, and often think that a quick fix is in order., so we take our children to the experts. Dr. Szasz saw psychiatry's medical foundation as shaky at best. We now believe that the brains of our children have a "chemical imbalance". This man would ask you to show that to him. He believes that it is a lie that mental illness is an organic disturbance. He believes that if you want to buy a lobotomy you should be able to buy one. He wants us to show him that a chemical imbalance is in the brain. Of course, we won't be able to. People in his view are becoming psychiatric victims.
The man I am about to introduce you to is Thomas Szasz. "Arguably, Szasz has had more impact on the actual practice of psychiatry in this country than anyone since Freud." "The journal of Psychiatry and Law. Thomas Szasz is the preeminent critic of psychiatry in the world." Dr. Richard Vatz, Professor Towson University." Dr. Szasz has never worked in a Mental hospital because he did not believe in the locking up of patients, and was advocating for the abolition of psychiatric slavery. In 1961 there was a law passed that it is not legitimate to lock up people for mental illness. If a person is innocent of crime, they should not be locked up or incarcerated in a free society.
Dr. Szasz claims that no behavior or misbehavior is a disease. In his opinion there is nothing to examine. If a person is sick, there is science behind it, one takes blood work, or an x-ray. The field of psychiatry uses diagnostic terms to stigmatize people. Such as if a woman wanted to leave her husband, then she had "hysteria". If a slave wanted to escape from his master, they also had a term for that. ADHD , Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder is not a disease.
Dr. Thomas Szasz, believes that it is arrogance to assume responsibility for another persons life. If a person did not commit a crime a person should not be locked up. I trust that we can all learn from this man. The links below will familiarize you with the caliber of the man he was. I love his intelligence and boldness to proclaim what he believes in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj7GmeSAxXo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgikdLHaAcE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZgsxI3ZouU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJI6YuuHB3c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A63AVMEjYho
I will write about her stay in the hospital for 3 1/2 weeks in a future blog. On the psyche ward she was treated as an adult at age 18. She had no ability to leave the premise unless a psychiatrist signed her out. We had no ability to bring her home unless she exhibited the behaviors deemed necessary by the hospital, to release her.
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