Mental "Illness," Disorders and the Politics We Live By

The labels we use to define mental disorders and illnesses are nothing more than moral judgments of patterns of behavior that someone finds disturbed and/or disturbing. Like all patterns of human behavior they are the best adaptations any individuals have achieved given the total circumstances of their lives. These circumstances include the biology they inherited and the social circumstances of their lives and thus, in part, reflect the politics of those social interactions. My experience as a psycho"therapist" for the past 50+ years is that most people seeking help are the product of authoritarian and totalitarian interactions during which time they have victims of injustice and brutality, of authoritarian religions that promote inescapable guilt, self hatred and a fear of being simply human, and a failure to promote an individual capable of experiencing the full range of human emotions. These victims grow into adulthood where they take over the roles of victimizers and find that not only can they not cope with the fears of satisfying their innner desires, hopes and dreams but must also deny the shame and guilt of ruining the creativity, independence of thought and joy in the lives of everyone around them. What the good "therapist" (note the metaphorical use of this word) does is help individuals understand their victimization and learn to take responsibilty for a more creative, just and loving life. The good "therapist" finds ways to live within the corrupt authoritarian medical model created by psychology and simultaneously subvert that hideous model with the people they purport to help. The therapeutic relationship, like all relationships, has its own politcs and each of us as practioners mus choose between creating a democratic and honest relationship or continuing to be authoritarian and totalitarian with our "patients."