Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 09:25:36 -0600
From: Unka Bart <gatorojo-AT-earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: mental illness


Hello John, Ed, others

>At 06:29 9/12/00 , Ed Rocket wrote:

>> The basic premise of each of their approaches was that
>>schizophrenia is not a mechanical breakdown that simply needs to be
>>repaired or stopped, but rather a healing process akin to a spiritual quest.
>
>Even dear old Ziggy Freud, wrong about so many things, noted that neurosis
>& psychosis are modes of healing. It's just that you can't predict how long
>the healing will take. Which doesn't gel with a world driven by budgets.
>
>>Thus, instead of administering mechanical "fixes" like electroshock
>>therapy or drugs, the key to effective treatment was to provide a safe,
>>supportive, understanding and empathic environment within which the
>>patient could work through their process of healing or quest, ultimately
>>emerging with a new and transformed ego, better equipped to integrate into
>>society. Indeed the "sick" individual may simply be manifesting a fault
>>line in the culture at large,

Yeah, we're all on the same sheet music for the most part.  Where we part
company is when we come to the violent psychopaths.  I'm not interested in
healing them as the risk to society is too high.  Most of these are very
clever folks, and street wise psychopaths are frequently able to muster the
sincerity needed to fool a shrink and get discharged as "healed."  And then
kill, maim or rape again.  No thanks.

>>and his/her return to the culture may be healing for the culture as well.
>>These practitioners compared the mentally ill to saints, mystics and
>>prophets (as the psychotic themselves often do).
>
>A psychotic reality is different enough to 'our' reality that I don't think
>one can make a comparison like that.

Well, recognizing that this is a subjective thing, I'm more inclined to
agree with Ed's thesis regarding some of the NVW (non-violent wackos).

>The other difference is that our world
>is more populated than it was. There's no wilderness to run away to. Well,
>there is, but you're likely to find park rangers dragging you out of your
>mystic cave. In short, sainthood, mysticism, shamanism are possible because
>of a particular social milieu, which doesn't exist anymore. The difference
>is now irrelevant and they're all mad. Institutionalise the fuckas! Make
>them normal! But keep the costs down, or we'll take away your government
>grants.

Well, yes.  But what is your point?

>It's a classic case of centralising all occurences of a particular
>phenomenon under a state organ, which appropriates for itself the rights &
>privileges of the previous caretakers. Same as the police force. The big
>difference is that the state organ doesn't love its charges, the way at
>least some of the previous caretakes may have.

Ah.  That.  OK.

>>Of course there may still be some cases that wouldn't respond to such an
>>approach. But, we can at least hope, that in a more just society, there
>>would be few enough mentally ill people so that we could afford to try
>>such an approach, and then resort to other means later if necessary. Did
>>the folks at Pilgrim Psychiatric Center utlilize such an approach before
>>resorting to EST? Probably not.

EST???  The institute resorted to EST???!!!  Man!!!  The inmates have taken
over the asylum, and no one has noticed yet!

I was all set to jump on the bit about expecting to find a "more just
society," (as in, where are you going to look for this more just society?
In you dreams?) before seeing the EST reference.

Or were you talking about Electroshock Therapy, and not Ehrhardt Seminar
Training?

If so, never mind...

yer kindly ol' Unka Bart