These posts explore the themes developed in my monograph, Narcisso-Fascism, which is itself a real-world test of the central concepts of the Biocognitive Model of Mind for psychiatry.
Your piece reminds me of a story I heard from someone who worked at Callum Park in the 1960s. An inmate had been kept there for years, not a bother to anyone, but deemed to be unable to be released. She was entirely mute, would never engage with staff and spent most of her day walking while looking at the ground, until one day she recognised another person speaking her native language whereupon, she lit up and showed no evidence of impairment. She had simply been adhering to her cultural upbringing regarding the manner in which she must relate to strangers.
Mark Cross's book "Mental State" describes Australia's mental health system as operating under conditions akin to a siege. Too many customers/ consumers/ patients and not enough capacity by way of staff or beds. Australia has way fewer beds per capita than European peers and can't keep up with demand.
Cross describes institutional power dynamics and propensity for toxic hierarchical structures that are detrimental to the mental health of workers. Users of system feel the brunt of systemic problems that are manifested as high staff attrition rates and elevated rates of suicide, both of practitioners and patients.
Your practice in remote Australia echoes practices in Finland and elsewhere, where a team meets the distressed person in their home setting and seeks to establish a network of people around them that provides safety while they work through circumstances that might have triggered their episode, The team is available for follow up as needed. The distressed person is allowed to own their problem, not to be arbitrarily confined or categorised..
Exemplifying an entirely different attitude to incarceration are practices in penal systems in other countries.
The US, like Britain and Australia carries in its cultural DNA the aftermath of colonisation, massacre of native people and slavery. The aftermath has been discrimination on the basis of race, as is described in the articles referred to. The cultural legacy of our inhumane and violent past plays out to this day in our society's preoccupations with national safety, fear of immigrants and appeal to cultural purity a la Angus Taylor and Co.
The very high incidence of intellectual disabilities and mental illness in our criminal justice system further blurs public perceptions of the reasons for people being "put away". ( and public apathy)
Psychiatry is not positioned to influence these upstream contributors to ill health. Until mental health services go out to where the problems are (poverty abuse etc), nothing will change.
There's already public acknowledgement that the current system is not fit for purpose.
I read all your posts and over the years have learnt quite a bit from you. This story about working with indigenous people in North West of Australia, which must have been incredibly challenging, really moved me. Thanks for all your persistent efforts.
The patriarchal influences can be seen in these 'treatments'. Women were far more likely to be on ineffective, dangerous drugs in 1989 when a in psychiatrist started prescribing anti-depresssants and diazepam to me. I went to the wrong guy looking for help dealing with the loss of a job I loved and was driven out of by men that resented my getting to their position in a male dominated industry. Very hostile place and make co-workers and a resentful manager... anyway I was threatened by my manager, I didn't know I had anyone on my side. However, I found out after I resigned the company manager and my senior manager in that company didn't want me to go. Tried to get me to stay, but while I was relieved to know upper management wanted me to stay and I wanted to stay, their solution was to put me in another position that would have me reporting to and working with the same men that had been making my job inhospitality. Sorry about the background, but I thought after that exhausting experience and loss I knew I had to talk to someone. I, without knowing better, went to a psychiatrist. He didn't care about the background and told me I had an imbalance and when I got worse and wanted off, he said I was like a diabetic in that I'll need those drugs got the rest of my life. After nearly 20 years of suicide attempts and depression I begged the doctor to wean me off. He refused. I nearly died quitting them cold. Such psychic pain I had for a long time! But I did it and got better. What's weird is the doctor was always asking after my husband's job and health, not in a suspicious way, I felt he could only address me after acknowledging my husband in some way.
I advise everyone to go to talk therapy before taking drugs or at least try natural supplements like SAMe before taking drugs that doctors and patients are warned of the dangers of causing depression symptoms and suicide ideation or actual suicide.
Horrible exploitive control those people have over vulnerable people.
Your piece reminds me of a story I heard from someone who worked at Callum Park in the 1960s. An inmate had been kept there for years, not a bother to anyone, but deemed to be unable to be released. She was entirely mute, would never engage with staff and spent most of her day walking while looking at the ground, until one day she recognised another person speaking her native language whereupon, she lit up and showed no evidence of impairment. She had simply been adhering to her cultural upbringing regarding the manner in which she must relate to strangers.
Mark Cross's book "Mental State" describes Australia's mental health system as operating under conditions akin to a siege. Too many customers/ consumers/ patients and not enough capacity by way of staff or beds. Australia has way fewer beds per capita than European peers and can't keep up with demand.
Cross describes institutional power dynamics and propensity for toxic hierarchical structures that are detrimental to the mental health of workers. Users of system feel the brunt of systemic problems that are manifested as high staff attrition rates and elevated rates of suicide, both of practitioners and patients.
Your practice in remote Australia echoes practices in Finland and elsewhere, where a team meets the distressed person in their home setting and seeks to establish a network of people around them that provides safety while they work through circumstances that might have triggered their episode, The team is available for follow up as needed. The distressed person is allowed to own their problem, not to be arbitrarily confined or categorised..
Exemplifying an entirely different attitude to incarceration are practices in penal systems in other countries.
https://kentpartnership.org/what-norways-prison-system-can-teach-the-united-states/
The US, like Britain and Australia carries in its cultural DNA the aftermath of colonisation, massacre of native people and slavery. The aftermath has been discrimination on the basis of race, as is described in the articles referred to. The cultural legacy of our inhumane and violent past plays out to this day in our society's preoccupations with national safety, fear of immigrants and appeal to cultural purity a la Angus Taylor and Co.
The very high incidence of intellectual disabilities and mental illness in our criminal justice system further blurs public perceptions of the reasons for people being "put away". ( and public apathy)
Psychiatry is not positioned to influence these upstream contributors to ill health. Until mental health services go out to where the problems are (poverty abuse etc), nothing will change.
There's already public acknowledgement that the current system is not fit for purpose.
Hi Niall,
I read all your posts and over the years have learnt quite a bit from you. This story about working with indigenous people in North West of Australia, which must have been incredibly challenging, really moved me. Thanks for all your persistent efforts.
Regards
Tim Wilson
The patriarchal influences can be seen in these 'treatments'. Women were far more likely to be on ineffective, dangerous drugs in 1989 when a in psychiatrist started prescribing anti-depresssants and diazepam to me. I went to the wrong guy looking for help dealing with the loss of a job I loved and was driven out of by men that resented my getting to their position in a male dominated industry. Very hostile place and make co-workers and a resentful manager... anyway I was threatened by my manager, I didn't know I had anyone on my side. However, I found out after I resigned the company manager and my senior manager in that company didn't want me to go. Tried to get me to stay, but while I was relieved to know upper management wanted me to stay and I wanted to stay, their solution was to put me in another position that would have me reporting to and working with the same men that had been making my job inhospitality. Sorry about the background, but I thought after that exhausting experience and loss I knew I had to talk to someone. I, without knowing better, went to a psychiatrist. He didn't care about the background and told me I had an imbalance and when I got worse and wanted off, he said I was like a diabetic in that I'll need those drugs got the rest of my life. After nearly 20 years of suicide attempts and depression I begged the doctor to wean me off. He refused. I nearly died quitting them cold. Such psychic pain I had for a long time! But I did it and got better. What's weird is the doctor was always asking after my husband's job and health, not in a suspicious way, I felt he could only address me after acknowledging my husband in some way.
I advise everyone to go to talk therapy before taking drugs or at least try natural supplements like SAMe before taking drugs that doctors and patients are warned of the dangers of causing depression symptoms and suicide ideation or actual suicide.
Horrible exploitive control those people have over vulnerable people.