Kill The Psych in Your Mind! Embrace Madness!

Yeah, electroshock is cool again. Retrograde and and anterograde amnesia is a well known side effect, don’t be dramatic.. You were sooooo depressed before!

What is Sanity?

Sanity is an abstract concept, or rather a theory, which attempts to categorize human thoughts and behaviors based upon rationality or quality. Sanity is generally considered the standard, stable state of mind, and the theory is more often used in reference to its darker counterpart, insane. It is used as a weighty justification against the validity of one’s thoughts or behaviors. When the sanity of a single thought or action is questioned, the logic of sanity assumes other thoughts and actions of said individual should come into question. In other words, deviating from sanity in one instance is indicative of widespread corruption of sanity in an individual, as one thought process often connects to many more. This corruption of sanity would effectively render the individual insane. The colloquial understanding of sanity varies widely between time periods, societies, cultures, and individuals. Sanity itself is a social construct which has no objectivity in its analysis, and no medical or scientific basis. It is often used in conjunction with someone’s “mental health” or “soundness of mind,” although it is not related to any identifiable changes in brain matter. The understanding of sanity is largely based upon a cultural consensus of how most people think and act in a society.

Furthering this line of thought, a defining factor of insanity is minority thinking. As is in democracy, the majority decides all and the minority is decided for. In addition, sanity is not only defined by majority, but by power. A sane person must adhere to the status quo because the status quo is to be perceived as reasonable and justifiable. Upsetting the system of power is an attempt to bring upon the unreal, and, partly due to risk, this is seen as unjustifiable. Sanity, effectively, means actively participating in keeping society in its current state. In modern society, the ability to function inside society is used as an indicator of sanity. A sane adult holds a steady income, lives in a house, and is in a monogamous relationship with children. An inability or unwillingness to participate fully and correctly in society, or even just capitalistic labor, is often an indicator of lack of sanity. Sanity is even judged by appearance or gait.

Historical Context

Throughout colonization and the history of whiteness, sanity has been weaponized to maintain its racist and oppressive system. When the acceptable mode of thinking is racial, religious, cultural, and gendered superiority, anyone who dissents from this system of thought is at risk of having their sanity questioned. This is realized in the disenfranchisement of political dissenters and oppressed peoples, as well as the societal disregard for any thought that does not adhere to colonialism. Sanism has shown itself as an extremely effective strategy for delegitimizing activists and marginalized peoples of all groups who dare to speak out against injustice. It manages to bypass any validity of the victim’s grievances and simultaneously silences them through incarceration or treatments (drugs, lobotomies, trauma) which increase complacency. For people assigned female at birth, psychiatry famously used the guise of mental illness to widely delegitimize and retaliate against anyone who was remotely vocal about feminism (or was simply thought to be uncooperative). Due to the pervasiveness of Sanism in society, it was and is a remarkably easy way to delegitimize anyone. Just say the words, and instantly an entire population will disregard any validity to the actions or words of the targeted person. Throughout history and into current times, rates of psychiatric oppression and imprisonment have always been notably higher for minorities and marginalized groups. Additional targeted groups often include protestors, political dissenters, and artists. Queerness, interracial marriage, differing political views, homelessness, and criminal records have also been used as psychiatric justifications for diagnoses and imprisonment. Generally, all people deemed other by systems of power or majority are at risk. Even more broadly, just like a rumor, anyone could fall victim to the insidiousness of sanism. Just say the words.

Sanity is heavily intertwined with the enlightenment concept of mind-body dualism; the physical and objective body contrasting the entirely separate abstract mind. Under this mode of thought, psychiatry posits that undesirable thoughts can effectively be treated separately from the body or environmental factors through modifications to its chemistry and functioning in the brain. Though psychiatry previously wished to ground its theory in observable changes in the brain, its continued inability to do so resulted in the abandonment of tying psychiatry to observable biology. Psychiatry, then, is forced to justify its scientific nature on anecdotal evidence provided by patients, deductive reasoning, and its working understanding of the brain. Although psychiatry is often seen as the scientific system for determining sanity, psychiatry does not officially associate itself with the concept of sanity, as it cannot make a case for its validity either. Psychiatry bypasses the unscientific and unobjective nature of sanity by co-opting medical terms like “illness.” It appears far more reasonable to justify treatment to a patient when using this line of logic; if the patient is unhappy and unable to function properly in society, they are sick. Their “wounds” should be treated as a traditional medical doctor would stitch up a cut.

What kind of respected medical science had to stop trying to say its illnesses are caused by observable changes in the body because it was so unscientific? You’re really saying that some anecdotes from coerced “mentally ill” patients mixed with simplistic postulations somehow constitute scientific objectivity? Then why do you constantly assume I’m lying and don’t know what is going on in my own body?

The issue with this logic appears immediately; feelings are not wounds, serotonin is not medical equipment, and complacency is not a cure. Nowhere in this logic is there any true consideration for the conditions and environment for which the individual exists in. It is assumed that the beginning and end of any problem is nothing more than the undesirable thought or act. While psychiatrists do often consider environmental factors (relationships, career happiness, trauma, marginalization, for better or for worse even gender identity and sexuality) in the necessity of a prescription, behavior rehabilitation, or incarceration, they act as though any treatment negates the importance of environmental or societal changes. Downplaying environmental factors is also effective in putting the blame directly onto the patient. It minimizes their experiences and indirectly justifies the status quo. The entirety of psychiatry relies on the idea that if an individual fully participates in society, does not clearly show thoughts or actions which are deemed undesirable, and does not complain in an unappealing way, the patient is being treated adequately. The use of treatment here implies that (given it is cost-effective), the patient should likely receive this treatment indefinitely.

Furthermore, a branch of medical science should not rely so heavily on assumed logic and malleable social standards of the time and culture. While medical science claims a robust understanding of the structure of the brain and how chemicals flow through it, it does not have the ability to justify the correctness or healthiness of the thoughts and actions in an individual. It attempts not just to do this, but to convert incorrect thoughts and actions into correct ones. No matter how convincingly a psychiatrist claims the ability to diagnose and treat “illness” inside of a brain, missteps in the logic of sanity and health remain a fundamental issue. Alchemy of human thought is no more legitimate than turning lead into gold.

One of nature’s most interesting paradoxes to the current neuroscientific and psychiatric model is the neurological condition Hydrocephalus, where the brain’s structure is nearly completely replaced by fluid. Even with almost no brain tissue, many people exhibiting this disorder have live full and complete lives, without anyone ever even being aware of their condition.

Healing By Coercion, Not Consent

Though psychiatry presents itself as objective assistance to those in need, anarchists see psychiatry and institutionalization as a form of authoritative control as well as powerful tool of state power. Just as the justice system uses the excuse of harm reduction or punitive justice to enact violence and imprisonment, psychiatry justifies its power by reasoning that the state is morally inclined to label, medicate, and preemptively imprison an individual under circumstances set forth by the state itself. Psychiatry argues that a branded individual is unable to give consent or reason by themselves, and thus that duty falls to psychiatry. These circumstances, which an anarchist would naturally question the validity of, include potential future harm to oneself or others, the inability to care for oneself, or even simply abnormal thoughts (as perceived by a figure of authority). Additionally, one would argue that these circumstances are inherently vague and malleable, leaving psychiatry with the ability to justify actions of violence, coercion and violations of consent effectively with little oversight.

A believer of the psychiatric state, a believer of justified total control over a free being, is a fanatic. And fanatics are not so easily persuaded otherwise.

It is essential to consider the inherent power dynamic between a medical professional and a patient deemed “not of sound mind”. Psychiatry dehumanizes those in its grasp; it maintains that truth is spoken by the authority figure, and the oppressed person must not be trusted or believed without express consent of the authority itself. Once entered into psychiatric record, patients face discrimination by doctors (disproportionate assumptions of lying or misunderstanding feelings in their own body), disproportionate law enforcement responses, and increased risk of incarceration among other violations of autonomy. Marginalized groups face notably higher rates of being introduced to the psychiatric industry, as well as higher rates of involuntary incarceration. Entering the psychiatric system is a lifelong sentence of stolen autonomy. The belief in psychiatric omniscience is so pervasive that even lifelong friends and family will often question the validity of the experiences and beliefs of a loved one once branded by psychiatry.

My family and friends will believe you, a stranger I met 10 minutes ago, over me? Damn, maybe I should buy a white coat.

The state maintains the ability to additionally dissolve an individual’s purported rights and freedoms through institutionalization, often against their will. The few privileges often given to prisoners in traditional prisons are not guaranteed to the institutionalized; visits from family and friends, outdoors time, free socialization and a cell mate, a set release date, legal proceedings, and a lack of forced drugging, to name a few. Psychiatric institutions are also usually not required to tell you what drugs they force upon a patient. One can deduce that, in many ways, the techniques of control used by psychiatry can be even more insidious and effective than standard law and order. Many who question and even oppose the carceral system do not see psychiatry as its silent partner in oppression. As an anarchist, one must.

Stigma

Prepare to be gaslit by “professionals” and family that you’re broken and must be fixed, even though medications often cause more problems and don’t get to the root cause of your suffering or noncompliance. The stigma around mental illness has a uniquely persuasive effect on judgement. Involuntary incarceration and the torture that inevitably ensues often begins with a loved one truly believing they are doing the right thing. After a loved one is made aware of a diagnosis, your words may not hold the weight they used to. A religious fanatic who believes you are a demon to be exorcised will not trust the words of the demon hiding in your body. In a similar way, a believer in psychiatry will do anything to get back the “you” they think they know.

Priorities of The Psychiatric Industry and Resulting Effects

Health is not paramount to the psychiatric industry. Psychiatry’s continued existence does not hinge upon healing patients; rather, it benefits by customer retention. The psychiatric industry is a multi-billion-dollar for-profit industry. Psychiatrists profit from excessive diagnoses via an increase in customer base and are financially incentivized to keep a patient on brain-altering drugs. Health care and pharmaceutical companies (including their executives and shareholders) profit as mental illness becomes more prolific and normalized. Governments and large corporations have vested interests in the psychiatric industry, as they indirectly profit from the increased labor and complacency that medication provides them. Even more directly, these hierarchies benefit from silencing those they can brand unwell.

From Your Personal TV Comes a 20 Second Ad For A Chemical Lobotomy Followed By a full Five Minutes of Side Effect Warnings at 10x speed!

Tapering, Withdrawals, and Personal Experiences

Drugs are not a fix; they are flawed and temporary treatment which leave a person completely vulnerable and unsupported without them. Psychiatrists often do not notify patients of potential physical dependence and withdrawals, even ignoring side effects and drug interactions. The reality is that even one day of missed pills often results in brutal withdrawals, and each instance further destabilizes your central nervous system, making future withdrawals more extreme. Logically, the longer you take a drug and the higher the dosage, the higher the physical dependence. Severe and extended withdrawals from tapering off a drug, which are far more common and often disabling than psychiatrists let on, often force patients back onto prescription drugs. Some drug withdrawals can even be fatal. Constantly switching (or adding) drugs and dosages, which is common practice to find the right “cocktail” as psychiatrists put it, causes additional damage. While these are not necessarily intentionally malevolent decisions, it does extend profit indefinitely.

As I have experienced myself and heard from others (putting debilitating withdrawals aside), tapering off psychiatric drugs is often a liberating experience. Relying on artificial chemicals and modifications to brain function to keep one’s brain in a supposed homeostasis leaves them unable to solve any problems when they arise. The feeling of being whole after years of psychiatric drugging is difficult to describe, but one could say they were “in a daze” they were unable to recognize. Anecdotally, people report feeling more fully as they reduce the drugs. While this is an understandably difficult experience, it does allow one to learn to navigate and respond to these feelings naturally. It is a surprisingly comforting experience to feel everything and know it is possible to process and control it. Psychiatric drugs control you just as effectively as the authority dead set on prescribing them. Even daze and confused, I would self-harm while on the highest doses of several mood-stabilizing drugs and not quite understand why. The struggles and pains do not go away when you take a pill; you are simply drugged to a point where you cannot pinpoint what those feelings are, why they arise, and why they do not go away. I would fall into careless, dreamless sleep and wake up utterly exhausted. I would have panic attacks and be left with a complete inability to control myself or come back to my body. These symptoms further self-validate psychiatry.

My psychiatric journey grinded to a halt when I had a bunch of panic attacks after realizing I couldn’t speak clearly, have concise thoughts, or remember what I was doing 10 seconds ago. Thankfully, it only took me a few years to notice!

A psychiatric patient’s health is at the complete mercy of insurance companies/government sponsored healthcare, pharmacies, and a psychiatrist writing prescriptions in a timely fashion. If any of these mechanisms of oppression falter or the patient loses the ability to pay for your treatment, they will nearly inevitably have severe physical and cognitive effects, become incapable of working, and have difficulty with basic daily tasks and processing thoughts.

IT’S ENOUGH TO DRIVE YOU MAD (REALLY THIS TIME!)

What Does Being A Psychiatric Patient Really Mean?

When a patient walks out of a psychiatrist’s office with a diagnosis, they are branded on paper as mentally ill for as long as they live. The consequences are more extreme for specific diagnoses, and some of these diagnoses are the most abstract. Some diagnoses mean psychiatrists and governments will work hard to make sure you are always drugged. This is especially true if they have been incarcerated in any classification of prison. Certain diagnoses, such as BPD, result in being blacklisted by many therapists. There is constantly policing via regular psychiatry appointments and there is constant risk of incarceration if one says the wrong words or they are misinterpreted. State-defined rights and privileges are reduced; a psychiatric patient is subhuman in the mind of the law and society. Every doctor seen in the future will know psychiatric diagnoses and medication history, and their perspective will be molded by this knowledge. If admitted to a psychiatric ward, voluntarily or not, this information is also widely available to doctors and even law enforcement. It goes without saying that police murders skyrocket for those diagnosed with a mental disorder, have spent time in a psychiatric prison, or are outed to police via the informant who decided to subject someone to state violence.

Being on psychiatric drugs can make your psychological symptoms worse, so almost no psychiatrist would ever recommend you stop, to the point of recommending more medications and upping dosages. This is true even when the drugs themselves are causing extra harm. If you feel bad, it is your fault. If you are feeling good, it is because of the drugs. Or, of course, you’re just lying. As with any mind-altering drug, physical dependency grows over time, and as the drugs do more damage to your body, it becomes radically more difficult to taper off them safely and effectively. To make matters worse, tapering recommendations are far too short. Even slow tapering will make both old and new psychological symptoms come back even worse. These are often compounded with debilitating physical effects. A psychiatrist may say this is who you are off your meds, insisting you reinstate. Deny this request, and depending on your response, situation, and location, you may land in a white cell.

Incarceration

Despite suicide rates skyrocketing during and after incarceration (even among those who had no previous suicidal ideation), society has done an incredibly effective job at convincing the general population that everyone being involuntarily incarcerated is there “for their health and safety.” Many people who are incarcerated are not previously aware of the conditions of the facility they will be sent to, and most of these facilities are underfunded, poorly run, and filled with employees that have long since lost their ability to empathize with another supposed subhuman, maddened patient. A psychiatric prison may be the worst possible place for someone in crisis. Your free will and consent are completely taken away. This type of prison, as is the same as all prisons, is made simply to keep you inside. Contained. Its purpose is not to improve your health. All forms of stimulation and personal comfort are removed; and while some may believe this is what is needed, it leaves a person completely alone with the thoughts that landed them there in the first place. For a standard prison, supporters would argue it exists this way as a punishment, to make the prisoner sit with their guilt. Under-stimulation by itself is a form of torture. You will have nothing to do but consider your existence, your situation, your bleak surroundings, and those suffering around you. Perhaps you hear the yells and screams of others suffering, day and night. Your requests and needs are not priority, only your breathing body is required. Your body, to be restrained for extended periods. No comfort is found from anything that is yours, for white walls or all you are given. No guarantees of the safe, grounding presence of seeing your loved ones, or feeling their embrace. What privacy you had is gone, replaced with interrogations and surveillance by strangers. Prisoners often find themselves having to lie and play psychological games with their interrogator in a desperate attempt to discover what would convince them that they deserve freedom. Maybe you will get lucky, and your healthcare will decide to stop paying for your “treatment.”

Targeting Anarchists

Anarchists are singled out by psychiatry disproportionately because, besides being a targeted group by society itself, they often represent everything the psychiatric industry looks for; noncompliance, political views that stray far from the social order, illegalism, a prison record, discontent with society, a way of living that strays from the norm, aversion to hierarchal and fascistic schooling and oppressive labor, etc. Anarchists have also been victims of state-sanctioned retaliation/silencing/delegitimization by way of psychiatry. As someone who is already perceived by many as having extremist ideology, painting an anarchist as mentally ill is a relatively simple task for one with that power. Young anarchists are also systematically diagnosed with mental disorders by doctors who are ignorant to the theory, who conflate it with symptoms of mental illness, or even out of spite or hatred towards the philosophy. Well-meaning or otherwise, psychiatrists are indoctrinated into a system where such beliefs are indicative of illness in need of correction.

They weren’t protesting our atrocities and injustice folks, they were simply sick in the head. We are giving them the help they desperately need, poor soul. Back to work.

Therapy

Therapy is not by any means inherently bad, but it isn’t for everyone. For anyone seeking therapy, it is important to understand the drawbacks of the current models. Many common therapies, especially those pushed by government, employer, and healthcare systems, focus on changing your thoughts and behaviors and to be more productive to capitalist society, not necessarily supporting your individuality and working with you to manage struggles in a healthy way. Some therapies, like ABA for autistic people, are downright abusive. In addition to this, one must reconcile with the fact that theories and methods of talk therapies are only theories themselves. Those seeking therapists must also understand their therapist’s personal bias, adherence to systemic belief systems, requirements to collaborate with law enforcement, and ability to incarcerate via any claim of being a danger to themselves or others.

Kill the psych in your mind! Embrace madness!