“Mental Health” Oppression and Psychiatric Drugs
The following is based on a talk I gave at a Sunrise Center workshop I led. [The Sunrise Center is an RC project that supports people as they stop using psychiatric drugs.]
“MENTAL HEALTH” OPPRESSION
We learn early on that there are certain ways to be “okay.” We don’t want to appear strange, odd, weird, or suspect. We must be “cool.” We cannot stand out {be especially noticed] or we face consequences. We are supposed to shut down our discharge, question our thinking, and fit in. There is huge pressure to be “normal.” If we don’t act “normal,” people assume that something is “wrong” with us. This is “mental health” oppression (MHO).
We are oppressed by MHO if we think differently, act differently, look different, struggle too much or for too long, appear “needy,” need help, view the world differently, love differently, practice a different faith, have a skin color other than white, are old, are young, are differently abled, are too happy, sad, loud, quiet, fat, or thin.
We are trained to “function,” no matter what. Our functioning is not freely chosen; it comes out of fear. “What will happen to me if I don’t behave the way I’m supposed to?” Obedience involves terror.
We are targeted for trying to fight off injustice—for complaining about sexism, racism, and so on. This discourages us from fighting against these injustices. Also, we don’t easily move to heal from an oppression when we have been humiliated or threatened for having the hurts and the resulting patterns. For these reasons, MHO has been called a “lid” on liberation from oppression.
When we are in distress, people have little if any attention for us, for our discharging. They shut us down in the mistaken belief that it will make us better able to get along in the world. They try to help, but they don’t know how. They don’t know what to do when we can no longer hold in our big feelings, are feeling desperate, are unable to keep functioning and pretending. So we hide how hard it feels. We’ve tried reaching out, and we haven’t gotten back what we’ve needed—we’ve been hurt again on top of what we were already trying to deal with.
All the above surrounds us from our earliest days. We survive by figuring out ways to “not feel.” We try not to let the feelings surface. We get along as best we can. Many of us do not survive. Those of us who do survive struggle to find ourselves amidst the confusion. And we believe that our struggles are our fault.
How do we find ourselves? How do we find our way back to healing, back to discharge, back to self-confidence and real strength? We need to be kind to ourselves. It is MHO that tells us that we shouldn’t need help, that keeps us from reaching out when we need it. We can look for help.
Many less-than-optimal options are available—psychiatric drugs are one of them.
PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS
What is called “mental illness” is simply the way that old hurts and undischarged distresses show themselves. Certain types of distresses are seen as “worse” and are “pathologized.” The list of “mental health” diagnoses is growing. Drug companies are making a lot of money. At the same time, “mental health” workers are good people who are doing their best in a largely broken system.
There is nothing to “cure.” We humans have a natural healing process for recovering from distress. But using psychiatric drugs may have been the best thing we could figure out to do at the time. Sometimes taking them kept us alive. Sometimes it kept us “functioning.” One of the problems with psychiatric drugs, however, is that it is not easy to stop using them. And the “mental health” system, while heavily invested in getting us on them, offers little help for getting off.
How do we help people stop using psychiatric drugs? We need to be relaxed. We need to be pleased as we listen to their stories. We can be delighted to see the discharge process working. We can be allies through the often-terrifying feelings that made them decide to use psychiatric drugs.
We don’t have to “fix” anything or anyone. We only need to listen, with confidence and relaxed attention. Discharge leads to re-evaluation, and that leads to clearer thinking and to changing what needs to be changed in the person’s life.
We can be patient with ourselves and with each other. We are not saying that everybody should stop taking all drugs right now. It can be dangerous to stop suddenly without being prepared. There are many things to think about before stopping. We need to set up support. We need to discharge so that we can make the decision that is right for us. It must be our own decision, so that we can persist when we struggle and doubt the decision.
We are not alone. There is help. We have each other. We can get better and better at providing useful help. We can be relaxed, welcoming, happy to hear about each other’s struggles; not worried, confused, or scared by big feelings. We can have confidence in each other’s minds and ability to heal with discharge.
USA
(Present Time 207, April 2022)