Public Comment

Your brain is the most important organ in your body. And you already know that because your brain says so. If people didn't have good brains, we would not be at the top of the food chain, we would not have technology, and we would not have civilization. It is our brains that make us think we are at the top--and there is a lot of reality to that thinking. Other creatures have good brains as well. But humans have opposable thumbs, and that gives us the advantage. 

But this essay is not about whether humans are superior. I'm writing this to compare psychiatric medication to other essential medicines used to treat problems in the human body. Thyroid medication, often called "Synthroid" is a synthetic drug used to treat hypothyroidism, a disease of insufficient, vital hormone from the thyroid gland. And, doubtless you are aware that insulin is used by people with diabetes to prevent damage to the body from excess blood glucose. 

Psychiatric medications can be seen within the same kind of framework. But most of the public doesn't get this. If you tell someone your doctor ordered breathing treatments for your lungs, the listener will not have the same reaction as they would if you told them you take Stelazine because your brain produces psychosis without it. 

When people hear or think "mental illness" it conjures up all manner of stereotypes, people on the street or in institutions who can't make it in society, or people in treatment who have below average intelligence. This is the intertwined with the bigotry directed at people with neurodivergence. It is a bleak life circumstance making it that much harder for us to remain connected to reality. 

Psychiatrists themselves tend to believe that those they treat lack brainpower, and that we are subnormal. This is not consistent with their medical model of psychiatry. If we follow the medical model, we should be considered equals so long as we remain in treatment. 

Psychiatric conditions, to some advocates, are not illnesses, they are differences. But I can't see it that way. The brain malfunctions and a person can't get a grasp of the reality around them as conveyed by the senses. Insane stuff has taken the place of simple reasoning. Thus, psychiatric problems are not just a difference, they are a group of illnesses. But on the other hand, it is absolutely necessary for people to eradicate the shame that many people feel about it. And it is necessary to eliminate the hatred, mockery, bullying, violence, and social injustices directed at those with a psychiatric problem. 

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor. When you see their name on the door to their office, it will often be followed with "M.D." 

And a "mental illness" is a medically caused illness. No one should be ashamed of that. It should not invoke the disrespect of others. And when someone says something insulting, condescending, or that is a put-down, we should be prepared in advance with a few rehearsed comebacks. 

And a psychiatrist is not infallible--they can make mistakes, misjudgments, errors, etcetera. 

When I was given a prognosis along with my diagnosis in 1982 when I became ill, the psychiatrist, Dr. Trachtenberg at the inpatient psychiatry, part of Kaiser Martinez, did not paint a rosy picture. He said I "could do fairly well for a long time." My mother who was present asked "What does that mean, a long time?" 

Trachtenberg replied, "Eventually the dementia sets in." 

Now, this is from memory, and it goes back more than forty years, so I could not say any of this is definite if I was on a witness stand. But it really seemed that the psychiatrist thought of me as less than a person. And that perception held among many treating psychiatrists must be fought and defeated. 

But also, a mental illness must be fought and defeated. And that means accepting treatment even while the medication can directly, through side effects, produce a great deal of suffering and discomfort.  

There are more than two drawbacks to taking psych medications. Taking medication to fix your thinking, to some, implies they are 'defective.' It is difficult for some people to like themselves when they must take a pill to be okay. Culturally, a person's perception of defectiveness can interfere with self-affinity.  

Additionally, psych meds have numerous health risks. Third, medication interferes with the possibility of performing at a job. 

Regarding the concept of you being defective because you need medication, there is a great deal of room for mindful exercises that can alleviate the distress of those thoughts. 

When psychiatrists ascribe to the medical model but at the same time assume intrinsic inferiority of the patient, it is hypocritical and unfair. 

Antipsychotics and taking these drugs do not say anything about who you are. You can follow an achievable life path you want for yourself, and the medication, at least the concept part of it, does not have to interfere.