Caplan (They Say You’re Crazy, the abuse of power “Non una seconda! Mortifierel”)

They Say You’re Crazy: How the World’s Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who’s Normal - by Paula J. Caplan

“If we allow others to decide whether or not we are normal, we lose the power to define, to judge, and, often, to respect ourselves…” – Paula J. Caplan

Here’s part of an editorial review (Publishers Weekly)

” … Caplan (The Myth of Women’s Masochism), a psychologist and former consultant to the DSM, compellingly argues that “much of what is labeled ‘mental illness’ would more appropriately be called problems in living.” In a disturbing insider’s look at how the mental health establishment decides who is normal and who is “sick,” she charges that the DSM board’s decision-making process, dominated by a handful of conservative white male psychiatrists, is arbitrary, condescending, profit-driven and riddled with personal biases and political consideration. Facile labeling of personality problems, she
shows, can cause personal suffering as well as material harm because DSM categories figure prominently in who wins child custody, who gets hospitalized against their will and whose psychotherapy is covered by insurance.” – Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The abuse of power has always been terrifying to me. It’s especially frightening when it’s coming from a place where you’d expect to find help if you’re feeling very vulnerable or distressed. I’ve seen horrors – a friend who in a psychiatric ward was given such a strong dose of barbituates, she looked like a heroin addict I once saw who’d just had her fix. Perpetual motion - she couldn’t stop her limbs from moving, and they were moving very strangely. She was also given electric shocks because she was grieving the loss of someone who had been a father figure to her. There is so much more, but it’s too private, too terrible and heart-wrenching.

I can’t understand why some people say they’re sure psychiatry has helped many. I’ve only seen harm and trauma. But I’m sure there are some really good psychiatrists who have helped. If they have, it was because they were doing something outside of the mainstream, showing some humanity and compassion.  

The following is written by an Amazon reviewer who argues an excellent point that’s missing in Caplan’s otherwise excellent expose – that some people might want a psychiatric label for various reasons that may have a lot to do with the problems in our society. I think labels are fine, as long as the problems people have are still being accurately identified and given help for. And I don’t mean with forced drugging. That’s the problem with labels – they can camouflage your real problems and their source – blaming it all on your brain, on chemical imbalances, which by the way is only hypothesis. A diagnosis is really nothing more than the subjective opinion of a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist. 

I wonder if some of the problems people suffer may be a consequence of abuse and trauma, especially for those who’ve been in institutions or psychiatric wards. Wonder if this will ever be recognized and addressed. We’re so unenlightened as a society, it’s a crying shame. 

Amazon Reviewer: K. Hefley “ksuzy”
” … Her book is powerful, because it demonstrates the social construction of concepts like “normal,” the power of labeling people “abnormal,” the relative power and authority one must have to label someone “abnormal,” and how much easier it has been for males to do it to females in the medical (esp. the mental health) establishment because until recently, females have been kept out of medicine.Because her book is coming from such a strong “powerful vs. the powerless” perspective, it does lack a strong point that could have made this a more balanced view, and that is how individuals, even though they may lack power relative to the “labelers,” can be complicit in their labeling. There can be benefits to being labeled, such as that it can legitimize women’s complaints to have an official diagnosis, it can relieve individuals of full responsibilities for their actions or duties, it can give people an identity, and give people the illusion that the problems are contained within themselves rather than the environment or social structure in which they live, which probably won’t change. All of these reasons help explain why people might accept a label or even label themselves. Caplan only seems to suggest that people are labeled against their wills and that’s the end of it.”