Psychiatry’s Incurable Hubris
The problem with psychology and psychiatry is that they have <i>ZERO</i> understanding of the definition of a baseline healthy human being who has an integrated set of physical instincts, emotional responses and mental processes such that they lead a fulfilling, happy life. Without a definition for &quot;health&quot; there can be no defintion for disease. Of course, our modern medical systems are rarely concerned with cures and are thus ultimately content with the financial outcome that results from treating the symptoms. This is a result of the for-profit corporate structure&#x27;s dominance of all aspects of our world, and affects what gets studied and, more importantly, what does not get studied. (See: Chris Rock&#x27;s &quot;ain&#x27;t no money in the cure&quot; bit.)<p>As such, nutrition science is literally less than four hours of medical school education (my wife&#x27;s first son is finishing his residency at his first-choice program, one of the East Coast&#x27;s premier programs). [To learn more about this, I highly suggest the fantastic documentary &quot;Eating You Alive&quot;. I have switched to a whole food plant-based diet as a result and feel better every week (it&#x27;s been about eight weeks now, with a few cheat days along the way).]<p>We are only now realizing the direct link between our gut biome and our mental health, and our gut biome is directly related to the foods and&#x2F;or poisons we ingest. Once again, the for-profit corps provide foods that harm us but cannot be proven to do so, medicines that harm us but cannot be proven to do so, and an environment polluted by their machines and chemicals whose effects cannot be measured enough to hit them in the only place they care about: their purses via tort law. They have crafted the laws and staffed the regulatory agencies while lobbying the government to dismantle and detooth those agencies&#x27; abilities to provide scientific oversight. Every single one of these factors affects our mental health, and all the while there is very, very little research being done on nutrition and how to measure toxicity and remove it from the body.<p>And yet that only peripherally approaches the truth of our human baseline because our human nature goes deeper still, and yet that pervasive corporate mentality to put profit over human well-being is intrinsically related to what we are as <i>moral</i> beings. We each have a moral compass, however subtly different our societal tunings. It is an intrinsic part of our human nature, and our lack of moral teaching as societies is the source of all our problems including our inability to address psychological issues. We have sick societies the world over and it is foolish insanity to think that mental illness is not an absolutely natural result of such selfish, competitive societies.<p>The misunderstanding of the cocaine rat study illustrates this all-too-well. When the studies were re-run years later with non-overcrowded, healthy environments the rats wanted nothing to do with the cocaine.<p>The solution to all our problems is to selflessly choose, first individually and then collectively, to form cooperative, caring societies instead of the dog-eat-dog world of economic competitiveness we currently live under, competitiveness that oft leads to physical competitiveness. Beyond promoting mental and physical health, such compassion lets one see the true nature of the other person, which is essential when one is dealing with psychopathy or sociopathy. Psychiatry is built upon a lack of compassion and its systemic harms all result from their hubris, ignorance and profit motive.<p>Even our precious traditions that should be leading us towards that loving ideal have been conquered by the animalistic persons who live for mammalian alpha-dominance games within and among groups, be they defined by class, ethnicity, form of religion, political affiliation, gender identity or sexual preference. We <i>must</i> live in groups to survive and prosper and our moral nature&#x27;s purpose is to nudge us towards peaceful cooperation so that we may <i>ALL</i> happily explore this world, whatever our predilection. This is why there is a Law of Karma that only works at the human level, where we reap the happiness or unhappiness we sow in others; it is the feedback mechanism that nudges us towards humane cooperation and away from animalistic competitiveness. Our Creator does not intervene because the gift of free will to choose either selflessness or selfishness, love or its antitheses, wisdom or ignorance, the good of the whole or the benefit of the few -- that gift of free will is freely given. Thus, a group of Nazis can go about their hateful, oppressive business just as freely as we Sufis can ours. It is up to each one of us to choose the better path, for ourselves first and then as societies.<p>As the great Poet of God, Rumi said, &quot;The Way goes in.&quot;, but in this materialist world culture of self, there is a communal disdain for and utter denial of the internal spiritual pursuit that leads us to moral perfection, first individually and then collectively. As such we cannot comprehend the difference between physical mental illness (caused by disease or nutritional imbalance) and a person who&#x27;s just a selfish, sociopathic bastard and a person who is just naturally having a difficult time dealing with our sick society and the sick world that is making us physically ill via its pollution and constant stress.<p>The fundamental truth is that no one&#x27;s health, mental or physical (&quot;Not two, not one&quot;), can <i>EVER</i> be successfully treated without clear-minded, compassionate care, and that must involve first getting them away from negative environmental factors and into a nurturing environment. Creating such a compassionate society requires compassionate human beings, and that requires the humble work of self-reflection and self-evolution beyond the negative traits we all possess.<p>Peace be with you all. We love you.