Mental block: Opposers of Mad Pride protest anti-psychiatrist

[Kire]

This is a very important article. Biased, but important.
Professor St-Amand was roundly lambasted by his critics, but was not included among the voices interviewed by the author.
I wish there were more about this subject in the mainstream news. It generates a hell of a lot of much needed discussion. Check the comments under the article, and under it.

Mental block: Opposers of Mad Pride protest anti-psychiatrist

Professor Neree St-Amand, a sociologist in the University of Ottawa's School of Social Work, with a focus on "empowerment" and alternative therapies, has a view of mental illness that is common in his academic field, but at odds with the mainstream.

He thinks psychiatrists aim to control people, who then become fat and suicidal, with no libido, hating themselves. He thinks untreated schizophrenia can be a gift, and that in other cultures, hearing voices is revered as a bridge to the spirit world. He thinks psychiatrists mislead the mentally ill about the risks and benefits of drugs, discouraging them against other options, such as spirituality, nutrition and yoga. He is blunt about the dilemma facing their families.

"If people cared for their people, then it changes a lot of the problems," he said in an interview. "It changes the perspective on the problems, and you don't necessarily want to give them a diagnosis and treatment, you want to love them and care for them."

More unusually for an academic social theorist, Mr. St-Amand sits on an advisory committee of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, representing family caregivers of mentally ill people, and devising policy to support them.



Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/Mental+block+Opposers+Pride+protest+anti+psychiatrist/3996581/story.html#ixzz18v0z4bnX[/div[

[MedicalAdmin]

1. What the he'll are canadiens trying to do? Build a just society?

They must be stopped.