Diagnostic Imperialism Harms Us All

Psychiatry is a kingdom built to perpetuate emotional suffering

Photo by Sydney Latham on Unsplash

I just read a very understanding article about how people with “personality disorders” are actually not good at, but instead very bad at, manipulating other people.

There are lots of people out there, who are caring, who understand the link between early abuse and neglect and its impact on a growing human, and later on, the impact on the adult who cannot voice what they need (and most often don’t think they deserve it). These people question things to some extent.

They manage to look beyond the pervasive idea that “mentally ill” people are bad, lazy, manipulative, lacking in empathy, only want attention, etc., and see that most people are just doing their very best with what they have been given, and the people we classify as “mentally ill” are very often just people who did not get a good start in life.

And what pops up in my head while I write this, is anger and frustration — and a desire to sarcastically spit out “how humane of them!”

Don’t get me wrong. I very much prefer understanding, warm and empathetic “mental health care” professionals, over those who believe in the idea of the bad “mentally ill” person and act according to that belief, which often results in cold…