03 April, 2009

What we need to know about psychiatry.

I think psychiatry is not a scientific medical treatment. It is rather to be categorized as a type of shamanism. Here are some reasons. Psychiatry is a type of sharmanism from Western culture. We should be aware of tis limitation to be non-scientific disciplines just like philosophy and theology. I studied pretty much of medical anthropology and several subdisciplines within social science. I am not talking these without knowledge.

1. The psychiatrist does not have to discuss with the patient about facts or evidences for giving a diagnosis.

If a patient meets a psychiatrist and explain how she saw a black helicopter bombing a nearby village and filmed the scene, the psychiatrist can tell her there was no helicopter in the sky and claims her for believing illusion. During the session, the psychiatrist does not have to see the evidences to make a conclusion. All he needs is a chair to himself and a coach for the patient. Everything can be done in talking. What psychiatrist evaluate comes from his own assumptions rather than using CRT or other form to record the data. Let's assume the psychiatrist does not know algebra and if a patient says 3 times 3 is 9, and the psychiatrist thinks the answer is 10, he can judge the patient having problem with numbers. The psychiatrist does not have to know about his own mental capacity or his own mathematical weakness.

2. The psychiatrist can push his or her view to decide the diagnosis.

A psychiatrist must be an expert of human mind, he can give any diagnosis to others. If he thinks a patient outstanding in mathematics causing problems of anxiety in advanced math classes, he can diagnose the patient as numerophobia and offer dozens of medications to make the brain dull and useless. The patient may say his teacher is too strict and making him nervous is much to do with his stress. But the psychiatrist can decide anything from his subjective view.

3. The psychiatrist can give the patient "day dream" to make up an excuse of his or past through hypnosis.

The psychiatrist can offer hypnosis to bring out a conclusion. The patient will be relaxed or even drugged through medications in MKULTRA style. Then the patient will let the psychiatrist to make the diagnosis.

4. The psychiatrist can use coercive persuasion and interrogation techniques to make the patients believe what he or her say.

This is a type of brainwashing to cause a thought reform. The patient will believe what the psychiatrist said as true.


Here is what the ancient sharmanism sounds like. I just made explanation simple to make it easy to compare with psychiatry.

1. A sharman does not have to discuss with a patient about facts or evidences for giving a diagnosis.

A sharman would explain the cause of the patient's problem from his view and give advises. If he thinks the mountain God was in anger because of the patient cut trees too much and the patient's "curse" was from it, the sharman can diagnose as such.

2. A sharman can push his or her view to decide the diagnosis.

A sharman has his or her own religious or belief system to back up with his thoughts. A sharman can ask ancient spirits or God to get answers to make decisions. He is an expert of knowing anything exist in the universe from his mysterious power. He can make the decision on a patient. Since the sharman is most respected in its culture, the patient must believe a sharman's decision.

3. A sharman can offer a psychedelic holistic medicine to give the patient to get delusion. During the delusion, the patient might see something as enlightenment or getting the answer from supernatural things. The sharman will tell what he saw is a part of the reason of the cause.

4. A sharman can use coercive persuasion and interrogation techniques to bring a thought reform of the patient's mind. A sharman is someone who knows the belief system of its own culture, so anything he sees wrong in the patient can be collected.

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