Behaviorism and Mental Health - Latest Comments

Re: AND FINALLY

guidene — Sat, 22 Jul 2023 14:39:28 -0000

You have done more on https://guidene.com/mental-.... well-done

Re: AND FINALLY

Perfect Peach — Sat, 15 Jul 2023 15:21:24 -0000

Me too! A blessing to read.
Enjoy your retirement sir.
2023

Re: WHY IS PSYCHIATRY SO DEFENSIVE ABOUT CRITICISM OF PSYCHIATRY? Part 2

john Smith — Wed, 17 May 2023 00:52:59 -0000

I believe it has to do with their schooling, psychiatrists are trained to treat the symptoms NOT the problem and their focus on medication nothing else that is why I am not seeing psychiatrists anymore , I find counselling service provided by registered therapist is more valuable like ouronlinetherapy.com, therapistfinder.ca and linksite.ca

Re: AND FINALLY

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 23:31:56 -0000

New to your site I look forward to reading your older posts

Re: AND FINALLY

Phil_Hickey — Mon, 30 May 2022 17:10:23 -0000

安谧
Thanks for your kind comments, and for your good wishes for my health.

You may definitely reprint any of my articles that you wish, and show them to others. And by the way, your English is fine and very understandable.

Best wishes.

Phil

Re: AND FINALLY

安谧 — Sat, 28 May 2022 07:03:59 -0000

Hello! Mr. Phil Hickey!
You are one of the few truly caring and empathetic gentlemen in this sinister world! For you, I specially registered an account on this website. However, you said you left. How sorry I met you so late!
First of all, I sincerely wish you good health! Thank you for meeting you, such a compassionate gentleman!
Can I make a request to you? Can I reprint these articles of yours? So that more people can see these articles and understand that this is a set of fake and hypocritical medical science! I want to help more people and their families, to help them not be deceived and have a normal life of their own!
Sincerely, please give me a reply of "permit to reprint or not to reprint" after you see my request one day, okay? Thank you! The kindest, most caring, most rational thinking Mr. Phil Hickey, thank you!
Note: Because I am not good at English, I translated it with software. Maybe the above words are inappropriately worded due to software translation. Please forgive me, thank you!
Once again I wish you and your family health and happiness!

Re: Bipolar Disorder Is Not An Illness

Colleen — Sat, 14 May 2022 09:35:20 -0000

Very interzesting viewpoint with some nuggets of truth interdispersed. Your viewpoint raises the age old argument of nature v nurture. It appears to be very psychoanalytical (Freudian et al). Truth be told, no one knows the exact cause or reason for the “behaviors” associated with what is labeled as Bipolar Disease or manic-depressive behavior. Labels can try clarify what is happening but nothing fits neatly into a classification. What is important is that folks are suffering from behaviors that are disrupting their lives. I’m a bit more pragmatic when addressing this issue. My first concern is the suffering of an individual. I’m not concerned with labels, classifications or big pharma, etc. I’m concerned with finding what could work to provide relief. Different modalities will help different people. Psychoanalysis and talk therapy may help some. Medications may help others. ECT, eye-movement therapy etc may help others. The key is to find what helps the suffering individual. The “disturbances” are real no matter what you label them. So, dear sufferers, please try to find what will make you feel better. The DSM-IV doesn’t matter, big pharma doesn’t matter. You and your happiness matters. Do WHATEVER it takes to find your solution. If you aren’t able then ask a trusted friend or family member to help you in your quest. Best wishes and compassion to all who suffer.

Re: AND FINALLY

Kevin jay — Thu, 05 May 2022 06:47:37 -0000

Damn, will really miss reading the posts. Thanks so much for all your hard work!

Re: RESPONDING TO DANIEL MOREHEAD, MD. PSYCHIATRY’S LATEST CHAMPION

Bradford — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 22:21:07 -0000

Since when is confining people against their will, and pill-, and needle-raping them with forced drugging, something that is both "medically real", and "medically legitimate"....????....
NEVER have I even heard of a cancer patient, or diabetic being treated that way....

Re: RESPONDING TO DANIEL MOREHEAD, MD. PSYCHIATRY’S LATEST CHAMPION

Bradford — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 22:18:11 -0000

My parents took me to a shrink in 10th grade. WASTED the next 25 years of my life. What coulda', shoulda', woulda' been the BEST years of my life were DESTROYED by the LIES of the pseudoscience drug racket & social control mechanism known as "psychiatry". I guess the "M.D." after Morehead's name stands for "mental defective", is that correct?....
I'd like to see what Morehead has to say to me....I won't hold my breath....
WE'RE GONNA MISS YOU, Phil....!

Re: AND FINALLY

Bradford — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 22:06:49 -0000

Every time I read one of Dr. Hickey's posts on "madinamerica..com", I wonder HOW he got inside my head, and wrote EXACTLY what I was gonna think to say.... Dr. Hickey is the IDEAL to which I aspire. Nobody writes a more logical, rational, easy-to-read & understand article than Dr. Hickey. Maybe, Phil, you might want to acknowledge or endow some of your favorite students, somehow?....
You have a WEALTH of material that should not be lost to your retirement.... Isn't there somebody you can literally "pass it on" to?.... I'd do what I could....
BTW, you use "hoax", I use "fraud", for psychiatry.... Not EXACTLY the same thing. And, as factually correct as "Guild interests" is, it's maybe not the best descriptor for "21st Century Phrenology with potent neuro-toxins".... Like, can't your publisher find you a good ghost writer?....
Are you gonna work on a "Best of Dr. Hickey" compilation book?....
Damn, dude, we're gonna miss the heck out of you!....

Re: AND FINALLY

Mark — Sat, 23 Apr 2022 03:55:01 -0000

You've done a lot, Dr. Hickey. I've been reading since 2015 or so, and you helped me realize that what psychiatry did to me as an adolescent wasn't medicine, it was simply abuse. Like many, it left me with a feeling that it was somehow my fault — a message reinforced by the labels and psychiatry's authority. Surely a whole branch of medicine couldn't be a sham, could it?

But it is, and you were an important contributor to my epiphany. I've begun fighting too in my own small ways, trying to piece my life together, telling what truth I've learned. It pains me too seeing the lies persist — the therapist who stole my high school years is still out there hurting children, but I do see cracks forming, and I believe there are more of us fighting now than there were even a few years ago.

I think you've done more than you know, and I, for one, am grateful.

Re: AND FINALLY

Kristina Kaiser Gehrki — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 09:15:28 -0000

I've read your insightful posts for years and very much appreciate your wisdom. While your posts may cease, your advocacy efforts helped create a movement for positive change that continues to move mountains. Thanks.

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” -- Confucius

Re: Bipolar Disorder Is Not An Illness

Raina Senae — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 00:56:04 -0000

you seem to have a very limited world into mental health struggles. I have been dx'd bipolar and not a single person has told me my symptoms are not triggered by issues in my life. a significant part of my therapy was identifying triggers, making plans for difficult moments, and learning to express my feelings to others more effectively. when I did take meds I took very small doses and titrated down when I felt necessary. I now take a low dose of lithium (literally costs nothing, not exactly a big pharma money maker) and that has made a distinct and significant difference in my life alongside dbt, making art, doing yoga, and a variety of foods. not a single psych or therapist worth their salt would ever fucking tell someone that the only way to address emotional or mental health issues is with drugs alone. there are enough legitimate issues with the health care system, pharmaceutical industry, and psychiatry in general without making bad faith, straw man arguments.

the fact is this: there is a legitimate and genuine difference (at least for me) between being really really happy and being manic. there is a huge differnt between me feeling grumpy and being irrationally irritable. there is a different between me being interested something and staying up for 36 hours straight until my hands fucking ache, crying because I CANT STOP. there is a difference between a bad night's sleep and literally being able to go multiple days at a time without it. there's a difference between being a little chatty after a beer and talking until your jaw aches and throat hurts.

you don't have to believe that pharma is the answer to understand that people different mentally and emotionally in a multitude of ways that can be helpful to put a name too, even if just to symptoms.

you don't have to believe in the, widely debunked, serotonin theory to understand people struggle with these symptoms in ways far and above a day with the blues or whatever you think this is.

there is good evidence that what we understand as bp is related to trauma and even inflammation. things that truly alter the brain, our bodies, and our emotional response to stimuli.

all I'm saying is you don't need to belittle and reject the reality of people's lived experiences and the very real research mental health to reject the capitalist, ableist, racist, evil system that has been created to "fix it." get over yourself.

Re: RESPONDING TO DR. MOREHEAD’S SECOND ATTACK ON ANTI-PSYCHIATRY

DZ-015, M.D. — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 22:50:10 -0000

Ironically, the pompous paranoid siege mentality sounds a lot like David Miscavage.

They have more in common than they both think.

Re: Dr. Pies Still Spinning

DZ-015, M.D. — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 23:48:39 -0000

Someone insists that all swans are white and you show them a black swan from Australia. The honest and smart response is surprise and acknowledgment that your statement was incorrect. And you consider that in the future, there may be a pink swan somewhere that you don't know about.

If someone insists that psychiatry never promoted chemical imbalance and you show them evidence of many articles and past APA presidents saying, yet the insist it never happened, you are not dealing with a person of good faith and intellectual epistemic humility. If they play the authority card, you are dealing with Cartman on a tricycle, someone hopelessly defensive and wed to a narrative. And further conversation is a waste of time.

It's really interesting that he can't stop writing this over and over for a decade.

I don't think they understand the difference between science and dogma.

Re: DR. PIES STILL TRYING TO EXCULPATE PSYCHIATRY FOR THE CHEMICAL IMBALANCE THEORY OF DEPRESSION

DZ-015, M.D. — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 12:32:46 -0000

"So, we already have genetic, biochemical and stress-related factors in the mix."

His quote, in his article. Admitting that chemical is at least partially true.

Nassim Taleb has a name for pompous, insular, effete, virtue-signalers, "Intellectual yet Idiot."

I admit I can't stand the whole Niles Crane/Jane Austen dowager vibe. When did grown men develop the need to constantly claim public virtue and pearl-clutch over every opposing viewpoint? What would Mr. Darcy think?

I'm old enough to remember when mature men never would go on in public about their virtue but let their actions or the words of others speak for them. Being a public church lady or smartass was considered evidence that you were actually up to no good and didn't know what the hell you were talking about.

He's been writing the same tedious article for over a decade. You brought the smoking gun and named names, but he won't believe his lying eyes.

He's not ignorant, he's mindless. And ignorant person will change his mind when presented the truth. In his half-baked postmodern mind, the narrative and the spin are the truth, backed by vapid appeals to authority.

In other news regarding 21st century men with 19th century dowager affectations, Columbia's Jeffrey Lieberman has been cancelled, not for Amway psychopharmacology hype and conflicts of interest but a racist tweet. But I'll take the win.

Re: Depression Is Not An Illness: It is an Adaptive Mechanism

Phil_Hickey — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 16:04:17 -0000

Jennifer,

Thanks for coming in.

The concept of "addiction to negative thoughts" is interesting and compelling. I had always considered depression as a kind of self-defeating role that some people adopt when confronted by adverse circumstances or events.

The notion that it could also be considered addictive is new to me, and seems counter-intuitive because the experience is generally not pleasant. But, in fact, I think you are correct. There are a number of benefits that accrue to people who adopt a depressed role. Sympathy and reduced expectations are obvious examples, and, of course, the attention from medical "experts" is also a contributing factor which, as you point out, has the added advantage of providing an excuse for the actions in question.

People tend to reject these kinds of ideas because they interpret the word “role-playing” as intrinsically dishonest, but in fact we all play roles. We play roles as parents, children, employees, supervisors, home-owners, shoppers, etc. And our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in all these roles can be quite different. It’s not a matter of deception, but rather a reflection of the fact that we respond differently in different situations.

You mentioned in your comment that during your first period of depression you were young, "and did not know how to cope". But you went on to learn. The great tragedy of the psychiatric disease nonsense is that many young people who are having feelings of depression don't get the chance to learn coping mechanisms, because at the first indication of depressed feelings, they are whisked off to the psychiatrist, given the label of depression – a "life-long illness" – and a prescription for antidepressants. The only thing they learn through all of this is that they need to keep taking the pills, otherwise they'll "relapse".

Anyway, I really appreciate your comment and your insight.

Re: Depression Is Not An Illness: It is an Adaptive Mechanism

Jennifer Thompson — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 23:51:43 -0000

Thank you for these thoughts. I really think that telling people that their depression is an illness , something that they cannot overcome themselves, is an excuse. My dad had situational major depression for 5-6 years and I had a year of depression and from this I believe that in sane, functioning adults, it is an addiction to negative thoughts. That year that I was depressed was spurred by my first romantic breakup. I was young and did not know how to cope. About 10 years later I experienced another breakup, this one seemingly much more devastating. However I recovered quickly because I actively coped through healthy activities such as therapy, affirmations, exercise, prayer, etc.
The opposing arguments are all very emotional and based on pain and hurt. It’s sad because it doesn’t have to be an emotional topic. Telling depressed people that they actually have it in themselves to get better is empowering! No medication, no lifelong sentence, but hope and strength.

Re: RESPONDING TO DANIEL MOREHEAD, MD. PSYCHIATRY’S LATEST CHAMPION

Phil_Hickey — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 21:54:53 -0000

DZ-015, M.D.

Thanks for this comment. I love the Amway pep rally comparison, though it's probably a little harsh on the Amway people.

Re: RESPONDING TO DANIEL MOREHEAD, MD. PSYCHIATRY’S LATEST CHAMPION

DZ-015, M.D. — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 14:57:26 -0000

“It is all too easy to be negative. It is far easier to criticize than contribute—easier to tear down than to build up. Positivity fades, but negativity seems to build on itself."

Fitting for an AmWay pep rally but not fitting for a pseudoscientific throwaway journal.

"Negative" is the scientific method. Hypothesis are never proven only disproven (Popper). Criticism does contribute and build because we get closer to an approximation of the truth (Kuhn).

If Newtonian physics, which was responsible for great progress, can be disproven, then certainly the bogus claims of Paxil and ketamine hype can.

What rubbish. Doctors really don't understand epistemology or how science works.

But this is really my fault for even bothering because deep down I know that Psychiatric Times serves the same purpose an AmWay pep rally.

Re: RESPONDING TO DANIEL MOREHEAD, MD. PSYCHIATRY’S LATEST CHAMPION

Linda Lee/@LadyQuixote — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 09:40:15 -0000

Very well said!

Re: Is Psychiatry Dangerous?

Anna Mason — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 09:24:40 -0000

Any psychiatrist would find this helpful.

Re: WHY IS PSYCHIATRY SO DEFENSIVE ABOUT CRITICISM OF PSYCHIATRY? Part 2

Juan Jeanniton — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 00:05:00 -0000

I am glad you had the courage to tell the truth about "mental illnesses." A true illness is a biologically objective biological pathology - i.e., it has been caused uniquely by certain special and unique pathological biological conditions, which reminds me about the reason why "parental alienation syndrome" is not a true "mental illness", actually, this is because "parental alienation syndrome" is not a true illness at all!

http://www.thelizlibrary.org/liz/lizonpas.htm:

... one has to differentiate between (1) nasty, uncooperative and hateful behaviors (quite common reactive human behaviors and defense mechanisms, and very common and yet NORMAL -- negative is ALSO "normal," by the way -- behaviors in conflicted custody cases), and (2) the labeling of these as a psychological syndrome, i.e. sickness, i.e. can get worse if left unchecked, i.e. contagious even, i.e. a disease, i.e. mental defect that requires counseling and therapy, and vigorous prophylactic and corrective Treatment, and which (and this is the important part), once diagnosed, itself implies a whole lot of OTHER "symptoms," perhaps hidden, perhaps unobserved, but (evil, evil) THERE. I realize this is abstract, but "getting it" is crucial.

So-called "parental alienation syndrome" is not caused by any biological pathology at all, but only by "nasty, uncooperative and hateful behaviors (quite common reactive human behaviors and defense mechanisms, and very common and yet NORMAL -- negative is ALSO "normal," by the way -- behaviors in conflicted custody cases)", which are not uniquely caused by certain special and biologically unique pathological biological conditions of the human body: therefore "parental alienation syndrome" fails to meet the definition of a biological pathology. Therefore "parental alienation syndrome" is not a true illness at all.

Re: The Biological Evidence for “Mental Illness”

Juan Jeanniton — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 11:19:32 -0000

Oh, and this reminds me of WHY so-called "parental alienation syndrome" is NOT a true "mental illness". Because first of all, an illness is a physiologically objective biological pathology with purely biological efficient causes. But what happens in "parental alienation syndrome"?

: one has to differentiate between (1) nasty, uncooperative and hateful behaviors (quite common reactive human behaviors and defense mechanisms, and very common and yet NORMAL -- negative is ALSO "normal," by the way -- behaviors in conflicted custody cases), and (2) the labeling of these as a psychological syndrome, i.e. sickness, i.e. can get worse if left unchecked, i.e. contagious even, i.e. a disease, i.e. mental defect that requires counseling and therapy, and vigorous prophylactic and corrective Treatment, and which (and this is the important part), once diagnosed, itself implies a whole lot of OTHER "symptoms," perhaps hidden, perhaps unobserved, but (evil, evil) THERE. I realize this is abstract, but "getting it" is crucial. Now, if these "nasty, uncooperative and hateful behaviors" were truly an illness, they would have been caused solely and directly by some biologically objective biological pathology, but there is NO evidence that this is the case with PAS: the "causes" of PAS are not even biologically objective, they are merely the result of the freewill behavior of the mother or the father, even when they can be medically proven to have NO biological pathology.