XIIth World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics (9-13 th October, Dublin)

by Terry Sat Oct 02, 2004 01:23

Indeed this is an interesting topic. The back drop to the medicalisation of human behaviour as disease which basically arose 100 years ago or so, and was presented as an advancement then from the idea of evil mind, is that human nature (i.e. the mind essentially) is fundamentally bad or sick. And therefore needs to be controlled.

In the brilliant but long essay by John Taylor Gatto: ABSOLUTE ABSOLUTION, he traces the history of early christianity which in the early middle ages, it viewed human nature as fundamentally good. It was at this time the practice and power of the Church was more local and limited. Then as time progressed, and the Church became a larger influence as was reflected by the building of cathedrals; it was at this time that the devil and evil largely entered Christian thought or philosophy. In due course as the theories of Darwin and evolution and arose, God was swapped for the State, and evil minds morphed into sick minds.

And so in a steady progression to today, albeit more scientific. And in many ways it is this back drop that is used to justify the control of society, the administration of drugs to the 'mentially ill'.

Having said that, there is no doubt that there are many and varied diseases of the mind. The approach today though is totally one sided and happens to suit the needs of Capitalism. And that is to dispense pills which of course must be paid for. There is little or no investigation into the social and environmental context. What's more such approaches are seen as too costly and so on. At no point does anyone dare in 'official' circles point to the nature and structure of society, except in the most general, vague and shallow way.

So while I would not dismiss completely some of the science and pill-popping solutions of psychiatry, I would say, lets first get rid of capitalism and build a truly democratic and free society based on voluntary and a multitude of horizontal relationships between various types of organisations geared towards living sustainably and one which fosters maturity for EVERY person of their human and cultural intellect and then see how much mental illness we have. I am confident it would be far far less.

The essay: Absolute Absolutism can be found at related link

by sean Sat Oct 02, 2004 19:47

In relation to two points Terry

“Having said that, there is no doubt that there are many and varied diseases of the mind”

No disease of the mind has ever been discovered. What is a disease of the mind?Diseases of the brain though do exist such as Alzheimer’s. There are no medical tests (brain scans or blood tests for example) that can prove the existence of even one of the so-called psychiatric disorders. We are getting into dangerous territory when we pathologise thinking and behaviour.

“So while I would not dismiss completely some of the science and pill-popping solutions of psychiatry”

Pill popping is not a solution. There may be a case for using certain psychiatric drugs in extreme situations but only for as short a period as possible. Psychiatrists though tell their patients that they have illnesses related to some underlying brain pathology (unproven) and then say that they will need to remain on these drugs for many years or a lifetime because they ‘ help’ to correct the alleged brain chemical imbalance (also unproven) that they are believed to suffer from. That is the theory- it is not science.

Meanwhile ‘patients’ after many years on these drugs suffer from a range of neurological disorders which psychiatrists and the drug companies admit themselves are caused by the drugs. It is truly a shameful situation.

The reality is psychiatry has more in common with science fiction than scientific fact.

by Jonjo Mon Oct 04, 2004 19:13

Sean, you seem quite convinced that no mental illnesses exist, just diseases of the brain. What of someone who is repeatedly mistreated as a child, who has no detectable disease of the brain, yet who suffers from depression?

I see two possibilities - either they suffer from a non-detectable illness of the brain, or their depression affects their mind.

by sean Mon Oct 04, 2004 20:09

We need a debate as to what we mean by the term mental illness. People use this term without grasping what is meant by it. Psychiatry believes that so-called mental illness are related to brain pathology. They have never been able to prove that any of these ‘illnesses’ are the result of brain chemical imbalances or genetic defects. It may be proven though one day that these ‘illnesses’ do correlate with a certain biochemical imbalance or genetic defect. We shall have to wait and see. As yet though it is scientifically correct to state that we do not know what a biochemically balanced brain is against which we can measure an imbalance and correct by pharmaceutical means.

I prefer the term severe mental or emotional distress .It is less stigmatising that a psychiatric ‘diagnosis’ and it also, I believe, reflects the truth. People experience this as a result of life circumstances-societal and environmental factors. Psychiatry as it is currently practiced ascribes secondary importance to these factors believing that the ‘illnesses’ are essentially biological in origin.It practices this belief without the evidence to support it. That is my objection.

We, I believe, need a new model of psychiatry – a social one which will give greater priority to the societal and environmental causes of emotional and psychological pain. This would not dismiss the biological aspect completely. Caring and counselling supportive services would do much more to help people. Of course that would be a big blow to the drug companies who also claim that mental illnesses are biological in origin and that their drugs are essential in ‘treating’ people or in helping to redress the alleged brain chemical imbalance. We are also becoming increasingly aware of the way they misrepresent the results of clinical trials and the corruption that they have been involved in. Psychiatry and the drug companies are inextricably linked.

by King Amdo Wed Oct 06, 2004 15:29

...does this make me mentally ill?

If so fuck you Church of Rome.

JAH RASTAFARI LIVES ETERNALLY!

See these fascists are onto something!
See if we can remove the pyscik gene and permanently turn the people into scitzo robots, cut off from the occult and from nature.

Scary karma. Fucked 'civilization'.

OM

by King Amdo Wed Oct 06, 2004 15:58

(welcome to anti pyscriatric Jihad. Anyone up for pixying pyscriatric units being built?!!)

i.e.... a pyscik opening into fear rather than love and light and unity...and of course it's made 'permanent' by the authorites so that one can never fucking well escape this albertross of 'scitzaphrenia' or whatever.

Incredible disrespectful bunch of filth.

(My sisters family won't communicate with me becasue they fear that someone with this pyscriatric diagnosis is dangerous to children. In india, again people would be able to recognise my reincarnation, and want me to bless their children and so on. Here if I try and do this, the inherently agrresive (once you know the nature of the church of rome's 'foundation' you know why the agrression is there)....CofR virus cuts in from the parents and tries to 'win' (against the creator?!!! stupid CofR cunts!). Get the little bastard fighting from the word go eh???Headcase religion!

These 'diseases' don't exist outside of the western paradigm...in these other realities 'suseptable' individuals are in fact people like incredible respected reincarnated Tibetan Teachers and so on. There they...the people around you, are able to recognise such people, due to the nature of their religion....goddess magic grounded. (Hinduism, Islam etc etc etc) unlike the Roman anti goddess magic, anti native tribal, political device of christianity...that is a construct of appailingly abusive dodge occult rituals (actually ritual racist child abuse). This is why the pyscriatric fear trip is so frightening!

This society contains these fascist traps...and some people who are 'sensitives' are stupid or unlucky sometimes fall into them. Other societies/realites (the true Irsish realty of the great Mother for example) do not (FUCKING OBVIOUSLY) have this situation. The fact is that this society is a scapegoat trip that scapegoats those in other societies would be the venerated leaders. Instead you have weak poncers leading society.

I know that you have huge natural protection Irish, but you really should stop participating in christian rituals...(taking the piss) really, the senario when viewed as a whole is some sort of ultimate evil.

Blessed be the Great Mother Witch Danna!

Your system, your way of life, your way of being, your 'civilization', your way of thinking, your ego's are FUCKED western perverters.

END OF FUCKING STORY. (you won't have time to isolate the scizphrenia (pyscik) gene and introduce a (compuslary) identifiication/ surgical program, because your goanna die in environmental nightmare! Yip!)

Back to land.

King Amdo

by Educated Mon Aug 21, 2006 16:12

Although long gone, this congress did not do what the author indicates it does. It does not incite the use and application of eugenics. It would be impossible to apply eugenics conclusively to pscyhiatric illness, as these diseases are frighteningly complex and single genes will not be found. In fact, susceptibility is contributed to by NUMEROUS genes that interact with eachother and the environment (gee whiz - who would have thought that both nature and nurture would be involved in this??). The scientific evidence for genetics playing an important role in the aetiology of many psychiatric disorders is overwhelming (from depression, schizophrenia to alzheimer's). If one were to actually research this in actual journals it can be easily found (might i suggest entrez pubmed - google it). What is more important and what has been critically missed by the author, is that almost ALL the geneticists and psychiatrists at the forementioned congress believe the environment to be a critical factor. The genes may make one susceptible, but it is the environment that determines if an individual expresses a particular behaviour - they are symbiotic, and BOTH contribute to mental disorder.

Had the author researched the congress they might have realised that in fact there is nothing to do with genetic determinism in it, and that it provides a balanced SCIENTIFIC platform. Where social and genetic factors are both considered important.

Ignorance is very dangerous - particularly when writing inflammatory reports and badmouthing a scientific congress. Without these researchers individuals who are suffering horrendously will never see any improvements in their care - be it through chemical treatment (NATURAL REMEDIES ARE ALSO CHEMICALS!) or social therapy of some kind. Don't forget - particular people respond better to particular therapies... I wonder why that is.... it's obvious really isn't it - nothing to do with their genetic make-up or their physical being. It's ALL to do with their childhood.

Sure.

Don't be ignorant, or short-sighted. Have a bit of a balanced view.

This congress is a good thing and long may such balanced platforms be available to allow healthy scientific discussion and presentation.

by White Rose Mon Aug 21, 2006 16:49

There is not one objective medical test for even one of the so-called mental illnesses. No brain scan or blood test shows any brain chemical imbalance.Some studies indicate that some individuals may be genetically predisposed to 'mental illness' but these studies have not been sufficently replicated. If you have EVIDENCE to the contrary present it and preferably from studies that haven't been funded by pharmaceutical companies. Also neuroleptic drugs far from treating disease cause diseases such as tardive dyskinesia which the psychiatric profession falsely descibe as a side effect. I suggest that it is you who are uneducated and quick to believe psychiatric pharmaceutical propaganda, comfortable with the status quo and placing professional and business interest before the health and well being of people who suffer mental distress and drug induced illness. Read the history of psychiatry - a horror story which continues today with chemical induced lobotomies.

by White Rose Tue Aug 22, 2006 12:21

Educated has not responded to the challenge I set him/her. It is dangerous when such people claim that there is indisputable scientific evidence for the genetic basis of psychiatric disorders which the psychiatric profession believe are brain illnesses. Also let 's not forget the XIIth World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics (9-13 th October, Dublin) 2004 was funded by three drug companies -one of them Eli Lily who covered up evidence that emerged in drug trials showing that their drug drug Prozac destroyed serotonin receptors in the brain. Another drug funder Glaxo Smith Kline manufactured Seroxat .They admitted that they covered up evidence that their drug could cause suicide.Do a google search 'on Seroxat scandal' and get the details.Of course Educated is so gullible and foolish as to believe this is anti-psychiatry propaganda.Such people sadly learn the hard way.How educated anyway is educated? I have a second class honours in a health science subject. I have access to the medical journals they suggest searching 24/7. I can assure him/her that the scientific basis for what they are claiming is not as sound as they think. If EDUCATION is the basis by which they judge someone's right to have an opinion, why is that? In the past EDUCATED psychiatrists carried out tens of thosands of lobotamies and told the public it was a sound medical treatment .Today they say they got it totally wrong and people then who condemned it were dismissed as IGNORANT and UNEDUCATED.