Admirable Evasions

“The explanation of psychiatric diagnosis leads paradoxically and simultaneously to overtreatment and undertreatment. The genuinely disturbed get short shrift: those with chronic schizophrenia, which seems most likely to me to be a genuine pathological malfunction of the brain, are left to molder in the doorways, streets, and stations of large cities, while untold millions have their fluctuating preoccupations attended to with the kind of attention that an over concerned mother gives her spoiled child- with more or less the same results.” – Admirable Evasions

In the 2021 movie, The Conjuring 3, the third film in a demonology-themed franchise, the true story of Arne Johnson unfolds.  After volunteering to have the demon from his girlfriend’s little brother transferred to him, Johnson murders his landlord, eventually claiming demonic possession as a defense.  This 1981 case would be the first and only time possession by demons would be used at trial.  But his defense would not hold; he was convicted of first-degree manslaughter with a 10-20 year sentence. 

In Theodore Dalrymple’s 2015 book, “Admirable Evasions”, Dalrymple, a British prison physician, details the many evasions of psychiatry, which seeks to remove personal responsibility from the human condition, creating, instead, a dependent class free from self-reliance and sovereignty.  As Dalrymple reveals, not only does psychology undermine morality, but it also makes self-reflection unnecessary.  By convincing patients that their brains are defective, their distress is deemed a medical condition beyond their control, all while ignoring the origin of their problems. 

Intellectuals and academics were the first to create the myth that offenders are the real victims of crime.  This fiction was only made worse in 2008, when the George W. Bush Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act made treating psychological and physical ailments the same as treatments for physical illnesses.  By believing that those who commit crimes are merely sick and in need of healing, psychology was deemed the only way to access their good side.  Psychologists, with a vested interest in accepting a patient's words as fact, led to a blurring of real suffering with mild unhappiness.  Without empirical evidence to properly prognose their illnesses, personal responsibility became the scapegoat for their bad behavior. 

While psychiatry in the 1800s focused on the severely disabled, care has shifted with the introduction of psychoanalysis and medication.  Now, relief can be offered for any number of maladies by simply blaming it on a chemical imbalance in the brain or a defective personality.  To be neurologically deficient in self-control is to escape punishment.  Yet, there are, in fact, no brain scans, no blood tests, and no empirical proof showing mental illness is attached to the sick brain.  Diagnoses are only confirmed through observation by psychologists and psychiatrists.  Even a lack of self-esteem, an attempt to find the real me, can now be accessed through psychology.  A simple remedy to soothe all disappointments in life.

As a result, psychiatric disorders now include all forms of human unhappiness, with the primary remedy: antidepressants.  The first Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) were introduced in 1987 with the launch of Prozac.  To qualify for an SSRI, one must merely agree to enough DSM symptoms to access the pills.  With the rise of medication came the rise of suicides, suggesting the medication isn't addressing the source of their problems.  Today, between 15 and 20 percent of Americans (nearly 70 million in 2022) are taking antidepressants at any given time. 

There seems to be no end in sight for the overprescribing of medication.  The FDA gets 70 percent of its funding from pharmaceutical companies, which has led to regulatory capture.  Instead of the FDA overseeing the pharmaceutical industry, the pharmaceutical industry now controls the government agency.

 Yet rather than being accountable for one’s flaws, man seeks to blame his bad behavior on external forces, something beyond his control.  While various cultural and social factors seem more likely contributors to reckless and foolish behavior, wrongdoing is now a disease to be cured.  The criminal is not to be blamed. 

Nonetheless, dissatisfaction is a normal condition of life, and man is ultimately responsible for his own actions.  Rather than medicalizing discontent, self-examination is needed to provide a deeper understanding of their actions and behavior, and allow for self-development and mental stability.  Medicalizing discontent has led to a panoply of social problems.  Mostly, it undermines the rule of law that seeks to protect the public.  Now, the criminal is the one who is cited as in need of treatment for their past crimes, rather than paying a price for them.  And it is being used increasingly to escape responsibility. 

Psychology, instead, offers a placebo effect of imagining improvement from therapy, leading to the adverse effects of the evasion of character, an ingredient necessary for a flourishing country.