PSYCHIATRIC LABELING IS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT

We must look at the various psychiatric labels that are put upon persons as social constructs. If we take for instance, the label of "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)" this tells us alot about the society in which we reside. We have become a society based on competitiveness and where each must 'fight their way to the top', this becomes taught early on in schools and particularly the college admission process. We see the aftermath of these ideas in the corruption we are seeing as well as our current economic woes. ADHD is thus a direct product of a capitalistic society. And what is labeled as personality disorders and schizophrenia and other psychoses are resultant of familial, social, and political traumas, basically oppression inflicted on individuals. But, we have become a mechanical society, bent on seeking to fit in, thus individuals are finding various means to alter themselves (never really knowing or udnerstanding their actual selves) be it through cosmetic surgery or altering their personality and moods through the use of psychiatric drugs. We are being told that "if you become depressed because you lost your job, or you are being discriminated against, or your neighborhoods are not safe, do not worry- there is a drug that will make you feel better" all the while nothing in the environment changes. If we expect people to be more fulfilled, for a real sense of 'mental health' to arise, then we must focus on a radical transformation of ourselves and our society. If we choose not to do that, we will only become more and more mechanical, and we must ask- can such a society truly survive? Will there come a time where we are all driven mad?

-Dan L. Edmunds, Ed.D.
www.DrDanEdmunds.com