When it suits psychiatrists and their puppet masters, it appears as though action can be taken that contradicts the regular and often controversial operating basis of the psychiatric industry.

The action taken relates to thousands of people who have recently been discharged from mental health hospitals, including those who were detained under the Mental Health Act.

Thousands were discharged or released into the community as a result of recent unprecedented circumstances and the need to clear space for Covid-19 patients.

At the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), we regularly hear from people who are experiencing the distress and very often the anger associated with being involuntarily detained.

Whether a person is experiencing mental troubles or not, being forcibly detained is not something most people embrace with open arms, but psychiatrists erroneously interpret distress and anger as part of the problem. Add in the factor of being forcibly drugged and the entire distressing experience becomes highly contentious.

So, when decisions are made by psychiatrists and the detaining authorities to release or discharge thousands, it raises all sorts of questions.

One of those questions relates to people who were locked up. Considering the reasons for their involuntary incarceration and considering the rapidity of their release, why were they detained in the first place and forcibly treated?

In the knowledge that psychiatry is an entirely unscientific profession, there’s a reliance on subjective opinions about distressed people that are coupled with manufactured pseudoscientific labels. These are used to redefine his or her behaviour and to justify detention.

While it cannot be denied some people who experience mental difficulties do need a helping hand, the type of help they receive when locked up is not representative of the care and compassion that will give confidence to a vulnerable person.

When it comes to psychiatry specifically, it appears as though there’s a caveat of convenience. When it suits psychiatrists, they even have the ability to overrule a person and suggest torturous ‘treatment’ like electroshock. It’s no wonder their profession has such a poor reputation.

While ridiculed under regular conditions, this episode has made an even bigger mockery of psychiatry. The most disturbing aspect of it all is that it’s at the expense of liberty and humanity.

Brian Daniels