Better Societies Through Psychiatric Profiling?

Diagnostic labels define what limits of difference society can tolerate. Whenever a culture decides that it will define a set of behaviors as "sick" rather than "immoral" or unwitting, it is enacting a social value that favors illness over the view that such destructive or unusual behavior is volitional. Armed with this view of behavior as illness, we can justify forced hospitalization, prison, or "protective care."

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The identification of psychiatric disorders always involves a social judgment and often implies a political agenda as well. The definition that behavior constitutes a "problem" for clinical purposes hinges both on what society desires -- a social judgment -- and what is disruptive of the political order and values -- the political agenda. It is less concerned with what is true than with what values it supports and maintains...
-- pp.84-5, L.E. Beutler, B. Bongar & J.N. Shulkin in Am I Crazy, Or Is It My Shrink? How to Get The Help You Need

In short, psychiatric diagnoses address the social mores and political agenda of a society. Their purpose is to label socially inappropriate behaviors in a person as "illness" rather than as "sin".

Indeed, this is but "thought control" where the diagnosis of certain unacceptable behaviors are viewed by the mental health industry as "sick" and in need of medication rather than as merely "immoral" and unwitting, and in need of salvation.

By defining such behaviors as "sick" rather than "immoral" and unwitting, the political agenda of that society is maintained. By maintaining this "status quo", the people in power are thus able to stay in power through social control.

Thus, through clever means of social control, the mentally ill are denied access to political power through the use of forced hospitalization, prison, and "protective care".

But that's all changing today. One-by-one, through education and activism, global fear of psychosis is being eradicated.

Slowly, one by one they are being politically empowered through social activism on the grassroots level.

For a depressed world leader is able to see the world realistically. Her judgment may be tempered by another world leader in a wheelchair, but together they can change the world.

And so too can you.