HVN England Release Position Statement on DSM 5
Friday, July 5th, 2013, 5:27 pm”>July 5, 2013f=”http://www.intervoiceonline.org/national-networks/england”=”http://www.intervoiceonline.org/news” rel=”tag”>News Share your views
It’s the Bad Things that Happen to you that can Drive you Crazy!
The Hearing Voices Network in England has issued a position statement on DSM 5 and the wide issue of psychiatric diagnoses following last week’s debate on the need for a new paradigm in mental health services, reported largely as a ‘turf war’ between psychiatry and psychology. Concerned that this debate can all too easily sound ‘academic’ and miss the voices of the very people these systems impact upon – those diagnosed with mental health problems – HVN are taking the debate back to the people.
“We believe that people with lived experience of diagnosis must be at the heart of any discussions about alternatives to the current system.”
Jacqui Dillon, Hearing Voices Network, Chair.
In their statement, the Hearing Voices Network (HVN) state that psychiatric diagnoses are both scientifically unsound and can have damaging consequences. HVN suggest that asking ‘what’s happened to you?’ is more useful than ‘what’s wrong with you?’.
Concerned that essential funds are being wasted on expensive and futile genetic research, they call for the redirection of funds to address the societal problems known to lead to mental health problems and provide the holistic support necessary for recovery.
This is part of a growing, international movement by survivors of the psychiatric system who are questioning the adequacy of a biomedical model to make sense of and respond to madness and distress.
For more information, see:
www.mindfreedom.org
http://psychdiagnosis.weebly.com
www.madinamerica.com
www.occupypsychiatry.net
www.youtube.com/openparadigmproject
HVN invites people with lived experience of diagnosis and their supporters to engage in a discussion about the issues and help plan a way forwards.
“People who use services are the true experts on how those services could be developed and delivered; they are the ones that know exactly what they need, what works well and what improvements need to be made. This is not just an academic or professional issue – it’s one that affects our lives.”
Jacqui Dillon, Hearing Voices Network, Chair
To read the position statement, see:
www.hearing-voices.org/about-us/position-statement-on-dsm-5
I’m having difficulty deciding whether events are one or the other. Perhaps both? Today I experienced what I would judge to be a minor S or S. I’ll tell you about it. I was at a friend’s house last night just engaged in a kindly bit of gossiping, I guess you could call it. I was trying to remember the name of a man who had visited our poetry group once and invited us to another regular poetry reading venue in town. I told her his name would probably come to me on the way home, bu it didn’t. Although I am not a member of Phi Beta Kappa, I was reading “The American Scholar” tonight –it had been in a free bin or something–and the article on the last page brought Will Dewess’ name to mind. The article’s author was William Deresiewicz. Wait–don’t go away, there’s more. Another name I couldn’t think of was very frustrating. I could remember the book he wrote (The Birth of Consciousness in the Bi-Cameral Mind), but not his name. Again, that was during my visit last night, and tonight while reading the same issue of “The American Scholar,” I came across a discusson of his book and his name–Julian Jaynes. Now that isn’t a great example of S and S, but I’m going to start noticing them and sharing them. The journal was a real gold mine, since it also contained some interesting info for another post on the Our Shadow Selves page. (See next posting)
blogging is the connection-with-others’ part, and to do a blog anonymously and let it all hang out does not seem a solution–I still might bring some others down to my level of craziness. . I know, therapy, but for me only a group would work and I don’t find too many kindred souls in this neck of the woods.
NANMYKEL.COM 