Written By Shahida Arabi
“When Medicine Got It Wrong” is a “human rights saga” documentary of the rebellious family movement that rose in the 1970’s .Parents revolted against doctors, politicians and society who blamed them for their children’s schizophrenia. It challenges the notion that mental illness is somehow separate from a biological illness, and strives to negate parents’ contribution to the illness. It will be broadcasted only two times this year, a DVD is also available for sale for those who miss the episode. Check the public television broadcast dates/times here.
The medical establishment has often been criticized for its history of mistreatment towards the mentally ill. Yet perhaps the most forgotten victims of mental illness are the parents of the children who suffered extreme scrutiny and blame for the mental health issues of their progeny. As we progress towards a dialogue of mental illness, this documentary provides crucial insight into how families suffer a direct negative impact as a result of the stigma that continues to exist.
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When I first saw this article posted of facebook someone was offended due to the “insulting content” of saying that parents weren’t to blame for mental illness and asked that such material not be posted. I do not believe he read the article carefully. My comments:
Environment has a lot to do with mental illness but it is not completely at fault because if it were then everyone who goes through abuse would end up mentally ill. There are also many who have completely normal lives and end up mentally ill. I don’t agree that it is onlt biological but nor do I think my problems are “all my parents fault”. I have a friend who is schizophrenic and has a very loving family. He sufferred quite a bit because of his illness.
Stephanie has every right to post it if she wants… If it offends you then don’t read it. Some people like looking at all sides and getting all the information that might be out there. Stephanie has done a wonderful job of helping people find that information for as long as I have known her. Not all of it may be good information but she also lets us know what is out there in order to prepare us for what we might be faced with from others… like this.
He then told me not to mention schizophrenia because its cause is still being debated, which leads me to believe that he didn’t read carefully.
I applaud the author and those who post things like this. I may not wholly agree with what I hear but it is another viewpoint which helps make informed decisions and opinions
Thanks Rachel for your insight. Not all the news is good news, but it is my repsonsiblity to keep you informed-as a news source. Not everyone agrees on everything, all of my volunteer writing staff have different viewpoints which emerge in their writing.
The idea of ‘blaming the patient’ or – in this case – the parents of the patient – is not something that is new to medicine, and it certainly isn’t new to the ‘treatment’ (should I say ‘mistreatment’?) of those individuals trying to overcome the ravages of mental illnesses. In the time before the 20th century there wasn’t any interest in the origins of the illnesses – those afflicted were merely thrown into asylums and forgotten. Shut away from the prying eyes of society, the mentally ill languished in ‘sanatoriums’ that specialized in ‘treatments’ that ranged from ‘insulin therapy’ (causing seizures induced by too much insulin – 20th century) to being wrapped in wet sheets to ‘shock’ them back to ‘normalcy’.
It was a time when people died from manic episodes, from being awake for days at a time and burning themselves out. It was a time when, through the emergence of psychoanalysis and the theories of Dr Freud, the relationship between an individual and their early development seemed to have more importance than previously believed.
Of course, we know today that there is a great importance to the amount of nurturing a child receives, we also know that there is very little relationship between nurturing and the development – or expression – of neurological and biological illnesses such as autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, or anything along the spectrum of Affective Spectrum Disorders.
Thanks to the analysis of PET scans that demonstrate – without shadow of doubt – that the structural function of someone’s brain with an affective disorder (particularly schizophrenia or bipolar disorder) is radically different than someone who is ‘healthy’ there is ample evidence to suggest that parenting does NOT cause mental illness – it cannot cause schizophrenia and to even suggest this is the height of malpractice … not to mention being beyond insensitive to those who are already suffering what they are perceiving to be the loss of a child, which need not be the case due to the possibility of effective treatments and the chance of rehabilitation.
Finally – the suggestion that the original post was unacceptable is ludicrous – what were people offended by, the idea that people with mental illnesses are standing up for their rights and not allowing themselves to be silenced by a medical community that would rather see them sit silent, mute and medicated in institutions where nobody can take notice of what is being done to them? I’m sorry, but those days are done: mental illnesses are TREATABLE – and the people WITH mental illnesses are able to contribute to society just as much as anyone else – more, if you want to know the truth.
If you don’t believe me, think of World War II and imagine the most important leader in Europe – Sir Winston Churchill – the man who saved England and galvanized the allied forces to defeat the Nazi hordes. Well, this ‘great leader’ also happened to have bipolar disorder. Scary, isn’t it? Now, go take your stigma and your prejudices and shove ‘em.
Wie viel ist Aufzuleiden!