I feel broken hearted.

The Latest Global Delusion

I write this with no intention of causing offence to anyone who has a psychiatric diagnosis, whether it is something they have chosen or agreed to willingly, or whether it has been imposed on them. My argument is with our society that has forced people to believe that their problems are a result of their ‘faulty brain’ or ‘faulty personality’ whilst ignoring the societal issues that cause so much widespread distress, which people experience as ‘symptoms’.

While a sizeable minority of the population are totally convinced that they need to be treated differently because they are disabled by ‘mental health problems’, the door is open for right-wing extremism.

Historically people who received psychiatric diagnoses and who were hospitalised or needed a lot of care, found it very difficult to get their needs met. They were too embarrassed by the labels put on them and made to feel ashamed; they were weighed down by their troubles, and kept sedated by the psychiatric drugs, unable to function, let alone be able to speak up for themselves. I was one of those people over a period of many years.

 It would be great if the most vulnerable members of society, including those with serious, severe, life limiting or disabling conditions were able to access the resources they need, but this is not the case. Certainly, here in the UK, the new reality is that there are a lot of very vocal people, who claim that they themselves are particularly needy. I am not here to judge – my concern is that it dilutes the message, and nobody really understands what ‘disability’ means any more.

For instance, there has been a recent large increase in those who consider themselves disabled after their acquisition of an ‘ADHD/autism’ diagnosis and many of these people are very articulate. They are not shy of demanding their ‘rights’ and it is the statutory duty of institutions and organisations to provide reasonable adjustments, for those with disabilities.

Yet the sheer numbers of such claims are fast becoming untenable and inevitably if every single person were to be treated as a special case in such circumstances, then finite resources would quickly become depleted. This has already started to happen, and to some extent, those who are most in need are already being denied essential services.

It is hard to watch, and I feel broken-hearted.  I can’t help wondering how this will end. What to me is so difficult is to hear, is that people think that they are ‘the problem’, and are willing to embrace the falsehood that they have a ‘faulty brain’, when neither of these things are true. If you listen closely to what people are saying about what they are experiencing – it actually says a lot about the world we are living in now. People who are distressed, upset or suffering in this way do so, not because there is something wrong with them, but because there is something wrong with life! It is the same throughout the field that is known as ‘mental health’. People have been conditioned to believe that they are the problem, when actually it is quite the opposite if you care to do a rational analysis of what has happened to them or what is currently happening in their lives.

It seems really unfortunate that people who have genuine life problems, need to acquire a mental health diagnosis to get their legitimate needs met.  Actually being labelled as ‘neurodivergent’ and then having all one’s problems conveniently packaged up in ADHD/autism diagnoses, is a way that government institutions pretend to have all the answers while simultaneously avoiding  their responsibilities.

I do understand what it is like to experience the initial relief when given a psychiatric diagnosis – to finally believe that what we think of as ‘symptoms’ or concerns have at last been validated. It is only natural, and fully justifiable to want to feel heard – yet, so few people are able to see the longer-term dangers in using such strategies.  

I am not the only one to predict that a serious backlash is inevitable, and it looks increasingly likely that this will come via right-wing political activists.

‘Neurodiversity’ has become another soapbox, one which is being used by increasing numbers of people in every walk of life. But when it is used to shout loud, making demands to be heard as they draw attention to their plight, it can easily be misinterpreted as if people are saying, “Look at me. I am different. I am disabled. I need to be treated with special care. I need this more than you do.”  

It is in such contrast to the silence  – the hallmark that defines those who are seriously vulnerable as a result of their emotional difficulties or extreme struggles with life. But being ‘too’ vocal is not without its attendant difficulties. Unfortunately, the authenticity of those who inadvertently advertise their life problems with demands for special treatment is falling under scrutiny, and this is adding fuel to the fire of those who believe that the ‘strong, robust, resilient, white, rich and powerful’ are the only ones who can save this country.

Undoubtedly people have problems. People have difficulties and experience distress for multiple reasons. But what is also true is that many ordinary people are under the influence of this mass, global delusion – one which promotes an unscientific, unevidenced label such as ‘neurodiversity’ and describes ‘ADHD/autism’ as a real, physical, definable entity when it is simply not true.  While this has been widely marketed in healthcare and is another inroad for prescriptions to be issued at the behest of the pharmaceutical industry, it also encourages the completely fictitious notion that people’s problems arise from an innate chemical imbalance in their brains, or that their brains are ‘wired differently’ despite plenty of evidence to the contrary.

No, we are not weak characters, and our brains are not fundamentally flawed. We are all different and yet have much in common as human beings. If there is such a thing as ‘neurodiversity’ it means what it says – we are diverse in our expression as people, the way we behave, the way we think and the way we feel and as such we are called to honour and respect our differences as much as we do our shapes, sizes, skin colour, talents, presence or absence of the ability to hear, see, speak, mobilise or in any other facet of our humanity.

While the UK population continues to embrace the so-called condition of ‘neurodiversity’ and simultaneously embraces ‘treatment’ of the variant which they have called ‘ADHD’ with stimulant drugs based on amphetamines, it is also clear that it would be a disaster if there was any cure!  The very concept of ‘neurodiversity’ lends itself as both protection against a harsh world, and also a benefactor for those who have made use of this diagnosis as a gateway to obtain additional help or gain special privileges. This is not wrong in itself; governments have always thought it necessary to ration additional benefits to those who need it most.

But what is terrible is the widespread ignorance about a simple truth.  ‘Neurodiversity’, ‘ADHD’, ‘autism’, ‘ASD” and most other psychiatric ‘diagnoses’ are delusions manufactured by industry and spread by elitist medical professionals and psychologists throughout our £120 billion funded NHS (as well therapists/counsellors in the private sector). I will say it again – people’s needs are real. But the supposed ‘pathology’ is not.

Those who continue to perpetrate this high-level fraud, along with others who are simply duped, are more deluded than those who are forcibly detained in their psychiatric hospitals with so called ‘psychosis’. The latter group have the possibility of recovery. The former have no insight and present a serious danger to the global community. In the UK, they are robbing our nation of scarce resources by increasing the inequality gap whilst knowingly poisoning a great many people with chemicals, disguised by the clever nomenclature of drugs.  and some of these same people will die an earlier death as a result.

If people are feeling alone, set apart, different, as though no one else understands them – then the fault is societal, and the solution will be found there too. If children (or adults) find themselves unable to concentrate at school or in the workplace and are constantly distracted – then the very fact that more and more people are admitting to this, must surely draw attention to the way our society sees and uses education and work. In addition to this, there are so many adversities that people have lived through both as children and then as adults, which continue to affect us later in life.

How can we think that the answers lie in drugs, or the need to tell people that they are remarkably different from everyone else? Why should they have to learn strategies to cope with the rest of the world? Why are we not looking at what it is about modern living that has made life so unbearable for a significant number of people?

Surely if we tackle the real root causes, it will not only benefit a larger number of people, it would  prevent the terrible problems happening in the first place.

Of course, this is not popular with politicians – why would they want to tackle poverty, socioeconomic differences, unemployment, the use and misuse of technology, the way schools and employment are set up, the provision of better housing and a good look at the food and drink industries for a start. It would be time consuming and potentially costly – it is far easier to label those who feel unhappy as being ‘ill’ or ‘disordered’.

But since the numbers have risen so drastically,  many people are now claiming to be disabled, and the backlash will come. Those on the right-wing spectrum of politics may well end up thinking that they are the only ones who can save our nation from itself; the left-wing and those on the middle ground seem to have fallen for the delusion of psychiatric diagnosis (including ‘neurodiversity’), as much as anyone else. When the time comes, those in power will hit hard and fast.

As a result, all who are vulnerable will suffer. But those who will lose the most are those who were born seriously disabled, and/or from minority ethnic groups, and/or who have become so ill that they are unable to work. Amongst them will be those who are harmed because of the drugs and other ‘treatments’ prescribed by their doctors and other health professionals. This is already happening – the prescriptions for psychiatric drugs are increasing, as is the all-cause mortality rates for those taking them. The NHS refuses to recognise its responsibility in making so many people seriously unwell.

While the root causes of people’s distress continue to be ignored, whether socio-economic, family or trauma based, children and young people suffer.  The potential for prevention is missed – instead the continued cycles of poverty and neglect will go on and on endlessly. It is ironic that the NHS is determined to ‘level up’ in the pursuit of health equality, when this trend is producing the opposite effect.

Meanwhile those who are middle class and functioning well in their jobs, may suddenly decide that perhaps they have outgrown their ‘neurodiversity’ label as the movement loses political favour and their privileges are withdrawn. But they will survive. They always do – because in the end, it is just another example of ‘survival of the fittest’. Those who shout loudest win. We might warn them now, but it falls on deaf ears – as long as they get the most from the system while they can, why would they care?

Those who lean towards right-wing politics are not any different – ‘me and my family’ will always be the priority, whatever else is going on in the community. As humans, we have an innate tendency to choose to reward those who are most like ourselves, as long as they are seen to be deserving. Whether born into privilege or just lucky in life, hard work will always be revered. But those who cannot contribute because of their misfortune, are of lower status and lower priority.

While most of the population is literally under a mass delusion – and seem to want to see themselves as mentally ill or disabled, it will serve a purpose, when those who hold power want to rid themselves of those they see as parasites within our communities. Even though few politicians care enough about the future health of our planet, they feel threatened by those who might rob them of their eutopia. Before we know it, eugenics will be on the rise again.

I admit to my own existential crisis – how can the world sustain this level of selfishness? Please prove to me that I am wrong. Prove to me that this will end well. I have no joy in predicting a bleak future. And what should my own response be? What can I do or should I do? Once upon a time, I was certain there was a God, but now I can only hope.

I hope for redemption. I hope there is more to life. My only consolation is that whether the human race destroys itself through war, or by continuing to raise the temperature of the planet, it seems certain that nature will survive. It always has done, and it always will. But that does not help much now, as I witness this mass, global delusion play out, and more and more people cling to a cleverly packaged pseudo-diagnosis, with pseudo-treatments.

‘Take stimulants, work harder for longer and if that doesn’t help, there are plenty more solutions for sale – different drugs,  more books to read, more courses, coaching and counselling to attend. But whatever you choose, shout for more! There will never be enough funding!’

I feel angry that our society has created a situation where people have become naïve and gullible to the profiteering of those who are already rich enough.

It is also sad that people with alternative opinions to the dominant biomedical models of psychiatry feel restrained from being open when wanting to share our thoughts, particularly when it comes to rational discussions about so-called ‘neurodiversity’.  It is particularly frowned upon to say anything that is perceived as negative by those who consider themselves inclusive, ‘woke’ to the tee. I have survived many, many years of stigma and discrimination at the hands of the psychiatric system, and continue to advocate for better healthcare, yet when I provide an alternative opinion, am I to be considered ‘ableist’?!

While we have little control over the influences that have led to this mass delusion, I hope that as a society it’s not too late. I hope that we will not put all our faith in illness or disability, nor in doctors or their treatments. I hope that together we will listen out for the tactics of those who profit from our distress. Of course, medical care has made great strides in treating certain physical conditions. But healthcare systems like the NHS cannot be expected to make people wise, happy or fulfilled.

For most of life’s problems, I think it’s important to believe that we really are enough. While there are times when it may be possible to change our circumstances, there are equally many times when it is us who needs to change.  While we can lean on one another in an open-minded and accepting community, it remains vital that we recognise the potential within us to grow with our suffering, to become wise and lead others to do the same. And despite everything going on around us, including the frustrations and serious concerns of mass delusions, we may yet discover just how beautiful and wonderful life is, and in doing so may even dare to call it happiness.