Mental Illness

Some former and current patients with mental disorders, frustrated by their personal experiences with the mental health system, refer to themselves as “survivors” rather than consumers. Because they feel disenfranchised from the mainstream culture, they support more radical beliefs and do not agree with the views of psychiatrists or advocacy groups. Survivor groups include the European Network of Ex-Users and Survivors of Psychiatry, the 12-Step Coercion Watch, the Campaign Against Psychiatric Oppression (CAPO), and Survivors Speak Out. Another survivor organization, the Antipsychiatry Coalition, is a nonprofit volunteer group that warns of “the harm routinely inflicted on those who receive psychiatric treatment.” This group questions whether psychiatric “diseases” should even be considered medical disorders and believe that psychiatric medications and psychotherapy are unnecessary and were ultimately created to feed an industry.

Although survivor movements often represent extreme views that run counter to scientific evidence, they should not necessarily be dismissed. For example, modern medicine cannot claim to fully understand the nature and cause of psychiatric illness. Despite many extraordinary medical and scientific gains in the past few decades, the causes and classifications of many mental disorders and even the exact mechanisms by which many medications work — are not yet well understood. Finally, it is important to recognize that many individuals in these movements have had genuinely traumatic experiences, often due to shortcomings in the field of psychiatry.