As always, your comments are direct, to the point and very eloquent. The cowardice of the APA, the psychological APA, Yale, and the Republican Party is astounding. It should not be left to the electorate to keep Trump from another 4 years of destroying the US as a democracy and very negatively affecting the entire planet
APA has also been complicit in the CREATION of PD afflicted people by orienting towards "Mental Disorders need Pharma" instead of "Developmental Traumas drive most mental health disorders; let's prevent them."
If the APA cared about inculcating mental health they'd lobby for UBI for new moms, the Nurse Family Partnership. We'd see neurofeedback and attachment focused psychotherapy.
No They are just a front for monetizing misery and selling pharmaceuticals.
There is no way you have failed. Maybe there are some psychiatrists who have no spine - but any worth their salt knows what is going on.
I believe the issue is articuu the precise interventions necessary on such a large scale. This is very difficult, and there is not much current history to understand what effective interventions might be. It has not been an active field in public health.
You have made your voice known and met with all the right people and media. I fear there is such intimidation political (or anyone really) leadership when they have to veer into your lane . It is hard to speak with conviction and confidence when it is not your area of expertise.
To address the threat Trump is/was requires them to deeply understand and educate constituents on psychological/pathological people and interventions.
This delusional world is so pervasive and in part brought on by PSYOPS perhaps the voices of CIA (nod to Jerrold Post) along side psychiatry and legislators can begin to educate and articulate what interventions look like.
I know nothing about psychological antidotes for brainwashed citizens.
I like that you continue to write Dr Lee.
Your writing keeps us focused and thinking deeply about answers.
You continue to do a great job keeping us informed of your thinking Dr. Lee. It is troubling that APA is undermining your/our efforts to warn the American public of the catastrophic consequences of having to deal with DT's destructive conduct.
My hope is that you are collaborating with Representative Raskin and other like minded government leaders regarding potentially more effective ways of communicating with the media and congress regarding our concerns. You can also encourage members of our coalition to communicate with our congressional representatives regarding our concerns. I continue to correspond with my senators and house representatives. It is hard to know if these communications are having any kind of impact but it still seems important to make these effort
Every good movement begins with a sign and continues with a march, not a conference. I guess that is why I look at the social movement of discourse occurring now in France and Israel with considerable envy at its effectiveness.
Organize and lead a suffragist movement here on American soil to combat the erosion of our democratic institutions. Are we the land of Free and the home of the Brave?
In my dream world, all candidates for congressional offices, high courts, police departments, should have a mental health clearance for outlier diseases before taking part the pursuit of their positions.
Dr. Lee states that mental health professionals have failed to inform the American people adequately to enable them to protect themselves against the threat posed by Donald Trump. She specifically identifies the problem of the pusillanimity of mental health professionals in the face of the retribution that might be exacted by universities and professional groups, following the lead of the APA, the pharmaceutical industry, and corporate media. She concludes that mental health professionals will continue to fail “unless we mobilize major courage.”
Almost all intellectuals throughout history have supported the existing power structure of their society. Their courage in confronting that power structure has always been almost nonexistent. The power structure of a nation may sometimes be relatively healthy, but in general it is based on the need and desire to dominate others, sometimes mildly, often malignantly. There are hundreds of prophets in the Bible; almost all of them tell the king whatever he wants to hear. Melville points out in Moby Dick that when God calls upon Jonah to be a prophet, the first thing Jonah does is to book passage to the farthest port in the Mediterranean, because he knows what happens to real prophets. The two major figures of antiquity who refused to support the existing power structure of their society were, in the philosophical tradition, Socrates, and in the religious tradition, Jesus. The existing power structure in each society, respectively, gave Socrates hemlock to drink and nailed Jesus to a dead tree. In World War I, Woodrow Wilson campaigned on the slogan, “He kept us out of war.” Enlightened intellectuals were against entering the war. A few months later Wilson entered the war. Enlightened intellectuals suddenly recognized that war is the only way. Professors who publicly disagreed were persecuted and expelled from their posts. The enlightened intellectuals keep theirs.
Were Socrates and Jesus failures? Were the professors who denounced Wilson’s war policy failures?
At the end of Paradise Lost, when the archangel Michael comes to expel Adam and Eve from Eden, Adam describes what he has learned about how life in the fallen world shall work:
with good
Still overcoming evil and by small
Accomplishing great things, by things deemed weak
Subverting worldly strong, and worldly wise
By simply meek, that suffering for Truth’s sake
Is fortitude to highest victory. (XII, 565-570)
From about 1880 to 1960 there was heroic resistance by blacks to the ruthless exploitation, lynching, slaughter, and dispossession that took place under Jim Crow. Their resistance had limited effect because, on the federal level, northern liberals depended politically on the southern racists in the Democratic Party. Then in the nineteen fifties, the propaganda imperatives of the first Cold War made it necessary for the federal government to act on behalf of protesting blacks. The protesting blacks of the nineteen fifties and sixties did not have more courage than the protesting blacks of the preceding decades. They had the good fortune to be living at the right time.
Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized in the last years of his life, during the War in Vietnam, that the repression of blacks and working class whites was integral to the imperial war machine. This same war machine in 2022 sold the American public on the proxy war in Ukraine provoked by the US-led NATO expansion on the basis of moral outrage against Russia, because evil Putin wanted for there to be mass killing and destruction in Ukraine. Then the US sabotaged separate, authentic peacemaking efforts led by Israel and Turkey, and has continued to supply vast armaments for the war, because the US wants for there to be mass killing and destruction in Ukraine. The new rationale for this apparently “good” killing and destruction is to “weaken Russia,” a policy that is apparently self-explanatory and self-validating. A nation that accepts this behavior and these rationales is a nation that is governed by war psychosis, generated by the psychopaths who run the state-within-a-state that is the US national security establishment.
The proxy war in Ukraine is only the latest in the series of the senseless imperialistic wars the US has waged since World War II. Jimmy Carter said that the US is the most militaristic nation in the history of the world. The essence of a military is killing and destroying. This killing and destruction are performed in the service of domination, and of those who wish to dominate, exploit, and enslave others. Every four years, US presidential candidates ritually boast, to great applause, that the US has the greatest military in the history of the world. It is a mistake to focus solely on the derangement and demagoguery of one individual. The mass psychosis of the American people was not created by Donald Trump. Before Trump appeared, the American people were already infected with war psychosis. That is why global polls show that by a very wide margin, the people of the world regard the US as the greatest threat to world peace.
As Ukraine turns into another failed proxy war (if it does not first result in global nuclear annihilation), there may be a small window of opportunity to begin to arouse the American people from the stupor of the war psychosis of our forever wars. Until the US imperial war machine is dismantled, universities and professional groups, the APA, the pharmaceutical industry, the corporate media, and all the other major sectors of American society will continue to be infected by mass psychosis, Trump or no Trump.
Dr Lee, psychiatrists failed to warn societal dangers - that's true not just in US but also in most part of the world. In China, Russia, Turkey, India, Pakistan etc - no mental health professionals take any responsibility. Many are intellectually bankrupt and some are conscious about the societal crisis but cannot speak out of fear.
But it's not just psychiatrists who have failed. The historians have also failed to warn the societal crisis. After all what we are seeing today is not something new. This kind of collective insanity has happened in last century as well which culminated into second World War. The economists have also failed with their policies that created mass poverty, falling standards of living, massive class disparity, environmental destruction and pillaging of planet. And there is actually a connection between the two - Economic depression -> Political chaos -> Rise of Fascists dictatorships -> Wars & destruction.
The Fascism in last century emerged from the economic & political chaos of depressions & recessions of 20s & 30s- when population lost their wealth, dignity and hope. Then Pathocratic leaders exploited the psychological vulnerability of population & made them embrace Fascism. But note the difference between Europe and US. In US, the FDR economic policies preserved American middle class by giving them jobs, social security, economic stability & hope. Something which pre-Fascist regimes failed to deliver in Germany & Italy. Unfortunately, now the corrupted Supreme court is rolling back progressive economic policies in America which will cause chaos.
The point is that, their is a collective failure of intellectuals, philosophers and civil society in America. But a positive trend is that they got jolted by repulsive Trump regime & many have woken up to failing of western world.
And the big point is that we need political reforms. Democracy cannot function in a psychic epidemic when vast segment of infected population cannot contemplate of their own survival & welfare. We need to reform Democracy and political system to build certain safeguards. We also need a national mental health policy which addresses national mental health crisis on aggregate level, not just on individual level. Regarding political reforms, we need a mechanism to appoint a group of philosophers & thinkers directly (including esteemed psychiatrists) in position of power.
This present Democracy (under stress of psychic epidemic) only elects mediocre leaders who are incapable to address modern challenges. And at worse, it elects pathocratic destructive dangerous leaders like Trump, DeSantis, Abbott, Cruz, Graham etc etc.
As always, your comments are direct, to the point and very eloquent. The cowardice of the APA, the psychological APA, Yale, and the Republican Party is astounding. It should not be left to the electorate to keep Trump from another 4 years of destroying the US as a democracy and very negatively affecting the entire planet
APA has also been complicit in the CREATION of PD afflicted people by orienting towards "Mental Disorders need Pharma" instead of "Developmental Traumas drive most mental health disorders; let's prevent them."
If the APA cared about inculcating mental health they'd lobby for UBI for new moms, the Nurse Family Partnership. We'd see neurofeedback and attachment focused psychotherapy.
No They are just a front for monetizing misery and selling pharmaceuticals.
There is no way you have failed. Maybe there are some psychiatrists who have no spine - but any worth their salt knows what is going on.
I believe the issue is articuu the precise interventions necessary on such a large scale. This is very difficult, and there is not much current history to understand what effective interventions might be. It has not been an active field in public health.
You have made your voice known and met with all the right people and media. I fear there is such intimidation political (or anyone really) leadership when they have to veer into your lane . It is hard to speak with conviction and confidence when it is not your area of expertise.
To address the threat Trump is/was requires them to deeply understand and educate constituents on psychological/pathological people and interventions.
This delusional world is so pervasive and in part brought on by PSYOPS perhaps the voices of CIA (nod to Jerrold Post) along side psychiatry and legislators can begin to educate and articulate what interventions look like.
I know nothing about psychological antidotes for brainwashed citizens.
I like that you continue to write Dr Lee.
Your writing keeps us focused and thinking deeply about answers.
Denise Dion, Ph.D
You continue to do a great job keeping us informed of your thinking Dr. Lee. It is troubling that APA is undermining your/our efforts to warn the American public of the catastrophic consequences of having to deal with DT's destructive conduct.
My hope is that you are collaborating with Representative Raskin and other like minded government leaders regarding potentially more effective ways of communicating with the media and congress regarding our concerns. You can also encourage members of our coalition to communicate with our congressional representatives regarding our concerns. I continue to correspond with my senators and house representatives. It is hard to know if these communications are having any kind of impact but it still seems important to make these effort
! dr.tbj
Every good movement begins with a sign and continues with a march, not a conference. I guess that is why I look at the social movement of discourse occurring now in France and Israel with considerable envy at its effectiveness.
Organize and lead a suffragist movement here on American soil to combat the erosion of our democratic institutions. Are we the land of Free and the home of the Brave?
In my dream world, all candidates for congressional offices, high courts, police departments, should have a mental health clearance for outlier diseases before taking part the pursuit of their positions.
Dr. Lee states that mental health professionals have failed to inform the American people adequately to enable them to protect themselves against the threat posed by Donald Trump. She specifically identifies the problem of the pusillanimity of mental health professionals in the face of the retribution that might be exacted by universities and professional groups, following the lead of the APA, the pharmaceutical industry, and corporate media. She concludes that mental health professionals will continue to fail “unless we mobilize major courage.”
Almost all intellectuals throughout history have supported the existing power structure of their society. Their courage in confronting that power structure has always been almost nonexistent. The power structure of a nation may sometimes be relatively healthy, but in general it is based on the need and desire to dominate others, sometimes mildly, often malignantly. There are hundreds of prophets in the Bible; almost all of them tell the king whatever he wants to hear. Melville points out in Moby Dick that when God calls upon Jonah to be a prophet, the first thing Jonah does is to book passage to the farthest port in the Mediterranean, because he knows what happens to real prophets. The two major figures of antiquity who refused to support the existing power structure of their society were, in the philosophical tradition, Socrates, and in the religious tradition, Jesus. The existing power structure in each society, respectively, gave Socrates hemlock to drink and nailed Jesus to a dead tree. In World War I, Woodrow Wilson campaigned on the slogan, “He kept us out of war.” Enlightened intellectuals were against entering the war. A few months later Wilson entered the war. Enlightened intellectuals suddenly recognized that war is the only way. Professors who publicly disagreed were persecuted and expelled from their posts. The enlightened intellectuals keep theirs.
Were Socrates and Jesus failures? Were the professors who denounced Wilson’s war policy failures?
At the end of Paradise Lost, when the archangel Michael comes to expel Adam and Eve from Eden, Adam describes what he has learned about how life in the fallen world shall work:
with good
Still overcoming evil and by small
Accomplishing great things, by things deemed weak
Subverting worldly strong, and worldly wise
By simply meek, that suffering for Truth’s sake
Is fortitude to highest victory. (XII, 565-570)
From about 1880 to 1960 there was heroic resistance by blacks to the ruthless exploitation, lynching, slaughter, and dispossession that took place under Jim Crow. Their resistance had limited effect because, on the federal level, northern liberals depended politically on the southern racists in the Democratic Party. Then in the nineteen fifties, the propaganda imperatives of the first Cold War made it necessary for the federal government to act on behalf of protesting blacks. The protesting blacks of the nineteen fifties and sixties did not have more courage than the protesting blacks of the preceding decades. They had the good fortune to be living at the right time.
Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized in the last years of his life, during the War in Vietnam, that the repression of blacks and working class whites was integral to the imperial war machine. This same war machine in 2022 sold the American public on the proxy war in Ukraine provoked by the US-led NATO expansion on the basis of moral outrage against Russia, because evil Putin wanted for there to be mass killing and destruction in Ukraine. Then the US sabotaged separate, authentic peacemaking efforts led by Israel and Turkey, and has continued to supply vast armaments for the war, because the US wants for there to be mass killing and destruction in Ukraine. The new rationale for this apparently “good” killing and destruction is to “weaken Russia,” a policy that is apparently self-explanatory and self-validating. A nation that accepts this behavior and these rationales is a nation that is governed by war psychosis, generated by the psychopaths who run the state-within-a-state that is the US national security establishment.
The proxy war in Ukraine is only the latest in the series of the senseless imperialistic wars the US has waged since World War II. Jimmy Carter said that the US is the most militaristic nation in the history of the world. The essence of a military is killing and destroying. This killing and destruction are performed in the service of domination, and of those who wish to dominate, exploit, and enslave others. Every four years, US presidential candidates ritually boast, to great applause, that the US has the greatest military in the history of the world. It is a mistake to focus solely on the derangement and demagoguery of one individual. The mass psychosis of the American people was not created by Donald Trump. Before Trump appeared, the American people were already infected with war psychosis. That is why global polls show that by a very wide margin, the people of the world regard the US as the greatest threat to world peace.
As Ukraine turns into another failed proxy war (if it does not first result in global nuclear annihilation), there may be a small window of opportunity to begin to arouse the American people from the stupor of the war psychosis of our forever wars. Until the US imperial war machine is dismantled, universities and professional groups, the APA, the pharmaceutical industry, the corporate media, and all the other major sectors of American society will continue to be infected by mass psychosis, Trump or no Trump.
Nought can deform the Human Race
Like to the Armour’s iron brace.
Dr Lee, psychiatrists failed to warn societal dangers - that's true not just in US but also in most part of the world. In China, Russia, Turkey, India, Pakistan etc - no mental health professionals take any responsibility. Many are intellectually bankrupt and some are conscious about the societal crisis but cannot speak out of fear.
But it's not just psychiatrists who have failed. The historians have also failed to warn the societal crisis. After all what we are seeing today is not something new. This kind of collective insanity has happened in last century as well which culminated into second World War. The economists have also failed with their policies that created mass poverty, falling standards of living, massive class disparity, environmental destruction and pillaging of planet. And there is actually a connection between the two - Economic depression -> Political chaos -> Rise of Fascists dictatorships -> Wars & destruction.
The Fascism in last century emerged from the economic & political chaos of depressions & recessions of 20s & 30s- when population lost their wealth, dignity and hope. Then Pathocratic leaders exploited the psychological vulnerability of population & made them embrace Fascism. But note the difference between Europe and US. In US, the FDR economic policies preserved American middle class by giving them jobs, social security, economic stability & hope. Something which pre-Fascist regimes failed to deliver in Germany & Italy. Unfortunately, now the corrupted Supreme court is rolling back progressive economic policies in America which will cause chaos.
The point is that, their is a collective failure of intellectuals, philosophers and civil society in America. But a positive trend is that they got jolted by repulsive Trump regime & many have woken up to failing of western world.
And the big point is that we need political reforms. Democracy cannot function in a psychic epidemic when vast segment of infected population cannot contemplate of their own survival & welfare. We need to reform Democracy and political system to build certain safeguards. We also need a national mental health policy which addresses national mental health crisis on aggregate level, not just on individual level. Regarding political reforms, we need a mechanism to appoint a group of philosophers & thinkers directly (including esteemed psychiatrists) in position of power.
This present Democracy (under stress of psychic epidemic) only elects mediocre leaders who are incapable to address modern challenges. And at worse, it elects pathocratic destructive dangerous leaders like Trump, DeSantis, Abbott, Cruz, Graham etc etc.
I’ve worried for years my title offended Dr. Lee, so despite the sad subject, very relieved to see her say it too. https://samray.substack.com/p/psychiatry-and-psychology-are-failing
Hi Jamie- I’m sure you are right but I have forgotten. Would you mind including examples please?