A Myth in Creation

This blogpost is in response to a blogpost by James Barnes on Mad in the UK : Are critics of psychiatry stranded in a ‘Jurassic world?’ I am not interested in framing my response as a refutation . I am not interested in any claims of victory or proclamations along the lines of “Hah! Arguments by critics of psychiatry have been refuted!” That would be the wrong way to think about this. I think there are many valid criticisms of psychiatry to be made, and it is important and essential to engage with criticisms. As I explain below, any framing that frames this discussion in terms of psychiatry vs its critics is problematic in my view. Refutations and counter-refutations are neither the best way to advance a debate nor the best way to learn from each other. My hope, in offering this as a response, is that we can move away from having the same arguments over and over again . 1) Psychiatry and the Critics of Psychiatry First thing I want to note is the framing of debate, the way the ti