Psychiatry. Why was it invented?
It was invented to deal with endogenous problems such as mental confusion and prolixity of ideas- prolixity of ideas at variance is referred to as schizophrenia-hormone changes, narcissistic behaviour and depression,not forgetting syphillis and dual diagnostic problems. Those problems run alongside and amongst many other problems with psychological symptoms. In the past it was often apparent to dissenting voices that unresponsive police ciphers and political objectors got wrapped up in the hospital network because trouble always comes in pairs. In trouble spots, psychiatry functions as a chemical cosh and can be seen in colonial and authoritarian societies by the military as a mechanism of soft-focus imprisonment and control of revolutionaries. In Northern Ireland, whimsical toffs are the only people who escape long term risks of hospital confinement without political criticism being directed at senior policemen. One of psychiatry's modern uses is to deal with women who scre...