Treatment is Punishment?

Treatment is Punishment?

BU's President Emeritus John Silber says, "We now rely on drug therapy to
protect us from those with serious mental illness." (John Silber, "To shield all
tragedy an impossible quest," Boston Globe, April 24, 2007) Oh? So psychiatry is
a form of preventive punishment? How can it be treatment, if there is no
informed consent?
If psychiatry is a scientific discipline why are its diagnoses enforced by
the police power of the state? The standards for involuntary commitment differs
from state to state. In Mass it is "a likelihood of serious harm." How do
observers identify who is potentially dangerous? What human lacks the ability to
commit serious crimes?
Silber's conclusion is not supported by facts, but by fear. Saying, "We
should restrict the sale of firearms, to the extent possible, to criminals and
the mentally ill." suggests that mental illness is a crime. Under what rational
system is an illness a cause of crime? Why does Silber ignore clinical studies
that prove that psychiatric drugs are causally connected to violence. Cho was
reportedly taking anti depressants. It is likely that forced drugging of youth
is the reason for so many violent crimes.

Roy Bercaw, Editor ENOUGH ROOM

To shield all tragedy an impossible quest
Boston Globe
By John Silber
April 24, 2007

AMERICANS BELIEVE that for every problem there is a solution. If we think and
work hard enough, we believe we can solve every problem. Of course, we also live
with the obdurate presence of contingency and uncertainty. We know that too, for
we believe in Murphy's Law.
But we rarely confront the absurdity of believing both. While the solution
mystique is only an act of faith, contingency is a fact we prefer to deny.

In the last half century, we have increasingly avoided unpleasant realities.
Obscuring the brutal uncertainties and tragedies inherent in human existence has
become a national preoccupation. We used to teach our children a familiar prayer
that included the lines "If I should die before I wake/ I pray the Lord my soul
to take." But now many parents believe that these lines, reminding the child of
its mortality, must go.
[...]
John Silber is president emeritus and university professor of philosophy and law
at Boston University.