Does That Make Me Crazy?
By Brent Erickson
“Modern psychology has a word that is probably used more than any other word in modern psychology. It is the word "maladjusted." This word is the ringing cry to modern child psychology. Certainly, we all want to avoid the maladjusted life. In order to have real adjustment within our personalities...But I say to you, my friends, as I move to my conclusion, there are certain things in our nation and in the world which I am proud to be maladjusted and which I hope all men of good-will will be maladjusted until the good societies realize. I say very honestly that I never intend to become adjusted to segregation and discrimination. I never intend to become adjusted to religious bigotry. I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy." - Adam Curtis
"The Century of the Self is an acclaimed documentary by filmmaker Adam Curtis released in 2002.
Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, changed the perception of the human mind and its workings profoundly. His influence on the 20th century is widely regarded as massive. The documentary describes the impact of Freud's theories on the perception of the human mind, and the ways public relations agencies and politicians have used this during the last 100 years for their "engineering of consent".
Among the main characters are Freud himself and his nephew Edward Bernays, who was the first to use psychological techniques in advertising. He is often seen as the "father of the public relations industry". Freud's daughter Anna Freud, a pioneer of child psychology, is mentioned in the second part, as well as Wilhelm Reich, the main opponent of Freud's theories.
Along these general themes, The Century of the Self asks deeper questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitude to fashion and superficiality.
The business and, increasingly, the political world uses PR to read and fulfill our desires, to make their products or speeches as pleasing as possible to us. Curtis raises the question of the intentions and roots of this fact. He cites a Wall Street banker as saying "We must shift America from a needs- to a desires-culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. [...] Man's desires must overshadow his needs."
See also
The Power of Nightmares -A documentary in a similar style also by Adam Curtis, documenting the death of idealism in politics, replaced by scaring voters and then vowing to protect them in office.
PANDORA'S BOX -Documentary on the strange applications of science in 6 parts. Episodes include the Atomic Age, DDT, economics, game theory in warfare..by Adam Curtis"
-From Wikipedia
Who can you trust? As author Michael Parenti notes Psychiatry is “…rather riddled with all sorts of conventional and elitist values of one kind or another. We know how psychiatry has treated women. Psychiatrists back in the antebellum days used to talk about slaves suffering from a disease called Drapetomania, and it was the irresistible impulse to run away from their slavery, and this was seen as a psychological maladjustment, and such, for generations. Right up into the 1970s, homosexuality was treated as a sickness that had to be treated in some way.”
This is not to say that Plus Ultra does not recognize the seriousness of mental illness. Here is some information on mental health, for more information please visit The Canadian Mental Health Association.
Fast Facts: Mental Health / Mental Illness
· 20% of Canadians will personally experience a mental illness in their lifetime.
· Approximately 8% of adults will experience major depression at some time in their lives.
· Suicide accounts for 24% of all deaths among 15-24 year olds and 16% among 25-44 year olds.
· Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in both men and women from adolescence to middle age.
· The mortality rate due to suicide among men is four times the rate among women.
· The economic cost of mental illnesses in Canada for the health care system was estimated to be at least $7.9 billion in 1998 - $4.7 billion in care, and $3.2 billion in disability and early death.
· An additional $6.3 billion was spent on uninsured mental health services and time off work for depression and distress that was not treated by the health care system.
· Mental illness indirectly affects all Canadians at some time through a family member, friend or colleague.
Sources: The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) / The Report on Mental Illness in Canada, October 2002. EBIC 1998 (Health Canada 2002), Stephens et al., 2001.
Though mental illness affects people of all ages, income levels, and cultures, there are environmental considerations to take into account as well. Depression and anxiety among children is more common with a child who has had a history of trauma, abuse, physical disability, bereavement, addiction, or an unstable family structure. In adults, the loss of a spouse is reported to be the most common cause of a depressive or anxiety episode. Women are at increased risk of depression during and within the first few months after pregnancy and chronic depression may be more common in areas afflicted with war, natural disasters, or poverty, experts say.
St John's Wort, Passionflower and Valerian are three popular herbal anti-depressants. But taking a pill, even a herbal one, isn't going to keep you healthy, so remember Plus Ultra's tips for mental health, (recommended by the Canadian Mental Health Association and others); Eat right, Keep a journal, Keep fit, Make Time for Family and Friends, Share Humour, Give and Accept Support, Meditate, Create a Meaningful Budget, and Volunteer.
MK-Ultra
"Project MKULTRA (also known as MK-ULTRA) was the code name for a CIA mind-control research program that began in the 1950s. There is much published evidence that the project involved the use of many types of drugs to manipulate peoples' mental state and to alter brain function.It was first brought to wide public attention by the U.S. Congress (in the form of the Church Committee) and a presidential commission (known as the Rockefeller Commission) and also to the U.S. Senate.
On the Senate floor in 1977, Senator Ted Kennedy said:
The Deputy Director of the CIA revealed that over thirty universities and institutions were involved in an 'extensive testing and experimentation' program which included covert drug tests on unwitting citizens 'at all social levels, high and low, native Americans and foreign.' Several of these tests involved the administration of LSD to 'unwitting subjects in social situations.' At least one death, that of Dr. Olson, resulted from these activities. The Agency itself acknowledged that these tests made little scientific sense. The agents doing the monitoring were not qualified scientific observers.
The experiments were even exported to Canada when the CIA recruited Albany, New York doctor D. Ewen Cameron, creator of the "psychic driving" concept which the CIA found particularly interesting. Cameron described his theory on correcting schizophrenia, which consisted of erasing existing memories and rebuilding the psyche completely. He commuted to Montreal every week to work at the Allan Memorial Institute... from 1957 to 1964 to carry out MKULTRA experiments there. The CIA appears to have given him the potentially deadly experiments to carry out since they would be used on non-U.S. citizens.
In addition to LSD, Cameron also experimented with various paralytic drugs as well as electroconvulsive therapy at thirty to forty times the normal power. His "driving" experiments consisted of putting subjects into drug-induced coma for weeks at a time (up to three months in one case) while playing tape loops of noise or simple repetitive statements. His experiments were typically carried out on patients who had entered the institute for minor problems such as anxiety disorders and postpartum depression, many of whom suffered permanently from his actions.
It was during this era that Cameron became known worldwide as the first chairman of the World Psychiatric Association as well as president of the American and Canadian psychiatric associations. Cameron had also been a member of the Nuremberg medical tribunal only a decade earlier." -From Wikipedia
