Humor

Nothing like humor to help challenge mental health oppression.

Article More U.S. Children Being Diagnosed With Youthful Tendency Disorder
The satiric publication The Onion has run dozens of articles skewering psychiatric oppression through fictional seemingly-true stories, here’s a brilliant example.
Page Onion vs. Psychiatric Absurdity
The humorous satire publication The Onion slyly challenges excess and human rights violations in the mental health system in many creative fictional ways, that seem all too-true. Here are some examples. [Updated 22 Dec. 2010]
News Item Let Garrison Keillor Know About Minnesotan Ray Sandford’s Forced Electroshock
Humorist Garisson Keillor has had to tangle with the American Psychiatric Association before. You can encourage this humorist, inventor of Lake Wobegone, to speak out again, this time about Raymond Sandford of Minnesota.
Link Prairie Home Companion Satirizes ELCA Counseling
Garrison Keillor’s “Praire Home Companion” has for years made fun of harsh counseling by the imaginary Evelyn Lundberg Counseling Agency (ELCA), such as in this live 21 March 2009 broadcast which you can view on Youtube. (By a delicious coincidence, this was toward the end of the widely-publicized campaign by MindFreedom to save Ray Sandford of Minnesota from forced electroshock, which was being supervised by Lutheran Social Services, connected to the huge Lutheran Church ELCA. You can read about the campaign to reach Garrison Keillor about Ray via the link in “Related Content” at bottom.)
Link Script: Prairie Home Companion ad for ELCA: Evelyn Lundberg Counselling Agency
Here’s a link to an MP3 and brief script from Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion about a hilariously-verbally-abusive counseling agency: Evelyn Lundberg Counselling Agency (ELCA). He’s been satirizing ‘ELCA’ for years. By a wonderful coincidence, this broadcast a few months after a successful campaign was launched by MindFreedom International to inform Garrison Keillor about the forced electroshock of Ray Sandford in Garrison’s home state of Minnesota. The forced shocks were supervised by Lutheran Social Services, which is connected with the biggest USA Lutheran Church network — ELCA. For more info on that campaign to reach Garrison, see ‘Related Content’ at bottom.
Link HAVIDOL
This hilarious advertisement says that HAVIDOL is for the treatment of Dysphoric Social Attention Consumption Deficit Anxiety Disorder (DSACDAD), and it is the only known medication available for this newly recognized disorder: “If you believe that despite the opportunities, achievements and acquisitions you already have, something is still missing, then HAVIDOL may be right for you. HAVIDOL’s unique nature enables it to make physiological adjustments that bring about positive change without you having to recognize exactly what your problem is.”
Image Modern Psychiatry
A cartoon supplied by Counterthink.
Image Psychiatry and Big Pharma
Counterthink Cartoon
Link Web video: Drugs I Need
Funny three-minute web video about USA love for all kinds of prescription drugs. Posted on JibJab, from their description: ” 03/09/05: This video isn’t about the drugs you WANT, it’s about the drugs you NEED. Got that, Cheech? This hilarious animated video sticks it to the Pharmaceutical industry’s tendency to push prescription drugs on people that don’t need them to begin with. Hugs, not drugs, people.”
Link Wired: Artists tackle pharmaceutical industry “disease mongering”
PBS carried this Wired story about how more and more artists are using their creativity to mock advertising and deflate the bullying power of the super-powerful and profitable pharmaceutical industry, including those who manufacture psychiatric drugs.
Link Link found between depression and life itself!
A blog explores what would happen if… we took “depression” to the logical conclusion, and noted that life can be inherently depressing. Would there be a pill so we could never be depressed?
Link The New Yorker: “Last Session” by John Kenney
The 28 January 2010 issue of The New Yorker’s column “Shouts and Murmurs” included this exploration of the questions, “How do you know when you are healthy enough to say goodbye to your therapist? And how should a therapist handle it?” *Thank you Susan R. of Philly for providing this link.)

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