Notes And Other Fairy Tales In The Land Of Make Believe

In the Land of Psychiatry, the Red Queen makes the ever-changing rules. She directs the Uniform, who constantly writes notes about the Others. The Uniform is too busy taking notes to notice the Others, except when they need to be sent to the Land of Dame Slap.

by Chrys Muirhead

Once upon a time there was a psychiatric establishment called ‘The Land of Make Believe’.  Where some people wear uniforms (I’ll call them the Uniform) and the others don’t (I’ll call them the Others).  The Uniform write notes (Notes) about the Others … sometimes at the time or sometimes after.

These Notes are very important to the Uniform.  They have undergone copious amounts of training on writing Notes, storing Notes, carrying Notes around.  And they meet in a big room to have discussions about the Notes, the Others and The Land of Make Believe.

The Others are more interested in talking about themselves to others, both Uniform and Others.  However the Uniform seem to have little time available for talking, or listening … or anything that isn’t to do with the Notes.  Therefore the Others find themselves taking up smoking as an activity and sitting with Others in the smoking area.  Even the smoke resistant sit with the smokers, to have human contact.  Meanwhile the Uniform get on with their Notes.  Changing them if necessary.  To fit the story of the Uniform.

Labels are another important factor in the writing of Notes.  The Others can’t just be distressed or anxious or worried.  They’ve got to be given a diagnosis or two, which equates to a mental disorder.  Otherwise the Others shouldn’t have come through the looking glass into the Land of Make Believe.  Where Notes are like the Jabberwocky to the uninitiated or non-Uniform.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

The Uniform write in the Notes when the Others are misbehaving—according to the Uniform—and this may result in a visit to the Land of Dame Slap, a school for bad pixies and fairies, at the top of The Faraway Tree—or forced treatment in Jabberwocky language.  Bad medicine or a necessary evil, according to whether you are the Others or the Uniform.  The Notes will justify the actions and the end will justify the means.  Which is another uniform, compliant, harmless, emotionless, humourless outpatient.

Of course this is only a fairy tale.  Isn’t it?

Originally published on Mad in America.

Chrys Muirhead lives in Fife, Scotland, and is a survivor, of mental ill health and the psychiatric system, having recovered from psychotic episodes and subsequent treatment in 1978, 1984 and 2002.  Although she has over 30 years experience in community development work, Chrys resisted involvement in mental health matters, thinking the system wasn’t likely to change.  However, in 2005, she heard a number of guest speakers from the USA at a Scottish Recovery Network conference on Peer Support and this prompted Chrys to become involved.  The peer movement internationally inspired her to set up Peer Support Fife  in January 2008.

I personally had the pleasure of meeting Chrys at a conference she arranged in the County of Fife, Scotland, which she had arranged so that those of us in the outback of Scotland could have the pleasure of seeing Robert Whitaker, author of Anatomy of an Epidemic, speak. She is a dynamic and forthright woman, capable of great accomplishments—as bringing Whitaker to Scotland demonstrated, not to mention involving Dr. Phil Barker and Poppy Buchanan-Barker in the event.

Tagged alice in wonderland psychiatry, conventional medicine, humor, mental health, mental illness, psychiatric abuse, psychiatric hospitals, psychiatric humor, psychiatry, red queen, satire psychiatric hospitals, satire psychiatry