Behavioral Health
It used to be called “mental health.”
The so-called “stigma” of mental health now prompts a name change, and they are starting to call it “behavioral health,” which just means how effectively one handles stress.
There isn’t any stigma, of course. Stigma is manufactured by the psycho-pharmaceutical industry so that there is a bad-sounding social issue for which research funds can be solicited and psychotropic drugs sold to unsuspecting victims, and for which reports can be written about how bad it all is.
We call it propaganda by redefinition of words, which is a way to mold public opinion by altering words to obtain a public relations advantage.
Behavior: The way in which one acts or conducts oneself, especially toward others, or in response to a particular situation [late Middle English from be–have in the sense of “have or bear (oneself) in a particular way”.]
The implication is that “behavior” is troublesome and must be corrected; one’s behavioral health, then, is amiss, requiring psychiatric treatment.
A primary strategy of behavioral health is the extension of services into the community — at home, school, workplace and other community settings.
Recently, the “crisis in Ferguson, Missouri” is a field day for behavioral health therapists. Misbehaving people (whether the police or the populace, take your pick) are thus desperately in need of treatment; and the stress of dealing with this misbehavior for the rest of us means we also need some “behavioral health” treatments.
One truly hopes you recognize tongue firmly in cheek here.
Misconduct or misbehavior exhibit a lack of environmental control by all parties concerned. Such control begins with the individual managing and controlling his own environment — his person, his things, his behavior. We usually just call this “competence.” When a group messes up to such an extent as witnessed in Ferguson, look to the sanity of their leaders, who have allowed those under their care to deteriorate to such an extent that they can no longer handle the stress of their environment.
Unfortunately, psychiatry does not have an answer here other than more drugs, further suppressing one’s ability to deal with stress in their environment.
What is the proper response? Put order into the environment. Locate and handle the insane ones who are provoking the stress, or just letting it happen. Locate and handle those pushing psychiatric solutions, such as the “behavioral health” people at local hospitals and universities who promote electro-convulsive therapy as a solution to behavior.
The Saint Louis Mental Health Board is a special tax district in the City of St. Louis as set forth by state statute, and consider themselves the mental health authority for the City of St. Louis, funding 48 different agencies with community programs, community projects, community partnerships and other initiatives that are supposed to help residents improve their behavioral health. Since their inception in 1992 they have proudly spent $111,769,998 on such programs. They financially support the publication of the Vision for Children at Risk “Children of Metropolitan St. Louis” report, which gathers statistics on 28 indicators of well-being for children under 18 by zip code; the primary zip code for Ferguson is 63135, in case you would like to review it.
Gee whiz, our children need a lot of behavioral health help!
Is it working?
Doesn’t appear to be.
But they sure know how to write reports!
Your task is to contact your local, state and federal officials and representatives, and let them know what you think about this. Provide your personal observations and experiences. Suggest that they stop funding failed psychiatric treatments, mental health programs, and behavioral health community initiatives — and do something effective, like teaching children to read.