1/2 By @JDaviesPhD (see reply for full thread): “One of the most significant barriers to social justice in recent decades has emerged from the mental health field itself, in the form of an ideology now so pervasive and well-protected by powerful interests that it often escapes critical scrutiny in popular public discourse. “This ideology, which originated in the institutions of bio-psychiatry in the early 20th century, has rapidly spread across most Western societies since the 1980s, propelled by pharmaceutical interests, the over-pathologisation of emotional distress, and neoliberal governance. “In essence, this ideology has increasingly framed emotional suffering as a sign of internal dysfunction or disorder best treated with psych-interventions. Since the 1980s, these interventions have predominantly been psycho-pharmaceutical (for example, nearly one quarter of adults in many Western nations are now prescribed psychiatric drugs annually), and 'adaptive' insofar as these interventions have prioritised reintegrating suffering and straying individuals back into an assumed 'functional' and healthy status quo.”