Can you detox?

Mental Health Nursing,  Nov 2003  by Wilkin, Peter

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Orthodox psychiatric nursing is a narcotic and Peter Wilkin is both pusher and addict. He describes the struggle he faces to overcome the habit

I have become an addict! I am completely dependent upon psychiatry.

And, what's more ... I am too hooked (and too selfish) to give it up. If I did, I would lose my home, my car ... and my whole sense of purpose. Worse still ... I have become a dealer in order to feed my habit. I prey on emotionally vulnerable people. I offer myself up as a professional helper and, before they can say 'care coordinator', I have seduced them into becoming users too. Who am I kidding? The truth is, that a much greater force than me has usually already hooked them by the time I meet up with them. I merely serve to perpetuate their habit.

So, what do you make of all that, then? Let me guess. If, as is most likely, you are a psychiatric nurse too, you will probably have caught my drift. You may well be responding as you read: 'Yes. I can see where you're coming from ... but you are merely being provocative for the sake of this brief article. You are stretching and distorting the 'truth' of psychiatric nursing in order to make some point'.

Consequently, your tendency may well be to dismiss my ramblings as ... well, just that ... the ramblings of someone who really should be writing about more pertinent issues. Hey! I can accept that. It takes some courage to step forward & publicly declare 'I am a junkie!' And maybe you're not ready to deal with your own addiction yet? After all, what else could you do if you weren't pushing and scoring?

But do you seriously believe there are more fundamental issues to address than a psychiatric system full of people who attempt to harness and control the experiences of those who access it? Our eagerness to rationalise and contain all forms of emotional distress has McDonaldised psychiatry into a non-negotiable process: diagnosis and a limited number of treatment options, served up in a risk assessment designed to please Government ministers and help trust executives sleep easier in their beds at night.

However, if you are, or have been, receiving a service from a psychiatric provider you may already be muttering to yourself, 'Too true, mate'. Well, actually, you probably won't, because we mental health workers wrap up our intentions so well you really won't catch the irony.

Sadly, psychiatric providers and receivers alike are dependent upon a socially rooted process that is driven by medical science and controlled by political. spin. So - can we kick the habit and function without creating such a habit in others? I need to believe that we can - but where do you stand in all this? Is blissful ignorance your preferred coping mechanism? Or are you brave enough to own your addiction. Unless you do, can you ever hope to shed your dependence and craft your practice in a truly collaborative fashion?

Peter Wilkin is primary service manager at Pennine Care NHS Trust

Copyright Community Psychiatric Nurses Association Nov 2003
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