Dysfunctional Pi

By Patricia Lefave, Labelled, D.D.(P)

First published in September of 2005

One of the things I have learned about the near complete absence of genuine communication with most psychiatrists is that it comes out of an attitude which is based upon their erroneous beliefs. If expressed openly, I think it would sound something like this:

"There is no point in talking to someone like this ''case'' about what is going on in her life, and in her mind, since psychiatry knows it is almost meaningless.'' In their superior understanding they just know they already understand our life experience far better than we ever could."

Of course, they would never SAY that to us directly. What they believe is what has been constructed for them by whatever the original dysfunctional group leads them to believe. There is an incredible naivete in this. That's why it is like talking to the wall. It also explains why many people talk about us in the third person, in our presence, as if we weren't even there. As the psychiatrized one, what you are actually witnessing is the self deluded acting out of the false belief system of those who hold power over us. It has little, or sometimes nothing, to do with our reality. We will never be able to penetrate that with logic as "logic" has nothing to do with it.

If you detach emotionally from their behaviour and start observing THEM for a change you will begin to see it. Of course the first thing psychiatry will do is try to pathologize your detachment. That is already written in their own Holy Book (the DSM) which they wrote themselves to prove how right they are. (Pi again) They can now redefine everything we say, do, think, or feel by converting it into a circular argument (tautology) which makes them "right."

The way to fight this is not by trying to argue with them (they can't hear you ) NOR by being silent. It is by exposing the Dysfunctional Pi, saying it all, out in the open. Try gathering together in groups of three or more and talk about your experience with psychiatry and other dysfunctional groups in public. Be sure to comment to each other about anyone's mocking, ridiculing and smirking, especially if there is someone near you doing it while you are talking. Do not ignore them.

As you ''assess'" him/her amongst yourselves, be sure not to confront them directly. Instead, talk about them in the third person like they aren't there, being sure to repeat back to each other anything he or she may have said, word for word. Be prepared to deny you are doing it should one of them ask you if you are. Keep the dysfunctional platitudes handy for use at all times. "You are reading too much into things." "What makes you "think" we are talking about you?" "You are too sensitive." etc. In other words, mirror their OWN behaviour back to them.

When you are dealing with dim bulbs who have convinced themselves they are a bright light, explanations of reality won't work. Don't expect them to work. Only demonstrations penetrate that kind of psycho spiritual darkness. Show them to themselves, rather than trying to explain yourselves to them.
You, the psychiatrized, can learn to understand what is really going on and get yourself out of the chaos. If I can do it, so can you. We all have the same ability to do that when we understand it.

I hope to give you a new way to look at it with some of the missing pieces of the puzzle supplied. It is so HARD to understand it without those pieces because it makes no sense. We tend to look for logic in this when there is no "logic" there in the first place.

Concrete example:
I told psychiatrists for YEARS that total strangers to me were talking about me in the third person like I wasn't there. Psychiatrists HEAR that through the filter of their own training and that training DENIES the reality of this situation with a group involved and states that our "belief" that this happens is one of OUR "symptoms" proving we are "delusional." So, psychiatry is "in denial" and deludes itself that this group behaviour does not exist. If, as the psychiatrized, you accept the traits themselves in this (like "denial, resistance, and delusions" ) as actually in existence, on an abstract level, but not originally, or perhaps never, belonging to you, you will start to sort out the truth.

Let's use my own "fascinating' case for this:
I told psychiatrists about the strangers involved in talking abut me all over town. Over the years, I have been able to make the connections (supposedly another symptom of mine) those strangers actually have to the group of nurses at the psychiatric hospital who started the whole thing in the first place and then spread it all over the city.

A relative of one of them, for example, has kept the employees of at least two grocery stores (one large and one small) the retirement home where she works, and at least one university employee, of everything she has learned from her niece who is a nurse at the psychiatric hospital, and who worked on the floor with the group who originally started the whole thing. They continue to get all the latest from the staff there. The mouthpiece nurse in question is a former friend of mine. All those she tells repeat the story to all they know, and deduct or embellish it as they go, all expressing their opinion on everything just as they always have done and which they deny when asked.
As they pass it on endlessly, they tell all they gossip with about it to "keep it a secret" especially from me who is seen as the only one who has no idea what is happening. They really believe that. The fact is, I am the one who understands more about what is happening, and why, than anyone else involved.

Now, when I told psychiatrists that even total strangers to me were talking about me,four feet away, like I was not there, all THEY could hear was a "symptom" bubbling up from within "defective" me. Psychiatrists are trained to hear the truth we tell them about what goes on in concrete reality, in relation to other people, through the psychological filter of their own training which denies ("in denial") such group behaviour even exists. They have been taught to hear that as a "perception" problem, contained within us, without relation to other people or events, and caused by bad "brain chemistry." Further to that then, they are taught that our predictable anger, fear, resentment and frustration etc. in relation to being invalidated as human beings and/or about our experience, is "really" only pseudo emotions ( the appearance of real feelings, but not legitimate ) which is ALSO caused by brain chemistry "imbalances."
For many of you I'm sure, this sounds and feels familiar as it is very close to what happens in other dysfunctional groups isn't it?

We will never penetrate that kind of "expertise" by trying to tell anyone the truth they have been thoroughly trained, either professionally or strictly as "amateurs," NOT to hear as reality, and which they do not question. All these dysfunctional groups are trained to hear this the same way. Knowing how they are hearing what you are saying is a step towards understanding what is going on with them. The more you understand, the less confused ( which is just another "symptom" to them) you will be.