Hello again Bhakta_glenn:

"for schizophrenia, given a very dangerous treatment"
«Antipsychotics have been a mainstay of therapy since the introduction of chlorpromazine in the mid 1950s, which revolutionized treatment. Side effects (some harmful or fatal) have attracted controversy. Older concerns over sedation, tardive dyskinesia and neuroleptic malignant syndrome have been largely replaced with those of drug-related obesity and diabetes.»
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treatment_of_schiz...

Please would you comment on the following excerpt.
«The first ever official survey of NHS mental health inpatients has revealed high levels of dissatisfaction with services, with only a minority of respondents saying they "always felt safe" on the wards.

The groundbreaking findings, published today, show only a third of patients felt fully involved in their care and treatment. Many were denied access to counselling or so-called "talking therapies", while the side-effects of medicines were inadequately explained.»
www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/sep/24/m...

"the Psychiatrists got it wrong"
My GP was exactly right--and my clinical psychologist got the diagnosis wrong! A rehabilitation provider was incompetent. Eventually after a year a psychiatrist pinned down the right diagnosis and I got correctly medicated.

"never bothered to carry out any further examinations"
That was not the case for me. I got examined `upside down and inside out'! {Sigh} Unfortunately the incompetent qualified-nurse rehab provider couldn't interpret his own consultant psychologist's IQ report.
:-(

Hi Bhakta_glenn:

"healthcare is the symptom of a civilised society; it should be free"
This is a socialist position. The rich object to being taxed to pay for that!

"delivers a cure, and permanently uproots"
Rehabilitation is almost always not cure. The meditation needs to be repeated. Otherwise problems relapse: your complaint at medication!

"causes of all mental instability: Greed, Hatred, and Ignorance."
You are implying that all mentally unstable people are greedy, hateful or ignorant. Yet they tend have biological underlying susceptibility. And that has usually been aggravated by stressful life experience.

"Psychiatrists have decided that Drug Therapy is not viable"
I understood that you had not been examined by one.

"Buddhist Psychotherapy"
Please explain further.

Jan 21, 2010 -- 5:11AM, Karma_yeshe_dorje wrote:

Hello again Bhakta_glenn:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treatment_of_schiz... Please would you comment on the following excerpt. «The first ever official survey of NHS mental health inpatients has revealed high levels of dissatisfaction with services, with only a minority of respondents saying they "always felt safe" on the wards.  The groundbreaking findings, published today, show only a third of patients felt fully involved in their care and treatment. Many were denied access to counselling or so-called "talking therapies", while the side-effects of medicines were inadequately explained.» :-(

Karma_Yeshe_Dorje

Suffice to say that the reality is worse.

Jan 22, 2010 -- 7:20AM, Karma_yeshe_dorje wrote:

Dear Bhakta_glenn:  "My wife is convinced that the old husband is dead and someone else has taken his place." What improvement in behavioural health has she commented upon?  "if he is to be reborn in Hell, his mind leaves his body through the anus" s

Karma Yeshe Dorje

She has noted that I am now peaceful, no longer given to bouts of shouting and rage, no longer aggressive.
 
Buddhism does not teach about taboo.
 
In Buddhist Teaching, we live in a Moral Universe. Whilst man has free will, he does not have free will without moral responsibility.
 
Buddhism does not Teach that there is a God who judges human behaviour. But, Buddhism teaches that all beings are subject to being reborn according to how they have lived. Thus an evil person will be reborn in Hell and a good person will be reborn in Heaven, or realise Nirvana.
 
One does not have to accept this Teaching in order to Meditate. However, to practise Meditation or Yoga, one does not actually begin with these activities.
 
One begins with  Moral Education and Development. This does not entail a series of 'Thou Shalt Nots'. Rather, it is a case of 'One can do what one likes'; but, immoral actions make life harder whilst moral actions make life easier.
 
Buddhists believe that no-one is free from the Moral Laws of the Universe. Thus, one cannot actually practise Meditation or Yoga without first developing in Morality. This training took me 16 years to complete.
 
It cannot be summed up in a few words, or even a thesis. Buddhist Morality affects Three Human Qualities: Speech, Action, Livelihood.
 
Whether a person adopts these principles in his Daily Life or not is optional. One has the power to choose or reject.
 
Back in 1989, my doctor treated me as a hostile patient and refused to refer me for further consultation and diagnosis by Mental Health Specialists. I was refused access to Mental Health Care of the next 10 years. When I finally gained access, My disability was correctly diagnosed.
 
Meanwhile, for those 10 years, and up to the present day, I have been supported with superb training by my Buddhist Teacher. Mental Health Care has come and gone. I have been examined, assessed, diagnosed, discharged, labelled and forgotten about; just like a commodity which has been moulded, folded and vacuum packed.

 

Jan 22, 2010 -- 8:54AM, Karma_yeshe_dorje wrote:

Hi Bhakta_glenn:

no longer given to bouts of shouting and rage, no longer aggressive
In men, anger is symptomatic of depression.

Buddhism does not teach about taboo.
«

To refrain from taking life

To refrain from taking that which is not freely given (stealing)

To refrain from sexual misconduct (improper sexual behavior)

To refrain from lying and deceiving

To refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness.

 

»
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Śīla 

Karma_Yeshe_Dorje

In Theravada Buddhism, anger has no gender, nor is it defined according to gender.

In Theravada Buddhism, anger is a mental phenomenon, a mental state.

Anger arises from the evil mental state of Ill Will. As such, it is an obstacle to the mind and it blinds one's mental vision, wisdom. It finds its base in Ignorance. If one removes the evil mental state of Ill Will, anger may not arise. If anger does not arise, Ignorance is destroyed and Wisdom arises in the mind.

Anger may be attenuated with the reailsation of Samadhi, Tranquillity. Anger may be totally annihilated with the realisation of Nirvana.

Buddhist Psychotherapy

Practice of the Five Precepts tends towards wisdom and sanity. Ignoring them, or refraining from practising them tends towards ignorance and insanity.

In a Buddhist context: Ignorance means 'not knowing' how to live and how to die; not understaning Nirvana.

 

You have quoted Sila, The Five Precepts of the Buddhist Householder, Lay Person.

The Five Precepts of the Buddhist Householder, that you have quoted are not Taboo, as in Five Prohibitions. They are Five Training Rules for Mental Development, Psychotherapy to Teach the student how to wean himself off antisocial behaviour, and how to develop socially acceptable behaviour.

Practise is entirely optional. The Buddha never insisted that people follow his Teaching. Rather he pointed out that we all live according to the Law of Individual Responsibility:

You make your own Heaven and Hell right here on Earth, in this very moment.

One does this by the way they live. By the way they live, people develop Karma. Karma is said to be 'cause and effect'. Karma is a Cosmic Law. Thus, to live according to the Five Precepts that you have quoted, is a Practice of Living according to an Ancient Divine Science. It has nothing to do with Taboo:

Oxford Universal Dictionary:

"'Taboo': Set apart for  or consecrated to a special use or purpose; restricted to the use of a god, a king, priests, or chiefs,, while forbidden in general use".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Precepts

The Five Precepts

Being the recommended practice of Householders, Lay people, they do not accord with the English word "Taboo", as defined in the Dictionary.

The actual practise of learning to live according to the Five Precepts is the foundation of the Eightfold Noble Path, Sila, Morality. The Buddha taught that we live in a Moral Universe.

The Eightfold Noble Path is in Three Categories. the Salient Category is Sila, Morality:

Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood.

All of these arise from Volition. All of these ativities generate Karma. Karma may be good or evil. Good karma promotes Mental Equanimity, Tranquillity, Sanity. Evil Karma promotes Mental Dissipation, Insanity.

Volition is Karma.