This video caught my attention because I experienced firsthand the injustice of psychiatry. Greetings from Lima, Peru.
In 1998, when I was 23 years old, my family, backed by a wealthy businessman uncle on my mother’s side, arbitrarily accused me of being crazy. For that reason, they had me kidnapped and confined in a private clinic called Pinel, not once, but twice.
The real reason was that they were religious fanatics who could not tolerate the fact that I had abandoned Catholicism and that, in my free time, Bible in hand, I openly spread my criticisms of churches in general. Even after being discharged, I was forced to take pills and forbidden to read the Bible, under threats of being hospitalized again.
The third time, in 2005, it was no longer a private clinic but a public hospital, although the same excuse was used. After a month in captivity, the psychiatrist admitted to my face:
«You are not schizophrenic; your case does not fit any diagnosis».
I then asked him: «If I am not schizophrenic, why are you prescribing me pills for that illness?».
His absurd response was: «I have to prescribe you something».
He then added something that made the real underlying issue even clearer: «Your religious ideas, whether right or wrong, keep them to yourself».
It was obvious that my family’s religious intolerance was behind all of this.
Years later, in 2018, they tried to kidnap me again using the same slanderous accusations. This time, the trigger was that I had created a blog where I criticized religions. Unlike on previous occasions, after reading more of the Bible, I no longer defended it. Instead, I questioned the truthfulness of its contents, pointing out its contradictions and messages that suspiciously benefited the Roman Empire that canonized the texts.
At that time, I had a stable job, a son to take care of, and I was living a completely normal and independent life. Nevertheless, my mother and sister — Catholic religious fanatics who were bothered by my criticism of the Church — accompanied by four corrupt police officers, a supposed psychiatrist with a medical certificate, and backed financially by that same maternal uncle, arrived at the residential compound shouting loudly, at the top of their lungs, that I was a dangerous man and a danger to my own son, once again attempting to kidnap me.
They failed, and that is why I can tell this story today.
I was not home that Sunday, but my son’s mother was there. My son was four years old at the time. Faced with my mother’s and sister’s shouting and outrageous accusations, the landlady, who lived on the first floor, came out to defend me, stating that I always paid my rent on time. Other neighbors also joined in to support me, confirming that I never caused problems with anyone, that I had lived there for years, that I was not a drunkard or anything like that, and that it was perfectly clear how much I loved my son.
My mother also told my son’s mother: «We will give you money, but we have to take him…», to which she replied: «He is not crazy. My son needs his father, not your filthy money».
The real danger to my son was not me, but my mother and sister, who came to traumatize him with an entirely arbitrary experience and to try to kidnap me in front of him. The real risk to the mental health of a four-year-old child was not my presence, but the immense trauma of seeing his father being taken away unjustly, perhaps never to be seen again, and then having his mother unable to answer when he asks where I am. That is what truly harms a child. Those two women who came to carry out that arbitrary kidnapping were the ones who represented a real danger, not me.
The supposed purpose of psychiatric treatment is to help people integrate into society. But what were they trying to do to me, when I was already integrated into society? I had a job, family responsibilities, paid for my home, and led a completely normal and independent life. What these people considered madness was the fact that I had abandoned their religion and dared to criticize it.
After that attempt, I went to the same police station from which the officers had been dispatched to file a complaint. The chief of that police station realized that I had come from the place he had previously visited and told me: «I went there. Your mother and sister came with a medical certificate».
I explained that the certificate was false, that I did not suffer from any mental illness, and that, as he could see for himself, I spoke normally, had a job, and led an independent life, among other things. He did not accept my complaint, but he told me: «You seem lucid to me. I suggest you get an independent psychiatric evaluation and, with that proof of your sound mental state, sue them for slander».
I followed his advice and went to a private clinic. The psychiatrist gave me a form in which I had to state the reason for my visit and whether I had previously been diagnosed with any mental illness.
I believe the problem is not simply asking about medical history, but rather that such history can become a source of prejudice that influences the evaluation and prevents a truly independent opinion from being obtained.
I explained to the doctor: «I have indeed been diagnosed as being crazy, but that diagnosis is false».
His response was: «If I diagnose you and you turn out to be fine, people will think you paid me».
And so he refused to evaluate me. He suggested that I report my case to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and have them arrange for an impartial psychiatric assessment.
I filed the complaint accompanied by some audio recordings and documents as evidence, but the Public Prosecutor’s Office rejected it.
As you can see, my experience shows how psychiatry can become a tool of torture and control against people who simply think differently, question certain beliefs, or hold ideological positions that make those around them uncomfortable.
My question is: what chance does a person have to defend themselves when those accusing them can resort to a psychiatric certificate to discredit them, obtain police intervention, and even attempt to deprive them of their freedom? Who oversees these professionals when their diagnoses may be motivated by a desire to avoid conflicts with colleagues, even at the expense of the truth, by financial interests, or by ideological intolerance? And what mechanisms exist for a person to prove that they have been the victim of an arbitrary diagnosis?
My experience has led me to one conclusion: no psychiatric professional should be granted practically unquestionable authority over another person’s freedom. A diagnosis should not replace judicial safeguards or turn ideological, religious, or personal differences into grounds for depriving someone of their liberty.
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