Psychiatry is similar to a religion. Psychiatry is often defined as a medical specialty. Psychiatry has implicit core underlying beliefs that at least border on religious and theological. The first one is that death is bad and that when to die is not something that any human being has the capacity to decide nor should decide on one’s own. This is made apparent by the zeal in which civil commitment is utilized to forcibly stop and coerce individuals from engaging in behaviors that lead to suicide.
Currently laws allow for the psychiatric system to use force and coercion to stop adults from engaging in suicide. This is not right. Suicide should be considered a civil right. It should be illegal to forcefully stop an adult from engaging in behaviors that will lead to suicide.
Because individuals can be effectively imprisoned in hospitals for attempting and failing to engage in suicide and/or for voicing a plans, means and intention of engaging in suicide, suicide is effectively illegal. A psychiatrist Thomas Szasz noted when he was alive on Earth, psychiatric is effectively the religion of secular states. Of course, peaceful non-coercive persuasion should be utilized try and persuade adults to not engage in suicide; hopefully all adults will want to live on Earth and live peaceful, fruitful and fulfilling lives here.
It is impossible to prove that ghosts exist or do not exist. It is also impossible to prove if demonic possession does or does not exist. Some Christian and Catholic individuals currently do believe that demonic possession does exist. Hundreds of years ago demonic possession and witchcraft were thought to exist by perhaps the majority of individuals in Europe. Hundreds of years ago it was considered common knowledge that The Earth is flat. Currently, it is a widespread belief that insanity exists. Certainly, individuals can engage in self-deception and lies. However, just like ghosts and witchcraft, insanity is not something that can be objectively proven or disproved. In this way, the idea of insanity objectively existing is the other quasi-theological tenant of psychiatry.
Therefore, in addition to civil commitment, the insanity defense is the other way that governments and the quasi-religious elements of psychiatry intersect. Idaho, Montana, Utah and Kansas have all banned the use of the insanity defense. All states should ban the use of the insanity defense, and civil commitment.
