Ioannis, I'm so glad that you're exposing readers to what may be described as 2nd hand systems that detract rather than achieve. To support your writings I offer complementary comments from my own experiences and observations that go back ninety years. For me, Vedic yogic techniques are ageless, boundless and offer humanity the ultimate means to self-discovery and disease-free living. My experiences in Psychiatry offer practical approach to undo the harm that modern living norms have imposed on them. Together they form the basis of a lifestyle, fit for modern times.
What is psychotherapy today? I personally witnessed the death of 'Real Therapy" (it got done - only a little bit, but bit by bit, as you lay on a sofa and talked and talked) in the nineties, as molecules gained prominence and replaced it. "Prescription Therapy", it is called now.
I also personally witnessed that in a Psychiatric Research Institute, where 30 Psychiatrists and an equal number (each) of psychologists, social workers, nurses, life-skill workers and others, who provided the "so-called therapy", in the exit interview, 35% of the patients said they wanted a shoulder to cry on and so invented symptoms. The Psychiatrists knew this and acted accordingly (prescribed colored sugar pills). Many were personal friends and we invited each other for dinners at home. I ran a placebo effect study, double blind of course!
Now here's the clincher. I used to run a teaching basic yoga class after hours. Patients were not allowed to attend, only staff and their friends. But, knowing me, Psychiatrists used to phone me to make exceptions. So, in one class, I had two Obsessive-compulsive pupils, one a young man and the other a beautiful Scottish 30ish women, a real killer. After two months of introductory yogic, postures (aasans), breathing and reciting procedures, they wrote me a letter saying, among other things " . . . . they have partially recovered more in the last two months, than in the two preceding years of behavior modification therapy and prescriptions, administered by a senior staff Psychiatrist, Dr. John Lovett-Doust, a specialist in " treating Obsessive-Compulsive behavior patients", also a friend and a great believer in cerebral Rheographic evaluation.
The fundamentals of Stoicism are based on Vedic Yoga techniques, which is nothing more than a way of thinking and living. One does not do yoga, one lives it, in action and thought.
Thank you for sharing this, Ravi. Your firsthand experience powerfully illustrates what I was pointing to, that is the shift from empowering, human-centred practices toward systems that often manage symptoms rather than restore agency. Your yoga example is especially telling; lived discipline and embodied practice can achieve what years of analysis and prescriptions often fail to do. Very insightful.
Really thought provoking take on the overmedicalziation of everyday struggles. The point about how Stoicism builds agency while modern therapy culture can sometims create dependence is something I've seen play out irl with friends who got stuck in analysis paralysis mode. What stands out is how this isn't just about individual choice but about economic incentives in the mental health industry that profit from keeping people in perpetual treatment rather than empowering them towards self sufficiency.
Thank you, I really appreciate that. What you’re describing is exactly what prompted me to write this. I’ve seen many real-world examples around me where people, despite good intentions, have become increasingly detached from reality and agency through constant self-analysis and medicalisation of normal human struggles.
Stoicism, in contrast, anchors people in responsibility, action, and resilience. The economic incentives you mention are an uncomfortable but necessary part of the conversation... When an industry is rewarded for prolonged dependence rather than restored autonomy, the outcomes will be by default distorted.
Your observation about “analysis paralysis” is especially accurate; I’ve seen it stall otherwise capable people who might have thrived with a framework that emphasises self-mastery over perpetual diagnosis.
I loved Reading this piece. So many perspectives.
Thank you Cynthia 😊
Ioannis, I'm so glad that you're exposing readers to what may be described as 2nd hand systems that detract rather than achieve. To support your writings I offer complementary comments from my own experiences and observations that go back ninety years. For me, Vedic yogic techniques are ageless, boundless and offer humanity the ultimate means to self-discovery and disease-free living. My experiences in Psychiatry offer practical approach to undo the harm that modern living norms have imposed on them. Together they form the basis of a lifestyle, fit for modern times.
What is psychotherapy today? I personally witnessed the death of 'Real Therapy" (it got done - only a little bit, but bit by bit, as you lay on a sofa and talked and talked) in the nineties, as molecules gained prominence and replaced it. "Prescription Therapy", it is called now.
I also personally witnessed that in a Psychiatric Research Institute, where 30 Psychiatrists and an equal number (each) of psychologists, social workers, nurses, life-skill workers and others, who provided the "so-called therapy", in the exit interview, 35% of the patients said they wanted a shoulder to cry on and so invented symptoms. The Psychiatrists knew this and acted accordingly (prescribed colored sugar pills). Many were personal friends and we invited each other for dinners at home. I ran a placebo effect study, double blind of course!
Now here's the clincher. I used to run a teaching basic yoga class after hours. Patients were not allowed to attend, only staff and their friends. But, knowing me, Psychiatrists used to phone me to make exceptions. So, in one class, I had two Obsessive-compulsive pupils, one a young man and the other a beautiful Scottish 30ish women, a real killer. After two months of introductory yogic, postures (aasans), breathing and reciting procedures, they wrote me a letter saying, among other things " . . . . they have partially recovered more in the last two months, than in the two preceding years of behavior modification therapy and prescriptions, administered by a senior staff Psychiatrist, Dr. John Lovett-Doust, a specialist in " treating Obsessive-Compulsive behavior patients", also a friend and a great believer in cerebral Rheographic evaluation.
The fundamentals of Stoicism are based on Vedic Yoga techniques, which is nothing more than a way of thinking and living. One does not do yoga, one lives it, in action and thought.
Need I say more!
Thank you for sharing this, Ravi. Your firsthand experience powerfully illustrates what I was pointing to, that is the shift from empowering, human-centred practices toward systems that often manage symptoms rather than restore agency. Your yoga example is especially telling; lived discipline and embodied practice can achieve what years of analysis and prescriptions often fail to do. Very insightful.
Really thought provoking take on the overmedicalziation of everyday struggles. The point about how Stoicism builds agency while modern therapy culture can sometims create dependence is something I've seen play out irl with friends who got stuck in analysis paralysis mode. What stands out is how this isn't just about individual choice but about economic incentives in the mental health industry that profit from keeping people in perpetual treatment rather than empowering them towards self sufficiency.
Thank you, I really appreciate that. What you’re describing is exactly what prompted me to write this. I’ve seen many real-world examples around me where people, despite good intentions, have become increasingly detached from reality and agency through constant self-analysis and medicalisation of normal human struggles.
Stoicism, in contrast, anchors people in responsibility, action, and resilience. The economic incentives you mention are an uncomfortable but necessary part of the conversation... When an industry is rewarded for prolonged dependence rather than restored autonomy, the outcomes will be by default distorted.
Your observation about “analysis paralysis” is especially accurate; I’ve seen it stall otherwise capable people who might have thrived with a framework that emphasises self-mastery over perpetual diagnosis.
Thanks again for engaging!