Health by any other Name
Abstract
HOLISTIC MEDICINE, VOL. 2. 61 (1987) EDITORIAL Health by any other Name Health means many things to many different people. The designation of political activists as psychiatrically ill requires a change of semantic emphasis, which transforms the abberent political view into an item of psychiatric pathology. The political delusion has debased the practice of a number of psychiatrists in the Soviet Union. In a more subtle way, health ideologies may be used to disguise all sorts of politically and socially expedient activities. The closure of many large mental hospitals has been pursued in the name of Liberty and Reform. All too often the hidden agenda involves reducing expenditure on in-patient services for the mentally ill, and releasing expensive land from health care use to the property developers. Health, in its many disguises, intrudes more frequently into the industrial scene. The company apparently in pursuit of healthy workers finds itselfjustified in screening its employees for addictive drugs, alcohol and even for AIDS. Issues of individual consent and privacy, may be conveniently over-looked. At times the proponents of health seem to adopt an almost missionary zeal, seeking to convert all those who will not readily embrace the faith. Long life