BY PHYLISS SCHLAFLY

The family has declined in the United States in part because the elites wanted it to. Bureaucrats, judges, and celebrities sneer at the idea of the “Ozzie and Harriet” family. One group that uses academic credentials to undermine the nuclear family is the psychology profession. Psychologists are often called in by family courts to offer so-called “expert opinions,” but their expertise is questionable. They use tests to determine the “best interests of the child,” but there is no evidence to prove that these tests are worth while.

Psychology and its cousin, psychiatry, rely on diagnosing common human behaviors as “disorders.” The latest manual describing conditions officially recognized by the American Psychiatric Association is 947 pages long. It includes conditions such as “General Anxiety Disorder” and “Major Depressive Disorder” that turn everyday feelings into illnesses requiring treatment. With every common behavior that gets labeled as a disorder, psychology gives itself more reasons to intrude on people’s lives.

Psychologists aren’t just willing to diagnose; they are eager to medicate. Children are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder because they fidget, interrupt, and don’t play nice, and then they are given drugs such as Ritalin. The New York Times reported on the many foster children from troubled homes who are prescribed powerful tranquilizers. Billions of dollars are spent each year on drugs that suppress the natural energy and enthusiasm of kids.

Psychologists are changing what it means to be a child, but their academic credentials give them a pass in the courts and in the media. They are named as important accomplices in my new book, Who Killed the American Family?

The Moral Liberal recommends: Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman’s Crusade (Politics and Society in Twentieth-Century America)

Contributing Editor, Phyllis Schlafly, is the Founder and President of Eagle Forum, a national radio show host, and a best-selling author.

Used with the permission of Eagle Forum.