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For a person with a severe psychiatric illness, empowerment doesn't mean finding a miracle cure that eliminates the need for treatment. It doesn't mean we are denying the existence of the condition, believing we were misdiagnosed, or trying in some other way to fight against facts. (This means you.)

If you believe your psychiatrist is wrong and you're right about the causes of your problem, presumably one that led to psychiatric intervention, you need to get a second opinion from another M.D. psychiatrist. You can't just dismiss all psychiatry.

If you think taking a street drug induced your problems, you must be straightforward with treatment professionals and tell them what you took, how much, and when. If you fail to do that, it is a lot harder for them to make a fair assessment of whether drugs caused your symptoms, or your brain did this on its own.

While psychiatrists may appear to be villains, they are highly trained and educated villains. They may have things to say to you that are unflattering or that get you upset. They may enact orders that seem unfair or even oppressive. 

Levity aside, we are not fully beyond the dark ages of early psychiatry. A psychiatrist may want to give treatment that is excessive or inappropriate. You should keep in mind that you have the right to say no unless a judge has ruled otherwise. This can happen in a Riese Hearing, in a 5150, or in a 5250, in California. It can also happen if you are under conservatorship. These refer to involuntary treatment. 

Empowerment ultimately means accepting enough treatment to get well enough to be able to make choices. This means that if we do not completely refuse treatment, and if we do not deny the existence of the condition, we can get well enough so that the courts will not be able to exercise power over us. 

There are some treatments that I have categorically refused, and there was nothing my treating psychiatrists were able to do to force it on me. I have refused Clozaril. I have refused magnetic stimulation of the cranium, and I have refused a beta blocker. Since I am not under any type of conservatorship, and since my status legally is the same as for the ordinary Joe, I cannot be compelled at this point to do anything against my wishes. 

When I've told psychiatrists that I don't want Clozaril or a magnetic pulse delivered to my brain, I have not seen even a hint at retaliation. So long as I'm willing to take some stuff that treats the basic problem, they are very willing to work with me to match my preferences and needs. I stopped Risperidone because it was causing a pinched nerve in my neck due to muscle tension. The pinched nerve, in turn, caused incredible pain throughout my arm. (I do not recall whether it was the left or right arm.) 

Empowerment means that I can refuse things that I feel would not benefit me. Empowerment is achieved through enough treatment that I retain my full liberty. Empowerment also means that I don't need to let doctors tell me who I am or am not. They can't tell me I am incapable of something just because I have a psychiatric disorder. 

A therapist said that I have very high standards for myself, and posed the question, "Doesn't this set you up for failure?" 

This is the sort of thing that I get from the mental health treatment system. It potentially undermines my self-confidence--if I let it. Empowerment also means going to places other than the mental health treatment system, places where we are not automatically judged incapable because of a mental health disability. The business community, if I present myself according to their norms, is more openminded about my capabilities compared to those who work in the mental health treatment system. This difference in attitude toward me, you might be surprised to know, is more apparent with businesspeople who have reached higher levels of success. Empowerment can also mean being unwilling to be defined by the label, "Mentally ill person."