The following is a definition of western psychiatry's

application of and reliance on the pharmacological

surpression of symptoms - taken from the book
"Holotropic Breathwork" by Stanislav Grof:
"Imagine that we are driving a car. We do not know much
about the mechanics of the car, but we know that the
appearance of red light on the dashboard means trouble.
Suddenly a red light appears in front of us; unbeknown to us,
it indicates that we are running out of oil. We take the car to
a garage to consult a mecanic.
The mechanic looks at the dashboard and says : "Red light?
No problem!"
He rips out the wire leading to the electric bulb; the red light
disappears and he sends us back on the road."
"Symptoms are more than just a major inconvenience in the
patient's life. They represent the manifestation of
a self-healing impulse of the organism that is trying to free
itself from traumatic memories and other disturbing material
from the biographical, perinatal, and transpersonal domains
of the unconscious. Once we realize that, it becomes clear
that symptoms should be encouraged to emerge and
brought to full expression rather than suppressed."