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nofurylike (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Sun Aug-24-03 01:25 AM Original message |
hunger strike by psychiatric survivors to oppose human rights violations |
22 August 2003 http://www.MindFreedom.org
Contact: Mickey Weinberg 626-795-5525 E-mail: [email protected] NEWS RELEASE: Day Seven of the Fast for Freedom in Mental Health: Scientific Panel Clashes With the American Psychiatric Association PASADENA, CALIF.: On the seventh day of a hunger strike by six psychiatric survivors to oppose human rights violations in the mental health system, the American Psychiatric Association faces a direct and unprecedented challenge from a Scientific Panel of 14 academics and clinicians. The Fast for Freedom in Mental Health had requested that the American Psychiatric Association provide any specific evidence that "mental illness is biologically based." Last week, the APA responded with a two-page letter that simply listed several textbooks and names of journals, but the Medical Director of the APA, James H. Scully, Jr., M.D., was apparently unable to locate even one specific study. The APA letter can be viewed here: http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/hungerstrike14.shtml SCIENTISTS CHALLENGE PSYCHIATRY What happened next surprised and delighted the hunger strikers. Instead of simply rejecting the APA's letter out of hand, the mental health professionals and scientists on the Panel carefully examined the source material listed by Dr. Scully. What the Scientific Panel found were quotations in each book that backed up hunger striker accusations. For example: " In their reply to the APA The six hunger strikers said they felt triumphant, and look forward to media asking the APA to comment on the Scientific Panel's reply. The fasters say they will continue to fast until they reach their goals. Mickey Weinberg, who helped organize the fast, said, "The condescending and contemptuous letter from the APA is consistent with its historic behavior. The Panelists' response turns the screws on the APA. It's certainly the first time in my memory when psychiatry has felt forced to answer to the demands of psychiatric survivors." Romi Sayama said: "We're pleased to see that the American Psychiatric Association has confirmed that they could not find any evidence either." David Gonzalez said: "Dr. Scully's letter states that 'the answers to your questions are widely available in the scientific literature.' If this is so -- why did he balk at providing the requested evidence?" Krista Erickson said: "The Panelists provided a thorough and challenging response." Vince Boehm said: "It's the lies that bother me. What makes me unable to sleep at night is to think about the psychiatric drugging of infants, even as young as three months. It's incomprehensible." David Oaks, director of MindFreedom, said: "The only two things missing from Dr. Scully's letter are a blatant admission that there is no evidence, and a public apology to all psychiatric survivors. The Scientific Panel's response is magnificent and historic." For more news and photos of the Fast for Freedom in Mental Health see http://www.MindFreedom.org MindFreedom is a non-profit that unites 100 grassroots groups working for human rights in mental health. BELOW IS THE REPLY OF THE "FAST FOR FREEDOM SCIENTIFIC PANEL" TO THE AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION. ~~~~~~~~~~ From: [email protected] MindFreedom Support Coalition International 454 Willamette, Suite 216 PO Box 11284 Eugene, OR 97440 USA To: [email protected] James H. Scully, Jr., M.D., Medical Director American Psychiatric Association 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1825 Arlington, VA 22209-3901 Dear Dr. Scully: David Oaks, Executive Director of MindFreedom, has forwarded to us your reply dated 12 August 2003 to the hunger strikers involved in a "Fast for Freedom in Mental Health." We are a panel of 14 academics and clinicians who have agreed to review any such reply for scientific validity. The hunger strikers asked your organization, as well as the Surgeon General of the United States, and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, to provide: 1. evidence that establishes the validity of "schizophrenia," "depression" or other "major mental illnesses" as "biologically-based brain diseases"; 2. evidence for a physical diagnostic exam that can reliably distinguish individuals with these diagnoses (prior to treatment with psychiatric drugs) from individuals without these diagnoses; 3. evidence for a baseline standard of a neurochemically-balanced "normal" individual, against which a neurochemical "imbalance" can be measured; 4. evidence that any psychotropic drug can correct any "chemical imbalance" attributed to a psychiatric diagnosis; 5. evidence that any psychotropic drug can reliably decrease the likelihood of violence or suicide. In your reply, no specific studies of any kind were cited with reference to any of the questions above. You cited three general sources, including the recent Surgeon General's report on mental health and two textbooks of psychiatry. In examining each of these sources, we found numerous statements that invalidate suggestions that behaviors referred to as "mental illnesses" have specific biological bases: Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General (1999) is explicit about the absence of any findings of specific pathophysiology: p. 44: "The diagnosis of mental disorders is often believed to be more difficult than diagnosis of somatic, or general medical, disorders, since there is no definitive lesion, laboratory test, or abnormality in brain tissue that can identify the illness." p. 48: "It is not always easy to establish a threshold for a mental disorder, particularly in light of how common symptoms of mental distress are and the lack of objective, physical symptoms." p. 49: "The precise causes (etiology) of mental disorders are not known." p. 51: "All too frequently a biological change in the brain (a lesion) is purported to be the 'cause' of a mental disorder ... is that any simple association -- or correlation -- cannot and does not, by itself, mean causation." p. 102: "Few lesions or physiologic abnormalities define the mental disorders, and for the most part their causes remain unknown." In the third edition of Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry (1999), we find similar statements: p. 43: "Although reliable criteria have been constructed for many psychiatric disorders, validation of the diagnostic categories as specific entities has not been established." p. 51: Most of these candidate genes in the serotonergic pathways, and have not found convincing evidence of an association." In Andreasen and Black's (2001) Introductory Textbook of Psychiatry, we find, in the chapter on schizophrenia: p. 23. "In the areas of pathophysiology and etiology, psychiatry has more uncharted territory than the rest of medicine...Much of the current investigative research in psychiatry is directed toward the goal of identifying the pathophysiology and etiology of major mental illnesses, but this goal has been achieved for only a few disorders (Alzheimer's disease, multi-infarct dementia, Huntington's disease, and substance-induced syndromes such as amphetamine-related psychosis or Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome)." p. 231: "In the absence of visible lesions and known pathogens, investigators have turned to the exploration of models that could explain the diversity of symptoms through a single cognitive mechanism." p. 450: "Many candidate regions have been explored have been confirmed." As you are no doubt familiar with these textbooks you cited, you will agree that such statements invalidate claims for specific, reliable biological causes or signs of "mental illnesses." In the judgment of the panel members, your reply fails to produce or cite any specific evidence of any specific pathophysiology underlying any "mental disorder." You have also referred us to 60 volumes of Archives of General Psychiatry and 160 volumes of The American Journal of Psychiatry. The 28 July 2003 cover letter from the hunger strikers and panelists that they sent to you by certified mail stated: "We are aware that research studies can run to thousands of pages. Therefore, please respond only with those studies that you consider the best available in support of your claims and theories in a timely way. When responding with evidence, please send citations for the original publications or copies of the publications you are citing." Like you, we are familiar with the material found in these journals. It is understandable why you did not provide any citations. There is not a single study that provides valid and reliable evidence for the "biological basis of mental illness." The members of the panel wish to make some further observations which we hope will assist the American Psychiatric Association to present an honest scientific stance with respect to the hunger strikers' questions. In the panel's view, the questions posed by the hunger strikers are serious and fair. These questions are legitimate questions that any patient or family member or interested person might ask of any psychiatrist, or a student might ask of a professor. The panel was therefore quite dismayed that you, as Medical Director of the world's largest, wealthiest, and most resourceful psychiatric association, could not provide a more specific or substantial response than the equivalent of, "See our textbook." If, as you state in your letter, "the answers to The panel members could not help but notice the contrast between the hunger strikers, who ask clear questions about the science of psychiatry and consciously take risks in the name of protecting the well-being of users of psychiatry, and the American Psychiatric Association, which evades revealing what actual scientific evidence justifies its authority. By not giving specific answers to the questions posed by the hunger strikers, you appear to be affirming the very reason for the hunger strike. Sincerely, Fred Baughman, MD Mary Boyle, PhD Peter Breggin, MD David Cohen, PhD Ty Colbert, PhD Pat Deegan, PhD Al Galves, PhD Thomas Greening, PhD David Jacobs, PhD Jay Joseph, PhD Jonathan Leo, PhD Bruce Levine, PhD Loren Mosher, MD Stuart Shipko, MD The hunger strikers endorse the scientific panel's statement. - end - ~~~~~~~~~~ **** PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO ALL APPROPRIATE PLACES ON & OFF INTERNET! **** ----------------------------------------------------------- on my way to post this, i received the day 8 report. i haven't edited it, but am posting it as it came to me: 22 August 2003 http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.MindFreedom.org Contact for Hunger Strikers: 626-795-5525 E-mail: [email protected] DAY 8: "Time to Move our Movement." - Romi Fast For Freedom In Mental Health Hunger Strikers Issue a Challenge to Community, Supporters, Friends & Family "TAKE ACTION: REACH THE MEDIA AND THE AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION" Fasters make personal plea. PASADENA, CALIF.: This is the eighth day of a hunger strike protesting the "takeover of the mental health system by the psychiatric drug industry." Today is a turning point for fasters. The Fast for Freedom in Mental Health is issuing a challenge today to their community, friends, family and all supporters of human rights in the mental health system. REACH THE MEDIA AND THE APA!! This is a special "MindFreedom Dendrite." Immediately following this alert, we will e-mail out three (3) news articles about the Fast for Freedom in Mental Health. The hunger strikers are encouraging you to copy those articles far and wide, ESPECIALLY TO MEDIA, and to friends, colleagues, everyone! If you wish, add a very brief personal note. Here are two key media. At BOTTOM are more. And please get this to all other media -- major or independent: ~~~~~~~~ TWO MAIN MEDIA CONTACTS: Los Angeles Times -- Headquarters E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (213) 237-7001 Fax: (213) 237-4712 Website: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.latimes.com New York Times -- Headquarters E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (212) 556-1234 Fax: (212) 556-7614 Website: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.nytimes.com ~~~~~~~~~ ASK THE APA FOR A COMMENT! The goal: For everyone -- especially the media -- to civily ask the American Psychiatric Association this question: "Please provide an official, meaningful comment on the Fast for Freedom Scientific Panel's Statement to the APA." ~~~~~~~~~ TWO MAIN APA CONTACTS: The Director of APA Public Relations Laurie Oseran Direct phone: (703) 907-8540 E-mail: [email protected] The President of the APA Board of Trustees Marcia K. Goin, Clinical Professor History & Education University of Southern California Los Angeles, California Direct phone: (323) 226-5755 Fax: (323) 226-6499 E-mail: [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~ HERE ARE HEARTFELT "DAY 8" MESSAGES FROM THE HUNGER STRIKERS TO THEIR SUPPORTERS ON DAY EIGHT OF THE FAST FOR FREEDOM: Mickey Weinberg: "I'm worried and angry. I'm worried about my 62 year old body. I'm angry that both the APA and most of the media couldn't care less. They couldn't care less about our concern about folks enmeshed in the mental health system... or about my life. "So we need your help. The media shape public perception. If major media cover the hunger strike then to the public we -- and all the users and survivors of psychiatry -- exist. Without that coverage, then to the public none of us exists. "The Fast for Freedom can diminsh the power of psychiatry and enhance the reputation of people labeled by psychiatry. LET'S NOT LOSE THAT OPPORTUNITY! "Demand from major media that they pressure the APA to comment on our Scientific Panel's brilliant refutation of the condescending letter sent us by the medical director of the APA. "Easier still, let the media know that YOU WANT THE HUNGER STRIKE COVERED! "Today, my wife cried. She's worried about me. The physicians represented by the APA can easily end this hunger strike. Call the media." ~~~~~~~~~ Romi Sayama, 22 years old: "I think we need to let our supporters know that this is the time to move our movement, not only by contacting the media, but also by getting our issues off of the back burner in our own lives. This a valuable opportunity to have our voices and activism heard." ~~~~~~~~~ David Gonzalez, 45: "This is an urgent plea for support from someone who entered a 'medical facility' 20 years ago seeking treatment for an emotional crisis. I was re-traumatized by the very system designed to provide that treatment. To this very day I am still recuperating from the after effects of that humiliating, debilitating and harrowing experience. "If you are someone who has entered a mental health facility and found yourself held against your will... If you are someone who has been forced to take powerful psychotropic drugs against your will... Or if you are someone who has a relative who has been exploited under the guise of mental health... I am asking for your support in contacting the media to question the institutions that condone these practices. "What proof do the APA and NAMI have that emotional disorders are biologically based? What proof do they have that powerful psychotropic drugs alleviate, and don't, in fact, exacerbate emotional disorders? And what authority justifies and empowers them to routinely and unilaterally coerce and force people into treatment?" ~~~~~~~~~ Vince Boehm, 64: "Does anyone out there give a hoot? Yes. Support comes from unusual places. From Ausralia we received a page of 'thank you, thank you, thank you.' One mental health consumer was so grateful, she said with lots of emotion, 'You're doing this for me,' and she gave me a little hug.' That's what keeps me going." ~~~~~~~~~ Krista Erickson, 28: "I am asking everyone, especially the disability community, to please contact the APA, and any media -- both local and national. Please ask the APA to provide a substantive comment on the response from the Scientific Panel." ~~~~~~~~~ David Oaks, 47: "One of the reasons I joined the hunger strike in the first place was to galvanize our community, to move from patients to passion. We appreciate every single bit of support, small and large. We are asking for something much more: To dig deep down inside ourselves, and challenge all media -- mainstream and independent -- to do their job: Ask the APA about the Scientific Panel's statement! Also, in the era of the Internet, we are our own media. Break the silence!" ~~~~~~~~~ WEB SITES FOR MORE INFO & TO HELP THE FAST FOR FREEDOM: For the latest news releases, daily updates, solidarity strikers, articles, etc. check http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.MindFreedom.org. For the latest photos, message board, etc. see http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.cinemaniastigma.com/pages/13/index.htm ~~~~~~~ CONTACT MORE MAJOR MEDIA Chicago Tribune -- Headquarters E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (312) 222-3139 Fax: (312) 222-2550 Website: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.chicagotribune.com Boston Globe -- Headquarters E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (617) 929-3100 Fax: (617) 929-3186 Website: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.boston.comcom/globe/ USA Today -- Headquarters E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (703) 854-3400 Fax: (703) 854-2078 Website: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.usatoday.com Washington Post -- Headquarters E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (202) 334-7300 Fax: (202) 496-3883 Website: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.washingtonpost.com Washington Post -- LA Bureau Phone: (310) 277-4819 - Rene Sanchez Fax: (310) 277-3704 Reporter e-mail: Rene Sanchez [email protected] Wall Street Journal -- Headquarters E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (212) 416-2000 News phone (212) 416-2658 Fax: (212) 416-2733 Website: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.wsj.com ABC News -- Headquarters Phone: (212) 456-1000 Fax: (212) 456-5962 Website: abcnews.go.com CBS News -- Headquarters Phone: (212) 975-4321 Fax: (212) 975-1893 Website: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.cbsnews.com CNN News Group -- Headquarters E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (404) 827-1500 Fax: (404) 878-0891 Website: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.cnn.com Fox News Channel -- Headquarters E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (212) 301-3300 Fax: (212) 301-4220 Website: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.foxnews.com MSNBC -- Headquarters E-mail: [email protected] Website: msnbc.com Phone: (201) 583-5000 Fax: (201) 583-5584 NBC News -- Headquarters E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.msnbc.com/news Phone: (212) 664-4444 News phone: (201) 583-5222 Fax: (201) 583-5453 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) -- Headquarters E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.pbs.org Phone: (703) 739-5000 Fax: (703) 739-0775 National Public Radio - How To Pitch a Story http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.npr.org/about/pitch/ Remind the national office that NPR-LA's Rachel Myrow is covering the story locally. To hear it: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.scpr.org/play/audio.php?media=/news/features/2003/08/20030818_features1 ~~~~~~~~~~~ To e-mail all the above, use bcc to: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~ CONTACT MORE MEMBERS OF THE APA BOARD OF TRUSTEES: APA President-Elect Michelle B. Riba, M.D., M.S. Dept. Psychiatry University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI Office: 734-764-6879 Fax: 734-936-1130 Email: [email protected] http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.med.umich.edu/psych/ribaapa.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~ APA Vice President Pedro Ruiz, M.D. Prof & Vice Chair, Clinical Affairs Dept. Psych & Behav Sci., U Texas Med. Sch. Houston, TX Office: 713-500-2799 Fax: 713-500-2757 Email: [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~ APA Secretary Nada L. Stotland, M.D., M.P.H. Chicago, IL Office: 773-667-6329 Fax: 773-667-6692 Email: [email protected] http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://hometown.aol.com/nadast/myhomepage/politics.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~ APA Trustee-at-Large Tanya R. Anderson, M.D. Dept. of Psychiatry Univ of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, IL Office: 312-355-4337 Fax: 312-355-4459 Email: [email protected] http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.psych.uic.edu/faculty/anderson.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~ APA Area 1 Trustee Donna M. Norris, M.D. Wellesley, MA Office: 781-237-1778 Fax: 781-235-2954 Email: [email protected] http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.pipatl.org/donnanorris ~~~~~~~~~~~ APA Area 4 Trustee Sidney H. Weissman, M.D. Chicago, IL Office: 312-781-1144; 708-202-8419 Fax: 708-771-0077 Email: [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~ APA Area 7 Trustee Albert V. Vogel, M.D. Univ New Mexico, HSC Office of Assoc Dean for Clinical Affairs Cancer Center Rm B-30 Albuquerque, NM Office: 505-272-0738 Fax: 505-272-6055 Email: [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~~ To e-mail all APA officials above use bcc to: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] ~~~~~~~~~~ **** PLEASE FORWARD THIS ALERT TO ALL APPROPRIATE PLACES ON & OFF INTERNET! **** ~~~~~~~~~~ DONATIONS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUPPORT HUNGER STRIKE COSTS... BEGIN OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP IN MINDFREEDOM TODAY! IF YOU ARE IN LA AREA, VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED. Phone 626-795-5525. Check web for free lecture series on Saturday, Monday & Wednesday. Volunteer and community meeting at 6 pm daily at Hunger Strike Headquarters: 277 North El Molina Ave., Pasadena, Calif., USA. MindFreedom Support Coalition International is a non-profit uniting 100 grassroots groups, and is independently funded by group and individual members like you who support human rights. Find out more, and join and/or donate today at http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://www.MindFreedom.org. Click on join/donate. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For occasional updates like this, you may join this dendrite MindFreedom announcement list here for free: http://mail.peoplepc.com/jump/http://mailman.efn.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/dendrite ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *** PLEASE COPY THIS NEWS *** TO ALL APPROPRIATE PLACES ON & OFF THE INTERNET NOW! |
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nofurylike (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Sun Aug-24-03 01:37 AM Response to Original message |
1. i'm sorry so much reading, but important! |
also, i tried to get the links to come out right. the email address wouldn't correct on there, leaving off the o in office each time.
address is [email protected] please do whatever you can. they are starving for this and the media doesn't care at all. these are crucial u.s. human rights issues. the rapid and insidiously disinformation-riddled descent into biological psychiatry is a return to that old disreputed school of sociobiology - including today's seemingly cleaned up versions of eugenics. thank you for reading! and for acting if you possibly can! Peace! |
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Occulus (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Sun Aug-24-03 01:38 AM Response to Original message |
2. Hmm. |
I didn't wade through your entire post, but I read the pertinent portions, and I must say this raises some very disturbing questions.
1) This brings into question the entirety of the APA's assertions, from schizophrenia to ADD. WHY do they feel there must be a pill for every mind "disease"? 2) Both the USA and the USSR have performed actual intel ops involving "remote viewing" and other so-called 'wild talents'. Given the historical fact that these abilities have been successfully used by both governments- and again, this is historical data, they confirmed their respective successes, and have proven insofar as it is possible to do so that these abilities actually do exist and are so verifiable as to be used in government intel opserations- it is only natural to conclude that the respective governmental institutions would not repeat NOT want it known that these abilities exist. Someone who hears voices might well be disgnosed as being schizo. That person also would exhibit the same symptoms as a person who has untrained and unrecognised telepathy. Discuss. |
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nofurylike (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Sun Aug-24-03 02:08 AM Response to Reply #2 |
3. i hear you |
what is most important, i think, is that such a powerful industry learns how to say "we don't know" rather than needing to discredit what they don't fully understand and control.
and yes, o yes, what you say about a pill for everything. infants being drugged?! now, THAT'S crazy! if they could just humble out, admit that "we don't know", we'd be safer, at least. |
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cosmicaug (676 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Sun Aug-24-03 02:17 AM Response to Reply #2 |
4. Historical facts |
Both the USA and the USSR have performed actual intel ops involving "remote viewing" and other so-called 'wild talents'. Given the historical fact that these abilities have been successfully used by both governments- and again, this is historical data, they confirmed their respective successes, and have proven insofar as it is possible to do so that these abilities actually do exist and are so verifiable as to be used in government intel opserations- it is only natural to conclude that the respective governmental institutions would not repeat NOT want it known that these abilities exist. Yeah, it's simultaneously both a historical fact and top secret knowledge that the gubmint wants to keep from the people. That makes a lot of sense. The fact that the government has wasted a lot of your money on such nonsense in no way proves that it is anything other than nonsense (no more than all of Trofim Denisovich Lysenko's claimed successes prove that evolution is of a Lamarkian character). It only proves that people who should know better (particularly if they work for government agencies that use the word "intelligence" in their names) don't actually know better. Just like Michael Drosnin claims that he's briefed top military intelligence officials on his "Bible code" (does this prove that his "Bible code" is legitimate? no, it proves that at least some top military intelligence officials are idiots). Just like Jack van Impe claims the Bush administration has seeked his insight into Biblical prophecy (and this I truly hope is nothing more than the product of Jack van Impe's delusional mind --if you want proof that mentall illness is a real entity then that is your man). In other words, idiots abound even at the highest levels of government (in fact, the guy at the top right now pretty clearly seems to be one). |
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nofurylike (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Sun Aug-24-03 02:41 AM Response to Reply #4 |
5. yes, and reducing everything to brain troubles |
to be drugged, shocked, or sliced out, is a very effective end run round such possibilities.
thank you for the fascinating links. just skimmed for now, but must read. in the immediate circumstances i just posted about, these survivors, who see through like you describe seeing, are going to starve till the media hears them. anything anyone can do is urgent. |
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nofurylike (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Sun Aug-24-03 02:59 AM Response to Original message |
6. a media report on the hunger strike, day 6 |
EXTRA!
August 22, 2003 http://www.redflagsweekly.com/extra/2003_aug22.html SECOND OPINION A FAST FOR FREEDOM IN MENTAL HEALTH A hunger strike is challenging international domination by biopsychiatry and the forced drugging of patients A MINDFREEDOM SCIENTIFIC PANEL SOCKS IT TO THE ARROGANT AND EDUCATIONALLY-CHALLENGED APA Second In A Series (first is BELOW) By Nicholas Regush Day Six. He sounds a little lightheaded and wired. That's what a hunger strike does to you. David Oaks, having had a restful day at hunger strike headquarters in Pasadena, is feeling "jazzed" because the scientific panel established by MindFreedom, the organization he heads, has produced a stunning rebuttal to an extremely arrogant memo from the American Psychiatric Association. When MindFreedom asked the APA to provide evidence that "emotional and mental problems are primarily a biologically-based brain disease," Dr. James H. Scully, Jr., the APA Medical Director suggested that Oaks, his fellow hunger strikers, group members and supporters read a report from the Surgeon General of the United States and an introductory "user-friendly" textbook of psychiatry -- just perfect for those "being introduced to the field of psychiatry." Big mistake. Though Scully is on vacation, the APA will shortly be receiving the MindFreedom report that suggests to me -- and it comes as no surprise -- that the APA is educationally challenged on the key issues of what constitutes a mental illness. In fact, the APA is so out of touch with the science that there should be a Congressional investigation to determine the role the drug industry has had in shaping uneducated viewpoints and policies at APA central. I'm not kidding. There is such a lack of fit between what the established agenda has going for it and the available neuroscience that this is no longer just a matter of tweaking the so-called experts to get their house in order; no, it is now a matter requiring a high-level investigation. Lives are at stake; they always have been, and the situation has gone totally out-of-control. The kind of psychiatry supported by big drug money and its associate, the APA, has more to do with profit and career enhancement than it has to do with patient care. And I'm being very nice. The panel that MindFreedom set up has 13 PhDs and MDs. This is no B-team. I'd put these people up against anything the APA would have to offer in the way of an actual debate. In fact, it already seems at this very early point in the hunger strike that the panel has scored a major coup, revealing how absolutely ridiculous Scully's reading recommendations turned out to be. Again, I say, "Big Surprise." The panel decided to look at the Report of the Surgeon General on mental health and notes that the report is explicit when it comes to discussing specific pathophysiology. For example, "few lesions or physiologic abnormalities define the mental disorders, and for the most part their causes remain unknown." I wonder if Scully knows this. Or does Scully know that, "the diagnosis of mental disorders is often believed to be more difficult than diagnosis of somatic, or general medical, disorders, since there is no definitive lesion, laboratory test, or abnormality in brain tissue than can identify the illness?" Does Scully know that, "the precise causes (etiology) of mental disorders are not known?" The mantra for MindFreedom should be: Does Scully Know? I mean, didn't he read the Surgeon General's Report? On to that "user-friendly textbook." Here's a good one from the panel's report: "Although reliable criteria have been constructed for many psychiatric disorders, validation of the diagnostic categories as specific entities has not been established." I suppose we can go on. But let's put a stop to the carnage for the moment. Tomorrow, I'll take a closer look at the response to MindFreedom from the National Alliance For The Mentally Ill. That's worth waiting for. TO BE CONTINUED |
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nofurylike (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Sun Aug-24-03 04:00 AM Response to Reply #6 |
7. sorry, again, it's so much reading! but please |
do send this info to the media on the list given in the first post.
the email addys are there, and you are welcome to simply copy any part of this to send. the more they get, the more chance they'll care and get what is being said. this is crucial, as the bush admin has begun implementing a new national mental health policy that is entirely biopsychiatry, including some frightening theories discredited and exposed for the racism and sexism they are, back when they were called eugenics. and including psychoactive drugging of months old infants! please just send even one email to media somewhere. thank you! Peace |
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nofurylike (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Sun Aug-24-03 01:24 PM Response to Original message |
8. WHAT'S the big deal, right? |
from: Pathologizing Life, by Gary Null 2002
http://www.garynull.com -snip- Dr. Julie Zito, an associate professor at the University of Maryland's School of Pharmacy, was especially skeptical of the use of Ritalin to combat attention-deficit disorder in two-year-olds. "What is abnormally inattentive in a two-year-old?" she asked. It was Dr. Zito who, along with colleagues from the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins, and Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research, authored a study on "Trends in the Prescribing of Psychotropic Medications to Preschoolers." (14) Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study contained some unsettling findings concerning very young children and psychotropic drugs. The researchers found that poor-and particularly black-children are being prescribed Ritalin at younger and younger ages. A 300-percent increase in prescriptions to the very young between 1991 and 1995 was cited. The study also mentioned Prozac being given to children younger than one year of age, to the tune of some 3000 prescriptions in 1994. -snip- Comedian-turned-activist Dick Gregory once said that in the US, "where more people die from overeating than under eating," almost nothing will "get the attention of the masses faster than fasting." |
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nofurylike (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Sun Aug-24-03 01:35 PM Response to Original message |
9. big deal yet? |
from: Pathologizing Life, by Gary Null 2002
http://www.garynull.com -snip- In 1970, when approximately 150,000 students were on Ritalin, America was alarmed enough to get the Drug Enforcement Agency to classify Ritalin and other amphetamine-type drugs as Class II substances, a category that includes cocaine and one that indicates significant risk of abuse. Despite this apparent safeguard, the number of children taking psychiatric stimulants today has risen over 40-fold; current estimates are that between 6 and 7 million children are taking them. -snip- As a Wall Street Journal article reported, the use of prescription drugs to control toddlers' behavior has increased dramatically in the past decade. -snip- The boom in psychiatric drug sales has been helped along by a vigorous marketing campaign. Psychiatrist Loren Mosher reports that at meetings of the American Psychiatric Association, drug companies "basically lease 90 percent of the exhibition space and spend huge sums in giveaway items. They have nearly completely squeezed out the little guys, and the symposiums that once were dedicated to scientific reports now have been replaced by the pharmaceutical-industry-sponsored speakers." -snip- please just copy and paste any part of this and send it to any one of the media whose addresses are in the opening post here. thank you! Peace |
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