“A Solution That Now Looks Crazy”: Review of E. Fuller Torrey’s American Psychosis

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The New York Times reviews E. Fuller Torrey’s book, American Psychosis, concluding “Few will disagree with his advice that we should focus our resources on the most problematic patients — the estimated 10 percent who are repeatedly hospitalized, imprisoned, or made homeless. This wise and unflinching book is an object lesson in good intentions gone awry on a grand scale. It should be widely read.”

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6 COMMENTS

  1. This is a typical New York Times treatment of these issues. They choose a psychiatrist to review any book that deals with psychiatry, whether critical or apologetic. The reviewer either concludes that the book that supports giving more power to psychiatrists is a brilliant analysis, or if it is critical, it is a misguided and exaggerated treatment of the problem. Nothing new here for us, of course, but since the general public believes this garbage already, it is very dangerous for us.

    To me, the most dangerous aspect of what Torrey is demanding is changing the legal treatment standard to “need for treatment.” Translated into plain English, this means psychiatrists can lock anyone up just on their say-so, with no legal recourse. Although the United States Supreme Court ruled this “standard” unconstitutional in 1975, it isn’t clear what they will do about it now.

    My experience as a patients rights advocate in California, with probably the most protective legal standards, showed me that those standards still don’t protect people very much. Even with the most diligent representation (from me and the advocates I supervised) and the most conscientious hearing officers, we lost 90% of the hearings.

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  2. “A Solution”

    What do peple who have lived “the solution” say ?

    “Psychiatry” is an atrocity, people have a right to their own mind and body and a right to die. “Psychiatric/mental hospitals/wards/institutions” are disgusting and pathetic as Auschwitz. The lucky ones are those who kill themselves before they can be captured by this disgusting system. ”

    “Psychiatry: “This person behaves/believes in things i don’t believe in or approve of, this person Must be diseased, I know how everything works and what is what, if you disagree with Psychiatry you too are diseased and have no right to your own body, life, or beliefs. My way of life is the superior and correct one, yours is wrong and a mythical result of disease, I have a right to take control of your life, detain you, force drugs on you, and keep you locked up as long as i want”

    “I was put into an institution when I was 15 (3 weeks after my birthday) by my step-father who wanted me out of the picture. He was having an affair with my mother for 12 years while she was married to my Dad. And he was my Dad’s “best friend”. I was totally belligerent and PISSED. He used a drug overdose to trigger the insurance policy he took out on me to have me committed. I was very clever and used the system to my advantage. But my friends and other patients were badly abused. Fuck psychs!”


    INVOLUNTARY COMMITMENT An unconstitutional and horrifyingly abused legal process by which– in the absence of any destructive activity, and on nothing more than the word of a single quack people are stripped of civil/human rights and imprisoned in a psychiatric facility, with no form of recourse whatsoever, in most states for a period of up to 72 hours. A terrifying and destructive ordeal whose only positive effect is to inspire activism against the fraud of psychiatry.”


    i lived through the hell psychiatrists put you through. they call it treatment, no such thing! it’s all about money and nothing but money, Duke University does it all the time, it’s called Williams Ward, it’s really a jail, no groups, no going outside, you are neglected, abused and there is nothing you can do to get out, you don’t even get to see a social worker until they discharge you. the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is no better, you are locked up only to languish.no treatment”

    The video “5150 Involuntary psychiatric hold” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QmzCVHzMsY

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  3. This video comment was “flagged as spam”

    4 months ago

    I’ve never been to any psych ward where patients don’t face serious mental abuse. Hospitals wouldn’t get away with physically abusing people with physical illnesses or injuries, so why is psychological abuse the norm for mental patients? I’ve been verbally, physically and sexually assaulted in psych wards, and all patients are treated as if they’re sub-human and there is nothing you can do about it,

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  4. 3 months ago

    I am 16 years old and suffer from Depression, OCD, GAD, Panic Disorder, and Trichotillomania. I was hospitalized 5 times for depression and anxiety between 14 and 15 years old. I felt like a guinea pig- when one drug didn’t work, they fed me another one. I had no say in the medications, and I was forced to take them, even if I did not want them. I was prescribed Prozac at age 13, which lead to my first hospitalization. During my stays there, psychiatrists whom I had never met prescribed Lexapro, Trazadone, Abilify, Prazocin, Lamotrigine, Zoloft, and Risperdol. The last one, Risperdal, was supposed to be a mood stabilizer. However, it made me very impulsive and irrational, and led to me gaining more than 30 lbs in less than a year. I am off of that awful drug now, and am still struggling to lose all the weight it made me gain. I am now on the highest dose of Zoloft I can take and Lamotrigine. I cannot wait until I am able to make my own choices and be off these drugs. I feel like nothing but harm has come to me from taking all these medications that supposedly help.

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  5. 1 year ago

    I’ve taken some of these medications with the suggestions of a quack shrink and I’ve never been right since. \ Turn people into fucking robots . These medications are the tools of tyrants who will be lined up and shot


    I took this drug abilify when hospitalised from psychosis. IT WAS THE WORST!! Gave me very high levels of anxiety and restlessness. It was so bad that I was thinking of killing myself.. ”


    abilify sucks, i was one abilify for 2 months & i had terrible side effects from it. i had memory loss, high fever & tremors so bad that i had to be hospitalized 3 days because i couldnt walk at all due how bad my tremors were. the er doctor told me to stop cold turkey & soon after my tremors were gone.so was my fever. if your doctor perscribes you abilify tell him HELL NO!.


    my son attempted suicide while taking abilify. he was only on this for six months. We got him to the hospital only to have him killed by 3 doctors who were clearly incompetent and negligent. his name was joshua alvin patey if you want to google it there is a website ”

    Searching… http://www.justiceforjosh.com

    —-

    I cant “copy cat” the entire internet, you get the idea.

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