Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) has introduced a resolution to the Illinois House of Representatives calling for a ‘Task Force on Mental Diagnosis and Illinois Law.’ The task force would investigate “at least 3 false epidemics causing countless persons to be prescribed expensive, unnecessary, potentially dangerous psychotropic drugs.”
Additional Resources:
Bill Status
ISEPP Blog
Good for Chicago! Other states can use this template language and introduce it to their respective legislatures. Wow. What did Dylan sing about, “Oh the times they are a-changin”
Report comment
Wonderful.
Report comment
Fantastic!!! Finally!! Will be incredibly interesting to see what conclusions this draws, and also whether other states will follow!!!
Report comment
I especially love the part about the absence of scientific validity. One wonders whether the psychiatric industry will allow the truth to come out. Looks like psychaitry is having trouble in operating as a medical profession! Of course if they only told the truth then people would actually respect them much more than they currently do. It is there constant need to lie that causes the most problems.
Report comment
It appears that Dr. Toby Tyler Watson, past Executive Director of International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry (ISEPP), was instrumental in persuading his state legislators to do this.
Demonstrates the effectiveness of grassroots efforts.
From http://isepp.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/psychiatric-labeling-process-under-scrutiny-in-illinois/ “Dr. Watson is seeking to recruit residents living in Illinois to help, possibly in the form of testimony before a committee hearing in Springfield.”
Go to http://www.abcmedsfree.com/ to contact Dr. Watson.
Report comment
I think this is wonderful too. Perhaps Dr. Watson could work with Jim Gottstein and others in his organization or like minded humane experts to get the word out to other state legislators! And federal ones too! I am very happy to see this!! It sickens me to see what psychiatry is doing to our nation’s children and of course, so many adults including their parents and other would be mentors being destroyed by the so called mental “health” system, which I prefer to call the mental death system for obvious reasons not to mention the fact that it causes early death for most of its so called patients by about 30 years per Dr. Grace Jackson and many others.
Report comment
Donna,
This is a critical year in FL as well, Senator Ronda Storms proposed SB 1808: Provision of Psychotropic Medication to Children in Out-of-home Placements, that is working its way through the state legislature and if passed would help protect children in foster care from being placed on harmful psychotropic medications. This is the second bill that has been proposed. The local Tampa news stations have been helping to keep the foster care issue highlighted and I thought it was important to show support to the efforts of the local Clearwater CCHR who has been instrumental in creating a very successful candlelight vigil in memory of Gabriel Myers and the right to informed consent.
http://isepp.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/tampa-bays-10-news-investigation-ignites-a-massive-stir-child-advocates-will-stand-together-on-april-16-2012-to-keep-the-fire-burning/
ISEPP members have been working dillegently for years to bring these issues to light. A panel of professional members presented on Too Many Kids on Psych Meds just 6 months before the suicide of Gabriel Myers. During the program Exec Director Dr. Dominic Riccio points out the over use of psych meds on children in foster care, especially in Fl. Their statements parallel the conclusion of the year long investigation into Gabriel’s death.
http://isepp.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/too-many-kids-on-psych-drugs/
Report comment
Hi Maria,
Thanks so much for this additional most encouraging news. I read and listened to the links you provided and was very impressed with your article, the interviews with experts including Dr. Peter Breggin and other psychiatry reformers like Dr. Bruce Levine, Jim Gottstein and Dr. Dominic Riccio.
I realize that my comment may appear to be passing the buck, but in my opinion only the experts themselves will be able to turn this around since those who are not doctors/ psychiatrists/ psychologists, lawyers or related credible experts lack the credibility to be heard or taken seriously. That’s why I have been so grateful for every psychiatrist, psychologist or other expert exposing the huge harm done by the medical model of psychiatry with its bogus stigmas to push lethal poison drugs on people of ALL AGES. One should not lose their human rights or humanity just because they become an adult and children don’t need their parents and others in their lives destroyed by psychiatry either.
Although I have extensive education, if mainstream psychiatry in bed with BIG PHARMA and corrupt government hacks has done all in its power to discredit qualified psychiatrists like Dr. Peter Breggin, Dr. Loren Mosher, Dr. Joseph Glenmuller, Dr. Grace Jackson and Dr. David Healy for exposing the suicide risk of SSRI’s and the fraud behind the fad bipolar epidemic, Dr. Fred Baughman, Neurologist, on ADHD FRAUD and many others, lay people like me do not have a great deal of credibility to fight this monstrosity. Thus, the best we can do is to support their efforts in any way we can, buy and quote their books and articles frequently, talk to others about our own horrific experiences with psychiatry with loved ones and similar grassroots tactics.
Again, thank you for your encouraging news here and I greatly appreciate and support your efforts as a news professional to get the word out.
Report comment
Donna, I could not agree with you more.
I hope the experts will start calling attention to underlying medical conditions and substances that can induce psychosis/mania and be misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.
This is a huge problem that I cannot seem to find any support through an organized advocacy group to join and volunteer with.
It seems like there are so many doctors out there who have never heard of anything other than bipolar disorder/schizophrenia, even though the DSM lists a wide variety of causes. Here is an example from my own situation.
Because of insurance changes I had to see a new primary care physician this week, not something I look forward to as most are not receptive to a patient who has been labeled in the past and is not on any medications.
Although I tried to explain my illness was related to organic causes, I felt like I was under interrogation and accused of a crime.
About 5 minutes into the appointment the doctor turned to me and asked
“Do you even know what the word organic means?”
“I want you to explain to me what you THINK the word organic means”
before I could reply, he pointed to his chest and said with an authoritative tone
“and just remember, you’re speaking to someone who has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry!”
Rather than try and prove that I am smarter than a 5th grader, I told him that it was a psychiatrist who made that diagnosis
His immediate response was
“was he BOARD CERTIFIED?”
I told him there were several who agreed with this diagnosis, along with the director of an occupational clinic, head of neurology at the hospital I was treated at, neuropsych testing and supportive depositions in a worker’s comp case.
He just would not buy my story.
I even told him that the British Medical Journal has a guideline for Best Practice Assessment of Psychosis that helps doctors make better decisions and states to consider organic causes.
He explained to me several times that I have an abnormal brain and that the hardwiring in my brain is the problem.
That was the first time I had ever heard that one.
He also explained that primary care physicians are not qualified to treat abnormal brains, nor are nurse practitioners, or psychologists. Only BOARD CERTIFIED psychiatrists can treat abnormal brains.
Are you familar with the Participatory Medicine movement? It would be a miracle if mental health care practitioners started to move in this direction, to create a Particpatory Model of Mental Health Care.
http://www.jopm.org/perspective/narratives/2011/03/28/psychosis-possibly-linked-to-an-occupational-disease-an-e-patient%e2%80%99s-participatory-approach-to-consideration-of-etiologic-factors/
Report comment
Hi Maria,
I am so sorry about your horrific but typical experience with the so called mental health system.
Have you checked out Safe Harbor, an alternative “mental health” web site that includes many medical experts dealing with the very type of physical problems you talk about having that can cause supposed mental symptoms. Though I hate the use of psychiatric labels on this site, they are only being used to refer to the symptoms to provide healthy alternatives for dealing with them when they are mainly caused by physical conditions. Other alternative/integrative medical/mental doctors are Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Dr. Hyla Cass, psychiatrist, with her books like NATURAL HIGHS that provide information on nutrition, supplements and physical issues that can cause emotional issues.
You seem to be a very intelligent, sane lady, so I would walk away from the so called doctor(s) tormenting you.
Again, I appreciate your efforts as a journalist and psychiatry reformer to share the news about this menace to all.
Report comment
Donna,
I have not been to the Safe Harbor site in years but I know it is a good resource. I will have to spend some time looking it over.
Thank you for the compliment. I actually enjoy the challenge and appreciate the opportunity to have conversations with physicians who openly express limited perpsectives on psychosis/mania. I feel it is a chance to get them to think twice before they use that approach on another patient.
From my experience, part of the problem in the mental healtlh system is lack of advocacy to advance Best Practice Assessment of Psychosis/Mania.
Organized advocacy seems to be two sided, having a strong focus on either medication management or talk therapy. Alternative solutions need to start with the basics, first test and treat possible underlying medical conditions to improve overall health.
Whenever I come across information on underlying medical conditions or substances that can induce psychosis/mania and be misdiagnosed as bipolar/schizophrenia, I post them to this site. It seems like an endless array of factors and they are listed in the DSM.
How are advocates missing this?
http://psychoticdisorders.wordpress.com/49-2/
Report comment