Our Movement Has a Cover-up Problem Too

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Sadly, it’s something I’ve heard and witnessed firsthand, over and over.

An established mental health advocate contacts me in distress. “What should I do?” they ask. “I know there has been misconduct by a person in the movement but I’m afraid to speak up about it. Now they want me to work with this person.”

Sexual misconduct. Misappropriation of funds. A campaign of slander. Abuse of power. Theft of research. Many people in the US are salivating over ethical misconduct these days because they can accuse the other political party of doing it. But here it is, being done by the leaders of recovery organizations, the leadership of peer advocacy, people who are part of the mental health recovery movement. Our colleagues and co-workers. Not “them.” Us.

It’s happened to me. Over and over, people approach me with this dilemma of what to do. One colleague called me up in distress (details have been changed here for reasons I think that should be obvious), because he was being asked to participate in what felt like a cover-up. An organization was planning to extend an invitation—and money—to an accused perpetrator. My colleague heard about and even witnessed misconduct, inappropriate sexual behavior, and conflicts of interest over the years. And now he was being pressured to join in, implicitly endorsing the behavior. But nobody talks about it. The people who try to raise the issue themselves start to be seen as the problem.

And so they ask me, “Will, what should I do?”

And now I’m asking you.

We have a problem in our movement. By “our movement” I mean the broader effort of mental health reform—recovery and peer support, survivors and consumers and professionals and family members, all of us pulling together to reform psychiatry. Our movement has a misconduct problem. And because the problem goes unaddressed, and the wrongdoers stay protected in power, the movement has a cover-up problem. Our movement is, as a result, in part, corrupt.

(“Corruption” is whenever a public mandate is improperly turned to serve personal interests.)

I don’t want to denounce our movement as just being corrupt, because there are so many people doing such great, tireless, caring work without real reward or recognition. There are good, very good people doing very good things in our movement. People are cared for and change is happening. And that’s part of the problem. Anytime an individual or group starts to focus too much on their goodness—and build a reputation or brand and a marketing campaign asking for money and support based on that goodness and righteous denunciation of the other (big pharma, abusive psychiatry, whoever)—they get into a trap where they can’t also be honest about their own mistakes. They can’t say “yes, you’re right, we are part of the problem, let’s get to work.” They need to hold on to their image of goodness, especially if it’s making money for them. So instead they deny, shut down, turn it around, and blame the person who is pointing out the problem. If worst comes to worst, they lawyer up and start intimidating anyone who dares criticize.

It shouldn’t surprise us that this happens in the very movements and groups we dedicate ourselves to and we so love. We are, after all, human. Human problems, the human shadow, follow us wherever we go.

But we can do better.

And we must do better, because we are a mental health movement. We have an even greater responsibility to be honest, responsive, to look at our mistakes and address our corruption. Because our values—the values we parade to the world and raise money and ask for support off of—demand it. We have values of compassion, being with, self-determination, and listening to each other. Caring for the vulnerable and powerless. We have to walk this talk.

(And I myself am front and center of who I mean when I say “we” need to be accountable. I do my best to respond and address anything I am called out on, and though I know I can do better, I really do honestly invite the openness and transparency and honesty I am advocating here. As hard as it is sometimes, it’s how I want to live, and it’s how I know I can learn and grow.)

Consider this:

My colleague who called me is in distress. He is in a genuine bind. He is “damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” If he tries to speak up, he risks retaliation, conflict, stress, being seen as the problem, alienating colleagues, undermining his own status… But if he doesn’t speak up he risks being part of a cover-up of mistreatment, abuse, misconduct, normalizing bad behavior going along with actions he knows in his heart are wrong… He’s in a bind.

And we know about binds in our movement, don’t we? Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Our movement, by not effectively addressing misconduct and corruption, is creating the same toxic dynamics we see so often in families, in schools, in a society that silences people and drives them into distress and madness. A family undergoes a lot of conflict and abuse, but does it beneath the surface, in secret. And no one talks about it, but everyone feels it, so one person, often the most vulnerable or sensitive, sends up acting out and being diagnosed psychotic. Likewise, our movement, by not addressing our own shadows with transparency and honesty, is actually helping to drive people crazy.

I can almost hear the sound of chairs being moved and people coughing. Those in power—by salaries or prestige or both—are clearing the room right now because, well, it’s the same denial of families, of schools, of society, isn’t it? The status quo avoids the truth and lets the mess fall on the people who speak up. Who wants a messy conflict around misconduct? The funders might get scared off, the contract might get undermined, it might be used against us. Better to clear the room and let the others deal with this and it will blow over and we can get back to our grant proposals and email donation appeals.

You see, my friend who is in a bind about speaking up or not speaking up puts me in a bind too. If I speak up, say, “Well, yes, I know some evidence about the perpetrator, let’s put this out there…” then the mess comes down on me. I get people pointing fingers that I am the problem, I get caught up in the mess, I go through the stress… I can even be retaliated against by being seen as a “difficult person” and the money, the training jobs, the invitations will start to dry up. (I know this can happen because I have seen it happen.) So, now I too am stuck in the bind.

Since being trauma informed and recovery oriented is at the heart of who we are and what we do, it is a complete and total fail that not only do we cover up abuse, but with the cover-up we actually create the conditions to traumatize people and undermine recovery. We put people like my colleague—and now myself—in a traumatizing bind. We want to speak up, but can’t, but must, but can’t… And now we spiral down, into stress or worse. We can even become suicidal, go back to our addictions. Or worse: bury it all, keep the cycle going, and take it out on others.

So, when my colleague contacts me and says “Will, someone I know who is a perpetrator is being invited to a project I am part of, what should I do?” I have to ask you, our movement. What should we do?

What should we do?

As I write this, my mom’s home town Kansas City just won the Superbowl after 50 years of trying and a million people are going acceptable-crazy, celebrating in below-freezing weather. A democratic socialist just won the opening election of the campaign season in the richest country on earth and has a real shot at the presidency after working for real change his whole life. A generation of vocal #metoo internet-savvy young people is pushing the old guard aside, breathing honesty and outspokenness into our political culture. As humbling as it is for some folks to realize, a lot of the #metoo shift is simply a generational blindspot. Younger people are now finally taking center stage, and—thankfully—they are not going along with the corrupt world their elders think is “just how it is, everybody does it.” The standards are now different—and better. It seems a lot is possible.

Would it be possible for our movement to create some places for mediation, for whistleblowers, for conflict resolution, for ethics complaints, for restorative and transformative justice? Would it be possible for those who are raking in money and cashing contract checks to put some of that money into getting our own act together? Would it be possible for our movement to start fixing the problems in our own organizations rather than just righteously demanding pharma and psychiatry fix theirs?

Would it be possible for our organizations to stop putting people like my colleague, and people like me, in binds that drive us crazy?

Kansas City’s fans didn’t give up, or turn off the TV when their team was down by 10 with just eight minutes remaining in the game. Bernie Sanders’ supporters didn’t stop donating and phoning and knocking on doors when Bernie was at the bottom of the polls. And most importantly, the survivors we celebrate who are making it through their recovery didn’t give up when psychiatry told them they’d be sick for the rest of their lives.

I’m not going to give up. And you shouldn’t either. Our movement needs to address its corruption problem.

So, what should we do?

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Mad in America hosts blogs by a diverse group of writers. These posts are designed to serve as a public forum for a discussion—broadly speaking—of psychiatry and its treatments. The opinions expressed are the writers’ own.

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81 COMMENTS

  1. This kind of thing happens a lot in idealistic organizations as well as businesses.

    And there’s always the concern. “If I air our dirty laundry it will make our group and all we stand for look bad.”

    Sadly the truth will come out sooner or later. And the longer you pile up the dirty laundry and let it mildew the bigger the mess will be.

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  2. This is why I’ve said again and again that psychiatry itself is not the enemy, it is only one manifestation of the enemy. The real enemy is AUTHORITARIANISM, the belief that people have the right to order about and take advantage of those below them in the power structure, and the belief and experience of those below that they must acquiesce to such behavior or be punished or ostracized from the group. Regardless of the name and stated purpose of a group, the ability of the group’s membership to hold the group’s leadership accountable is essential to any movement toward justice and equal rights to be successful. In other words, we have to have our own house in order before we’ll succeed at changing the external circumstances. And that is not an easy task!

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    • “We have met the enemy, and they is us.” Is THAT what you’re trying to say, Steve?….
      “….psychiatry itself is not the enemy, it is only one manifestation of the enemy”? Really, McCrea?….That’s as far as you’ve gotten?….You still believe in “enemies”?…. In “”real” enemies”, and presumably “unreal enemies”?…. Sorry, Steve McCrea, but I still don’t see your own internalized AUTHORITARIANISM as the “enemy”, and I KNOW that YOU DON’T, either….
      Remember, McCrea, a far wiser soul than I once said, “With power comes responsibility.”….

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    • I think the “enemy” is fear, and that has the potential to attach itself to anyone at all who has not owned their shadow and instead is in the habit of projecting it outward. Not everyone does this, but many people do.

      Abusers and corruption both depend on others to fear them, and to identify with these projections, that they are powerless, especially if they have no money. Without that, were people to not buy into this, then such a system would not be able to survive, and in fact, I’m sure it would crash. That’s a matter of individual healing and raising awareness around programmed beliefs vs. what is real and true for each of us.

      We have a choice to NOT be fearful and to not take on the shadow projections, but instead, to know our power of truth and to feel that as our sense of self. Completely disempowers abuse, corruption, projections, etc.

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        • People with authoritarian personalities have fears, too, namely 1) the truth 2) abandonment and 3) independently-minded people. There are many ways to disempower abusers and break a dysfunctional system, but one does have to be aware and cautious. Triggering the fear of an abuser can cause chaos within a dysfunctional community.

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          • That’s an enlightening quote, boans, and a brilliant film! However, most honestly, I’m not out to create fear in anyone, that is never my intention and would go against my values. My work in the world is to help bring clarity and relief to people, not more chaos, although we most often have to move through some chaos in order to find relief and clarity, that would be the unearthing and integrative process of healing.

            Truth can be hard to hear and accept sometimes, but it is necessary if we are to live with any kind of peace in the world. Even recognizing hard truths in ourselves is freeing, although it may be uncomfortable for a moment, but that passes as we integrate our own light and shadow. To me that is the natural healing process. I see that as growth and evolution in consciousness. I believe this is the path toward inner peace, which is the ultimate healing, total relief from stress. Inner peace is the most natural anti-anxiety that exists, and allows all truth to come to light because we do not fear it, if we are in our own personal light and know our peace.

            Truth is light, which is more of an empowering feeling rather than one of fear, because it is clear and unamibiguous, so we can move forward from that. I think what we fear is our own self-judgment, which can be harsh, so we give ourselve permission to feel what we feel and be who we are, no reason to be so damn hard on ourselves! I had to integrate tons of self-judgment in order to heal from chronic anxiety, and feel self-compassion. That is self-soothing, and I become my own best friend as opposed to being my own worst enemy.

            So really, I guess I’d say our enemy is ourselves if we are in fear and self-judgment, whereas we CAN choose to be our most powerful support and self-healer.

            Fear comes from our own interpretation of events and experiences when we feel and perceive ourselves to be powerless. We end up worrying about everything, and that is chronic stress. I’ve also heard “worry” described as “praying for that which you don’t want.” We tend to manifest that on which we most focus, regardless of whether it is from our desire or our fear. I’d prefer a better feeling and to focus on that which I DO want, rather than to dwell on that which makes me feel fear, worry, and resentment. That will only create more of the same, that’s a law of nature, from what I understand.

            Moreover, I think that the impulse to “attack” is already driven by core fears. Mainstream fears shadow, while many of us are accustomed to it. I’d say we have the advantage, because we are in our truth. I own my stuff every day, I’ve made amends for my errors and misjudgments and I continue to as I go along, to stay on a path of integrity, allowing myself to be human while striving to be the best I can be.

            I’ve faced myself in the mirror repeatedly, as I believe many of us on here have. No one is perfect, far from it. Humans aren’t supposed to be perfect, that would go against nature. Life is school, we learn as we go–hopefully!

            Those who attack innocent people have plenty to fear from within their own selves. People change when they feel it is in their best interest, not in the best interest of others. I wish fear on no one, only truth and the empowerment of humility. Being human is inherently humbling, and it’s also incredibly creative. The combo of these is power. Everyone on the planet has the potential to own their personal power and not be afraid of shadow or the unknown. Were everyone to take that level of responsbility for themselves and stop attacking people for their truth, the world would be mightily uplifted and so much of this craziness would cease. That’s my vision, in any event.

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          • Yes, I reference the quote in the sense that it is used by those in the mental health industry towards those who have potential for violence but no history or clear intent (a paranoid delusion written by a doctor who ‘examined’ [assaulted is the correct term] me).

            They want us to fear THEIR enemies. And their enemies just happen to be US. If I were doing what they are doing to us, i’d be a bit concerned about the possibility of reprisal too. Critical mass will be reached, though I doubt it will be in my lifetime. The illnesses being caused by the destruction of the planet by psychotic corporations can only lead to the need for more drugging and more restrictions on liberties and freedoms. All that anger and violence will need to be directed at a chosen enemy, never at the people responsible. Our Treasurer raises the issue of how much these ‘mentally ill’ people are costing our economy already, and our youthful immigrants i’ve no doubt, in the future, will be adding to the burden already on our aged care facilities, drug addicts everywhere costing tax payers money. These are the ‘enemy’ they will target.

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          • “They want us to fear THEIR enemies. And their enemies just happen to be US.”

            Ah, yes, got it. Wow, that is keen analysis, boans, and on point. This is what we don’t want to buy into, that’s a terrible and self-sabotaging program.

            “The illnesses being caused by the destruction of the planet by psychotic corporations…”

            Yes, I agree, that is my truth, too. And what community of origin fosters the people who run such corrupt industries that are sabotaging global society? There is a root to every issue.

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  4. Will Hall wrote: “Our movement needs to address its corruption problem.

    So, what should we do?”

    Regulation, regulation, regulation. Some kind of professional body that oversees those working in the alternative roles in mental health. People and organisations sign up to it. It strives to act as an assurance of quality and decent standards. And to become recogniseable and trusted as such.

    Whisteblowers welcome. Investigations fair and proportionate. Penalties available for the worst and repeat offenders.

    Unregulated professions are invariably the most corrupt.

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    • We’re not talking here about a “profession” that needs to be “regulated.” We’re talking about people who play various roles in a movement- some paid, some not- who are activists in a movement. So your suggestion isn’t applicable.

      What we need is for the movement to stop turning a blind eye when people who have influence in the movement use it to harm or take advantage of others.

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      • With respect, if you re-read the article you’ll discover multiple references to alternative organisations, small and large, that suppress and cover-up and casually brush away wrong-doing. My suggestion is in relation to those specific problems.

        In fact there is a hint in the article that a percentage of monies that flow to these alternative organisations should be used to tackle the problems of corruption.

        And the best way to do that, in terms of transparency and justice, is for the investigation to be carried out by a truly independent body.

        As sam plover points out, that independent body is also prone to corruption. That is why it must itself be independent, transparent, and reformed from top to bottom, every few years, lest it stagnates.

        I have no idea how to regulate and make indivividuals responsible other than through recourse to existing Laws that offer some protection to the vulnerable.

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  5. Hi Will, thanks for the blog.
    There would be few organizations where the members do not have different ideas about how to best run that organization.
    I can also probably confidently state that in each organization some members will be very unhappy, especially when principles come into play.
    Your business is the business of trying to be the most honest you can be, to yourself and those you serve.
    THAT is not an easy business, because people will fail, they will make mistakes.
    One’s focus should be to not let the whole business to become one based on falsities, on covering up.
    I do think if the problem is important enough, it has to be talked about.

    There are things one sometimes has to let slide, yet not if it is due to feeling fear.

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  7. Thanks for this Will, a really thoughtful piece.
    I think we could encourage communities to develop ethics counsels, with clear and transparent processes for grievances, and could include using restorative justices to address harm. I would imagine having outsiders on each counsel, as well as some independent ethics counsels, would also be good. Do many movement communities even have ethics principals outlined on their site?
    This guide from the Buddhist Peace Fellowship on ethics in Buddhist communities have some applicable ideas… https://www.clearviewproject.org/engaged-buddhist-action/safe-harbor-community-ethics/

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  8. When you are dealing with correcting the systemic, largely child abuse and rape covering up sins of the “mental health” industry. You will inevitably run into problems with those who want to continue to profiteer off of covering up those sins. But those sins should be made known, instead.

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  9. I’m glad this was published, however, consider the added layer that sometimes the most abusive, narcissistic, and/or machavellian people are sometimes the biggest virtue-signallers about justice, progress, virtues, etc. This is called projection, accusing others of what oneself/one’s group is doing. How about you start. Can you call the people you may have hurt or thrown under the bus? Leave a voicemail for person you know and start a conversation about this with them and ask them if they believe you have ever done anything you need to apologize for. Especially the women you know in the movement.

    Private conversations I’ve had with other survivors have definitely revealed emotional, occupational, sexual and even psychiatric abuse (of women in particular) by other psych survivors! It has to be said that it is a feminist issue as well, the emotional labor of women is most exploited in the movement. In my opinion, we are expected to be free moms and therapists to the men of the movement – to absorb men’s anger, dysfunction, and hurt as well as deal with our own – and let’s be real, women are disproportionately the victim of sexual abuse, abuse which is mainly committed by men. Women are specifically victimized by psychiatry as well, don’t forget the hysteria accusation, and the compounding nature of sexism and psych abuse.

    Unfortunately, I cannot think of how to change this, other than saying whistleblowing must be done. The “pack mentality” of abuser fan clubs must be challenged. Even though, it’s in every family, every school, every psych facility, every job. A good deed never goes unpunished, it’s true. But who else will do it? Will, you have to stand up against the bind you’re in, even if it loses you everything. You said yourself, you’re choosing to value the paycheck over the safety of women or other survivors in your current bind. Is a movement or an organization that’s covering that up something you even want to be apart of? It’s part of why I quit the movement, overall actually. If you stay silent, you are no better than who abused you. When we die, none of us are going to be able to take any money with us.

    I have been child abused, bullied at jobs, and injured and almost killed by abusive psych “professionals” and trying to stand up to the abusers got me even more isolated, scapegoated, and bullied worse (retaliation). In fact, like many here, I would say psychiatry literally tried to kill me and kill who I am inside, just to shut me up. I have dealt with poverty and black sheep status as a result of standing up to abusers, off and on for many years. The people abusing me also pitted me against other workers, other family members, other “patients”. Narcissistic triangulation, golden child, flying monkey, and scapegoat dynamics. I have also been a part directly or indirectly in hurting others in my personal life, it’s true. We all have, like you said: the perceived threat to our own survival makes us more likely to do evil. We are all capable of evil and abuse. In order to stop it we have to be willing to lose money, lose status, and lose safety.

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  10. I see the movement as creating space. Space for those who want to take medications and those who don’t. Safe spaces for people who want to move through extreme states on their own terms. Sometimes it feels like imposing organization on space means restricting that space in a way in a way that keeps it from being what we intended. It also means letting people in who may want to abuse that space. Control over our own vision slips away, but if we come back to the idea of space we find at least part of the answer. While we may have control over nothing else we can seek to gain it over ourselves. We can create space in our own minds- in our own sphere of influence. Give ourselves freedom to let go of an old vision or project that has gone a direction we can no longer support to find a new one we can. If we have an idea like that of space that can remain central regardless this may be easier to do

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  12. “To hate injustice and stand on righteousness is a difficult thing. Furthermore, to think that being righteous is the best one can do and to do one’s utmost to be righteous will, on the contrary, bring many mistakes. The Way is in a higher place than righteousness. This is very difficult to discover, but it is the highest wisdom.”

    “It is said that one should not hesitate to correct himself when he has made a mistake. If he corrects himself without the least bit of delay, his mistakes will quickly disappear. But when he tries to cover up a mistake, it will become all the more unbecoming and painful. When words that one should not use slip out, if one will speak his mind quickly and clearly, those words will have no effect and he will not be obstructed by worry. If there is, however, someone who blames a person for such a thing, one should be prepared to say something like, “I have explained the reason for my careless speech. There is nothing else to be done if you will not listen to reason. Since I said it unwittingly, it should be the same as if you didn’t hear it. No one can evade blame.”

    These two quotes from the Hagakure come to mind. It also makes it very easy to identify ‘mistakes’ and ‘evil intent’.

    I also note you consider ‘the movement’ as people who wish to “reform psychiatry” so i’m not a member. I do not believe that something that has become this corrupt can be reformed. Out with the baby, the bathwater and the tub in my humble opinion.

    In my belief system when God gets tired of the corruption He wipes people off the face of the earth and replaces them with something better. Ask Lut.

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  13. Seriously?

    Every time someone speaks out they are shut down, here in MIA and other places also by self-serving heads of ‘peer run organizations’ who are not ready to rock the boat because of their $110k plus salaries vs the $12-15 peer specialist who is struggling just to make ends meet who has the guts to speak out.

    These are actual responses to pedophiles, rapists, racists…

    “Oh, we need to remember the good things they’ve accomplished”

    “Oh they were young when they behaved inappropriately and made jokes in a comedy show, we need to support them as they go about apologizing and making things right, as we add them as a spokesperson for our organization”

    How about this (amended to not show the name so no one will accuse me of slandering):

    “A 62-year-old former state mental health official who asked boys to dress in diapers inside his home was sentenced Thursday to 60 days in jail.
    (his) attorney said (he) suffered from mental illness caused by childhood trauma and never physically abused a child.
    In September, ….., who was accused of victimizing children ages 12 and 13, pleaded guilty in ….. to a single count of endangering the welfare of a child. He had been facing 29 counts.
    ….. who was a supervisor for the state Office of Mental Health earning $132,054, was arrested in 2018 after he was accused of convincing two boys – ages 12 and 13 – to take off their pants, change into diapers and “stay in the diaper until the child left his home,” court documents said.”

    Yes, I speak from a pissed off space, why would I not be angry? It’s all fine and dandy to use a platform you are comfortable with because the same people will read it and not much will change, as we’ve seen time and time again…

    First thing I tell a parent when their child tells them they are being abused.

    Believe them.

    When the ‘movement’ is filled with mostly people worried about keeping their paycheck, and people are not believed, what would you recommend?

    I would start by responding to those who’ve spoken on your mia article, follow up on your words…

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  14. By “our movement” I mean the broader effort of mental health reform–recovery and peer support, survivors and consumers and professionals and family members, all of us pulling together to reform psychiatry

    This does not describe any “movement” I would consider myself part of, in fact it describes exactly what I am trying to discourage and oppose. And yes, such a “movement” I would consider corrupt by definition. But I don’t think that’s what Will is referring to.

    I think when we speak of “movements” here which are not the anti-psychiatry movement we should be clear about what we mean; at least Will has done so with the above definition. Except, again, I consider this a mentality we should be moving AGAINST.

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  15. I think a cover up is Opioid crisis through the nation. The World countries and individuals there may not be aware because different place. Many folks here don’t consider this.

    – toxicology reports say so much in system then heroin and fetnol. So many chemicals such as pharmaceuticals. People in and out detox can affirm this.

    – cover up the booming methadone after care clinics.
    – often run by the detoxification center umbrella organization.

    – anyway all the stigma and discriminatory at individuals at mental health centers is coincidentally a preposition and a decoy. This is because the proceeds at the detoxification and methadone after care avenue is large.

    – The hospital or detox clinic umbrella agency piranhas are what they do. Getting income.

    – Did you know their billing process is so much easier. Bilking the data entry systems

    * There’s actually more individuals there with steady flow I think then mental health clinics. Consider the amount methadone after care clinics in nation cities.

    * Coincidentally the gangs noted this ave they get all ethnicities to try and use drugs. They are not on the friendly side of arena because they hurt with drug sales. They also go to services we advocates attend because of their lifestyles.

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  18. I think we’ve got what one might call a communication problem here. I’m not in any “reform psychiatry movement”. I have no desire to work in, nor for, the mental health police, their thugs, nor their chemical enforcers. I don’t see how anybody can get into that system without becoming tainted, and in negative ways, by it.

    I don’t know if plain English will work, but let me try, please. Mental health is not consuming mental health treatment. Working for the system keeps the nonsense going. It is corrupting by its very nature. You don’t sell mental health treatment without, at the same time, selling mental ill health.

    Perhaps you’ve read or seen a performance of the play No Exit? Mental health, so-called, or perhaps wisdom should be the preferable word, is about taking the exit.

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    • Lest anyone be confused, Frank and I do agree strongly on a couple things. I think the main outrage here is that Will Hall would describe “our movement” as “the broader effort of mental health reform–recovery and peer support, survivors and consumers and professionals and family members, all of us pulling together to reform psychiatry” — and virtually no one even takes exception to this? This is why I have no response to those who characterize MIA as a forum for liberal “mental health” professionals.

      All men are sexist, just as all “white” people in America are racist, it’s just a matter of degree. This is programmed from birth. Sorry if anyone doesn’t like that. We all need to be on guard for such internalized prejudice and conditioning to manifest in oppressive or destructive ways. But to seriously believe that sexism and racism can be resolved within the context of a “mental health” system ignores the social purpose and function of the “mental health” ruse, which is to reinforce socially programming and conformity to the corrupt values and premises to which we are enslaved. We all need to be responsible for our behavior, and also to embrace the concept of redemption for others where appropriate. But to look to the system or its structures for answers is like looking under a street light for the keys you lost in the bushes because the light’s better.

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      • We all need to be on our guard for such internalized prejudice and conditioners to manifest in depressive and destructive weights. But to seriously believe that sexism and racism can be resolved within the context of the “mental health” system ignores the social purpose and function of the “mental health” ruse, which is to reinforce socially programming and and conformity to the corrupt values and premises to which we are enslaved in a Medusa-like mortal coil of unimaginable horror. We all need to be responsible for our behavior crimes, and also to reject the concept of redemption for others where inappropriate as determined by the widest, broadest possible consensus of so-called “mental health workers employed at the behest of the dominant heirarchy, and the genocidal patriarchy which drags us down into the delusional rape of our underskins and nubbins. But to look at the “mental health” system or it’s structures for answers to our eternal existential rapists and abusers posing as our benighted therapists under a street light where you lost your keys in the bushes because the light’s better. If I could only be more profound, I would be deeper than the Marianas Trench.

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      • With psychiatric patient/consumers either clients of or workers in the system, sometimes both, where are the jobs that would give them a life anywhere else? How do we cure people, in other words, of the provision and the procurement of psychiatric bondage in one form or another? This artificial “neediness” and “learned helplessness” that has become so prevalent and burdensome.

        I remember when we were a liberation movement. *sigh*

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  19. I don’t wish to be off-topic, but I was wondering about Will’s “Maastricht Antipsychotic World Survey”. I believe it started around the beginning of 2018. You can join a mailing list if you want to be informed of the survey results, which I did, but have no idea how to access the results. Are they publicly available anywhere?

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  20. On topic, what I learned about “community mental health services” (I assume peer support is part of that) is that they try to scare you into being med-compliant, while telling you at the same time how corrupt the system (they are a part of) is. They don’t live up to any of their promises with REAL things, like help with housing, finances etc. The most useless bunch I ever came across. I gave up on them after some months.

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  21. Well anyway where I live I’m trying to let men and ladies learn that the people giving them drugs are deceiver. Peoples may argue yeah they know that but I don’t view like that.

    They like are polite and courteous to young peoples. Not judged you are welcomed here. Then there is of course ripple effect. Nothing happening there but drugs.

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  22. Like in regards seeing coworkers who bedazzle workers of opposite sex and then apprehensive about what to do, well I have a scenario on that.

    I work in new field now after I got a state govmnt pension secured I obtained new work hehehe.

    Scenario is I’m advocacy now. All about it. I seen gang members sell drugs and yes at advocacy gathering here in thus part nation. I said hey what you doing here?
    Sell drugs to persons I care about.

    A local leader says , Pat it’s not ok to ask people to leave advocacy events. I said ok my bad.

    It’s sort of like author saying. Both not the proper thing to do with people care about.

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  23. I am in the same camp with oldhead and Frank, I am not part of the movement described in this piece either.

    Psychiatrists are largely guilty of a list of crimes including torture or other ill treatment, arbitrary detention and fraud (on such a massive scale it’s arguable it’s the worst case of fraud ever in the history of humanity, due to sheer numbers impacted.) As such, this means we are really dealing with a group of criminals. What this also means is that survivors and victims of psychiatry really are/were victims of crime.

    When framed like this several conclusions follow…one, that talk of reform becomes an unacceptable demand to even be making of survivors. It is not appropriate to ask survivors of such serious crimes to be constantly centering the perceived needs and rights of perpetrators. We owe most psychiatrists precisely nothing. We most certainly do not owe them an ounce of time or energy to help them keep their jobs or to figure out ways to slightly re-tool those jobs so they can keep working.

    The second understanding that should flow from the realization we are really victims of crime is that the main way of framing activism around the issue of psych system harm then revolves around a movement for legal justice. Not a movement for alternatives. The fact is that as victims of crime we already have the alternative implied–it is implied IN the actual laws that they have broken. Simply not doing the crime to start with was THE alternative and anything else misses the point. Were we in a court, it would not be acceptable for a judge to tell the victims to either generate a list of acceptable alternatives behaviors for the perpetrators or the judge will let the perpetrators go.

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  24. This article is directly adjacent to my experience achieving freedom from my bipolar diagnosis and dangerous drugs by the most powerful doctor, CMO, and VP of behavioral health contractors in the state of Arizona, #2 in spending on mental health in the U.S., with the public illusion that it was supplying great $ervices. Today he is revered as an ethical, gentle, humane, forward-thinking leader in his field.

    I suffered from many internal and external wounds during my long exit; not the least was Stockholm Syndrome, so relieved to have the promise of a healthy life back under my control, possibly achieving the UNTHINKABLE, while tiptoeing on broken trust like shards of glass.
    When I first wrote about this awfulness, I praised his integrity and devotion to my truth. Facts an evidence of sexual harassment would have seemed hyperbolic…too much. I was also conflicted about what I knew had happened, what it meant, and the overwhelming relief of having another chance at life. LIFE won…at the time. Priorities.
    Now that I’m assured of my safety and distance (4 years later)…and the cellular-level effects of the drugs have FINALLY left me, I know it was only cost and liability protection…and his career arc.

    My ‘exit’ doctor was the Clinic Director (soon to be CMO/VP) when I was carelessly put into anaphylaxis by staff…and then intentionally ignored (they knew they had REALLY f#*@-ed up) as I went into a nose-dive with rebound, withdrawal, and brain lesions. They were waiting for me to be sufficiently frightened, with no alternative resources available, to come back ‘home’…begging for help from my torturers, with any fight or resistance thoroughly scared out of me. THEY were my only hope of relief. No one else would grant me ANY credibility because of the damning diagnosis.
    But you can’t fake anaphylaxis symptoms like head-swelling, eye-bugging, breathing problems, etc.

    During my post-debilitation, I had 2 productive hours a day which I used during my 1st appointment with him to ‘discuss’ the situation. HIS 15 minutes turned into MY 1.5 hours. I used it to delicately blackmail him and the state behavioral management providers; my safe guided exit, withdrawal AND a changed, removed, ‘disappeared’ MH diagnosis…and I wouldn’t sue. I knew a simple, ER documented, and possible deadly anaphylaxis trumped any ‘she’s crazy’ excuse by them. No ‘symptoms’ BS. And I had reported a FIRST ADR AND objected at the 2nd prescribing appointment. It wasn’t about $. I was capable of loud and messy. Uh-Oh.
    He was rocked (barely perceptable), locked on my every word and polite demand. Bottom line…a tentative, unspoken “yes”.

    After 2.5 additional years of a unique (for both of us) journey, I achieved EVERYTHING….but not without additional costs that included sabotage from jealous staff (his description) and a fundamental betrayal by him.
    AND HERE IT IS….30 days before our ‘scheduled’ completion, my ‘savior’ asked me… in a text… for a date.
    IN A TEXT…AFTER 2.5 YEARS AS HIS ONLY PATIENT. JUST BEFORE MY FINAL PAPERWORK/RELEASE. Either supremely confident of his power…OR…. painfully naïve regarding medical ethics, sexual harassment, and his own risk. After all, he was from another country….yeah, a socially naïve PSYCHIATRIST, CMO/VP and Fellow of the APA, his advanced education and residency in New York City.
    Uh-huh.
    He often spoke about better care, less drug damage, and returning credibility to his patients. He said he desperately wanted to do No Harm. His company painted him as a saint, as did his staff…as did I. He remarked many times that my research, facts, and articulation made me an expert on psychiatry.
    He groomed me like the behavioral expert HE was.
    The turmoil, anger, shock, and abject fear it placed me in was as damaging as any other head-space I had experienced in the entire ‘sentence’ (now 13 years). The end was awkward and anxiety-ridden for both of us, not joyous as I had long-imagined. I couldn’t get to my car fast enough, holding my breath.
    I spent the next 3.5 years repairing, soothing, and “McGuyver-ing” my damages. I’m now onto the wonderful third-act of my life.
    As a feminist since 1967, I was haunted by my knowledge and urge to protect others who would never get out. But I also had a tremendous amount of ‘clean-up’ of my own to do, including the ensuing 19 seizures (pre-frontal lobe shrinkage/Andreason) that made my future less secure and bright.

    I have also carefully researched libel and slander laws, both state and federal. The Arizona Republic had no stomach for this kind of expose’. I had submitted to the writer who initiated the national VA expose’. He said carefully “This is a big story’. Yeah, but too controversial…not for them.

    This doctor gained (some of) my trust and then spit on it. Yet, one of the ‘good’ ones.
    And I have kept the last year of his texts (before and after), establishing our unique but professional relationship…until that day.

    As I get healthier and stronger, I am closer to fully exposing this “wonderful doctor”, he DID save my life…and I was depleted, exhausted, and damaged for years. I just couldn’t take on another fight.
    My safety…. emotionally, physically, and financially, is paramount.

    I’m moving back home to Florida soon and re-start my life. This is where I was first diagnosed (presenting $ anxiety and insomnia) by a psychiatrist receiving $65,000 annually from Pharma (“Dollars for Docs”, ProPublica).
    Once I settle, I am ready to calmly, precisely, with damning EVIDENCE-not emotion, expose ALL of them…including one of the ‘really good guys’…and hopefully protect others… from all the above.

    The Miami Herald awaits with their legendary reputation of muck-raking. I will work hard to be worthy of publication there.

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  25. Thanks for a fine article, Will, on a theme that doesn’t get looked at and is long overdue.

    I’d like to propose a reason for the corruption problem.

    At the World Hearing Voices Congress in Montreal last November, I brought this up in a couple of different ways, but got no answer.

    After the initial introductory panel discussion, I mentioned how few the black population was in our midst, as compared with the percent of blacks institutionalized and labeled. That street people were busy trying to survive while we were all here warm and cozy. I asked the panel how we might leverage our privilege. No answer.

    In a workshop you led, I mentioned the problems with professionalism, and how my experience at the original Woodstock Fest showed that people can help each other, with no need for authority figures. Do we need professionals?

    And here is what I think may be the crux of the problem. Trained peer support people get such a low salary that many are supported by trust funds, their parents, or spouses.

    This certainly involves privilege.

    Any ideas on how to deal with this, Will?

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    • If money does shift to ethics and restoration who will get it? Will we compensate the power people who are thriving by stonewalling “the problem” as motivation to participate? If a perpetrator won’t hear a victim one-on-one while he/she is still mostly sane and civil… why would they listen now, let alone lose money for it? Will we be again punishing the mostly innocent or punishing the helpers?

      Separate money from the movement. Remove business from activism.

      I did everything I could to hold a movement leader accountable while still protecting him, my values, and this movement that I love. It wasn’t worth it. All my struggle to find out he had just shut me and the secret he asked me to keep out of his mind. In the end I was the mess, lashing out at the people who hadn’t given up on me yet. Wondering if this monetized movement wasn’t just another arm of psychiatry itself. I found the movement by becoming it’s patient paying for supports to replace psychiatry.

      I want to be real with people who are real in return. I am among armored giants. If those with the most privilege/protection can’t escape the bind, what chance do I have? I’m already naked.

      Losing everything to protect your values is not the worst that could happen.

      Something about naming someone publicly feels wrong if there is any chance of reconciliation privately… But if you’ve tried? In a #metoo world why are we still dancing around the details and the names? I keep hoping it can go back to the way it was before the sex and the drugs and being one of the cool kids in my new movement family.

      The only solution I can see is locking everyone involved in a room until we face ourselves and each other and our shadows. Forced to be courageous and maybe like my grandma would do… forced to hug until we are siblings again. 🙂

      Looks like I too am just another branch of psychiatry. Here we go again…

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      • “…dancing around the…names” and “‘refusing to speak…” is prudent if you don’t have hard evidence, not opinion, anger, or ‘everybody knows’ arguments. Libel and slander laws differ from state to state but all mandate evidence that ‘proves’ differing/subjective (court interpreted) measurements of harm, not outrage. The law seems solid/slam-dunk; just not true. Even with solid evidence, if the offender has a large bank account and you are in front of the wrong judge, you can go bankrupt…and be charged with a plethora of lawsuits involving defamation, loss of income, and more. They will drain you slowly like a medieval blood-letting with leeches…all legal in the system.
        I have been Pro Se twice (winning both) but it consumed my attention and physical health… and was still expensive as I purchased legal advice by-the-hour/ala carte, on specific issues, motions, and case law (the worst).
        Speaking for myself, I totally reject “reconciliation” and-if published (again) including names-will have the luxury of vetting/review by the new publisher’s legal department.

        While I have acted on my “values” many times, losing everything AGAIN-after my 13 years of comprehensive loss to psychiatry (and a revered ‘reformer’)-WOULD be the worst thing…I will not sacrifice one. more. happy. day. to them.
        Self immolation is not noble or effective for me.

        BTW, I email a link (no commentary-protecting myself from harassment charges) to my offender every time I am published (or a relevant article), picking my outlets, building my credibility. I want him to be a little nervous and uncomfortable as I move closer with details over the years and hopefully, full disclosure…the ‘other shoe’ waiting to drop. He knows that I have his texts. I’ve learned patience and choosing my time.

        And….I’ll always be in HIS head…a little or a lot.

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        • I still want to believe it was somehow a mistake. Somehow something i could fix by trying. Thank you for the insight. In the end I just chose to walk away. My health has suffered too. The silence treatment and self blame and the confusion. In the end all i could do was scream in frustration. There is never closure. Never a finish line. I don’t know about restorative justice or reconciliation, but i want relief and it…. I’m sorry you went through that. Maybe there isn’t an answer. What do we do? What do we do? I’d rather live alone in the bush than break my own heart for a paycheck. I’ve never been offered money for a project in the movement. I wonder how many women have?

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    • So sad, those that are hurt continue to carry the hurt, because others refuse to take a stand and hold the hurter accountable. If you refuse to speak, knowing what happened you are guilty as the first offender! Yes, if you are one of the first to speak, you may lose opportunity/money, etc. But you will be starting a movement that NEEDS to happen! Wait ill it happens to you and you are alone-how will you feel then? What if that was your wife/daughter/son? Would you stand up then? IS someone elses not worthy of support too? If you are not the needed change, who will be? Make a move-stand up and speak out!

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  27. Some of the most atrocious people I have met in my life have been part of the so called not for profit here in Perth Australia peer self help sector oh my god they worship the psychiatrists.. Will do anything for them… U can imagine what they will do
    ‘ just let them get on with their work’ they know what is best even when its 60mgs of olanzapine …
    Parochial unprofessional pathetic so keen to access the funding they will do anything all…in the beginning you have no idea how dangerous they are.. I think I will sue them that will be interesting..they are culpable…

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    • As I see it, same thing in the USA, peer support *cough, cough* being seen as the gateway into a job in mental health work, often involving attaining a degree in psychology, the vast majority of these careerists are not, and I must emphasis this point, all that critical of their profession. If they were, their career aims would be different. Career aims that criticism puts at risk, and threatens, on top of which there is that old “peer” pressure to be as obsequious as possible.

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  28. I still want to believe it was somehow a mistake. Somehow something i could fix by trying. Thank you for the insight. In the end I just chose to walk away. My health has suffered too. The silent treatment and self blame and the confusion. In the end all i could do was scream in frustration. There is never closure. Never a finish line. I don’t know about restorative justice or reconciliation, but i want relief and it seems something…. I’m sorry you went through that. Maybe there isn’t an answer. What do we do? What do we do? I’d rather live alone in the bush than break my own heart for a paycheck. I’ve never been offered money for a project in the movement. I wonder how many women have?

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  29. BE the change you want to see in the world.

    Double binds are opportunities to expand our awareness and shift perspective to a bigger, more universal picture. Breaking a corrupt system requires truth, otherwise one is FEEDING the corruption. Expect systemic bullying, stigmatizing projections, public shaming, biased censorship, word-twisting, gaslighting, and cutting off your money supply, it’s all part of the arsenal when corruption is threatened. You are not alone.

    And if you are in your truth, you are in your power. If you know that, the money thing is not a problem, it will resolve itself. Hardest program to cut through, but I’ve learned this from experience. I’ve been in this position quite a few times and have leaped forward in all ways each time I have faced it with truth, and particularly toward peace of mind and general well-being. Truth is a healer.

    Speak up or walk away and don’t look back, trust the path of integrity. You’ll sleep better at night because you will be in synch with yourself. Living the truth of our spiritual values carries far more weight than money because it is abundance which cannot be threatened and taken away, and from that we can manifest anything we need or want, from a healed heart, which brings the courage of trust and faith. It is an inherent part of who we are.

    And there are the riches and the freedom, they go hand in hand in expanded consciousness. It is true abundance, from the inside, and it is robust. No double binds or compromise, and you have individuated from corruption, which means–and this is important–that you have weakened it, you have taken away from its power because you are not giving up yours to them, out of fear, which is their fuel. Refuse to be their pawn by knowing where your power is in this situation, and use it. That is being the example of change.

    Break the system. Trust the process. It’s the only way.

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    • I’ve got a lot of respect for what you write here Alex. I have to bite my tongue to not be absolutely consumed with my rage over being tortured by my own government, but can see clearly what your saying. I’m going to print that comment out and place it on my fridge which is quite a compliment lol. Mainly because I don’t have a building to have it chiseled into.

      Thanks for the insight.

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      • Thank you for the honor, boans, I appreciate your saying this and I’m glad it speaks to you. And of course I do understand the rage, boy do I, that’s a most reasonable response to this crap. But I think as we gain more and more clarity, we have the option to make changes internally, right there, as it seems you are doing, and new light shines on the other side of this. Changes will happen on the outside, too, to reflect the internal changes. It’s a most fascinating process, and powerful in its ability to drive change from the inside.

        Interesting, too, I happened to give a lengthy response this morning to your comment with the Dr. Strangelove quote, you inspired me with that one. It’s still in the moderating queue, I guess is will show up soon. Kind of goes hand in hand with this post, regarding internal changes. Good synchronicity!

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        • It really is an empowering statement. “trust the path of integrity”.

          I’ve been watching some of the news and realised I made some comments a while back (years in fact) about how rape victims could be thrown under the bus by someone in authority (I had in mind a Community Nurse but .. was more interested in the way police turn their back on people flagged as “patients”) and then this

          https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-05/former-wa-police-officer-accused-of-more-than-100-sex-offences/12028052

          Police have told me that they don’t have a copy of the Criminal Code and therefore if you attend a police station and make the claim you were drugged without your knowledge you get referred to mental health services, and then they MUST give you a label and well, forced drugging and incarceration is pretty much a given beyond that.

          What piques my interest is that has this police officer used his position to ‘flag’ his victims and use the slander of mental health to silence them? And police expect people to come forward given they would risk a referral to mental health services for ‘treatment’?

          This guy from what I can see has been enabled by a system for ten years. And I am sure that the fact he was a police officer has stopped some people from reporting, someone has said something.

          What I know is that the ‘referral’ that was made for me behind my back when I did attend a police station with the proof of the ‘spiking’ was a knee jerk reaction and one that is obviously being used to silence and ensure no action is taken over serious criminal offences. And then ten years on we are cleaning up the mess left as a result of the negligence of others.

          Enough, I walk and find somewhere that people actually care about one another. “trust the path of integrity”. I’ve spoken up and no one wishes to listen here. They turned me away because someone went to the trouble of fabricating false records, and no one wishes to check them because they prefer the lies.

          And I hope they spit at my back as I walk away.

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          • They do not understand dialogue. They might grab a few sentences and use them against you.

            Don’t you know it goes one way? Psychiatry and cops are almost one and the same, psychiatry is just more sadistic.
            Cops are basically bullies with weights on their shoulders.

            Both have grave injuries that need attention. Angry that the weakness in others reminds them of theirs. Seriously, it is my assessment.

            Divorce rates are equal between the general population and authority figures.
            Unstable relationships and all that.
            My friend had her 3 relationships listed as being a sign that she was BPD.
            Even if they were going on at the same time, I doubt it would qualify as a disorder.
            So one wonders, how many relationships one is allowed to have, and if they fail, it must be one person’s fault.

            You don’t need them. They have less than a hundred years here. It’s their blip in time, so insignificant, almost not worth a mention. Weird to spend their lives, calling people names, and taking people’s pants off.
            Here today, gone tomorrow.

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          • “I’ve spoken up and no one wishes to listen here. They turned me away because someone went to the trouble of fabricating false records, and no one wishes to check them because they prefer the lies.”

            This really touches me, boans, I have this story, that statement could come from me, too. This applies to the super bureaucratic “mental health/social services” network where I got caught up in what you describe and battled it up and down for years in all kinds of ways legal and creative. And it also applies to at least a couple of members of my family, from whom I need to keep a distance if I want sanity in my life. I do come from a gaslighting family, unfortunately, doesn’t make me happy to say this and I had to heal tons from it as I spoke the hardest truth ever and set the firmest boundaries ever. Those were my choices to make and I followed through. Made me stronger, I felt the clarity, but I also felt sad for a while, then I felt free. Whew, that’s what I was waiting for, and it happened.

            The system did it all over again and I’ve spoken my truth repeatedly. I’ve made impacts here and there, I do know this. After I take my actions, I cannot control what happens after that, other than in what direction I choose to go from there. Everyone has free will, to do good or to be an ass.

            Yes, they’d prefer the lies because the truth is a mirror to them they do not like and will not accept at all cost, it would be too painful for them, too much self-judgment would fall on them. Sadly, that’s their right to resist truth, and we’re only beating our heads against the wall when we argue with deniers and liars.

            When I say trust the path of integrity, what I mean is that we can do better by not being like that, by being straight up, which it seems to me that you totally are.

            As far as “the riches and the freedom” go, well, I’m still on my way, too. But I think the potential to be richer and freer would actually come from being a victim of systemic bullshit than being a perpetrator of it. A perprator is really missing some of their moral compass, and that’s a hard awakening which I do not envy.

            Those of us on the scapegoated end are inherently humble, we’ve been humbled plenty and we feel it, I know that. I think there is power in that, precisely because we are in our integrity. If we can feel that, perhaps we’ll see it reflected outside of us, somehow.

            I don’t know, this IS my practice, I’m very conscious of this as I’ve been dealing with it most of my life, and it got worse as I was an adult, leading to lots of hard awakenings and freeing myself from double-binding toxic relationships. I was raised on this, so I had to do deep, deep deprogramming from what I grew up believing, and disover my own truth, so that I at least had the CHOICE to live by my integrity! That was the hugest shift ever, kinda surreal for a while. It’s a new world when we heal from abuse.

            I’ve been seeing the outer changes in bits and pieces, have had plenty of good evidence over the years. Then things can get wonky again, not sure if things are getting better. Then something happens to bring me back into trust, seeing movement happen. The world is dense, changes can take a while to show up!

            But that’s where I’m at with all this. I’ve gone in and out of doubt a lot, that’s human. But the light does keep showing up and showing up and showing up. And as long as that’s the case, I have hope and even optimism. Sometimes I can even achieve a feeling of certainty! That feels great. Then it can ebb again. It’s a flow of energy.

            As long as I see manifestation along the way and feel better than before, then I know I’m on track. I just keep looking forward, not back. Definitely the key to healing and change. It’s not behind us, it’s right in front of us.

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          • So true Alex,

            My ‘faith’ has wavered much over the past 9 years, going from absolute to wondering why my God would allow such things to occur. And yet then I realise it is a test of integrity that is being applied to these people, and they are failing miserably. What will be the eventual consequence of that failure? Another attempted genocide? It’s certainly on the cards given the unspoken history of this Nation. And only someone who has been subjected to abuse by people with power would know the true meaning of the words “they wouldn’t do that”.

            I found myself absolutely dumbfounded that a hospital Clinical Director is given the authority to conceal serious criminal conduct by his staff with acts of criminal fraud. There is no doubt that the documents are fraudulent, no need to ask me, ask the Member of Parliament I showed them to. And what do they do about that? They double down and commit further criminal acts. The comparison I make is the Priest who rapes a child and then forgives himself.

            I’ve no doubt there have been actions which I am not aware of, but concealing the truth merely allows those ‘in the know’ to abuse others who find themselves vulnerable. A few checks on some of these people and I uncovered a whole bunch of people who have possibly been subjected to the very same crimes, though the concealment had to this point been effective. And I’m certain that they went through and ensured a better job had been done with the cover ups than had been with mine. For that they thanked me. Hardly want the public knowing hospital administrators are concealing offences for organised criminals operating in our hospitals.

            And I guess there is the crux of the matter, the “best left for them to deal with”. Problem being “them” can not be trusted. I have as a result of this ‘process’ become aware of how the State has taken the Corruption watchdog, made it positively vicious and then turned it on it’s owner. Great for corrupt politicians etc, not so good for the public who are simply unaware that their elected representatives are destroying our community for their own gain (and claiming whats good for them is good for us).

            Personally when I’m watching the place fall apart from a distance I really won’t care much anymore. Caveat emptor and all that. I delivered the message and gave the warning, and was ‘fuking destroyed’ for speaking the truth by my own government, who can no longer bear the truth of what they have become, torturers.

            That path to integrity lies in admitting wrongdoing and correcting the damage as much as possible in the least amount of time. This is reflected in documents such as the Convention against the use of Torture, but they were never signed with good intent, merely as a means to exploit those who trust.

            It says in my Book, “they will take their oaths as a cover”. I know who it is speaking about when it says “they”, and I fear for their future now “we” know who “they” are. Not because of anything “we” can do to them, but because they do not see the consequences of their own actions. The methods being used to silence unwanted truths is a breach of a very old set of rules, that only someone who thinks they ARE god would breach.

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          • You have really captured it boans, these are the dilemmas and considerations in healing from social abuse, and it’s not an easy picture. Change and transformation are messy, like the eggs breaking to make the omelette. Trusting our own selves and how our process guides us is where we can feel safer as we go. We’re all uncertain of the future, that’s universal.

            “My ‘faith’ has wavered much over the past 9 years, going from absolute to wondering why my God would allow such things to occur. And yet then I realise it is a test of integrity that is being applied to these people,”

            Yep, for all of us, so here’s our opportunity to follow that light and it will be a better path, uplifting and clearer. That’s my belief and vision, in any event, and my experience so far. It helps to connect with what we truly believe and walk that talk, then we’re in synch with ourselves and we move forward with greater ease.

            “and they are failing miserably.”

            Oh yeah, the corruption is a runaway train, let them wrestle with it. They have to hit rock bottom (whatever that is, scary to think about) before waking up and it will be a rude awakening for them. That’s what happens when it is not voluntary. We do have a choice to embrace change or to resist it. The latter choice makes it much, much harder to navigate, of this I’m certain. I’d recommend *allowing* change, that is more ease than not. They’re resisting it, so they will have problems, but that is their awakening, so it’s quite just.

            “What will be the eventual consequence of that failure?”

            At some point, it has to turn on them, as more and more of us “scapegoats” wake up and stop feeding the vampires and claim our personal sovereignty. I believe that is our birthright, but we were born into oppression, so we have to untie that Gordion Knot ourselves. That’s a hard one, albeit doable, this is not new. Although I do believe that IS the point of all this. Walking away from energy drainers such as these is where we begin to connect with our own power–and a bit more inner peace in the process because anxiety lowers from empowerment–and then we can get acquainted with ourselves on much better terms. Makes all the difference what we believe about ourselves.

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      • It is a compliment Boans, and was a well written post. You can read it daily, like an affirmation.
        Fridge magnets were one of the greatest inventions. I never had a blank fridge 🙂

        It is enraging when we find out that ultimately our politicians don’t want to get involved.
        I can assure you, many conversations go on behind closed doors. Every politician worth his salt will start to question numbers.

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        • The problem with numbers here Sam is that we are forced to vote. I know the claim is that it’s a small fine if you don’t but …. they take that small fine and turn it into a large fine by a process of ‘jacking’. You can find yourself doing a long period in prison as a result of not paying the fine.

          So the numbers go to the reds or the blues, and they know this and find themselves cozying up to one another on legislation that suits them and their business buddies basically.

          What doctor wants, doctor gets here, no doubt about that. Mind you a lot of psychiatrists did leave the public system with the introduction of the new Mental Health Act which removed the exlusion of drug addiction being a ‘treatable illness’ (police don’t want the druggies and its so much easier to damage their brains and call it medicine) and of course we have now had a Euthanasia Bill shoved through parliament at record speed.

          So numbers for Politicians is not an issue here. They have a captive audience and if anyone looks they can rightly claim we voted for them. The Will of the People lol.

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  31. A CALL TO ACTION

    Find survivors who’ve left the movement due to sexual assault. Hire them for good money, an offer they can’t refuse, like any other expert would get, to meet for an emergency summit and follow up summits. Protect their bodies and minds during the process, hold it somewhere safe and beautiful… Arange travel if necessary. maybe Esalen. Make it long enough to really figure things out and face to face. Give it clear parameters. Feed them, house them in private rooms, honor them for the knowledge they have hard earned. Give them the same perks you’d get Will for a project. Reallocate and raise funds for it. Send emails write grants. Prove that as a movement we value the victims, hurt parts, anger and all. Stop insulting them by crying over your potential lost income while asking them to fight a losing battle for free. Or asking them to fix it themselves or only stepping up after they have lost all hope. Or insisting there is only one way… your way. Make it happen like you would for someone you value because of their status. Guests of honor. Come together as a movement. Step up. Prove to those leaving that speaking up wasn’t a mistake… “a mess” a problem. Words alone won’t fix this.

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  32. I know of an accident where the names of the ones involved were never mentioned
    because of political status.
    This is wrong because no such secrecy would surround anyone else.
    This made me curious what the laws are around news people reporting
    facts.
    I guess being a politician protects you, even when there is nothing to protect?
    There was no crime, so why the secrecy.

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  33. In my alien perspective I looked around the movement and saw that there were people co-founding and collaborating while also having sex and doing drugs together. Is that why nobody wants to talk openly? 

    If we were just a movement of equals (no bosses and employees; no therapists and patients; no ladder to climb) then would falling into bed together be just another expression of our humanity? In my institutionalized perspective, I believed that having human experiences would help me belong. I made plans to check sex off my list. I felt proud and proactive until he made me promise not to tell anyone. Why was loving me so dangerous? So shameful? So secret? The only difference was that I was a client so even in the movement I was still the patient. I hate that. Trying to belong has left me more isolated than ever. At this point I’d rather spend a weekend in the psych ward than run into him at a conference. How do we make a movement where we all get equal access to human experiences including being loved proudly if we can’t be honest with each other?

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