The following is a news release to help spread the word about our
little known movement. Peace & love:
(and if you can make it to D.C. to help our little struggling
movement, THANK YOU!!!!)
(PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE THIS NEWS BULLETIN)
NEWS BULLETIN: February 2, 1992
from: The Support-In co-coordinator, David Oaks
PSYCHIATRIC SURVIVORS AND ALLIES ASK YOU TO
" B R E A K T H E S I L E N C E "
ABOUT PSYCHIATRIC HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.
NATIONAL COALITION PLANS TO CONFRONT PSYCHIATRISTS
AT THEIR OWN ANNUAL MEETING IN MAY IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
A national coalition of "psychiatric survivors" and their allies
plans to gather May 1 to 5, 1992 in Washington, D.C.
one block away from the huge American Psychiatric
Association Annual Meeting. A peaceful protest,
counter-conference, festival of alternatives, and even
a "Mad Celebration" of performing artists are all being
planned by the 13-group coalition, which calls itself
"The Support-In," as in sit-in, teach-in, etc.
"In the family of social change movements, we are the
cousin that's never talked about," commented Support-In
co-coordinator and psychiatric survivor David Oaks.
"Talk about us now. We are an 'indicator species'
during authoritarian times."
Electroshock has been singled out by The Support-In
because shock's recent comeback has brought with it
a rise in human rights violations claim coalition leaders,
most of whom are shock survivors. They charge shock --
also called ECT or electroconvulsive therapy -- is
increasingly given coercively, sometimes even forcibly,
and always without exploring less harmful options.
Though the grassroots movement of psychiatric survivors
is now 20 years old, they have recently been helped by an
unusual source: a psychiatrist. Dr. Peter Breggin has just
authored a massive indictment of his own profession's
human rights violations called "Toxic Psychiatry." Breggin
will be the keynote speaker at Support-In '92.
"We are counting on allies like Peter to break the silence
about many stories," said Oaks. "Perhaps the most passed-over
story is very, very hopeful: There are diverse, humane,
empowering alternatives to psychiatric coercion working
right now for people in extreme emotional distress. Some
of these are model user-run residential programs and
community centers that belong to The Support-In."
"The other side of the story about psychiatry" is covered
by the official newspaper of The Support-In, their
international DENDRON NEWS. Recent news stories included:
/ The main family of powerful psychiatric drugs given
to millions of Americans annually is now known to cause
brain damage in more than half of long term users. This
can include a permanent "lobotomy effect" in the very
same frontal lobes of the brain targeted by that infamous
surgical procedure. These lobotizing drugs, called
"neuroleptics," include Thorazine, Haldol, Mellaril,
Prolixin, Navane and especially the newest controversial
drug, Clozapine. Brain scans have even shown brain shrinkage
after prolonged neuroleptic use. Dozens of mainstream
medical citations are available.
/ Though the death rate from neuroleptics is far higher
than originally thought, they are regularly given forcibly
to elderly in nursing homes, children, psychiatric inmates,
etc. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled prisoners may be given
forced neuroleptics without due process. Forced neuroleptics
have even come outside to the community, using court
orders and roving vans ("needles on wheels") in some states.
/ Ritalin -- a form of speed -- is now given to more than
750,000 American school kids with psychiatric labels.
Asks Oaks, "If 'education-president' Bush is so anti-drug,
why is his federal agency -- a key player in the supposed
War on Drugs -- actually pushing more speed on children
than ever before?"
/ Among skyrocketing health costs, it is psychiatry's costs
that burst the very highest. And the cost isn't only to the
pocketbook. An increase in unregulated cutthroat for-profit
psychiatric institutions has infringed the Bill of Rights
nationally.
/ While Bush recently approved more than half-a-billion
dollars for psychiatric research, NONE of that money will
go to the concept that community, environment, income --
in other words a person's real life -- can help hurt or heal
the "biochemistry" of the mind. "Instead," said Oaks, "almost
all of this tax payer money will go to the pharmaceutical
industry to somehow find all of our answers in a new,
expensive pill."
"Dominating, mechanistic psychiatry has failed," concludes
Oaks. "Our movement has carried an empowering new
vision for twenty years. We take our place next to other
oppressed groups calling for deep rooted social change now!"
For a free copy of the coalition's newspaper, DENDRON NEWS,
or for an Action Guide on the May event in Washington, D.C.,
write The Support-In, PO Box 11284, Eugene, OR 97440 USA.
Or leave your address with zip code on their 24-hour voice
mail at (503) 341-0100.
NOTE: PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE this little-covered
news bulletin as widely as possible!!
e-mail addresses:
Peacenet: CHRP. Handsnet: HN1223. PIE Online: oaksd.
Ask about gateways to us via other BBS's.