David, this is remarkable reporting. Thanks for being such a presence
there, a strong one, a dear one. Let us know how to link up with any and all
disability support and information groups, and sending best wishes.

Remember also to eat, sleep, go outside a bit, see the city (sure, I will
mom...)

:) L.
----------
Individual e-post from:
Dr. L. D. Misek-Falkoff, Speaker, and Chronic Pain Caucus Chair of
The National Disability Party http://www.disabilityparty.com . bio (about)
http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/pain-in-the-law
http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/litigation-stress-central
http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/ChronicPainCooperate
http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/poems-of-pain-and-promise
http://www.cavalcade-for-freedom-car.org
http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/CYBERLIBEL-and-EMAIL
http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/dismissed-as-disabled
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Oaks - Support Coalition International/MindFreedom"
<oaks@...>
To: "Your Mind & Human Rights" <sci@...>
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2002 4:14 PM
Subject: NEWS: Bush Triple Play Against Mental Health Rights- Which Team Are
You On?


> [revised]
> NEWS ANALYSIS: Your Mind & Human Rights - 19 June 2002
> http://www.MindFreedom.org - ** feel free to forward **
>
> President Bush's attack against all
> disability and mental health groups:
>
> But this time we are not alone!
>
> President's New Freedom Commission begins.
>
> Satel appointment to an advisory committee confirmed.
>
> People's True Freedom Commission is launched!
>
> by David Oaks, Director
> Support Coalition International
>
> PENTAGON CITY, WASHINGTON, DC: There we were
> yesterday in a ballroom of the incredibly
> high-priced Ritz Carlton Hotel, not far from the
> Pentagon. We were psychiatric survivors and
> disability leaders scattered throughout an
> audience of 100, watching in disbelief as the
> first meeting of the President's New Freedom
> Commission on Mental Health began.
>
> We were watching a triple play by President Bush
> against the entire cross-disability movement, by
> targeting the most vulnerable: psychiatric
> survivors and mental health consumers.
>
> But this time we were not alone in standing up
> for our rights.
>
> BUSH TRIPLE PLAY
>
> 1) We watched that morning as 15 Bush appointees
> on this mental health commission introduced
> themselves, and only one identified himself or
> herself as having personally experienced the
> mental health system, or as a leader of a mental
> health consumer/psychiatric survivor
> organization.
>
> 2) During a break, we heard personally from
> Charlie Curie, administrator of the US Substance
> Abuse/Mental Health Administration, that the
> appointment of extremist psychiatrist Sally Satel
> to a key federal advisory role was a done deal.
> Mr. Curie told us, "I support her appointment.
> The paper work had been signed. The decision
> won't be changed." (Satel will be on the National
> Advisory Council for the US Center for Mental
> Health Services, not to be confused with the
> President's Commission.)
>
> 3) And the third part of the triple play: In the
> audience were hard-working long-time leaders from
> each of the three federally-funded national
> technical assistance centers for
> consumer/survivors. President Bush's reward for
> their fight for true freedom? His budget promises
> 100 percent "termination" of all funding for these
> centers in one year.
>
> WE'RE BACK AT BAT AND WE'RE NOT ALONE!
>
> By making public announcements during break
> times, by handing out our own news release, and
> by individually talking to the Bush
> Commissioners, we made sure everyone in that
> Ritz ballroom yesterday heard the news about the
> competition:
>
> We announced the People's True Freedom
> Commission, created on June 14, 2002 by a rapidly
> growing network of disability and psychiatric
> survivor/mental health organizations. We made
> sure everyone at the President's Commision first
> meeting had a copy of the speech made by Justin
> Dart at the first meeting of the People's
> Commission. Justin is widely considered one of
> the main leaders of the disability movement. He
> began the People's Commission launch by saying,
> "I propose that we of the disability communities
> unite with all who love justice to lead a
> revolution of empowerment."
>
> For background on the People's New Freedom
> Commission, including the full text of Justin
> Dart's speech, see:
>
> http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/bush_c.shtml
>
> Since that launch just five days ago, we are seeing
> unprecedented unity, bridge building and calls for action
> in the consumer/survivor and disability movements.
>
> I learned something about federal meetings like
> the President's Commission, which intends to hold
> meetings in various parts of the country over the
> next 11 months. They must be publicly announced
> and open to the public, except under certain
> very-narrowly defined conditions. And during
> break times -- just before the meeting, during
> breaks, and just after the meeting -- the First
> Amendment kicks in.
>
> So near the end of a break, as the audience and
> commissioners took their seats, and just before
> chair Michael Hogan, PhD, re-started the meeting,
> I stood up and addressed everyone. To his credit,
> Dr. Hogan let me complete my short speech.
>
> I told everyone about the Bush triple play. I
> told them about how cross-disability and mental
> health consumer and psychiatric survivor groups
> were uniting. I told them about the People's True
> Freedom Commission.
>
> And I pointed something out:
>
> "If this was a President's commission about
> women's issues, imagine 14 of the 15
> commissioners being men. Imagine the President
> had just appointed an openly sexist man to
> another federal advisory committee on women. And
> imagine the President also announced all federal
> funding for technical assistance for women's
> organizations would be terminated in a year. This
> room would be filled with nonviolent protesters
> today."
>
> Judi Chamberlin, who is on the board of Support
> Coalition International, was also there watching the
> disaster unfold at the Ritz Carlton yesterday. She
> was of course disgusted. Judi told a media
> representative, "Back in 1979 President Carter
> also had a blue ribbon commission. There was only
> one token psychiatric survivor/mental health
> consumer on that commission, too. We're in the
> same position 23 years later."
>
> But there's a difference this time, Judi... We
> didn't fill the room with nonviolent protesters
> yesterday, though I personally hope and pray we
> will some day soon. But I felt a subtle
> difference in the air in that ballroom.
>
> As I sat there in the ballroom feeling the deep
> insult of this triple play, Jim Ward quietly took
> a seat next to me. Jim is director of the ADA
> Watch, which unites 400 groups to defend the ADA.
> ADA Watch is a founding organization in the
> People's Commission. Jim helped organize the
> People's Commission, and is himself a psychiatric
> survivor. Jim said ADA Watch intends to
> participate in a news event during the
> anniversary of the ADA, on July 26, 2002 about this
> crisis.
>
> We're not alone this time.
>
> And into the ballroom walks Tom Olin, from the
> Disability Rights Center in D.C., and one of the
> premiere photographers in any social change
> movement. Tom quietly began to record and archive
> the events that day.
>
> We're not alone this time.
>
> During a break, a representative from the large
> International Association for Psychosocial
> Rehabilitation expresses his concern, and he
> tells me IAPSRS would be interested in being on
> the People's Commission.
>
> We're not alone this time.
>
> Members of the West Virginia Mental Health
> Consumers Association say "hi" and tell me
> they're on board.
>
> We're not alone this time.
>
> And as the President's Commission starts I hear a
> familiar booming voice from the other side of the
> audience, pointing out the irony that a meeting
> about one of the poorest constituencies is held
> at the Ritz. "The rooms here are $300," says the
> voice. It's Joseph Rogers, director of the
> National Mental Health Self Help Clearinghouse,
> on the People's Commission. During a break,
> Joseph introduces me to a young law student who
> will help the People's Commission.
>
> We're uniting this time.
>
> As the Commissioners introduce themselves, we
> hear from one of the first "mental health court"
> judges... we hear a Commissioner talk about
> the importance of "compliance"... but we also
> hear Dan Fisher -- psychiatric survivor and
> psychiatrist -- talk about empowerment and
> self-determination. We hear as he is the only
> Commissioner to get a loud round of applause
> from from the audience.
>
> We will be heard this time.
>
> As I write this, Vicki Smith from MadNation in
> Canada tells me she is setting up an e-mail list for
> the People's Commission. Vicki also pointed out
> how this Bush triple play is an attack against
> the entire disability movement. President Bush is
> supposed to have a commitment to "freedom" for all
> people diagnosed or perceived as having
> disabilities. See the MadNation web site about
> the Bush promises:
>
> http://www.madnation.cc/issues/freedom/index.htm
>
> These are the six points Bush promised for
> freedom for all people with disabilities:
>
> Increasing Access to Assistive and Universally
> Designed Technologies
>
> Expanding Educational Opportunities
>
> Promoting Homeownership
>
> Integrating Americans with Disabilities into the
> Workforce
>
> Expanding Transportation Options
>
> Promoting Full Access to Community Life
>
> Says Vicki, "We want assistive technology, homes
> of our own, employment, a chance to go to school,
> transportation and full access to community life
> too. These are our issues, but as the New
> Untouchables we are likely to get brain damaging
> 'treatment,' mental health courts, and a federally
> sanctioned mental health militia in the name of
> 'improved systems' instead."
>
> We're taking strategic action this time.
>
> As I write this, Lawrence Plumlee, MD is giving
> his public comment (copied BELOW) to the
> President's Commission, on behalf of Support
> Coalition International. In the three minutes
> allotted he planned to focus on lack of full informed
> consent for people prescribed psychiatric drugs.
>
> We will not be silent this time!
>
> - end -
>
> From "Lawrence A. Plumlee, MD" <laplumlee@...>
> Founder, National Capital Area Advocates
> Bethesda, Maryland
>
> I'm Larry Plumlee, a graduate of Johns Hopkins
> Medical School and formerly on the faculty there
> in the the Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral
> Sciences.
>
> I've worked in toxicology for the U.S. Public
> Health Service and Environmental Protection
> Agency. Today, I represent the Support Coalition
> International, a coalition of 100 groups of
> psychiatric consumers and survivors.
>
> We believe that consumers should have full
> disclosure about the risks of proposed
> psychiatric treatments, and choice from a range
> of alternatives. We want consumers to have
> informed consent, difficult as that may be to
> provide during a time of crisis.
>
> Many of our members choose drugs, others do not.
>
> I'll read you a few abridged lines from the book
> _Mad in America_ by Robert Whitaker that
> illustrate information which patients are not
> given:
>
> "In 1967, NIMH investigators reported, much to
> their surprise, the patients that had not been
> treated in hospitals with drugs 'were less likely
> to be rehospitalized than those who received any
> of the three active phenothiazines.' Four years
> later, NIMH physicians were back with another
> disturbing finding. Relapse rates rose in direct
> correlation to initial drug dosage, and the
> no-dosage group had by far the lowest relapse
> rate. Only 7 percent of patients who weren't
> medicated at the start of the study relapsed,
> compared to 45 percent who were placed on
> neuroleptics then withdrawn."
>
> Today we know that the risk of neuroleptics
> includes significant structural brain change in
> the size and shape of the brain, as shown on MRI
> and CT scans. Patients are not warned about this,
> and usually, not even about tardive dyskinesia and
> dystonia.
>
> The newer antidepressants of SSRI type carry a
> significant likelihood that patients will be worse
> when they are stopped than they were before
> starting them. Informed consent about this
> discontinuation syndrome is usually not being
> provided to the patient before these drugs are
> recommended.
>
> Thank you very much.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> ACTION: Please forward and copy to all
> appropriate places on and off Internet, thanks.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> For updates on the People's True Freedom
> Commission check the web site
> http://www.MindFreedom.org. To receive an
> occasional MindFreedom announcement e-mail about
> this and other human rights campaigns in mental
> health, e-mail to <listproc@...> with just
> these two words in body of message:
>
> subscribe dendrite
>
> --
>
> David Oaks, Director
> Support Coalition International
> 454 Willamette, Suite 216
> PO Box 11284
> Eugene, OR 97440-3484 USA
>
> email: oaks@...
> web: http://mindfreedom.org
> phone: (541) 345-9106
> toll free in USA: 1-877-MAD-PRIDE
> fax: (541) 345-3737
>
> "Support Coalition International is the
> epicenter of the 'mad movement'!"
> -- _Adbusters Magazine_ May/June 2002
>
> Win human rights in the mental health system!
>