Fwd: [SSRI-Research] A MINDFREEDOM SCIENTIFIC PANEL SOCKS IT TO THE ARROGANT EDUCATIONALLY-CHALLEN

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SSRI-Research

JustSayNo

Sat, 23 Aug 2003 03:25:02 -0000

[sSRI-Research] A MINDFREEDOM SCIENTIFIC PANEL SOCKS IT TO THE ARROGANT

EDUCATIONALLY-CHALLEN

 

Part 2: Nicholas Regush on Fast for Freedom in Mental Health

 

 

http://www.redflagsweekly.com/extra/2003_aug22.html

 

EXTRA!

 

August 22, 2003

 

SECOND OPINION

 

A FAST FOR FREEDOM IN MENTAL HEALTH

 

A hunger strike is challenging international

domination by biopsychiatry and the forced

drugging of patients

 

A MINDFREEDOM SCIENTIFIC PANEL SOCKS IT TO THE

ARROGANT AND EDUCATIONALLY-CHALLENGED APA

 

Second In A Series (first HERE)

 

By Nicholas Regush

 

Day Six. He sounds a little lightheaded and

wired. That's what a hunger strike does to you.

David Oaks, having had a restful day at hunger

strike headquarters in Pasadena, is feeling

" jazzed " because the scientific panel established

by MindFreedom, the organization he heads, has

produced a stunning rebuttal to an extremely

arrogant memo from the American Psychiatric

Association. When MindFreedom asked the APA to

provide evidence that " emotional and mental

problems are primarily a biologically-based brain

disease, " Dr. James H. Scully, Jr., the APA

Medical Director suggested that Oaks, his fellow

hunger strikers, group members and supporters

read a report from the Surgeon General of the

United States and an introductory " user-friendly "

textbook of psychiatry -- just perfect for those

" being introduced to the field of psychiatry. "

 

Big mistake. Though Scully is on vacation, the

APA will shortly be receiving the MindFreedom

report that suggests to me -- and it comes as no

surprise -- that the APA is educationally

challenged on the key issues of what constitutes

a mental illness. In fact, the APA is so out of

touch with the science that there should be a

Congressional investigation to determine the role

the drug industry has had in shaping uneducated

viewpoints and policies at APA central. I'm not

kidding. There is such a lack of fit between what

the established agenda has going for it and the

available neuroscience that this is no longer

just a matter of tweaking the so-called experts

to get their house in order; no, it is now a

matter requiring a high-level investigation.

Lives are at stake; they always have been, and

the situation has gone totally out-of-control.

The kind of psychiatry supported by big drug

money and its associate, the APA, has more to do

with profit and career enhancement than it has to

do with patient care. And I'm being very nice.

 

The panel that MindFreedom set up has 13 PhDs and

MDs. This is no B-team. I'd put these people up

against anything the APA would have to offer in

the way of an actual debate. In fact, it already

seems at this very early point in the hunger

strike that the panel has scored a major coup,

revealing how absolutely ridiculous Scully's

reading recommendations turned out to be. Again,

I say, " Big Surprise. "

 

The panel decided to look at the Report of the

Surgeon General on mental health and notes that

the report is explicit when it comes to

discussing specific pathophysiology. For example,

" few lesions or physiologic abnormalities define

the mental disorders, and for the most part their

causes remain unknown. " I wonder if Scully knows

this. Or does Scully know that, " the diagnosis of

mental disorders is often believed to be more

difficult than diagnosis of somatic, or general

medical, disorders, since there is no definitive

lesion, laboratory test, or abnormality in brain

tissue than can identify the illness? "

 

Does Scully know that, " the precise causes

(etiology) of mental disorders are not known? "

The mantra for MindFreedom should be: Does Scully

Know? I mean, didn't he read the Surgeon General's

Report?

 

On to that " user-friendly textbook. " Here's a

good one from the panel's report:

 

" Although reliable criteria have been constructed

for many psychiatric disorders, validation of the

diagnostic categories as specific entities has

not been established. "

 

I suppose we can go on. But let's put a stop to

the carnage for the moment. Tomorrow, I'll take a

closer look at the response to MindFreedom from

the National Alliance For The Mentally Ill.

That's worth waiting for.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

 

for more info on the fast see

http://www.MindFreedom.org