NEWS: MindFreedom Shield vs. Psychiatric Coercion

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Wed, 03 Nov 2004 15:22:48 -0800

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NEWS: MindFreedom Shield vs. Psychiatric Coercion

 

 

MindFreedom News - 3 November 2004

http://wwww.MindFreedom.org - please forward

 

NEWS RELEASE

 

Today's Re-Election of President Bush

May Mean More Psychiatric Coercion,

Advocates Warn

 

MindFreedom Announces New

MindFreedom Shield Program

 

" All for One and One for All! "

 

With today's re-election of President Bush,

advocates for the human rights of people

affected by the mental health system are

preparing for the worst.

 

Today, MindFreedom International, an

independent non-profit coalition of 100

grassroots groups, is launching the

MindFreedom Shield Program to defend members

from an expected increase in coerced and

forced psychiatric procedures.

 

President Bush has endorsed a drug company

plan to screen every American for mental

health problems. A Bush appointee to a key

federal committee, psychiatrist Sally Satel,

has openly called for more " coercive, "

" intrusive, highly paternalistic " and

" involuntary care " in mental health.

 

MindFreedom International has an

established track record of taking

constructive, nonviolent action when a

person is being subjected to coerced or

forced psychiatric procedures. In order

to better utilize its very limited

resources, MindFreedom International

announces the official beginning of the

MindFreedom Shield Program.

 

MindFreedom Shield is a coordinated

registration system and solidarity

network composed by and for people who

want to have as much protection as

possible from being subjected to

coerced or forced psychiatric

" treatment. "

 

" I hope this program lets people know

that they not only have choice A, B, or

C but that they are free to choose,

'NONE OF THE ABOVE!' " explains

advocate Pat Risser, one of a group of

psychiatric survivors who envisioned

and initiated the concept that has

become the MindFreedom Shield.

" This is a way to 'just say no' to

oppression. "

 

MindFreedom Shield is designed to

support a person's choice to be

free from coerced or forced

psychiatric " treatment " by backing this

personal choice up with the MindFreedom

Solidarity Network -- a network of

people ready to take constructive,

nonviolent action if someone's choice

to be free from coerced or forced

psychiatric " treatment " is not being

respected or upheld.

 

As the current mental health system

continues to globalize and rely more

and more on coercion and outright

force, many people's rights to have

their previously expressed and even

properly documented wishes carried out

are being ignored. The recent

recommendations of the President's New

Freedom Commission to begin universal

mental health screening, currently

being implemented in several states, is

only one example of the increasing use

of such pressure.

 

In order to best implement this

program, MindFreedom is collaborating

closely with sponsor group The Law

Project for Psychiatric Rights

(PsychRights.org). " Through this

mechanism people saddled with

psychiatric labels can unite and offer

effective resistance to psychiatric abuses, "

said attorney Jim Gottstein, director

of PsychRights. " The MindFreedom Shield

Program fits PsychRights' mission of

defending people facing the horrors of

forced psychiatric drugging and other

forced psychiatric procedures

administered against their will

perfectly. "

 

All for One and One for All

 

MindFreedom board member and psychologist

Al Galves, PhD said, " The MindFreedom Shield

is a quick, cost-effective defense against

people being railroaded into using such

methods as medication and electroshock

to alleviate normal responses to life

issues that can more effectively,

economically and safely be addressed

through interpersonal emotional support

and creative action. "

 

" We can't guarantee the results, "

cautions MindFreedom director David

Oaks, " But it has been our experience,

including testing the MindFreedom

Shield Program to help free a member

from a Canadian psychiatric facility,

that public awareness and people

engaging in specific, nonviolent action

can often reduce or even end coerced or

forced psychiatric 'treatment.' "

 

MindFreedom Shield is not meant to take

the place of legal documents expressing

a person's medical and psychiatric care

preferences, such as an " Advance Directive. "

MindFreedom Shield is intended to provide

the people power clout it sometimes takes

to enforce a member's wishes, including

members with Advance Directives. " Our

recommendation is that a member have

both a MindFreedom Shield and an

Advance Directive in place. " said Krista

Erickson, chair of the MindFreedom Shield

committee.

 

Any current member of MindFreedom may

register a MindFreedom Shield for free.

Detailed information about the program,

as well as a registration form, can be

found online at:

 

http://www.mindfreedom.intenex.net/shield

 

Any MindFreedom member who does not

have access to the Internet may write

to the MindFreedom office to obtain

information about the program.

 

MindFreedom Support Coalition

International is a grassroots human

rights non-profit uniting over 100

sponsor groups in 15 countries working

for human rights and alternatives in

mental health. The organization is

the only group of its kind with

Non Governmental Organization

accreditation by the United Nations

(ECOSOC Consultative Roster Status).

 

Sometimes called the " Amnesty

International of mental health, "

MindFreedom is independent from any

government, mental health provider,

drug company or religion.

 

To join or renew membership in

MindFreedom go to:

 

http://www.mindfreedom.org/join.shtml

 

Or write to:

 

MindFreedom

PO Box 11284

Eugene, OR 9744-3484 USA

 

For more information on the nationwide

screening program approved by President

Bush, along with his appointee psychiatrist

Sally Satel, see:

 

http://mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/bush_psychiatry.shtml

 

For information about MindFreedom see:

 

http://www.MindFreedom.org

 

- end -

 

Please forward to all appropriate

places on and off Internet.

 

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