Newspaper column: Psychiatric drug alternatives & MindFreedom

Tue May 23 14:12:07 CDT 2006

[The below newspaper column today from Northern New Jersey, USA 
spotlights MindFreedom International's promotion of alternatives to 
psychiatric drugs.]

~~~~~~~~~~

_The Record_

Drug-free treatment promoter

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

By TOM DAVIS

RECORD COLUMNIST

David Oaks has a simple philosophy about life: If the mind isn't free, 
there's no freedom.

Thirty years ago, he was "locked up" five times because of emotional 
episodes he had as a Harvard student. He was diagnosed with 
schizophrenia.

Each time, he was forcibly drugged. Each time, he was told he'd feel 
"better." He says, however, he felt like a prisoner.

"For me, [the drugs were] torture," said Oaks, now [50]. The drugs were 
"a wrecking ball to my mind."

Oaks eventually got his degree from Harvard, in 1977. But he soon 
realized that his best education came not as a student but as a 
psychiatric patient.

And he knew what he had to do.

Oaks joined a growing movement against the use of psychiatric medicine 
as a first and last resort. Around 1990, he started an organization, 
Mind Freedom, that challenged what he calls "the medical model" for 
dealing with people with mental illness.

"The drugs are really harming people," Oaks said. "We just believe in 
freedom of choice."

Mind Freedom believes that counseling -- even for people who may not be 
equipped to make the decision -- should be the first choice of 
treatment. The group doesn't rule out the use of medication but 
believes that it should be used in conjunction with counseling, pain 
management techniques and occupational therapy.

Through the years, Mind Freedom has developed an international 
coalition that unites 100 grassroots groups -- as well as thousands of 
its members -- who seek to protect the human rights of people diagnosed 
with psychiatric disabilities.

Some mental health advocates credit Mind Freedom -- which depends on 
donations for its operation -- for getting the medical profession to 
consider more holistic and therapeutic approaches to mental illness. 
They also note that Mind Freedom was one of the first organizations to 
bring sensitivity to mental health language.

"He is one of the great activists in the field," said Eric Rosenthal, 
executive director of Mental Disability Rights International. "He has 
fostered communication among activists in other countries," adding that 
Mind Freedom's letter-writing campaigns have addressed decrepit 
conditions of psychiatric institutions in Turkey and elsewhere.

In the United States, Mind Freedom has made an impact by employing the 
same youthfulness and idealism that Oaks had as a Harvard student.

The members don't wear fancy suits and lobby the halls of Congress for 
legislation. Instead, Mind Freedom has recruited hundreds of its 
supporters to hold protests outside pharmaceutical companies and other 
groups that advocate the liberal use of psychiatric medicine.

"We felt we needed to keep the independent, activist-based movement 
alive," he said.

"Last year, we protested in front of PhRMA in Washington, D.C. That was 
fun."

A few years ago, the group held a hunger strike and challenged the 
American Psychiatric Association to "prove their claim" that medication 
was necessary for managing a chemical imbalance.

In a September 2003 statement released after the protest, the 
association expressed dismay that "a small number of individuals and 
groups persist in questioning the reality and clinical legitimacy of 
disorders that affect the mind, brain and behavior.

"While the membership of the American Psychiatric Association respects 
the right of individuals to express their impatience with the pace of 
science, we note that the human brain is the most complex and 
challenging object of study in the history of human science."

Mind Freedom also has clashed with the National Alliance on Mental 
Illness and other organizations for developing "unholy" alliances with 
drug companies and accepting money for research.

To contact Mind Freedom, call (877) MAD-PRIDE or e-mail 
office at mindfreedom.org.

[ Web: http://www.MindFreedom.org ]

~~~~~~~~~~

The Coping column appears [in _The Record_] every other Tuesday. To 
suggest topics, write to Tom Davis, The Record, 150 River St., 
Hackensack, NJ 07601 [USA] or e-mail davist at northjersey.com. Please 
include your phone number with all correspondence.

- end of column -

from: http://www.northjersey.com/

to submit letter to editor: letterstotheeditor at northjersey.com

[Minor correction: MindFreedom promotes a range of safe, humane and 
empowering alternatives, and doesn't rank any one option (such as the 
counseling named in the article), over others. Some members choose to 
take prescribed psychiatric drugs. MindFreedom objects to the way the 
current system pushes that one "medical model" approach because this 
lack of choice is a type of coercion.]

~~~~~~~~~~

For other current articles regarding MindFreedom and David Oaks see:

_Utne_ magazine May / June 2006 -- "Freeing your Mind" by Keith 
Goetzman, _Utne_ Senior Editor

http://www.utne.com/pub/2006_135/promo/12090-1.html

_Alternatives Magazine_ Spring 2006 -- "Madness and the Mental Health 
System" by David Oaks

http://alternativesmagazine.com/37/oaks.html

~~~~~~~~~

    * ACTION * ACTION * ACTION *

Please forward this news to all appropriate places on and off the 
Internet. Thanks.

~~~~~~~~~

Free Your Mind!

JOIN MindFreedom International today!

MindFreedom is a non-profit human rights group:

* Win human rights campaigns in mental health.
* End abuse by the psychiatric drug industry.
* Support the self-determination of psychiatric survivors.
* Promote safe and humane options in mental health.

MindFreedom International unites 100 sponsor
and affiliate groups with individual members,
and is accredited by the United Nations as
a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with
Consultative Roster Status.

MindFreedom is one of the very few totally
independent groups in the mental health
field with no funding from governments,
drug companies, religions, corporations,
or the mental health system.

JOIN, DONATE, or give GIFT MEMBERSHIPS
to MindFreedom International today:

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

For a MAD MARKET of books and other
products to support human rights campaigns
in mental health: http://www.madmarket.org

MindFreedom International
454 Willamette, Suite 216 - POB 11284
Eugene, OR 97440-3484 USA

web site: http://www.mindfreedom.org
e-mail: office at mindfreedom.org
office phone: (541) 345-9106
toll free: 1-877-MAD-PRIDE or 1-877-623-7743
fax: (541) 345-3737

Please forward.