MFNews: Tomorrow, 5/13: Forced Shock of Ray Sandford

Tue May 12 12:56:26 CDT 2009

[important message - sorry for duplicates]

MINDFREEDOM NEWS UPDATE - please forward
Ray Alert #19 - http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray

   TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, 13 MAY 2009:

   RAY SCHEDULED FOR ANOTHER SURPRISE FORCED ELECTROSHOCK

   RAY SAYS, "I AM THE ONE LIVING THIS NIGHTMARE!"

  by David W. Oaks, Director, MindFreedom International

Ray Sandford just phoned our MindFreedom office this morning with some  
very bad news.

Ray has just been told by staff at his assisted living facility in  
Minnesota that he will be escorted for another forced electroshock  
tomorrow morning, Wednesday, 13 May 2009.

Tomorrow's forced electroshock is especially surprising and  
devastating, because Ray had felt he was winning, and had even  
declared a "guarded victory" after his last shock, 15 April 2009.

Those of you following Ray's campaign know that in this past month  
there have been quite a few developments because Ray's campaign is  
winning international attention:

  ** Ray's psychiatrist, Dean K. Knudson, who has been ordering the  
forced shock, at this point every 30 days, has apparently said he  
wants to quit as Ray's psychiatrist because of public pressure.

  ** Ray's "general guardian," Lutheran Social Service (LSS), who have  
opposed and blocked Ray's campaign, have also apparently told the  
court they wish to "resign" as guardians, too.

  ** Friends of Ray quickly found a new psychiatrist more sympathetic  
to Ray's human rights, but LSS apparently cancelled a scheduled  
appointment with that new psychiatrist that was set for last week,  
Monday, 4 May 2009.

   ** LSS claimed they cancelled the meeting with Ray's new  
psychiatrist because they wanted Ray's mother Marilyn present for the  
appointment, even though Mrs. Sandford was out of the state at the  
time, and had said in writing she wanted Ray to see the new  
psychiatrist. LSS apparently refused to reschedule Ray to see a new  
psychiatrist.

  ** Meanwhile, because of MindFreedom protests in Minnesota, the  
Associated Press picked up Ray's story and Ray's campaign is currently  
on the national wire services.

For links to the AP story and other info about Ray see:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray

Despite all of these developments, without a new psychiatrist stepping  
in, a nightmare scenario is now unfolding.

As Ray said today, "And I am the one living this nightmare!"

We need to get out this alert now, so I can only briefly say to all of  
Ray's supporters:

Never give up. Never ever give up!!

Let us resist this forced electroshock, and all psychiatric human  
rights violations.

And if we fail tomorrow, let us all witness -- and never forget -- the  
incredible brutality being forced on Ray, over his wishes and the  
wishes of his family, even though he has been living peacefully out in  
the community in his own home.

Those of us planning to protest this Sunday, 17 May 2009, at 1 pm and  
on Monday, 18 May 2009 at 10 am, in front of the American Psychiatric  
Association at Moscone Center, California, will also remember Ray. For  
info on those protests see:

http://www.mindfreedom.org

Wherever you are, remember that "reform" of the mental health system  
is no where near enough.

For centuries there have been countless efforts to "reform" the mental  
health system that have mainly increased funding to that mental health  
system.

Truly, who could argue with me today, especially today, that what is  
needed is a nonviolent revolution in the mental health system?

PLEASE FORWARD THIS UPDATE FAR AND WIDE.

In the big picture, it is time for a new strategy.

As we announced at the May Day for Ray Rally, it is time to turn off  
the enormous flow of money to this mental health system until  
atrocities like Ray's forced electroshock are an impossibility...  
until empowering, humane, wholistic alternatives for mental and  
emotional well being are made widely available.

By coincidence, Ray's last forced electroshock was on USA tax day, 15  
April 2009. He has had more than 40.

The 15th of April was also the day of the very first forced  
electroshock, back in 1938 in Italy, when the subject said:

"Non una seconda! Mortifierel" which means in Italian, "Not another!  
It's deadly!"

Let's remember that story and our history -- never forget, never again!

And no tax money for this mental health system, until our human rights  
are guaranteed!

~~~~~~~~

FROM ECT.ORG -- THE STORY OF THE FIRST FORCED ELECTROSHOCK IN ITALY ON  
15 APRIL 1938

http://www.ect.org/cgi-bin/faq/smartfaq.cgi?answer=1014926706&id=1014926466
Who invented ECT?

...Italian psychiatrist Ugo Cerlettiis credited with the introduction  
of electroshock therapy. Cerletti, having "doubts regarding the danger  
of electric applications to man," observed that hogs were subdued and  
calm moments before slaughter after the application of 125 volts using  
metallic tongs clamped to their temples.

"It occurred to me," wrote Cerletti, "that the hogs of the  
slaughterhouse could furnish the most valuable material for my  
experiments...At this point I felt we could venture to experiment on  
man, and I instructed my assistants to be on the alert for the  
selection of a suitable subject."

On April 15, 1938, Cerletti found his man, known only by the initials  
S. E. The Police Commissioner of Rome found S.E. wandering, and took  
him to the hospital for observation. Cerletti diagnosed S.E. with a  
form of schizophrenia and applied the first use of ECT, using the  
small dose of 80 volts for 0.2 seconds. S.E. jumped, then stiffened  
and fell back on the bed. Then he burst into song.

"It was quite evident to all of us that we had been using a too low  
voltage," Cerletti wrote. He discussed the patient with his colleagues  
and decided to let S.E. rest before giving him another shock. The  
patient, who had - unbeknownst to Cerletti - been listening to the  
conversation said clearly in Italian "Not another one! It's  
deadly!" [Non una seconda! Mortifierel"]

"I confess that such explicit admonition under such circumstances, and  
so emphatic and commanding, coming from a person whose enigmatic  
jargon had until then been very difficult to understand, shook my  
determination to carry on with the experiment. But it was just this  
fear of yielding to a superstitious notion that caused me to make up  
my mind. The electrodes were applied again, and a 110-volt discharge  
was applied for 0.2 seconds." (1)

With that, electroshock therapy was born.

In an article written by Dr. Frank Ayd in 1963, Cerletti is quoted as  
saying "When I saw the patient's reaction, I thought to myself: This  
ought to be abolished! Ever since I have looked forward to the time  
when another treatment would replace electroshock." (2)

References

1. Frank, LR (1978). The History of Shock Treatment. San Francisco.

2. Ayd, F.J. Jr. Guest Editorial UGO CERLETTI, M.D. (1877-1963).  
Psychosomatics, 4:A6-A7, 1963.

~~~~~~~~~~~

PLEASE FORWARD THIS UPDATE FAR AND WIDE

~~~~~~~~~~~

In support and struggle,

David

David W. Oaks, Executive Director
MindFreedom International
454 Willamette, Suite 216 - POB 11284
Eugene, OR 97440-3484 USA

web: http://www.mindfreedom.org
email: oaks at mindfreedom.org
office phone: (541) 345-9106
fax: (480) 287-8833
member services toll free in USA: 1-877-MAD-PRID[e] or 1-877-623-7743

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to win campaigns for human rights and alternatives in mental health.  
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"Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.