Grass Roots

Grass Roots

Tom Davis reports, "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." ("Drug-free treatment promoter," The Record, May 23, 2006)
One problem with some of these groups is that the corporate public relations industry has turned the notion of "grass roots" on its head. Most of the alleged disability rights organizations are fronts for human services corporations. Davis mentions that MindFreedom "clashed" with NAMI, a lobbyist funded by the drug industry.
One concern with the focus of MindFreedom is their effort to protect the "human rights" of persons accused of psychiatric illness. Human rights are rights that we want for humans. Constitutional rights can be enforced in courts. Few advocates for rights of persons accused of psychiatric illness use the state and US laws that prohibit discrimination, e.g., the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Police, lawyers, judges and journalists regularly violate rights to privacy and portray persons accused of psychiatric illness as if they are criminals. The public discourse on psychiatry is currently under the control of the drug companies and their well funded lobbyists. The 70-year PR campaign to persuade the public, the legislatures and the media executives that psychiatry is scientific is well established in the minds of the opinion makers.
--
Roy Bercaw, Editor ENOUGH ROOM
Cambridge MA USA

The (Bergen, NJ)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."
[...]
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.