Key mental health consumer and psychiatric survivor leaders endorsed the following statement at a SAMHSA summit. Please support this urgent call:

Bastille Day 2010 Statement – Rockville, MD

14 July 2010

The Urgent Necessity for More Non-Drug Alternatives in Mental Health Care

We are alarmed about the over-reliance on psychiatric medication in mental health care because of the undue influence of the pharmaceutical industry. We see an urgent need for a far greater range of non-pharmaceutical mental health care.

We are participants in the USA Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) meeting, “Past, Present, and Future: SAMHSA Efforts to Promote Consumer/Survivor Inclusion.” We are speaking today only for ourselves as individuals, and not for SAMHSA. We applaud SAMHSA's endorsement of the values of peer support, social justice, self-determination, trauma-informed care, and a dignified life in the community for everyone.

As leaders in the mental health consumer and psychiatric survivor movement, we affirm the principle of choice in mental health care, and continue to work towards the elimination of coercion in all mental health treatment. We support the right of those who willingly choose to take prescribed psychiatric medications.

However, the inappropriate prescriptions of psychiatric medication are harming a wide range of the USA population, including infants, vets, people of color and seniors. Severe side effects are contributing to heartbreaking suffering and approximately 25 years of premature mortality for people in the public mental health system. Advertisements, the media and far too many mental health organizations are disseminating misleading information about psychiatric medication. Some individuals are even involuntarily administered psychiatric drugs over their expressed wishes, including on an outpatient basis.

Our constituency's right to choice, empowerment and self-determination in mental health care is threatened as never before, in the USA and internationally. We call upon SAMHSA to work with their federal partners and consumer/survivors to:

• Address the conflict of interest in the current relationship between the federal government and the pharmaceutical industry.

• End direct-to-consumer advertising for psychiatric medications.

• Complete the President's New Freedom Commission recommendation to investigate the long-term effects of psychiatric medication.

• Independently research on the efficacy, safety and successful ways of reducing psychiatric medications.

• Research and fund non-drug alternatives such as mental health peer-run respite centers and recovery-oriented education.

We encourage all those concerned to speak out about this crisis.

Signed:

Ellen K. Awai
Randall Bosin
Jean Campbell, Ph.D.
Gladys DeVonne Christian
Mary Ellen Copeland, Ph.D.
Jonathan David, Ph.D.
Daniel Fisher, M.D., Ph.D.
David Fuller, CPRP
Patrick Hendry
J. Rock Johnson, J.D.
Jacki McKinney, M.S.W.
James McNulty
David W. Oaks
Pat Risser
Stephen Robinson
Gilberto Romero
Lauren Spiro
Sharon P. Yokote, HCPS

Many Americans are not aware that some individuals are administered involuntary electroshock (also known as electroconvulsive therapy or ECT) over their expressed wishes.

Most people sign voluntarily for their procedure (and this can still be a problem with flawed informed consent and not being offered alternatives).

However, this 'idea' is very simple: Ban federal funding for involuntary electroshock over the expressed wishes of the subject. Note I am not talking here about an individual who is mute or non-responsive (while of course they too should be free of intrusive controversial irreversible procedures).

No, this idea is very focused: When an individual says "no" to electroshock IT SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN. This is the case today with psychosurgery, which is still done in places like Mass. General Hospital (go ahead and google it). Today, federal law bans all involuntary psychosurgery, which is the destruction of healthy brain tissue to change behavior. That's obvious, of course.

So why is it not obvious that we should ban electroshock? This is usually taxpayer money involved, our scarce dollars. In a land based on the core value of freedom, there are still American citizens who are being walked that long walk down the hallway to their involuntary electroshock, where they could potentially lose precious memories, for life.

In case someone thinks we are making this up, go ahead and google the words -- involuntary electroshock.

Or go straight to the "Ray Campaign." That's a campaign our nonprofit did for Ray Sandford of Minnesota, who was actually on court-ordered involuntary OUTPATIENT electroshock. That's right, with taxpayer money -- thousands of dollars -- he was woken up each Wednesday morning to be taken to a psychiatric institution for another involuntary electroshock, over his poignantly-expressed and clear objections.

MindFreedom, the nonprofit I direct, did a big campaign for Ray, and we won. But we found many other Americans are still experiencing this.

That such a horrendous abuse could occur in our nation, funded by taxpayers who would be outraged, is a sign of something deeper. While psychiatry has not yet found proof of its theorized 'chemical imbalance,' we see evidence of an astounding POWER IMBALANCE. And that the federal government is still funding something from the 1950's, so nightmarishly horrible as forced electroshock, says volumes.

The main lesson from something like forced electroshock is to watch out for minor reform in the mental health system. You see, those for minor reform in mental health will talk about 'empowerment,' 'self-determination,' 'advocacy,' 'peer support, 'recovery,' etc. Sounds good.

Then focus on the fact that RAY SANDFORD WAS WOKEN UP EACH MORNING, TO BE BROUGHT FROM HIS GROUP HOME TO ANOTHER INVOLUNTARY ELECTROSHOCK, PAID FOR BY TAXPAYER DOLLARS. Focus on that when you hear buzz words about minor reform.

Truly, the changes required in 'mental health' care today are so immense, so enormous, that we need allies in SAMHSA who will be willing to demonstrate what the last four words are in our national anthem: HOME OF THE BRAVE.

We need allies inside SAMHSA who are willing to go out on a limb, and stand by side with survivors of overwhelming traumatic abuse, at the hands of our own psychiatric institutions and procedures. This is not a case of a 'few bad apples.' Yes, I'm aware many people are satisfied with their care. This is about INSTITUTIONAL SILENCE. Only through massive silence by thousands in the mental health profession, could the taxpayers be tricked into funding something they would find so utterly reprehensible, as involuntary electroshock. Once American citizens find that forced electroshock still exists, and that they are funding it, and that we're talking about someone getting it over their EXPRESSED WISHES... Then you see Americans from both red and blue states express absolute outrage. And of course, they would, they're Americans, and we love freedom.

So ban involuntary electroshock now, and please be on the winning side of history in this case. Because freedom will win, even for those who are among the most marginalized in our country, like Ray Sandford.

Read about what it took to win Ray's freedom here: http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray

These specialized hospitals need funding.
Federal funding is unprecedented for mental health. No one is discussing this provision in the media so people can not write letters to their Senators and Represenatives for the next 5 years to ask for funding.
This program is for 5 years and the funding takes place in July. This past July 10 million dollars out of 100 million dollars was appropriated.

Do we in the mental health community feel
ok with passing up a possible 90 million dollars for treatment and research. Especially with the drastic state cuts in mental health programs.
Treatment and research is needed to help
find cures and better treatments. Isn't there anyone else who is concerned about this?

So for the next 5 July's contact your legislators to ask for maximum funding for the Centers of Excellence for Bipolar and Depression. Bring the information everywhere, to your support group, your counselor, your psychiatristt,friends and familly.
Make a preprinted letter that people just need to sign with thier address to send their legislators.

Please help with this. We all need better treatments.