Subj: DENDRITE: Forced psychiatric drugs & ANN LANDERS Date: 99-02-17 19:21:04 EST From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (David Oaks - Support Coalition International) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] DENDRITE ALERT -- February 17, 1999 Copy/post to appropriate places on & off Internet. Win human rights in "mental health system" with Support Coalition International web: www.efn.org/~dendron [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WRITE ANN LANDERS -- CHANGE HER MIND: NATIONAL COLUMNIST SAYS "PERHAPS" GOVERNMENT SHOULD FORCE PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS OUT IN COMMUNITY In a nationally-syndicated column published today, Ann Landers said "perhaps" the government should forcibly administer psychiatric drugs on people diagnosed "schizophrenic" who are living in the community. Wake up and smell the Thorazine, Ann, you're way off! Actually, such forced drugging is already happening nationwide out in the community using court orders. This authoritarianism just doesn't work. It kills. Ann Landers reassured her millions of readers that psychiatric drugs for "schizophrenia" can allow people to "live a normal life if they stay on their medication..." (These drugs include neuroleptics such as Thorazine, Haldol, Prolixin, Clozapine, etc.) Ann doesn't mention to her readers that these drugs can have devastating side effects, including brain damage that can cause even worse mental & emotional problems. Ann then wrote: "Perhaps it is time the government intervened for the good of those who cannot care for themselves. Allowing loved ones to commit mentally ill family members to residences where medication is monitored under the supervision of trained personnel may be the solution." * * * A C T I O N * * * WRITE Ann Landers now! Enough reader feedback can change her mind! Ann Landers c/o Creators Syndicate 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700 Los Angeles, CA 90045 It helps to give personal experience, but all letters and postcards will help. SOME TALKING POINTS: ANN IS MISLED Ann Landers has been misled by psychiatric drug manufacturers that all is rosy in the land of "neuroleptic" psychiatric drugs (also called "antipsychotics," by far the most common drug prescribed to those diagnosed "schizophrenic"). There are: life-threatening side effects, rational reasons to refuse, and effective humane alternatives. STOP THE MEDICIATON MILITIA Ann is caught up in the rising "Chemical Crusade" to court-order more and more Americans unto psychiatric drugs against their will, even those living peaceably out in the community who are not "commitable." Nearly 40 U.S. states have quietly passed such "involuntary outpatient commitment" laws. This waste of taxpayer money is terrorizing the "mental health consumer" and psychiatric survivor community. Complex problems aren't solved by force and pills, or columnists' sound bites. RECOVERY REQUIRES EMPOWERMENT There are plenty of people who willingly choose to take neuroleptics. But use of force and intimidation drain the very spirit of empowerment out of a person that is needed for long-term recovery. People feel violated and then vote with their feet to AVOID any help. That's why the California Network of Mental Health Clients protested such forced outpatient drugging TODAY. NEUROLEPTICS CAN CAUSE "REBOUND" EFFECT Those pushing forced neuroleptics claim those who suddenly quit become "psychotic." But drug companies and researchers know an important fact that is not being told to the public, relatives, media and especially the patients themselves: WARNING: The long-term use of neuroleptics can cause persistent brain changes, making quitting very difficult. Quitting neuroleptics can unmask these drug-induced brain changes, leading to severe emotional and mental problems during withdrawal that can last for many months, and can be far worse than before the person started taking the drugs. People have a right to know neuroleptics can hook people, before they start. Ann Landers is acting as the Joe Camel of neuroleptics, shame on her. (More accurate though still off: Tonight, the TV show Beverly Hills 90210 reportedly portrays a "schizophrenic" drugs as deadly, though effective. Neuroleptic drugs can and do kill.) DEMAND PSYCHIATRIC DRUG DETOX CENTERS Ann Landers should be calling for better informed consent to warn people about neuroleptics. She should join us in demanding psychiatric drug detox centers, instead of hooking more of her readers on a drug which can cause such frightening brain changes. A new study published by the American Psychiatric Association shows these neuroleptic-induced brain changes seem to change the size and shape of the brain, and these changes are actually visible on MRI scan. Below is the "Science News" summary of this article. The researchers suspect the swelling of the brain is directly related to the rebound effect to neuroleptics. ~~~~~~~~~~ WARNING about "neuroleptic" psychiatric drugs (Haldol, Prolixin, Thorazine, etc.) Following excerpt is from respected publication "Science News" December 19-26, 1998, about study in American Psychiatric Association's "American Journal of Psychiatry," December 1998: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "ANTIPSYCHOTICS AND BRAIN CHANGES" The use of antipsychotic drugs, rather than the action of a distinct disease process, appears to bloat the volume of several innerbrain regions in people diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to a team of neuroscientists. The researchers, led by Raquel E. Gur of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in Philadelphia, administered magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to 96 psychiatric patients with schizophrenia -- a severe disturbance of thought and mood -- and 128 people who had no psychiatric ailments. Of the patients, 21 had never taken antipsychotic medication, 48 had received only haloperidol or other traditional antipsychotics for about 3 years, and 27 had used both traditional and newer medications, such as clozapine, over a similar period. The volume of the basal ganglia was markedly greater in medication-treated patients than in both drug-free patients and healthy volunteers, the scientists report in the December AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY. The basal ganglia consist of clumps of tissue involved in the regulation of movement and thinking. They showed the greatest volume in patients who had taken high doses of traditional antipsychotic drugs. ... By B. Bower Source: Science News, 12/19/98-12/26/98, Vol. 154 Issue 25/26, p397, 1/6p. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More information on stopping "Chemical Crusade": Support Coalition www.efn.org/~dendron [EMAIL PROTECTED] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ YOU CAN GET DENDRITE HUMAN RIGHTS ALERTS & NEWS *FREE*! DENDRITE is a public Internet alert system about human rights in psychiatry, sponsored by Support Coalition International, sending out notices to thousands of concerned people, many of whom take ACTION NOW! **SNOWBALL** this message: Please copy and forward to appropriate places on and off the Internet. Support Coalition International is an independent non-profit federation of more than 70 groups in 11 countries united to WIN campaigns for human rights in the "mental health system." For info on Support Coalition, see the web site: www.efn.org/~dendron DID YOU SEE DENDRON YET? The new winter '99 issue of "Dendron News" #41 published by Support Coalition has 48 pages exposing coerced psychiatric drugging out in the community, plus resources, letters, cartoons, poetry, books, and more. To join SCI and get "Dendron News" e-mail your postal address to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dendron is the newsjournal for members of Support Coalition. DENDRITE is free public e-mail list for all. 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