psychiatric disorders are a fraud

Dr. Fred Baughman

Email: fredbaughmanmd@cox.net

Retired neurologist/child neurologist

No affiliation was given

Competing Interests: I am a retired neurologist/child neurologist, board certified, with no financial conflicts of interest, with no affiliations with orgs, institutions having such conflicts. Formerly I was a March of Dimes/National Foundation scholar and published considerably from a private practice base. I am author of a book THE ADHD FRAUD--How Psychiatry Makes "Patients" of Normal Children www.Trafford.com . I have testified widely re the absense of proof that any psychiatric disorders have been validated as objective abnormalities/diseases. It is this fraud I write and testify about. Most recently I testified at hearings at the FDA (3/22-23/06) and before the Congress of Mexico, 3/23/06.

Submitted Date: May 11, 2006

Published: May 15, 2006

************************************************************************************

Canadian neurologists do not expose ECT

Above is a picture of Dr. Fred Baughman, a neurologist from the USA who has publicly spoken out
about the harm done by psychiatric drugs and by electroshock (ECT). Not one Canadian psychologist nor psychiatrist has publicly spoken out against any of the above. None have the courage to speak out and they should. Many people in Canada are being damaged.

From: Don Weitz

To: Fred Baughman

Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2007 1:04 PM

Subject: Re: PPEN # 225: The Unproven and Unprovable Brain Chemical Imbalance Hypothesis: "Fact or Pseudoscience?"

Hi Dr. Baughman-

I wish there were courageous doctors like you and Breggin in Canada -

so far NOT ONE Canadian neurologist has publicly criticized neuroleptics, antidepressants, Ritalin, ADHD - they won't even criticize the ECT oxymoron "therapeutic seizure" as medical nonsense, and refuse to acknowledge that electroshock causes any brain damage

like the psychiatrists, Canadian neurologists are a bunch of gutless wimps!

Don
***********************************************************************
From: Fred Baughma
To: Gary Kohls
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2007 12:11 PM
Subject: Re: PPEN # 225: The Unproven and Unprovable Brain Chemical Imbalance Hypothesis: "Fact or Pseudoscience?"
Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter # 225

Do “Chemical Imbalances”/ Psychiatric “Diseases” Really Exist, Or-

Is “Biological” Psychiatry Pseudoscience?

By Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD

Author of “The ADHD Fraud—

---

How Psychiatry Make “Patients” of Normal Children”

http://www.trafford.com/4dcgi/view-item?item=9628

On the June 24, 2005 Today Show, Tom Cruise charged that (1) "there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance in the body," and (2) that psychiatry is a "pseudoscience.” Throughout the research and practice of psychiatry and mental health, research subjects and patients are spoken of as having “chemical imbalances” of the brain, by which is meant a “disorder”/”disease”/”abnormality” of the brain. Tom Cruise isn’t the only person saying there is no such thing as a “chemical imbalance”/”disease”--“the patients are normal!” On a follow-up Today Show, that of Monday, June 27, Harvard psychiatrist, Joseph Glenmullen affirmed that there is no such thing as a “chemical imbalance.” Nor was Steven Sharstein, MD of the American Psychiatric Association able to rebut Glenmullen.

Most convincing of all, nowhere in the medical scientific literature is there proof that depression or any other psychiatric, diagnostic entity is an actual disease, having—as it must—a gross/macroscopic, microscopic, or chemical abnormality. Instead, all psychiatric/psychological/mental entities are made up of combinations of subjective symptoms. This is what sets psychiatry/psychology/mental health apart from the rest of medicine. In regard to what is a disease and what is not, it is not important what Tom Cruise, Joseph Glenmullen, the DSM Committee, or a majority of psychiatrists think—what is important is whether or not an original case report proving a disease’s confirming, characteristic, abnormality is present in the scientific literature or not.

In 1969, I (and my colleagues) discovered and described the Glioma-Polyposis Syndrome. The reference, as for all actual diseases, is: Baughman, F. A., Jr., List, C. F., Williams, J. R., Muldoon, J. P., Segarra, J. M.: The Glioma-Polyposis Syndrome. New England Journal of Medicine, 281:1345-1346, 1969. Further, as is often required by editors of quality journals, we submitted microscopic slides for their review as requested by the editors.

Two subsequent articles appeared in WebMD challenging Tom Cruise’s Today Show charges. In the first Nada Stotland [1], MD, MPH, professor of psychiatry at Chicago's Rush University, stated: “…we can see differences between brain images of someone who is depressed and someone who is not depressed. And we if we give medications, the brain of the depressed person goes back to looking like a person not depressed."

Here, Stotland, no doubt, refers to functional brain imaging which provides pictures that correlate with the state of being depressed, in a normal person, but do not demonstrate an abnormality/disease. Asserting that such scans distinguish between “someone who is depressed and someone who is not, and going on to say that medication restores the scan to one “looking like a person not depressed,” leaves no doubt that Stotland is claiming to have diagnosed and successfully treated an objective abnormality (abnormality = disease; no abnormality = normal = disease-free) when that is not so.

Asserting that such scans distinguish between “someone who is depressed and someone who is not, and going on to say that medication restores the scan to one “looking like a person not depressed,” leaves no doubt that Stotland is claiming to have diagnosed and successfully treated an objective abnormality/disease, when that is absolutely not the case.

Stating there is no more debate than is witnessed over drugs used in other fields of medicine, Stotland, is asserting that psychiatry deals with diseases just as do other medical specialties. In fact, she is on record as saying just this. In a “special advertising feature” in the November 20, 2001, Family Circle magazine, Stotland claimed: “Depression is associated with changes in brain chemistry…” “Antidepressants are not ‘uppers’…” “They restore brain chemistry to normal.” “No woman needs to suffer from this terrible disease.” Again, no known or detectible abnormality—gross, microscopic or chemical--has been found in depression or any single, psychiatric diagnosis/disorder. With no abnormality known or demonstrable, it cannot be said there is an abnormal phenotype (abnormal phenotype = macroscopic, microscopic or chemical abnormality = disease) due to an abnormal genotype (abnormal gene or chromosome). With no chemical abnormality proven, it cannot, legitimately be said that antidepressants “…restore brain chemistry to normal.” So much for Stotland’s claims that depression is a disease. It is not Cruise who is wrong or lying, it is Stotland, a physician, responsible—as all physicians are--for distinguishing abnormality/disease from the state of being normal/disease-free.

In the second WebMD article [2] to weigh-in on the Cruise-instigated “chemical imbalance” debate, psychiatrist Darrel Regier, MD, MPH, director of research for the American Psychiatric Association--APA states: "It is clear that antidepressants which focus on altering the neurotransmission of norepinephrine and serotonin are effective in the treatment of depression.”. What Regier suggests is that because drugs that affect the norepinephrine and serotonin systems “work” on depression, there must be an abnormality of these chemical systems. Nowhere does he reference proof of a chemical, microscopic or macroscopic abnormality in depression confirming it is an actual disease, as they invariably claim.

Despite the fact that no psychiatric entity--depression included--has been proved to be an abnormality disease, it is standard practice, both in psychiatric research and practice to state or imply to research subjects and patients alike, that they are “chemically imbalanced” “abnormal”/ “diseased” thus abrogating their right to informed consent while hopelessly biasing them against non-biological interventions in favor of biological interventions such as drugs, ECT and psychosurgery. Not only are they lied to from within by psychiatric researchers, teachers, social workers, physicians and other mental health professionals, they are lied to from without through the press releases of organized psychiatry—the APA, NIMH, all of psychiatric and psychological academia, and through ads from the pharmaceutical industry (such as the Zoloft “chemical imbalance” ad that pops up incessantly throughout the pages of WebMD) countenanced by the FDA and FTC who know full-well that the “chemical imbalance” lie is nothing but a market stratagem, but who opt to allow it and continue to aid and abet the deception.

With the “chemical imbalance” lie having been made our “common knowledge,” virtually all “biological” psychiatric/psychological/mental health research is invalidated.

Psychiatrist Defends Psychiatric Drug Use—Experts Warn Patients Not to Stop Medication After Tom Cruise Comment. Daniel DeNoon, WebMD Medical News, June 28, 2005; Reviewed by Michael Smith, MD

Battle Brews Over Antidepressant Use—Researchers Say They Are Ineffective and Overused. Salynn Boyles, WebMD Medical News, July 15, 2005; Reviewed by Michael Smith, MD

************************************************************************************

Pro Shock Book Out - OH NO!!

CAPA Press Release Oct 5, 2007

For Immediate Release - October 5,2007

A Coalition Against Psychiatric Assault Press Statement

NEW STUDY PROVES ELECTROSHOCK ("ECT") DAMAGES CONCLUSIVELY

CAPA CALLS FOR ACTION

A new and extensive study by psychiatrist and long-time shock promoter Harold Sackeim puts the lie to what psychiatrists have been claiming for decades about electroshock. The research, which was reported in Neuropsychopharmacology 2007, 32, 244-254, tracked 347 electroshock survivors for six months after treatment. This is the most extensive research ever conducted on electroshock and proves conclusively that electroshock therapy, or electroconvulsive therapy, otherwise known as ECT causes lasting memory and mental impairment. Psychiatrists have long denied such damage or claimed that problems such as memory impairment and other impairment are created by some types of electroshock but not others. The study proves statistically and conclusively, however, that memory and other cognitive impairment is caused by all forms of electroshock, including shock commonly described as new, safe, and improved. Moreover, that the impairment is lasting. It also proves statistically two other important claims long held by anti-shock activists:

1) that women are more damaged by electroshock than men.
2) that the elderly are more damaged that the younger.
"Advancing age, lower premorbid intellectual function, and female gender," concludes Sackeim, "were associated with greater cognitive deficits."

Given that shock is disproportionately given to women and to the elderly (See Burstow, Violence Against Women, 2006), these scientific findings are harrowing. It also makes the sabotage of accurate shock statistics on the part of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care even more alarming (See Cribb, The Toronto Star, September 28, p.A8).

On the basis of these new findings, CAPA (Coalition Against Psychiatric Assault) calls on government to cease and desist shocking its citizens, to find ways to protect its citizens, and in particular, to find a way of protecting the people who, tragically, are the primary targets of ECT as well as the ones most hurt by ECT--women and the elderly.

On the basis of these findings, additionally, we demand that henceforth, medical information given to shock recipients that omits, denies, or minimizes the reality of the lasting cognitive damage be treated as instances of fraud, violations of informed consent, and prosecuted accordingly. We likewise demand that accurate, timely, and gender and age specific electroshock statistics be made readily available to the public.

The public has a right to be protected from treatment proven to impair cognitive functions.

Medical professionals should not be able to get away with giving people blatantly inaccurate information about damaging treatments. The public has a right to know.

CAPA Contacts: Dr. Bonnie Burstow (416) 538-7103; Don Weitz (416) 545-0796. For copy of article, see CAPA website: capa.oise.utoronto.ca
-----------


The CAPA websites are: http://capa.oise.utoronto.ca
http://capacanada.wordpress.com

Above is a picture of Heather Bruce who interviewed Sue on the Sound Mind Radio Show - CKCU Ottawa on April 25, 2007

I was on the Sound Mind Radio show in Ottawa on April 25th. Heather Bruce interviewed me.
I spoke about my life and about the electroshock I had etc. Don Weitz called me after the radio
show and said he liked the way I spoke out about psychiatry. Don is very supportive of me and has been for almost 20 years now.

After the radio show, I emailed Heather for a cassette tape of the radio show and she said she would mail me a copy of the cassette tape. After a month I sent an email asking Heather for the cassette tape and she told me that the Sound Mind office was being renovated and that she would send me a copy as soon as she could.

About two months later she said she would send me a copy of the cassette. For three more months
I waited. I told her I was not impressed and would not be a guest on the radio show again.

Yesterday, after 5 months, on September 28th she told me to come in with a blank CD and copy the tape myself. I told her to forget it and I did not have time to waste going down to the radio show.
I told her I would call it a bad experience and that she did not treat me fairly and she did not.

One excuse after another and I have not yet received the tape of the radio show.

It goes to show you that some people in radio are not nice. You would expect a guest on the radio show to treated with respect. Some things in life are not fair and this one example.

KITTY DUKAKIS PROMOTES HER BOOK & SHOCK - OCT. 15
from Don Weitz (dweitz@pathcom.com)
some survivors & human rights groups shoulddemonstrate against this pro-shock event featuring Kitty Dukakis on Oct 15 at Northeastern U in Mass - info below
Don
-------------------------
Subject: Ford Hall Forum on ECT

"Shock" - Kitty Dukakis, Michael Dukakis, & Larry Tye
October 15th , 6:30-8pm, Raytheon Auditorium, Egan Research Ctr, Northeastern
University - Book signing will follow lecture and discussion.

"After suffering for decades from severe depression, substance abuse problems, and hospitalizations, Kitty Dukakis now credits her recovery to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Opponents of ECT would like to see the
treatment banned on the basis of its common side effects, such as memory loss. Many patients say these are a small price to pay for control over a disabling condition. Governor Michael Dukakis and author Larry Tye join
Kitty Dukakis for a discussion on how this medical treatment - along with the support of family and loved ones - can potentially help individualsthrough the horrors of clinical depression."

Information: 617-373-5800
HYPERLINK "mailto:info@fordhallforum.neu.edu"info@fordhallforum.-neu.edu
HYPERLINK "http://www.fordhallforum.org"www.fordhallforum.-org

The Anti-Electroshock Proclamation

Above is a picture of Dr. Bonnie Burstow

The Anti-Electroshock Proclamation
We who care,
We who are committed to decency,
We who behold with horror the disrespect for humans around us
We who shudder at the knowledge
Of women whose memory has been turned into ember and ashes,
Of families brutally torn asunder by pulse waves or sine waves
Of the elderly, whose final life reward is electrocution,
We who hold this fearful knowledge can be silent no longer.
LEGISLATORS, on this Mother's Day, we hold you directly accountable and call
On you to withdraw your authorization for electroshock
FELLOW CITIZENS who think this "practice" stopped decades ago, on this
Mother's Day
We tell you that the carnage continues and that you too are responsible.
On this Mother's Day, May 13, 2007, as survivors and allies, we come together to
Raise our voices to protest
And we vow to return
Return,
And return again
Until this abomination

Is no more.

Written and read aloud by Bonnie Burstow on May 13, 2007, Mother's Day, in Toronto during the anti-shock demonstration STOP SHOCKING OUR MOTHERS AND GRANDMOTHERS.

Bonnie Burstow co-founded with Don Weitz the Coalition Against Psychiatric Assault (CAPA). CAPA's websites:
http://capa.oise.utoronto.ca
http://capacanada.wordpress.com

Sue to be on two radio shows in August

Hi everyone, I will be two radio shows in August that you can listen to:

August 29th, Wednesday at 4 p.m. EST
I was on David's radio show. I emailed David before the show and told him I had a mini stroke and I sometimes say the wrong thing for what I want to say and that sometimes I slur my words as I have
Bell's Palsy on the left side of my face and he graciously emailed back and said not to worry that the
radio show would be fun and it was. I have done lots of radio show but after my stroke I was not feeling as confident as I was before. David made me feel at ease and we had fun and it was a good radio show.

I talked about my life and about my 18 years of being psychiatrized from 1972 - 90. I forgot to give the title of my online book which is called "Behind the Locked Ward - The Sue Clark Story " and it can be found at the URL: http://symclark.blogspot.com. Karen called me from Oregon with a question about kids labelled with ADHD. I referred Karen to Dr. John Breeding of Texas who does not believe kids should be labelled at all nor given psychiatric drugs. His website is at the URL: http://www.wildestcolts.com Don Weitz called in from Toronto. South Africa Mindfreedom sent in an email. I want to thank David for being an excellent host and interview and for inviting me on his show. I also want to thank Karen, Don Weitz, and Mindfreedom South Africa and to all that listened. This radio show will be in the archives so you can listen to it later. It was a good experience. David is a nice man and a good person who has been fighting psychiatric oppression for almost 30 years now. His website is at the URL: http://www.mindfreedom.org

It was a pleasure to be on David's radio show. I listen to David's radio every Wednesday at 4 p.m.
a radio show not to miss!
************************************************************************************

Sue Clark: electroshock survivor & activist

by David W. Oaks — www.mindfreedom.org David's email: oaks@mindfreedom.org

Wednesday, 29 August 2007, at 4 pm ET, "click and listen" to a live interview with electroshock-survivor SUE CLARK in Ontario, Canada. Phone in with your questions & comments live. Host is David Oaks.

Sue Clark: electroshock survivor activist from Ontario, Canada

This Wednesday, 29 August 2007, 4 pm ET:

Sue Clark of Canada on MindFreedom Free Live Internet Radio

Sue Clark-Wittenberg is a survivor of electroshock, also known as electroconvulsive therapy or ECT.

During the 18-year period from 1972 to 1990, Sue was diagnosed with 15 different psychiatric labels, prescribed 14 different types of psychiatric drugs, and was locked up in a variety of psychiatric institutions in Ontario, Canada.

Sue says, "I was tortured with electroshock in 1973 at the age of l7 years old which was given to me against my will. On my 5th ECT my heart stopped and I had to be revived." Sue says she suffers from permanent memory loss and has a difficult time learning new things to this day.

Sue and her husband Steven Wittenberg founded The Wittenberg Center to End Electroshock in Ottawa. Says Sue, "We are working with others all around the world to ban ECT universally."

For more info see her web site: http://wittenbergces.blogspot.com/

The MindFreedom News host is David Oaks, who also sums up the latest "mad news."

Phone numbers to call in live are announced during the show. If you can't get through keep trying. The show may start a minute or two late. You may e-mail in with any questions, comments or technical problems at any time. Your comments may be read live during the show. E-mail to: radio@mindfreedom.org

If you miss the live show this Wednesday, 29 August 2007, at 4 pm ET at http://prncomm.net/, recent shows from the MindFreedom News Hour are archived by Progressive Radio Network here:

http://oaks.progressiveradionetwork.org/

The Story of MindFreedom Free Live Internet Radio

For more than a year, since June 2006, MindFreedom Radio Show has supported a nonviolent revolution in the mental health system. Leaders, authors, activists, mental health professionals, psychiatric survivors and others who are actively changing and challenging the current mental health system have been featured in live interviews. Listeners have called in from around the world.

The weekly show is hosted by psychiatric rights activist David Oaks, director of MindFreedom. David also experienced the mental health system as a youth when he was institutionalized five times and diagnosed "schizophrenic."

The Progressive Radio Network produces the show along with several others from its studio in New York City. PRN was founded by radio personality and health activist leader Gary Null.

If you listen LIVE to the MindFreedom News Hour jot down the toll free call-in number for the USA or the special call-in number for outside the USA as it is announced during the show. Please keep trying, sometimes it takes more than once to get through.

You may e-mail at any time before or during the show to radio@mindfreedom.org. E-mail is checked during the show, and your comments may be read live on "the air." Include where you are calling from. If pronunciation of your name is not obvious please tell us how to do that, or ask us to keep your comment anonymous.

After the distinctive drum beats of the intro music Crazy by Gnarls Barkley, on each MindFreedom News Hour you'll hear a brief summary of the latest news. Then you'll hear an interview about changing the system of care for mental and emotional well being.

Shows have explored the history of the psychiatric survivor movement, innovative alternatives to the conventional mental health system, how psychiatric survivors and concerned mental health professionals are working together on human rights campaigns, and more.

Regular features include updates about breaking stories and networking announcements about successful activism and alternatives.

It's your mind! It's your freedom! Free your mind with the MindFreedom News Hour hosted by David Oaks.

Just click on http://prncomm.net Wednesday at 4 pm eastern time!

Or hear recent archives later at:

http://oaks.progressiveradionetwork.org/

Help create your own media for a nonviolent revolution in mental health. Please spread the word!

Don't miss this radio show on Wednesday, it is great!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

August 31, Friday at 6:30 p.m. EST

I was on Don Weitz's radio and it was a great radio show. Don is a great interviewer and host. I talked about ECT mostly and about the Wittenberg Center to End Electroshock. I thank Don for giving me the opportunity to be on his radio show. It is always a pleasure to be on Don's radio show. I have known Don for over 20 years. He is a nice man and a good person who has been fighting psychiatric oppression for over 30 years now. His radio show is not to be missed.
*************************************************************************************
Sue will be on Don Weitz's antipsychiatry show on Friday, August 31st at 6:30 p.m. Sue will be discussing her antipsychiatry work and especially her and her husband Steven's work to ban
electroshock. Sue and Steven founded the Wittenberg Center to End Electroshock in May 2007 in Ottawa.

Don Weitz a psychiatric survivor and antipsychiatry activist and anti-ECT activist hosts a show called
"Shrink Rap" on CKLN 88.1 FM in Toronto, Canada. The website for the radio show to listen live is: www.ckln.fm The show is the last Friday of every monthand it starts at 6:30 p.m. EST It is a great show, don't miss it.

Anti-Psychiatry Radio Shows

DON WEITZ's Shrink Rap Radio Show

Above is a picture of Don Weitz, antipsychiatry activist and anti-ect activist
from Toronto, Ontario, Canada

SHRINK RAP - Don Weitz's hosts this radio show on CKLN (88.1 FM) in Toronto. The show is aired on the last Friday of every month at 6:30 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time) This is a fantastic show. The website to listen live to this show is

Harold Sackeim exposed

Dr. Harold Sackeim exposed. Harold Sackeim has long been a defender of ECT and then he had a study done more or less saying that electroshock damages the brain and now he is saying ECT is the best treatment. See all the articles that quote Harold Sackeim and decide for yourself.

Dr. Peter R. Breggin wrote an article about

Sibile Morency

Shirley Wang

Shirely Wang's ECT article "Shock Value" in Washington Post

Hi everyone, I just read the ECT article by Shirley Wang, in the Washington Post today. It is a one sided article, pro ECT and I am not surprised as she is completing an internship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Sackeim and Fink are in this article praising ECT.

A disgusting article to say the least. How many brownie points will Wang get from her school for doing this article? The URL for this article is detailed below. You can send a letter to the editor of the Washington post if you like to: letters@washpost.com

Regards, Sue Clark-Wittenberg

Link to article:

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/20/AR2007072002098.html?hpid=topnews
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I sent the editor of the Washington Post this email today, July 24, 2007

Dear Editor:

I read today the article called "Shock Value" about electroshock (ECT) by Shirley Wang who is completing an internship at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh.

I am an electroshock survivor who suffers from permanent memory loss and has difficulty learning anything new as a result of having had ECT. This impedes my everyday life significantly.

Shirley Wang's article I feel is biased. She did not interview any electroshock survivors like me who have had adverse effects from ECT

She does not bring up the recent article by Dr. Peter R. Breggin, a psychiatrist in NY State called "Disturbing News for Patients and Shock Doctors Alike" where Dr. Breggin mentions in his article "Something most remarkable and unexpected has occurred in the field of psychiatry. Lead by a lifelong defender and promoter of shock treatment, Harold Sackeim, a team of investigators has recently published a follow up study of 347 patients given the currently available methods of electroshock, including the supposedly most benign forms--and confirmed that electroshock causes permanent brain damage and dysfunction" See the article in full at this URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-peter-breggin/

Harold Sackeim is quoted in this article praising ECT, but the information Dr. Breggin had in the above article about Dr. Sackeim was not mentioned. I sent this article to Shirley Wang before she published her article today.

How many brownie points will Shirley Wang get in the field of psychiatry, I can only imagine.

My husband Steven and I founded the Wittenberg Center to End Electroshock. Our center is located in Ottawa. Our center was formed to educate people about the harm caused by electroshock. Our center wants to help ban electroshock universally.

Sue Clark-Wittenberg
Executive Director
The Wittenberg Center
to End Electroshock
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
(613) 721-1833
Websites: http://wittenbergces.blogspot.com
http://psychiatrybuster.blogspot.com

Speak out about ECT at NY hearings

Stop Forced Shock! Speak out at July 2007 public hearings in New York State!

by David W. Oaks — last modified 2007-07-19 14:27

You can speak out at four (4) public hearings in the next two weeks in New York State to oppose their practice of giving forced, involuntary electroshock over the expressed wishes of the subject!

Say No! New York State government is aggressively pursuing forced electroshock of its citizens.

MindFreedom New York Alert - 19 July 2007
urgent: please forward!

Concerned about forced electroshock in New York State by the Office of Mental Health (OMH)?

Here's how you can speak out!

Go to one of these four (4) OMH public events in the last two weeks of July 2007!

As you may know, the New York Office of mental health is aggressively pursuing involuntary (forced) electroshock over the expressed wishes of some of their clients, such as "Simone D."

Now you can speak out peacefully but forcefully face to face with OMH officials at four (4) OMH public briefings and hearings in the next two weeks.

One event is on the subject of "recipient affairs," and the other three on their "Comprehensive Plan" will include OMH Commissioner Hogan.

~~~~~~~~~~

Brief Background about Forced Shock in NY State:

Courageous attorneys Kim Darrow and Dennis Feld have fought hard for clients facing forced electroshock, also known as electroconvulsive therapy or ECT.

Unfortunately, in the case of Simone D., they lost.

Now Simone's right to say "no" to forced electroshock is in the court of public opinion.

For a news release about this campaign including how to lobby about Simone D. by e-mail go to:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-abuse/electroshock

Now New York State residents can speak out directly face-to-face at OMH public events in July 2007!

The Office of Mental Health has announced a number of public events where *YOU* can speak out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are four (4) known OMH public events left in July!

**** RECIPIENT MEETING

An OMH Recipient Advisory Committee will be held on Monday, 23 July 23 2007, at 3 pm, and will continue on Tuesday. We hear these are fairly large events. Just show up early, fill out your own name tag, and join in! Location: Comfort Inn, 99 Miller Road, East Greenbush, New York. Phone for Comfort In: (518) 479-3217.

For more info and directions to this Recipient Affairs meeting on 23 July go to:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/as/act/us/new-york-state/recipient-affairs

**** "COMPREHENSIVE PLAN" MEETINGS

Three (3) briefings and public hearings will also be held with OMH Commissioner Hogan about their "Comprehensive Plan" in these next two weeks!

These three (3) public meetings are on the 20th (Syracuse), 30th (New York City), and 31st (at Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Long Island). Each of these "Comprehensive Plan" meetings has a 10 am briefing followed by a 2 pm public hearing.

You can find the exact date, time and locations for the three "Comprehensive Plan" hearings here:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/as/act/us/new-york-state/omh-meetings

Or go directly to the OMH web page here:

http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/News/Briefing_Hearing_Announcement.html

Or use: http://tinyurl.com/ywae4t

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WHY SPEAK OUT ABOUT FORCED ELECTROSHOCK IN NEW YORK STATE?

OMH Commissioner Hogan intends to be at these hearings asking about their "Comprehensive Plan." In OMH's own words he will ask, "Are services consumer and family centered and consumer and family driven?"

Even one single forced electroshock means the answer is: "No, No, No!"

You are encourage to attend all or any of these four events and speak out!

While of course you may want to sign up early for the public hearing, given the urgency of the situation some individuals may want to consider nonviolent creative ways to make their concerns known at other times during the event including the "briefing": banner, sign, symbol, hand-outs, etc.

Perhaps you can find out some answers.

For instance, at the recipient meetings especially, you can ask why did John Allen, director of OMH Recipient Affairs, claimed to MindFreedom recently that "less than a dozen" New York State citizens received court-ordered electroshock without their consent last year at OMH facilities, and that the number of forced shocks is going down?

What is his data based on? What are the exact numbers?

Why has just one region of NY State, the few counties served by Darrow & Feld, had more than 15 OMH applications for forced shock in just the past six months for 2007, alone? And that's just one region?

Why does OMH claim that Commissioner Hogan's hands are tied by the courts, when John Allen at the same time also claims OMH has been able to take pro-active steps to lower the amount of forced shock in the past few years?

Whether or not OMH actually did lower the number of forced shock in the last few years, by his statement then of course OMH admits to having discretion.

At the very least Commissioner Hogan can make a public announcement of a goal to end forced shock! Commissioner Hogan spoke out during the President's New Freedom Commission that he supported empowerment and self-determination.

Now is his chance to show it!

And isn't it true that each and every court-ordered involuntary electroshock must begin with a REQUEST initiated by OMH to the courts?

Stand up... speak out... spread the word!

Stop Forced Electroshock in New York State!!

~~~~~~~~~

THIS JUST IN!

MindFreedom Free Live Internet Radio will have a special call-in show about forced electroshock in New York State with one or both lawyers for Simone D.! Listen and call-in live by clicking on http://prncomm.net this Wednesday, 25 July 2007, at 4 pm ET.

Info on MindFreedom Internet radio here:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/radio

~~~~~~~~~~

And remember, no matter what, keep up the peaceful pressure on the five New York State officials listed in the human rights alert. It takes you just a moment to e-mail in your concern... about the same time it takes to administer a forced electroshock!

http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-abuse/electroshock

~~~~~~~~~~

More information about NY State, including getting on this news list:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/as/act/us/new-york-state/

More info about MindFreedom, including how to join as a member and get on NY State discussion list:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/

URGENT: Please forward this to others who care about human rights in New York State!

ABC News article on ECT, July 20, 2007

ABC News reporter Sibile Morency did an article recently about ECT. Don Weitz, Dr. John Breeding, Dr. Peter R. Breggin, and David Oaks are quoted in this article. A job well done by all.
See my comments re this article at the end of this article I posted at the abc.news page

Article URL is:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=3397685&page=1

Electroshock Therapy Gets a Makeover

Despite Changes, ECT still stirs controversy

By Sibile Morency
July 20, 2007

Amy, a New York resident, had her first electroshock treatment at the age of 72 … and despite the stigma that electroshock is a brutal, outdated procedure for treating psychiatric health, she said it's been a miracle for her.

And it's probably more common than most people believe.

"I started 10 years ago when I was very depressed. I was diagnosed as bipolar. I took medicine -- Prozac, a whole slew of them -- but they didn't help," she said. "Then a psychiatrist told one of my friends that I should have ECT. My friends told me to get ECT. It was the only solution, I couldn't go on the way I was. After ECT, everyone told me it was a miracle."

Amy, who asked that her last name not be used, is now 82 and continues to receive electroshock therapy regularly.

Although she admits that after each procedure she has a headache and her memory is temporarily "a little bit off," she insists that ECT has been a success for her.

"I know there's a lot of negative. I think it's a rather painless procedure. It's wonderful," she said. "If medicine doesn't work, then yes, I would recommend it to someone else."

The New Face of ECT

Since its terrifying depiction in the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," electroshock, or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has changed dramatically. According to doctors who use it, the administration of the anesthetic, changes in the type of electricity used and the way seizures are triggered have transformed the procedure, making it safer and more effective.

The latest clinically available form of ECT, called ultrabrief pulse unilateral, uses a briefer stimulus that lasts for .25 to .3 milliseconds, according to Dr. Sarah Lisanby at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. The difference in the type of electricity used allows doctors to induce seizures with lower amounts of electricity then was previously possible.

"It does away with lifelong memory loss," said Dr. Harold Sackheim, a leading proponent of ECT and chief of the department of biological psychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. "If there is any memory loss, it's markedly reduced."

ECT Not Uncommon

Although there are no national reporting requirements for the number of procedures performed, experts estimate that approximately 100,000 patients a year in the United States and several million worldwide receive ECT. According to Dr. Mustafa Husain, the director of the Geriatric Psychiatry Training Program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the newer version of ECT is becoming the standard in practice, particularly at academic medical centers and clinics due to its relatively low amount of adverse effects on the brain.

"We started the new ECT almost a year ago. All of our equipment is now ultrabrief pulse," he said.

Critics Call ECT Russian Roulette

Despite support from many well-respected physicians, ECT is still controversial. Critics view the procedure as a dangerous game of Russian roulette that should be banned.

"You hear from people who succeed. You don't hear from people who lost wedding or childbirth memories," said David Oaks, director of MindFreeedom, a nonprofit organization focused on human rights campaigns in mental health.

Dr. Peter Breggin, founder of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, is a staunch opponent of the practice.

"If you were in your kitchen, touched your stove and got a convulsion, you would be in the hospital. It would be treated as an emergency. You might even be given anti-seizure medication to ensure that you do not get another convulsion," Breggin said. "Psychiatry is the only place where you damage the brain and call it a cure."

Because unilateral ECT is a shock to the nondominant, nonverbal side of the brain, controls a person's intuition, creativity and emotions, Breggin said patients may have a harder time explaining the side effects they might experience.

"So people when damaged on the nonverbal side can't tell you about it. It's a ruse," Breggin insisted. "Ultrabrief pulse unilateral is still damaging the brain, but it's less obvious. It cures by creating a delirium in which the patient is incapable of normal human emotion."

John Breeding, an Austin, Texas, psychologist, is alarmed by the state of the industry.

"The shock industry is the Enron of mental health. If they're honest, and you ask them, 'How does shock work,' they'll say they don't really know," Breeding said.

Oaks agreed.

"They look at a problem as physical -- drug, drug, drug, drug, drug -- then they'll try shock. The system is so oriented toward this medical model approach. Relapse rate is enormous, so what's their answer? Maintenance shock," he said. "What has happened in the industry is that research has discounted people's memories."

ECT experts recognize the controversial history of the procedure and acknowledge the stigma attached to it.

"The stigma affects providers and patients. The treatment is perceived by the public as brutal," Sackheim said. "Undoubtedly people don't receive the treatment, because they're afraid of it. In some cases it's quite tragic because they may not live."

ECT proponents hope that the newer form of ECT will encourage more people to seek the procedure to cure their depression.

"Finding ways to make ECT safer, beneficial, lowers barriers to accessing the efficacy of this procedure," said Dr. Lisanby.

Still Searching for a Cure

Doctors who use ECT are the first to admit that the complete cure for severe depression still eludes them.

"ECT can be rapidly effective in treating [depression] but always needs maintenance treatment to maintain effects," Lisanby said.

Don Weitz, co-founder of the Coalition Against Psychiatric Assault, a group that opposes the use of ECT, said that the American public is in the dark about its use as a treatment.

"Most people think it no longer exists. When I meet people in the street, they say, 'You're kidding!' And it's increasingly for elderly women," Weitz said. "Two-thirds of people who get ECT are women. This is not a treatment. It always causes brain damage and it targets women."

------------------------

Sue's comments made below this article on the ABC.com re the above article:

I thank the reporter for giving David Oaks, Dr. John Breeding, Don Weitz, and Dr. Breggin the chance to speak their mind about electroshock (ECT) also known as electroconvulsive therapy.

I am Sue Clark-Wittenberg of Ottawa, Canada. My husband Steven and I founded in 2006, the Wittenberg Center to End Electroshock (WCEE) Our websites: http://wittenbergces.blogspot.com and http://psychiatrybuster.blogspot.com My email is: 2005.sueclark@gmail.comI

I had electroshock against my will when I was l7 years old in 1973 at the Brockville Psychiatric Hospital, in Ontario, Canada. On my 5th ECT my heart stopped and I had to be revived. I suffer from permanent memory loss and have difficulty in learning new things as a result of having had ECT. ECT should have been banned many years ago as there have been many reports and studies done to prove that ECT always causes brain damage.

Dr. Peter R. Breggin wrote an article recently called "Disturbing News for Patients and Shock Doctors Alike" that is on his website at www.breggin.com

Dr. John Breeding's websites are: http://endofshock.com and www.wildestcolts.com

Don Weitz and Bonnie Burstow's websites are: http://capa.oise.utoronto.ca and http://capacanada.wordpress.com

David Oaks, is head of Mindfreedom International and his website can be found at: http://www.mindfreedom.orgOther

ECT websites: www.ect.org, www.banshock.org, www.antipsychiatry.org, www.stopshrinks.org

Stats for ECT yearly, 14,000 ECTs given in Ontario, Canada. 100,000 Americans, 50,000 ECTs given in the UK and worlwide it is estimated that 1 to 2 million get ECT.

ECT is barbaric, unethical, inhumane, torture and a crime against humanity and it must be banned now
---------------------------------------------
Sue's comments made on the Message Board at abc.com in the health section
message board. Here is my comment:

I thank the reporter for giving David Oaks, Dr. John Breeding, Don Weitz, Dr Bonnie Burstow and Dr. Breggin the chance to speak their mind about electroshock (ECT) also known as electroconvulsive therapy.

I am Sue Clark-Wittenberg of Ottawa, Canada. My husband Steven and I founded in 2006, the Wittenberg Center to End Electroshock (WCEE) Our websites: http://wittenbergces.blogspot.com and http://psychiatrybuster.blogspot.com My email is: 2005.sueclark@gmail.comI had electroshock against my will when I was l7 years old in 1973 at the Brockville Psychiatric Hospital, in Ontario, Canada. On my 5th ECT my heart stopped and I had to be revived. I suffer from permanent memory loss and have difficulty in learning new things as a result of having had ECT.

ECT should have been banned many years ago as there have been many reports and studies done to prove that ECT always causes brain damage.Dr. Peter R. Breggin wrote an article recently called "Disturbing News for Patients and Shock Doctors Alike" that is on his website at www.breggin.comDr.

John Breeding's websites are: http://endofshock.com and www.wildestcolts.com

Don Weitz and Bonnie Burstow's websites are: http://capa.oise.utoronto.ca and http://capacanada.wordpress.com

David Oaks, is head of Mindfreedom International and his website can be found at: http://www.mindfreedom.orgOther

ECT websites: www.ect.org, www.banshock.org, www.antipsychiatry.org, www.stopshrinks.orgStats for ECT yearly, 14,000 ECTs given in Ontario, Canada. 100,000 Americans, 50,000 ECTs given in the UK and worlwide it is estimated that 1 to 2 million get ECT.ECT is barbaric, unethical, inhumane, torture and a crime against humanity and it must be banned now

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amnesty Canada does not recognize ECT as torture

CAPA's ECT Video

Coalition Against Psychiatric Assault (CAPA) made an ECT video regarding the electroshock hearings they held in Toronto in April 9, and 10th, 2005. It is an
excellent video. Bonnie Burstow read my ECT testimony at this event. This video
with electroshock survivors speaking out about their experiences is very
riveting and emotionally charged, a video not to be missed. When you watch it, you will see what I mean.

Here is the link URL:

http.video.google.com/videoplay?docid=73823771430158954219&hl=en

Sue Clark-Wittenberg's life in pics

ACTIVISTS WORKING TO BAN ECT

Here is a list of my allies fighting electroshock everyday.

Don Weitz and Dr. Bonnie Burstow are co-founders of the 4 year group called "Coalition Against Psychiatric Asssault (CAPA) which is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I am member at large for CAPA. CAPA organized a protest on Mother's Day of this year in Toronto to protest the use of electroshock on women. 140 people showed up and it was a very successful event. This event will be held again next year on Mother's Day in Toronto. I will post the info when I get it next year on this website here.

For pics and audio of this protest go to these websites:

http://capa.oise.utoronto.ca
http://capacanada.wordpress.com

To contact Don Weitz: email: dweitz@pathcom.com or by telephone in Toronto:
416-545-0796 Don is an insulin shock survivor

To contact Dr. Bonnie Burstow: email: bburstow@oise.utoronto.ca or by telephone: 416-923-6641 ext. 2740

Don and Bonnie co-edited the book called "Shrink Resistant: The Struggle Against Psychiatry in Canada.

Don and Bonnie are my mentors.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Oaks head the organization called "Mindfreedom International"

Dr. John Breeding

Leonard Roy Frank

Jim Gottsein, Psychrights.org

ECT.org -

July 13th, ECT protest in Austin, Texas at hospital

Above is a picture of the Seton Shoal Creek Hospital in Austin, Texas

The Coalition for the Abolition of Electroshock (CAEST), is holding an ECT protest July 13th at th Seton Shoal Creek Hospital in Austin, Texas. Dr. John Breeding, a psychologist and author heads this group.

CAEST's website is: http://endofshock.com

Here are the details for the protest:

Dear Allies,

We have made some waves in the community, at the legislature and at the City Council. You can see our progess notes on the website, www.endofshock.com.

We have had an effect on the numbers of people shocked at Seton

Now it is time to go back to Seton and let them know we are still intent on protecting central Texans from electroshock induced brain damage. We will be there this Friday the 13th morning, bright and early when they are actually laying people on gurneys and electroshocking them.

For more information call 512-326-8326

you have made a difference. Come join us again and let's keep the pressure on!!!

RALLY WITH SPEAKERS AND OPEN MIC

7:30am –9:00 am,

Friday, July 13th

Seiders Spring Park

(38th and Shoal Creek, adjacent

to Seton Shoal Creek Hospital on

the north side) in Austin, Texas