Simone D. Wins !!!MindFreedom International News - 28 August 2007
http://www.mindfreedom.org - please forward
For 2nd time in 1 month a forced electroshock is STOPPED!
Simone D. wins! John Kelly wins!
Simone D. is a psychiatric inmate in the Creedmoor psychiatric
institution in New York State.
New York State’s Office of Mental Health (OMH), using taxpayer money,
aggressively pursued obtaining a court order to give
Simone D. forced
electroshock over her expressed wishes.
Simone D. had clearly said electroshock caused her pain and
suffering. She knew what she was talking about.
Simone D. had previously had 200 electroshocks, also known as
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
Making it worse,
Simone D. speaks only Spanish, but for years she's
been denied counseling or even staff fluent in Spanish, except for a
few week period.
Today,
Simone D.'s attorneys announced that she won!
This morning, 28 August 2007, a court ruled that the two-year-old
order to give her forced electroshock had been set aside.
Said Kim Darrow, one of her attorneys, "I was able to get the
original judge to order a hearing, on the ground that his main reason
for granting the shock order -- that
Simone might not eat and starve
-- no longer applies."
Simone D.'s attorneys were able to show that during the nearly 20
month delay as they fought for her right to say "no" to electroshock,
Simone did not starve as the doctors had predicted.
Far from it.
Free from electroshock during the court battle,
Simone D. actually
experienced a 34 pound weight gain!
Kim explained, "The hearing was held this morning before a different
judge. He ruled that Creedmoor failed to carry its burden of proof."
The judge canceled out OMH's court order for
Simone D.'s forced
electroshock, that has hung over her head these past two years, since
2005.
This is the second person to win a victory in one month over forced
electroshock by the New York State Office of Mental Health following
a campaign of public alerts and court battles.
David Oaks, director of MindFreedom International said, "Thank you to
Simone D. and her great attorneys, Dennis Feld and Kim Darrow. And
thank you to the many people who spoke out against her forced
electroshock. The fact that John Kelly and now
Simone D. have both
been able to stop their planned forced electroshock shows there is
hope! Keep up the pressure. Let's end all forced electroshock!"
You are encouraged to read and act on original alert for
Simone D. at
the end of the news release on this web page. This time call for
ending all future forced electroshock in New York State!
http://mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-abuse/electroshock/simone-dOr use this web address:
http://tinyurl.com/26b28hRead about John Kelly's victory earlier this month here:
http://mindfreedom.org/as/act/us/new-york/john-kelly-electroshockMore updates will be on the MindFreedom Free Live Internet Radio Show
tomorrow, Wednesday, 29 August 2007, at 4 pm ET when electroshock
survivor Sue Clark of Canada is the guest. At that time click on
http://prncomm.net/ You may phone in comments and questions live, or
e-mail to
radio@mindfreedom.org.
More info on the weekly MF Web Radio Show:
http://mindfreedom.org/campaign/media/mfradio/sue-clark~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More news at the MindFreedom News Web Site:
http://www.mindfreedom.orgDon't see an important news item? Submit it to
news@mindfreedom.org~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support MINDFREEDOM INTERNATIONAL!
While you're on the MFI web site... just click on the button on the
RIGHT to join or donate now, or go directly to:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donateBecome a member or renew your membership now! Build united strength
in numbers!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you want to...
* Win human rights campaigns in mental health?
* End abuse by the psychiatric drug industry?
* Support self-determination of psychiatric survivors?
* Promote safe, humane, effective options in mental health?
MindFreedom is for people who care enough about human rights to take
united action!
MindFreedom is a nonprofit human rights group that unites 100 sponsor
and affiliate groups with individual members, and is accredited by
the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with
Consultative Roster Status.
MindFreedom is one of the very few totally independent groups in the
mental health field with no funding from governments, drug companies,
religions, corporations, or the mental health system.
While most of MindFreedom's members are psychiatric survivors, *all*
who support human rights are invited to join and become active.
Join or donate here:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donateFor hard-to-find books and gear (including to pre-order new book
Alternatives Beyond Psychiatry) go to the Mad Market! Proceeds
support the work of MindFreedom. The Mad Market now has its own web
address at:
http://www.madmarket.orgMindFreedom International Office: 454 Willamette, Suite 216 - POB
11284; Eugene, OR 97440-3484 USA
web site:
http://www.mindfreedom.orge-mail: office(at)mindfreedom(dot)org
office phone: (541) 345-9106
toll free: 1-877-MAD-PRIDe or 1-877-623-7743
fax: (541) 345-3737
Please forward.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More news at the MindFreedom News Web Site:
http://www.mindfreedom.orgDon't see an important news item? Submit it to
news@mindfreedom.org~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support MINDFREEDOM INTERNATIONAL!
While you're on the MFI web site... just click on the button on the
RIGHT to join or donate now, or go directly to:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donateBecome a member or renew your membership now! Build united strength
in numbers!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you want to...
* Win human rights campaigns in mental health?
* End abuse by the psychiatric drug industry?
* Support self-determination of psychiatric survivors?
* Promote safe, humane, effective options in mental health?
MindFreedom is for people who care enough about human rights to take
united action!
MindFreedom is a nonprofit human rights group that unites 100 sponsor
and affiliate groups with individual members, and is accredited by
the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with
Consultative Roster Status.
MindFreedom is one of the very few totally independent groups in the
mental health field with no funding from governments, drug companies,
religions, corporations, or the mental health system.
While most of MindFreedom's members are psychiatric survivors, *all*
who support human rights are invited to join and become active.
Join or donate here:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donateFor hard-to-find books and gear (including to pre-order new book
Alternatives Beyond Psychiatry) go to the Mad Market! Proceeds
support the work of MindFreedom. The Mad Market now has its own web
address at:
http://www.madmarket.orgMindFreedom International Office: 454 Willamette, Suite 216 - POB
11284; Eugene, OR 97440-3484 USA
web site:
http://www.mindfreedom.orge-mail: office(at)mindfreedom(dot)org
office phone: (541) 345-9106
toll free: 1-877-MAD-PRIDe or 1-877-623-7743
fax: (541) 345-3737
Please forward.
No need to email anyone as of August 28, 2007, Simone D. won!!!! no more forced shocks!!!
----------------------------------
Please help Simone D. who is being forced to undergo more ECT in Creedmoor's Psychiatric Hospital in New York State. SimoneD., a 58 year old woman in state care since 1994 Simone has had 148 electroshocks (ECTs), over 200 ECTs in her life. As of last week, Simone D. is slated for 30 more ECTs as the appeals court disregard her own words and the great work of lawyers Dennis Feld and Kim Darrow, and upheld more forced ECT.
Please stop Simone D. from having more ECT. ECT always causes brain damage.
ECT is an atrocity, torture, and a crime against humanity. ECT must be banned
universally.
For action please see these websites: http://www.mindfreedom.org, http://endofshock.com, http://psychrights.org, http://capacanada.wordpress.com
For information on Simone D's case please read the following the following emails and letters.
Thank you for taking time to help Simone D. It is very much appreciated.
This may help Simone D. in stopping the forced torture called ECT upon her.
Sue Clark-Wittenberg email: 2005.sueclark@gmail.com or telephone me in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at: 613-721-1833
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LETTERS
Dr. John Breeding, an American psychologist and author and head of the Coalition for the Abolition of Electroshock in Texas (CAEST) writes a letter:
Dear Allies,
Two of the CAEST legal advisers have been fighting forced ECT hard in New York for a very long time. Kim Darrow and Dennis Feld were the lead guys on the Paul Henri Thomas case in 2001 that lead to New York Assembly hearings, a ton of media and the release of Thomas and another immigrant, Adam Szysko, who they were trying to force shock at the same time.
Lately, Kim and Dennis have been fighting for Simone D., a 58-year-old woman in state care since 1994, 148 shocks since 1999, over 200 in her life. As of last week, she is slated for 30 more as the appeals court disregarded her own words and the great work of Dennis and Kim, and upheld more forced ECT. My attached letter is going to Assemblyman Peter M. Rivera, chairman of the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. We want to light a fire under him to address Simone's case and the ongoing escalation of forced electroshock in New York. His mailing address and email are below. My attached letter should give you the basic details. Please send a letter or email.
thanks,
john
Chairman Peter M. Rivera
New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Mental
Health, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
1973 Westchester Avenue
Bronx, NY 10462
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coalition for the Abolition of Electroshock in Texas
5306 Fort Clark Dr.
Austin, Texas 78745
(512) 326-8326
Chairman Peter M. Rivera 7-7-07
New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Mental
Health, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.
1973 Westchester Avenue
Bronx, NY 10462
Dear Chairman Rivera,
I am a Texas psychologist, currently involved with a citizens group called the Coalition for the Abolition of Electroshock in Texas. In 2001, when I was on the advisory board of the World Association of Electroshock Survivors, I testified twice to your committee when Martin Luster held special hearings on forced electroshock (ECT) in New York. Chairman Luster ended up initiating some legislation to improve your state's way of handling electroshock. Regrettably, none of those bills became law, and forced electroshock is worse than ever in your state.
I am writing now to call your attention to, and request action related to the case of Simone D., a 58-year-old woman who has been in New York State psychiatric care since 1994. Simone has suffered at least 148 electroshock treatments since 1999 (and over 200 in her lifetime). Just last week, the New York Court of Appeals turned back a challenge brought by Mental Hygiene Legal Service to an order authorizing 30 additional forced electroshock treatments over Simone D.'s objection, which order was issued in late November, 2005 and had been stayed by the appellate process.
It is likely that Simone D. will very soon be strapped to a gurney and wheeled into Creedmoor's ECT suite for "maintenance" shock treatments beyond the 200 during her lifetime. This is both tragic and troubling for a host of reasons, including:
Electroshock always causes some degree of brain damage and memory loss.
Records reported to the court show that previous shock treatment had neither brought about a remission of Simone D.'s depression nor restored her capacity to make her own treatment decisions, and that the treatment had never brought Simone D. to a condition where Creedmoor was willing to discharge her to the community.
The efficacy of maintenance shock at that extraordinary high end is virtually nonexistent.
Simone D. speaks Spanish. This case underscores the Office of Mental Hygiene' s failure to explore non-medical alternatives such as transferring Simone D. to a unit/facility that has Spanish speaking clinicians who can approach and try to treat her in her primary language and also provide her cultural accommodations. Here is an excerpt from her appellate brief: " After appellant had been subjected to more than a decade of linguistic isolation at Creedmoor, the hospital gave up on transferring her to a ward with a Spanish speaking psychiatrist after less than six weeks. Yet Creedmoor had not abandoned more intrusive treatment with multiple drugs, even after several years of admitted failure."
Simone D's own voice has been muffled by her being primarily a Spanish language speaker in a unit where no one except her MHLS on-site attorney speaks Spanish. But what the record reveals is when approached by the State clinicians for her to submit to more ECT Simone stated shock "causes more pain, I suffer more from shock treatment."
Chairman Rivera, the 2001 special hearings held by Martin Luster were triggered by public outcry and press attention regarding the forced electroshocking of two immigrants, Paul Henri Thomas of Haiti and Adam Szysko from Poland. Now a similar specter of tragedy is present in the case of Simone D.
I have two requests. One, please take a close look at this case and intervene on behalf of Simone D., before she is hurt further by unnecessary psychiatric electroshock. Two, please launch a full scale investigation into the utter disregard of the standard of care called "least restrictive alternative" in New York; failure to heed this standard results in unnecessary electroshock and situations like the case of Simone D.
I pray that one day your great state will join mine in making forced electroshock illegal. Until then, I deeply appreciate your attention to Simone D. and these related concerns.
I am available if I can be of help in any way.
Sincerely Yours,
John Breeding, PhD
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. John Breeding is a an American psychologist and author who heads the Coalition for the Abolition of Electroshock in Texas (CAEST) in Austin, Texas
Dr. John Breeding has two websites. One of his websites is against ECT.
The URL is:
http://endofshock.com
Dr. Breeding's other website is about speaking out against children taking
psychiatric medications. The URL for this website is:
http://www.wildestcolts.com
You can contact Dr. Breeding by email at:
wildcolt@austin.rr.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MINDFREEDOM.ORG ACTION ALERTS FOR SIMONE D.
Contact: David Oaks, Executive Director of Mindfreedom International
Email: oaks@mindfreedom.org
MindFreedom International Alert - 7 July 2007 - please forward
http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-abuse/electroshockHUMAN RIGHTS ALERT:
New York State wins in court to give more forced electroshock to
"Simone D."
Simone D.: "Electroshock causes more pain! I suffer more from
shock treatment!"
How you can easily use the web to say "No!" to four key NY State
officials!
The State of New York won its battle in court to order even more
forced electroshock for Creedmoor Psychiatric Center inmate "Simone
D.," who has already had more than 200 electroshocks, also known as
electroconvulsive therapy or ECT.
Now it is time for the international court of public opinion to weigh
in!
Here is how you can easily use the web to speak out and say "No!" to
this overwhelming human rights abuse. It takes only a moment... about
as long as an electroshock.
The New York Court of Appeals recently upheld a lower court order
forcing Simone D., an inmate at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, to
undergo 30 more electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments against
her will.
Simone D.'s attorney Dennis Feld said, "Her battle cry has been
muffled by her being primarily a Spanish language speaker in a unit
where no one except her MHLS on-site attorney speaks Spanish."
Court records reveal that when approached by the State clinicians for
her to submit to more electroshock, Simone stated clearly enough in
Spanish that, "Electroshock causes more pain! I suffer more from
shock treatment!"
New York State's Office of Mental Health (OMH) has a long-standing
policy of vigorously pursuing legal action to force ECT on unwilling
people whom it determines are not capable of making their own
decisions. Interestingly, the capacity of people who agree to ECT is
never called into question.
To read two updates from Simone D's attorney Dennis Feld about her
court hearings go here:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-abuse/electroshock/simone-d/200705
http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-abuse/electroshock/simone-d/200707
It's time for us all to speak up and demand that New York State end
this appalling, inhumane practice!
It just takes a moment to use e-mail to contact the below four New
York State officials! If you can also phone or write that is helpful,
but at least e-mail them!
Let New York State officials know that forced ECT is wrong and must
be stopped!
A draft sample message is included below, though using your own words
and personal experiences are encouraged. Please be civil but firm.
Please contact these New York State officials immediately!
** Gov. Eliot Spitzer:
Complete the web form at:
http://161.11.121.121/govemail Phone:
(518) 474-8390. Fax: 518-474-1513.
** Lieutenant Gov. David Paterson:
He is legally blind and has been charged by the Governor with dealing
with disability issues. Complete the web form at: http://
161.11.121.121/emailltgov Phone: (518) 474-4623. Fax: (518) 486-4170
** OMH Commissioner Michael Hogan:
Complete the web form at:
http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/email/feedback.asp Phone: (518) 474-4403 Fax: (518) 474-2149.
** Peter M. Rivera, Chair, New York State Assembly Standing
Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Developmental
Disabilities.
Email:
riverap@assembly.state.ny.us Phone: (718) 931-2620. Write:
1973 Westchester Avenue; Bronx, NY 10462 USA.
~~~~~~~~~
Draft sample message - though your own words are best:
~~~~~~~~~
Dear ___________:
The New York Court of Appeals recently upheld a lower court
order forcing Simone D., an inmate at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center,
to undergo 30 more electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments against
her will. Ms. D. has already been subjected to more than 200 ECT
sessions.
It is time for the State to reverse the New York Office of
Mental Health's long-standing policy of vigorously pursuing legal
action to force ECT on people who do not want this controversial
intervention. We believe it is time to revise the laws that allow
forced electroshock. ECT is of questionable efficacy, but it does
have well-documented serious side-effects effects, including
permanent memory loss. This memory loss can be so severe that people
may not recognize family members or be able to practice their
professions. This is an invasive irreversible intervention.
The World Health Organization has called for a ban of
involuntary electroshock. It is time that New York ends such shameful
practices.
New York Office of Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hogan
chaired the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health,
which promoted the idea that people with psychiatric disabilities
must direct their own care in order for recovery to be possible. This
stands in stark contradiction to OMH's zealous legal activities to
force ECT on those who do not want it.
We call on the State of New York to renounce this harmful
policy, and on the Governor to propose legislation that would end the
possibility of ECT being forced on any citizen.
Sincerely,
[Your name & address.]
~~~~~~~~~
This alert is also on the MindFreedom web site with hyperlinks to the
four NY officials along with additional information:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-abuse/electroshock/simone-dUPDATE #2 on below alert:
The New York Office of Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hogan has
made their form for public comments via the web inoperative (the
'submit' button is grayed out if you go to the page directly from the
link provided).
You can instead go to the very bottom of the OMH web page provided,
and use the small print link to "Web Site Administrator" to e-mail in
a comment.
However, we recommended that you all instead PHONE and FAX
Commissioner Hogan starting on Monday, and don't stop. Be civil, but
keep it up.
Commissioner Hogan led President Bush's Commission on Mental Health,
and claims to support empowerment, recovery and self-determination.
Phone and fax Commissioner Hogan starting on Monday and ask in a
civil but firm way how he can reconcile his statements with the way
his OMH aggressively pursues more and more forced electroshock over
the expressed wishes of people like Simone D.
We have updated the alert below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
MindFreedom International Alert - 7 July 2007 - please forward
http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-abuse/electroshockHUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE:
New York State wins in court to give more forced electroshock to
"Simone D."
Simone D.: "Electroshock causes more pain! I suffer more from
shock treatment!"
How you can easily use the web to say "No!" to four key NY State
officials!
The State of New York won its battle in court to order even more
forced electroshock for Creedmoor Psychiatric Center inmate "Simone
D.," who has already had more than 200 electroshocks, also known as
electroconvulsive therapy or ECT.
Now it is time for the international court of public opinion to weigh
in!
Here is how you can easily use the web to speak out and say "No!" to
this overwhelming human rights abuse. It takes only a moment... about
as long as an electroshock.
The New York Court of Appeals recently upheld a lower court order
forcing Simone D., an inmate at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, to
undergo 30 more electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments against
her will.
Simone D.'s attorney Dennis Feld said, "Her battle cry has been
muffled by her being primarily a Spanish language speaker in a unit
where no one except her MHLS on-site attorney speaks Spanish."
Court records reveal that when approached by the State clinicians for
her to submit to more electroshock, Simone stated clearly enough in
Spanish that, "Electroshock causes more pain! I suffer more from
shock treatment!"
New York State's Office of Mental Health (OMH) has a long-standing
policy of vigorously pursuing legal action to force ECT on unwilling
people whom it determines are not capable of making their own
decisions. Interestingly, the capacity of people who agree to ECT is
never called into question.
To read two updates from Simone D's attorney Dennis Feld about her
court hearings go here:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-abuse/electroshock/simone-d/200705http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-abuse/electroshock/simone-d/200707It's time for us all to speak up and demand that New York State end
this appalling, inhumane practice!
It just takes a moment to use e-mail to contact the below four New
York State officials! If you can also phone or write that is helpful,
but at least e-mail them!
Let New York State officials know that forced ECT is wrong and must
be stopped!
A draft sample message is included below, though using your own words
and personal experiences are encouraged. Please be civil but firm.
Please contact these New York State officials immediately!
** Gov. Eliot Spitzer:
Complete the web form at:
http://161.11.121.121/govemail Phone:
(518) 474-8390. Fax: 518-474-1513.
** Lieutenant Gov. David Paterson:
He is legally blind and has been charged by the Governor with dealing
with disability issues. Complete the web form at: http://
161.11.121.121/emailltgov Phone: (518) 474-4623. Fax: (518) 486-4170
** OMH Commissioner Michael Hogan:
Go to web form at:
http://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/email/feedback.aspUPDATE: THE WEB FORM FOR COMMENTS TO COMMISSIONER HOGAN IS APPARENTLY
INOPERATIVE IF YOU GO THERE DIRECTLY. (The "submit" button is grayed
out.) You can get to an operative version of this form indirectly via
the small print "Web Site Administrator" link at the very bottom.
However it is recommended that you instead phone and fax during
business hours, and don't stop! Be civil, be firm, but ask how
Commissioner Hogan can claim to support empowerment and recovery
while leading President Bush's Commission on Mental Health, but now
his office is pushing more and more forced electroshock!
Let's make this into a phone campaign -- be civil, but don't stop!
Phone: (518) 474-4403 Fax: (518) 474-2149.
** Peter M. Rivera, Chair, New York State Assembly Standing
Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Developmental
Disabilities.
Email:
riverap@assembly.state.ny.us Phone: (718) 931-2620. Write:
1973 Westchester Avenue; Bronx, NY 10462 USA.
~~~~~~~~~
Draft sample message - though your own words are best:
~~~~~~~~~
Dear ___________:
The New York Court of Appeals recently upheld a lower court
order forcing Simone D., an inmate at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center,
to undergo 30 more electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments against
her will. Ms. D. has already been subjected to more than 200 ECT
sessions.
It is time for the State to reverse the New York Office of
Mental Health's long-standing policy of vigorously pursuing legal
action to force ECT on people who do not want this controversial
intervention. We believe it is time to revise the laws that allow
forced electroshock. ECT is of questionable efficacy, but it does
have well-documented serious side-effects effects, including
permanent memory loss. This memory loss can be so severe that people
may not recognize family members or be able to practice their
professions. This is an invasive irreversible intervention.
The World Health Organization has called for a ban of
involuntary electroshock. It is time that New York ends such shameful
practices.
New York Office of Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hogan
chaired the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health,
which promoted the idea that people with psychiatric disabilities
must direct their own care in order for recovery to be possible. This
stands in stark contradiction to OMH's zealous legal activities to
force ECT on those who do not want it.
We call on the State of New York to renounce this harmful
policy, and on the Governor to propose legislation that would end the
possibility of ECT being forced on any citizen.
Sincerely,
[Your name & address.]
~~~~~~~~~
This alert is also on the MindFreedom web site with hyperlinks to the
four NY officials along with additional information:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-abuse/electroshock/simone-dor use:
http://tinyurl.com/262xma~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
URGENT: Please act IMMEDIATELY. Then FORWARD this alert to all
appropriate places on and off the Internet! Add a brief personal note
that you have acted, and you encourage your friends, colleagues and
relatives to act too!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More news at the MindFreedom News Web Site:
http://www.mindfreedom.orgDon't see an important news item? Submit it to
news@mindfreedom.org~~~~~~~~~~~~
And while you're on the web site... click on the button on the RIGHT
to join or donate now, or go directly to:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donateBecome a member or renew your membership now! Build united strength
in numbers!
Do you want to...
* Win human rights campaigns in mental health?
* End abuse by the psychiatric drug industry?
* Support self-determination of psychiatric survivors?
* Promote safe, humane, effective options in mental health?
MindFreedom is for people who care about human rights who want to unite!
MindFreedom is a nonprofit human rights group that unites 100 sponsor
and affiliate groups with individual members, and is accredited by
the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with
Consultative Roster Status.
MindFreedom is one of the very few totally independent groups in the
mental health field with no funding from governments, drug companies,
religions, corporations, or the mental health system. While most of
MindFreedom's members are psychiatric survivors, *all* who support
human rights are invited to join and become active leaders.
Join or donate here:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donateFor hard-to-find books and gear go to:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/mad-marketMindFreedom International Office: 454 Willamette, Suite 216 - POB
11284; Eugene, OR 97440-3484 USA
web site:
http://www.mindfreedom.orge-mail: office(at)mindfreedom(dot)org
office phone: (541) 345-9106
toll free: 1-877-MAD-PRIDe or 1-877-623-7743
fax: (541) 345-3737
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sue Clark-Wittenberg' and Steven Wittenberg's ECT videos about the Simone D. court appeal
Apppeal to NY State to stop the forced ECT on Simone D.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkkq5QM33Yo
Simone D. being forced to undergo more ECT in NY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpHDGBEmn90
A song about Simone D. being forced to have ECT
http://www.youtube.com/v/QWIFwqRxO3c-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steven Wittenberg telephones the Governor of New York, Lt Govenor of New York, Michael
Hogan of OMH, Mr. Rivera and Mrs. Clinton and the White House on Friday, July 13th appealing to them to help stop the torture of Simone D. who is being forced to have more electroshock at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in New York State. Thanks Steven for a job well done - Sue
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sue sent an email tot the head of the Amnesty International Canada on Saturday on July 14, 2007 to appeal to this organization to help the stop the torture of Simone D. being forced to have 30 more ECTs: Here is the email:
The Wittenberg Center to End Electroshock
108 New Orchard Ave, Apt 601
Ottawa, Ontario K2B 5E7
July 14, 2007
Attention: Alex Neve
Executive Director
Amnesty International/Canada
Dear Mr. Neve:
I am Sue Clark-Wittenberg, executive director of the Wittenberg Center to End Electroshock in Ottawa, Ontario. I am an electroshock
survivor.
I am appealing to you to help stop the torture of Simone D. with being forced to undergo
electroshock against her will.
The State of New York won its battle in court to order even more forced electroshock for Creedmoor Psychiatric Center inmate "Simone D.," who has already had more than 200 electroshocks, also known as electroconvulsive therapy or ECT.
The New York Court of Appeals recently upheld a lower court order forcing Simone D., an inmate at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, to undergo 30 more electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments against her will.
Simone D.'s attorney Dennis Feld said, "Her battle cry has been muffled by her being primarily a Spanish language speaker in a unit where no one except her MHLS on-site attorney speaks Spanish."
Court records reveal that when approached by the State clinicians for her to submit to more electroshock, Simone stated clearly enough in Spanish that, "Electroshock causes more pain! I suffer more from shock treatment!"
Dr. Peter R. Breggin, an American psychiatrist and author
wrote an article in April of this year which denotes that
electroshock does in fact damage the brain. Dr. Breggin's website is at the URL:
www.breggin.com. Below is Dr. Breggin's article in full. I felt it was necessary to include this article in this email as it ground breaking news.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-peter-breggin/disturbing-news-for-patie_b_44734.html
Disturbing News for Patients and Shock Doctos Alike, by Dr. Peter R. Breggin
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.
Based on numerous standardized psychological tests, six months after the last ECT every form of the treatment was found to cause lasting memory and mental dysfunction. In the summary words of the investigators, "Thus, adverse cognitive effects were detected six months following the acute treatment course." They concluded, "this study provides the first evidence in a large, prospective sample that adverse cognitive effects can persist for an extended period, and that they characterize routine treatment with ECT in community settings."
After traumatic brain damage has persisted for six months, it is likely to remain stable or even to grow worse. Therefore, the study confirms that routine clinical use of ECT causes permanent damage to the brain and its mental faculties.
The term cognitive dysfunction covers the entire range of mental faculties from memory to abstract thinking and judgment. The ECT-induced persistent brain dysfunction was global. In addition to the loss of autobiographical memories, the most marked cognitive injury occurred in "retention of newly learned information," "simple reaction time," and most tragically "global cognitive status" or overall mental function. In other words, the patients continued to have trouble learning and remembering new things, they were slower in their mental reaction times, and they were mentally impaired across a broad range of faculties.
Probably to disguise the wide swath of devastation, the Sackeim study did not provide the percentages of patients afflicted with persistent cognitive deficits; but all of the multiple tests were highly significant (p<0.0001>
Many patients also had persistent abnormalities on the EEGs (brain wave studies) six months after treatment, indicating even more gross underlying brain damage and dysfunction. The results confirm that the post-ECT patients, as I have described in numerous publications, were grossly brain-injured with a generalized loss of mental functions.
Some of the older forms of shock--and still the most commonly used--produced the most severe damage; but all of the treatment types caused persistent brain dysfunction. The greater the number of treatments given to patients, the greater was the loss of biographical memories. Elderly women are particularly likely to get shocked--probably because there is no one to defend them--and the study found that the elderly and females were the most susceptible to severe memory loss.
Destroying Lives
The study does not address the actual impact of these losses on the lives of individual patients. Like most such reports, it's all a matter of statistics. In human reality the loss of autobiographical memories indicates that patients could no longer recall important life experiences, such as their wedding, family celebrations, graduations, vacation trips, and births and deaths. In my experience, it also includes the wiping out of significant professional experiences. I have evaluated dozens of patients whose professional and family lives have been wrecked, including a nurse who lost her career but who recently won malpractice suit against the doctor who referred her for shock. Her story is told on my website, www.breggin.com.
Even when these injured people can continue to function on a superficial social basis, they nonetheless suffer devastation of their identities due to the obliteration of key aspects of their personal lives. The loss of the ability to retain and learn new material is not only humiliating and depressing but also disabling. The slowing of mental reaction time is frustrating and disabling. Even when relatively subtle, these disabilities can disrupt routine activities of living. Individuals can no longer safely drive a car for fear of losing their concentration or becoming hopelessly lost. Others can no longer find their way around their own kitchen or remember to turn off the burner on the stove. Still others cannot retain what they have just read in a newspaper or seen on television. They commonly meet old friends and new acquaintances without having any idea who they are. Ultimately, the experience of "global" cognitive dysfunction impairs the victim's identify and sense of self, as well as ruining the overall quality of life.
Although unmentioned in the Sackeim article, in addition to cognitive dysfunction, shock treatment causes severe affective or emotional disorders. Much like other victims of severe head injury, many post-shock patients become emotionally shallow and unable to relate on an intimate or spiritual level. They often become impulsive and irritable. Commonly they become chronically depressed. Having been injured by previously trusted doctors, they almost always become distrustful of all doctors and avoid even necessary medical care.
Decades of Opposition to Shock Treatment
This breaking scientific research has confirmed what I've been saying about shock treatment for thirty years. In 1979 I published Electroshock: Its Brain-Disabling Effects, the first medical book to evaluate the brain damaging and memory wrecking effects of this "treatment" for depression that requires inflicting a series of massive convulsions on the brain by means of passing a traumatic electric current through it. After many rejections, the courageous president of Springer Publishing Company, Ursula Springer, decided to publish this then controversial book. Dr. Springer told me about venomous attacks aimed at her at medical meetings as a result of her brave act in publishing my work. She never regretted it.
Over the years, I have continued to write, lecture, testify in court and speak to the media about brain damage and memory loss caused by electroshock (e.g., Breggin 1991, 1992, 1997, and 1998). At times my persistence has resulted in condemnation from shock advocates such as Harold Sackeim and Max Fink whom I have criticized for systematically covering up damage done to millions of patients throughout the world. It would require too much autobiographical detail to communicate the severity of the attacks on me surrounding my criticism of ECT. It was second only to the attack on me from the drug companies for claiming that antidepressants cause violence and suicide.
Given the vigor with which shock doctors have suppressed or denigrated my work, the study further surprised me by citing my 1986 scientific paper "Neuropathology and cognitive dysfunction from ECT" published in the Psychopharmacology Bulletin, noting that "critics contend that ECT invariably results in substantial and permanent memory loss." They contrast this critical view with "some authorities," specifically citing Max Fink and Robert Abrams, who have argued against the existence of any persistent shock effects on memory. The implication was clear that the critics were right and the so-called authorities were wrong. Sackeim was among those authorities.
Fink's "authoritative" testimony at a number of malpractice trials has enabled shock doctors to get off Scott free after damaging the brains of their patients. Abrams used to testify successfully on behalf of shock doctors until I disclosed his ownership of a shock machine manufacturing company.
Unfortunately, the Sackeim group did not cite the work of neurologist John Friedberg who risked his career to criticize electroshock treatment. Nor did their article give credit to the published work of psychiatric survivor Leonard Frank or the anti-shock reform activities of the survivor moment lead by David Oaks of MindFreedom. They also didn't cite Colin Ross's 2006 review and analysis showing that ECT is no more effective than sham ECT or simply sedating patients without shocking them.
Will the latest confirmation of ECT-induced brain damage cause shock doctors to cut back on their use of the treatment? Not likely. Psychiatrist and their affiliated neurosurgeons always knew that lobotomy was destroying the brains and mental life of their patients and that knowledge did not daunt them one bit. It required an organized international campaign to discredit, to slow down and to almost eliminate the surgical practice of psychiatric brain mutilation in the early 1970s (Breggin and Breggin 1994). The ECT lobby is much larger and stronger than the lobotomy lobby, and much better organized, with its own journal and shock advocates positioned in high places in medicine and psychiatry. Stopping shock treatment will require public outrage, organized resistance from survivor groups and psychiatric reformers, lawsuits, and state legislation.
This essay will appear in Dr. Breggin's column, "Politics, Practice and Breaking News," in a forthcoming issue of the journal Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, sponsored by the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology ( www.ICSPP.org)
References
Breggin, P. (1979). Electroshock: Its brain-disabling effects. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Breggin, P. (1991). Toxic psychiatry. New York: St Martin's Press.
Breggin, P. (1992). The return of ECT. Readings: A Journal of Reviews and Commentary in Mental Health, 3 (March, No. 1), 12-17
Breggin, P. (1997). Brain-Disabling treatments in psychiatry. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Breggin, P. (1998). Electroshock: Scientific, ethical, and political issues." International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine 11, 5-40.
Breggin, P. and Breggin, G. (1998). The war against children of color. Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press.
Frank, L. (1978). (Ed.). The history of electroshock. Available from L. Frank, 2300 Webster Street, San Francisco, CA 94115. Also available on www.Amazon.com.
Frank, L. (1990). Electroshock: death, brain damage, memory loss, and brain washing. Journal of Mind and Behavior, 11, 489-512.
Frank, L. (2006). The electroshock quotationery. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 157-177.
Friedberg, J. (1976). Electroshock is not good for your brain. San Francisco: Glide Publications.
Friedberg, J. (1977). Shock treatment, brain damage, and memory loss: A neurological perspective. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 1010-1014.
Ross, Colin (2006). The sham ECT literature: Implications for consent to ECT. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 17-28.
Sackeim, H., Prudic, J., Fuller, R., Keilp, J., Lavori, P. and Olfson, M. (2007). The cognitive effects of electroconvulsive therapy in community settings. Neuropsychopharmacology, 32, 244-254.
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Simone D. is being forced to undergo brain damaging electroshock and that is not ok. No one should have to go through what I did.
In 1993 at the age of l7 years old, I was forced to have electroshock against my will at the Brockville Psychiatric Hospital in Ontario. On my 5th electroshock, my heart stopped and I was revived. I suffer from permanent memory loss and with have difficulty learning new things which has impeded my everyday living greatly.
Electroshock should have been banned many years ago.
There have many countless studies and reports proving that electroshock damages the brain. I feel electroshock is
unethical, barbaric, torture and a crime against humanity.
Electroshock should be taken seriously as a form of torture.
In other countries when some people are detained by their governments, electroshock is given to them as a form of torture, yet in Canada, Amnesty International Canada has not deemed electroshock as torture which it is. It is a very grave matter indeed and one that needs to addressed immediately.
In Ontario, 14,000 ECTs are given yearly
In the USA, 100,000 Americans get ECT yearly
In the UK, 50,000 ECTs are given yearly
Worldwide, it is estimated that 1 to 2 million get ECT yearly
Horrendous statistics I say.
The Wittenberg Center to End Electroshock was founded by myself and my husband Steven Wittenberg in 2006. We felt there was a need to educate the public about electroshock and its brain damaging effects and also to lobby governments in order to make legislative changes to ban electroshock from Canada.
I can be reached by phone in Ottawa at 613-721-1844 or by email:
2005.sueclark@gmail.comMore information about the case of Simone D. can be found at these websites:
http://www.mindfreedom.org,
http://capacanda.wordpress.com,
http://psychrights.orgSincerely,
Sue Clark-Wittenberg
Executive Director
The Wittenberg Center to End Electroshock
Ottawa, Ontario
Other ECT websites for info:
http://mindfreedom.orghttp://www.breggin.com http://capa.oise.uroronto.cahttp://capacanada.wordpress.com http://psychrights.orghttp://ect.org http://endofshock.comhttp://www.idiom.com/~drjohn/ect.html www.banshock.org http://www.wildestcolt.s.com--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
