TeenScreen is dangerous

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This is why TeenScreen is so dangerous. I don't see anything wrong with suicide prevention programs for teenagers, and I believe it could save lives if the mental health system utilized compassion rather than punishment and drugs toward people who feel suicidal. But even if the mental health system were competent, TeenScreen, from the very beginning, has not been used responsibly. That is just one reason why TeenScreen should be thrown out altogether.

Numerous school boards have already voted against it for their schools, and I hope others follow suit. The petition against TeenScreen has reached 19,792 signatures so far. If you'd like learn more about it and sign the petition, click here

I hope all of you are doing well. I'll post more about what's going on in my life soon. It's all good!

Mentally Ill Inmate Dies Alone

60 Minutes ran a shocking story on Sunday and posted the video online. You can access it by clicking the picture. I have never seen anything like this on TV before, and it falls in line with my recent posts about how people with mental illness are treated every day. This is how we've always been treated, and thanks to technology, the word is finally getting out to the general public. Reports like this cannot be ignored any longer.

We Made it to the Exhibit

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Beth and I made finally it to the exhibit titled "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death" on Saturday. Hmmmm... pretty intense - and extreme. Videos were blaring constantly in every corner of the large room. I thought I was "anti-psychiatry," but after seeing that display, I guess I am a bit more balanced. It reminded me of a tabloid news segment by Geraldo Rivera in the 90's. Very dramatic and sensationalized. It wasn't the message itself, but the presentation. Talk about in your face!

The message needs to be heard, though. I remember when I was 15 years old, my family and I watched "Roots" together. I had never been taught a thing about black history, and the series was shocking and eye-opening. The impact of that movie stayed with me for life. Back then, black history was not taught in schools. I never learned about the Holocaust in school, either. The history of psychiatry should be taught, at the very least, to college students, especially those who are entering any helping profession.

People need to know the history of psychiatry. So many of the attitudes and practices are still being used today. People are dying every day from psychiatric abuse. I just saw 60 Minutes where a 21 year old guy who was diagnosed with a mental illness died in prison (the new asylums) at the hands of the prison guards. They restrained him for hours on end -- as punishment -- and he finally died of dehydration right before their eyes. It was all caught on video. Some of the cameras were shot by the guards themselves. Other footage was caught on the surveillance cameras. It was absolutely horrendous. It made me sick.

Deaths happen all the time in mental hospitals but the public doesn't hear about most of them because they are routinely swept under the rug. And the history of psychiatry is also swept under the rug because it supposedly doesn't happen anymore. The truth is, it's happening right before our eyes. Nowadays we have the internet, and we have cameras practically everywhere. Please, please educate yourselves! Learn about what is really going on. The information is just sitting there, waiting for you to find it - and to care. You don't have to go through CCHR (Scientology) to learn about it either. The internet is right at your fingertips. If books are more your speed, I highly recommend "Mad in America" by Robert Whitaker. That was the most profound and informative book I have ever read.

All I can do is my part. And you're reading it.

Scientologists? Nope!

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Beth and I decided to catch the anti-psychiatry exhibit displayed at the Woodruff Arts Center. It was held by CCHR (Citizen's Commission on Human Rights) which is a front group for Scientology. Neither of us are Scientologists but both of us are interested in anything outside of mainstream psychiatry. This exhibit was called "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death." Scientologists aren't the only group that exposes the abuses that occur within the mental health system, but they are among the few that actually do something like show exhibits for the general public to see. I wish more groups would take such an active role. Just because a person questions the ethics and history of psychiatry does not make them a Scientologist! It makes them an informed and educated citizen. I'm not saying that everything CCHR says is true, but they sure do put a spin on certain aspects that I know are true. The average person has no idea that psychiatrists used to market torture devices used for "treatment' of the mentally ill. Most people don't realize that Thorazine was marketed as the "new lobotomy" and that lobotomies were halted because of Thorazine and other anti-psychotic drugs. Why spend time and money on surgery when a simple pill can do the same thing? Because of this ongoing ignorance, now kids are being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs every day. Do we really want a society of zombies? That's where we're headed. It's time to wake up!

BTW, we never got to see the exhibit. We tried, though! See the video...