LAW PROJECT FOR PSYCHIATRIC RIGHTS, INC.
(PsychRights)
(907) 274-7686 Phone ~
(907) 274-9493 Fax
CONTACT:
Jim
Gottstein
907
274-7686
Update:
Psychiatric Association Produces No Evidence Supporting Its Claims
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On August 16th, almost
a week ago, five psychiatric survivors and a dissident social worker from
throughout the
In examining each of
these sources, we found numerous statements that invalidate suggestions
that behaviors referred to as “mental illnesses” have specific biological bases.
* * *
In the judgment of the
panel members, your reply fails to produce or cite any specific evidence
of any specific pathophysiology underlying any
“mental disorder.”
* * *
Like you, we are
familiar with the material found in these journals. It is understandable why
you did not provide any citations. There is not a single study that provides
valid and reliable evidence for the "biological basis of mental illness."
* * *
The panel members could not help but notice the
contrast between the hunger strikers, who ask clear questions about the science
of psychiatry and consciously take risks in the name of protecting the
well-being of users of psychiatry, and the American Psychiatric Association,
which evades revealing what actual scientific evidence justifies its authority.
By not giving specific answers to the questions posed by the hunger strikers,
you appear to be affirming the very reason for the hunger strike.
See, http://psychrights.org/education/HungerStrike/panel.pdf
particularly, relying on the APA's own
sources, for the specific refutations to the American
Psychiatric Association's position.
Harvard lawyer Jim
Gottstein, Chief Operating Officer of the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights,
said, "in a court of law, these failures of the Psychiatric Association
would amount to an admission that what they have been telling their patients
and the public about the biologic basis of mental illness is untrue." Mr.
Gottstein continued, “The common statement that people diagnosed with mental
illness have a ‘chemical imbalance’ in their brain is pure bunk -- it is simply a ruse to justify the injection
of mind-numbing chemicals that cause more violence than it prevents.” “Just one of the really outrageous things
about this fraud is the courts are duped into complicity.”
Don Roberts, president
of PsychRights, added, “one of the great heroes of the forced
drugging movement, psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey has
even written it is a good thing psychiatrists lie to the courts all the time to
get them to order damaging – even life threatening -- treatments that are not
justified under the law.”
The Law Project for
Psychiatric Rights, was specifically formed in November of last year to attack
these unwarranted court orders for forced psychiatric drugging. It has become clear the public mental health
system is creating a huge class of chronic mental patients through forcing them
to take ineffective, yet extremely harmful drugs. The courts are being misled by dishonest
research and testimony and forcing tens of thousands of people a year to take
drugs that are not only physically harmful, but permanently damage the brain
and make people more susceptible, not less susceptible to psychiatric symptoms. The purpose of the Law Project for
Psychiatric rights is to promote and implement a legal campaign on behalf of
psychiatric rights akin to what Thurgood Marshall and
the NAACP mounted in the 40's and 50's on behalf of African American civil
rights. In the web-article “Unwarranted
Court Ordered Medication: A Call to Action,” a multi-faceted approach is
detailed including providing technical assistance to people around the country
for fighting these unwarranted court orders for psychiatric drugging. This includes an entire section devoted to
making the studies debunking the falsities perpetrated by the psychiatric
profession available for use by litigants around the country. An upcoming section will provide model forms
and suggested legal strategies. In
addition, a network of people willing to help is being built and PsychRights personnel will provide assistance as it can on
specific cases. Other sections of the website
include an article on the legal underpinnings of the current forced psychiatry
regime in “Psychiatry: Force of Law,” and a page devoted to Everyday Horrors of
the Mental Health System.
“We’ve already sprung
one woman from the hospital without a forced medication order being in effect
against her after a non-stop, hard-fought four month legal battle,” said Mr.
Roberts. “We have just begun our fight
for psychiatric justice.”
The Law Project for
Psychiatric Rights is a tax-exempt charity whose mission is to bring fairness
and reasonableness into the administration of legal aspects of the mental
health system. Non-governmental grants and donations are being sought to be
able to hire a paid staff attorney and an EEP. In support of its mission, PsychRights publishes the relevant research on its website
(http://psychrights.org/) as well as other relevant materials.
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