Time for The Times

October 2013;What Times are The New York Times? They are TIMES when real science and actual data doesn’t matter or even interest the editors, who will print anything that drools out of the mouths of those who pay for the title “Expert”. For example, most recently;”But for those who do not take their medication, don’t recover from their first episode of illness and don’t seek treatment and support from professionals, they are vulnerable to homelessness, incarceration and death, he said.”. So let’s break this down, shall we? What happens to those who don’t take their medicine? Either they feel far better, realize they’ve been victims, and take pains never to be seen by a “mental health professional” again. OR, they become disabled by discontinuation syndromes they were told did not exist. In those cases they may be “institutionlized” and force drugged (including by court order) and told that they had “relapsed” because “professionals” don’t recognize discontinuation syndromes. And finally, some people’s body chemistry has been so changed that they cannot get off the toxic poison that was prescribed to them as “medicine”, and they are forced to deal with these drug pusher docs who continue to tell them they are defective for life. Finally, there are a few lucky people who have strong family resources and support, who use the drugs for restoration of sleep and for a brief window of respite (zoning out can be helpful in a crisis for a short time; in DBT therapy this is referred to as distraction….DBT distraction is not chemical assault however). Last claim; people who don’t recover from a first break. In Robert Whitaker’s book “Anatomy of an Epidemic” a meta analysis of data shows that the places that have the highest recovery rates are places where people do not have access to drugs. The places where the most people do not recover from first break psychotic episodes are far and away the places where people are told to take these drugs for the rest of their short lives. Last claim; people who don’t seek “treatment” and “support” from professionals are vulnerable to homelessness, incarceration and death???? In America today, almost anyone is vulnerable to homelessness, incarceration, and death. Mental “Illness” is not what’s wrong with them, it is what happened to them. It’s TIME for the TIMES to wake up to the facts.

Nancy