In the spirit of being thankful, I wanted to post a recent article that Miriam Bodin wrote in preparation for our 30th celebration. Read and enjoy.  We at Bodin wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving!

When I decided to open a practice in educational consulting back in 1979, there were very few people doing this work.  In fact “the work” back then consisted of helping families and students to find the “right fit” for prep school, day school, or college.  I was such a consultant until I began to visit and learn about the emerging world of “special needs” schools and programs.   I learned how limiting it was to just provide names of schools and programs to families and the reassurance that someone had investigated those schools and programs.

These families needed more education about the world of residential schools, in-depth guidance, strategic planning and collaboration on an ongoing basis if their child was to be sent from home to residential treatment.   Put another way, the families with the most complicated, troubling, at-risk children really needed sophisticated help, not just “a list.”

Thus, when Douglas Bodin joined me in 1991, a veritable sea change took place and we began our journey of growing our team of professionals who already had education, training and experience in the fields in which we were increasingly immersed.

We grew our company with the primary focus of serving families who needed our help to develop a plan to assist their youngsters.   We stopped being placement consultants and shifted to being members of a professional team that often consisted of the parents, the child and the professionals already working with the family.  If the child was then “placed,” professionals serving the child (and parents) in the special school or treatment program were added to the team.   Our mission statement says it all:
To provide the most valuable and comprehensive assessment and planning services for the educational and therapeutic needs of children, young adults and their families.

What has this journey meant to me?   I am grateful for whatever passion and spirit of adventure prompted me to embark on this career path.   It has provided me with:  1) opportunities to interact with parents (often heroic in their efforts to help their kids); 2) connection and interaction with fantastically humane, intelligent, and creative professionals both in the local community and in treatment centers and schools all over the country; 3) the establishment of a team here at Bodin of wonderful hard working and committed professionals who genuinely care about their work and their families; and 4) a chance to observe my own son devote himself to helping others.

At the risk of sounding sappy, but within the 30 seconds:   No one could be luckier than I. I come to work every day knowing that I have the chance to help someone or someone’s kid have a better chance.   Is there anything sweeter than this to say about one’s life?

My post regarding the temporary closure of a therapuetic boarding school is in no way intended to align with either the school or the state of Oregon.  It’s simply information.  If you are searching on the web, looking for answers for your troubled teen and are looking for guidance, you may be be interested in calling an Educational Consultant.  The call is free!   Check us out @ www.thebodingroup.com or call 800-874-2124

Appetizer

Playing with Hugh

Or, rather, hue (and contrast, and saturation etc.). All these taken in the past week or two. Click for real size, which is big, btw.

I call this one “very close to fall”.

Looking Up

More woods in rain

Bird, tower, moon- composit of several pictures

The J Complex (what's left of it) as envisioned by Prince

“General Pictures, Sir!”

35 year old picture of me

From:

MindFreedom Oregon News Alert – Please Forward
http://www.mindfreedom.org/oregon

MindFreedom International News – 22 October 2009
Ray Alert #22 – Unite for Real Mental Health Advocacy
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray – please forward

You can read the history of Ray’s successful campaign at:
http://www.mindfreedom.org/ray

Utne Reader magazine periodically names “50 Visionaries Who Are
Changing Your World.”

Said David Oaks, “Utne is one of the few media leaders to acknowledge
the ‘mad movement’ to deeply change the mental health system. Utne’s
recognition is really of our whole movement’s vision. This shows we
are still connected to all the other movements for social and
environmental justice, just as when our movement first started. Can we
have a nonviolent revolution now?”

Another Suspicious Death Inside Oregon State Hospital

According to the below MindFreedom Oregon Exclusive Report, another
psychiatric patient died inside Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon
under suspicious circumstances on Saturday, 17 October 2009.

The man — known here as “Patient M” — had apparently been
complaining repeatedly for a month about chest pain, which staff had
allegedly dismissed because of his psychiatric diagnosis. Instead of
medical care, staff reportedly just gave him more psychiatric drugs.

After the patient died, the report says he was left undiscovered all
day by staff who were supposed to be checking on him regularly.

The below is based on several anonymous reports from patients on ward
50F with access to telephones, who took great risk to speak out.
Because of a long pattern of abuse and neglect in Oregon State
Hospital (OSH), this information is offered immediately in the public
interest, but has not yet been investigated by authorities. Each
allegation needs to be investigated before confirmation.

At the bottom are ways you can speak out to demand an investigation,
and also demand support for a state-wide voice for Oregon’s mental
health consumers and psychiatric survivors.

Patients supplying this news did not ask to be anonymous but patients
at OSH have reported retaliation for getting information out in
public. For example, this past week a minimum security patient was
allegedly moved, in shackles, to a more restricted area after he spoke
with Salem reporters about his lawsuit against Oregon State Hospital.

MindFreedom calls on the Governor, the US Dept. of Justice and the
media to immediately investigate the below allegations, especially the
RED FLAGS marked in this report.

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

EXCLUSIVE REPORT to MindFreedom Oregon

“The medicine is not working.”

The Passing of “Patient M” on Ward 50F in Oregon State Hospital
(OSH)

Over one month ago, “Patient M” had a fellow patient — “R” — help
him write a special letter to the ward medical officer.

In the letter Patient M complained of his chest pain, stomach pain and
trouble breathing.

Instead of medical treatment for the chest pain, because of his
psychiatric diagnosis Patient M was given more psychiatric drugs as
staff felt he needed them, known in medicine as “PRN.” These
psychiatric drugs were often minor tranquilizers, usually Ativan
(lorazepam) or Klonopin (clonazepam). The psychiatric drugs were
administered whenever he complained of pain.

Two weeks ago, Patient M spoke directly to the Ward Medical Officer
and said that, “The medicine is not working.” He continued to complain
of chest and stomach pain with difficulty breathing. [RED FLAG] He
continued to be given “PRNs.” He was not given a pain reliever, heart
medication or any cardiac testing.

This past week, Patient M has told everyone on the ward who would
listen that he was in serious pain. Other patients were already very
worried about his health. He continued to receive tranquilizers when
he complained.

Last Thursday and Friday — 15th and 16th of October — were
particularly bad. [RED FLAG]

Patients say it’s important to know that it is policy that all
patients be checked for “location and condition every hour.” For
example, in a widely-publicized escape a month ago, staff had not been
checking on the patient.

Saturday morning, 17 October 2009, Patient M got up for breakfast, and
he was known as a man who never misses a meal. Some said eating seemed
to be his greatest enjoyment, and he was always the first person to
get his food. Because he is sloppy, he got his food delivered to him
outside the kitchen.

At 8:30 am he was given his morning meds. He told the nurse that his
chest hurt “really bad” and he had trouble breathing. He was given his
usual psychiatric drug PRN.

Patient M went to lay down.

A nurse checked at 9:30 am and saw he was lying down. He seemed okay.

Patient M resided in a very over-crowded room typical of the “50
building” at OSH. A short time later one of his roommates said his
eyes were rolled back. “But sometimes he sleeps like that” because of
the PRNs, said one roommate.

No staff checked his condition for the rest of the morning. [RED FLAG]

Lunch on 50F is served between 11 am and 11:30 am. Staff brought his
tray down to his room. They called his name and there was no response,
even though it is well known that he always eats. [RED FLAG] Staff
left, and took his lunch back to the kitchen.

Mid-afternoon a roommate shook his foot to see if he’d wake up. There
was no response. No staff looked in on him to check his condition all
afternoon. [RED FLAG]

Dinner time, 4:30 pm, staff called into his room to announce the meal.
No response. Patient M did not get up for food. Staff did not bother
to bring a tray down for him. No staff checked him.

His roommates complained of the stench of “shit” in the room. This
odor was probably from the natural course of a person who is lying
dead for hours as their bowels evacuate. Staff still stayed out. [RED
FLAG]

Finally, at 7:45 pm OSH medication staff went to his room to give him
his evening pills. This time he was checked. He was so dead cold, no
attempt was made at resuscitation. Some patients believe he was in or
past rigor mortis at this point.

Between 7:45 and 8 pm, patient eye-witnesses allege several things
happened. The room was sealed. Staff were called into what one person
called a “bubble” to speak privately.

Based on patient reports: “It was quiet for a few minutes. Then the
staff became very active. We could see through the nurses’ station
windows that they were handling documents, making photocopies. We
heard one staff say, ‘We’ll need six more of those.’ Then we could see
staff shredding originals of documents they had just photocopied. By 8
pm things had returned to normal. The body was carried out later.”

Over the weekend Patient M’s soiled bed and personal area were left as
is in the crowded room. “The smell was unbelievable,” said one witness.

On Monday morning, 19 October 2009, two days after the death, at the
ward meeting, patients complained about the unsanitary conditions in
this room. Staff took out the bed, bedding and sanitized the area. As
of that evening there was no counseling about the death, and no extra
help provided to other patients on that ward.

No memorial was suggested until patients brought it up at the ward
meeting.

Patients were questioned at the meeting about “What do you know?” and
“What will you report?” One patient referred to the meeting as an
“inquisition.”

Patients around the hospital heard about the death only by word of
mouth.

Many are reportedly saddened.

Because of the request by patients, a memorial is planned.

- end -

~~~~~~~~~~

ACTIONS * ACTIONS * ACTIONS

Please forward this alert to others who support human rights in mental
health.

The Governor has not responded to e-mails. Please telephone.

PHONE GOVERNOR TED KULONGOSKI AT (503) 378-3111

In a civil but strong way, in your own words:

1) Ask the Governor to personally investigate suspicious deaths at
Oregon State Hospital.

2) Ask the Governor to support the state-wide voice of mental health
consumers and psychiatric survivors.

~~~~~~~~~~

BACKGROUND on OSH & MORTALITY:

Oregon State Hospital has a long history of suspicious deaths.

OSH is nationally famous when its secret discolored copper canisters
were revealed that contain the ashes of some 5,121 patients who died
between 1913 and 1971. The identification of many of the patients is
lost.

See the Time Magazine article on Jan. 2009 about OSH ash cans here:

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1869177,00.html

For more photos of the canisters go to this web site from July 2009:

http://thephotobook.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/david-maisel-library-of-dust/

or use this link:

http://bit.ly/osh-ashes

Mortality and people in the mental health system continues to be a
national controversy today in the USA.

A major study by the National Association of State Mental Health
Program Directors showed that people who use the US public mental
health system die about 25 years earlier than the general public:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/psychiatric-drugs/death

One possible reason provided in the study is the over-use of
psychiatric drugs, including multiple prescriptions, but this factor
is often omitted or downplayed by those in the mental health system
discussing these deaths.

Instead, the mental health system today is promoting “integration” of
physical and mental health as the answer to this mortality rate.
“Integration” is now a major buzz word in mental health.

Sound good?

Unfortunately, there’s no definition of this “integration.” Is this
the “integration” of psychiatric institutions into the community, as
mandated by the Olmstead Supreme Court decision? A draft of Oregon’s
plan to implement Olmstead does not emphasize the importance of
supporting the voice of mental health consumers and psychiatric
survivors.

In some places this “integration” buzz word has simply meant increased
prescription rates of psychiatric drugs in clinics that had previously
focused on physical health. Sad about your heart condition? There may
be a psychiatric drug prescription waiting for you, too.

People with psychiatric labels continue to be among the most
disempowered Oregonians.

How can this “power imbalance” change without a voice?

Since the exact month Governor Ted Kulongoski took office, Oregon
became one of the few USA states to provide zero — 0 — funding for
the state-wide voice of mental health consumers and psychiatric
survivors.  For more than seven years, there has been zero state
funding for any of those activities — a newsletter, conference,
office of mental health consumer affairs.

Nothing.

During tough times, people with psychiatric labels are supposedly hit
hardest. That’s when we should be supporting the voice of mental
health consumers and psychiatric survivors the most.

However, apparently based on advice from his closest staff, Governor
Kulongoski continues to recommend zero for this state-wide voice each
budget.

You can read about the Governor’s legacy of “zero” for mental health
consumers and psychiatric survivors here:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/zero

~~~~~~~~~~

TWO ACTIONS:

1) PLEASE forward this covered-up news to all interested people.

2) PHONE GOVERNOR TED KULONGOSKI AT (503) 378-3111

Be civil and strong, ask for investigation of deaths at OSH, and for
his support of a state-wide voice for mental health consumers and
psychiatric survivors.

~~~~~~~~~~

ADDITIONAL ACTIONS:

US Department of Justice (DOJ) is supposed to be investigating Oregon
State Hospital.

In your own words, ask that all appropriate results of investigations
by DOJ of OSH be made public, and also be provided to you.

You can e-mail DOJ here:

AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

Or for more DOJ contact info, go here:

http://www.usdoj.gov/contact-us.html

You can also e-mail or postal mail Governor Kulongoski, contact info
is here:

http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/contact_us.shtml

Please also bring this to the attention of any interested media.

If you did not receive this alert directly from mindfreedom-oregon
news service, you can get on this free, public alert system here:

http://www.intenex.net/lists/listinfo/mindfreedom-oregon-news

For more info about MindFreedom Oregon go here:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/oregon

Update:

Autopsy was supposed to be done Friday- I have heard nothing. Key information would be stomach contents, since the hospital claimed he had all his meals that day (whereas eyewitnesses say he was left dead in his room all day).

From Librivox- free audio books

(click to play)

A Century of Recorded Poetry, Vol 1, 01, Walt Whitman – America

A Century of Recorded Poetry, Vol 1, 02, William Butler Yeats – The Lake Isle Of Innisfree

A Century of Recorded Poetry, Vol 1, 03, William Butler Yeats – The Song Of The Old Mother

A Century of Recorded Poetry, Vol 1, 04, Robert Frost – The Road Not Taken

A Century of Recorded Poetry, Vol 1, 05, Robert Frost – Birches

A Century of Recorded Poetry, Vol 1, 06, Robert Frost – The Gift Outright

A Century of Recorded Poetry, Vol 1, 07, Gertrude Stein – If I Had Told Him A Completed Portrait of Picasso

A Century of Recorded Poetry, Vol 1, 09, William Carlos Williams – The Red Wheelbarrow

A Century of Recorded Poetry, Vol 1, 19, Langston Hughes – The Negro Speaks Of Rivers

Have fun, be safe, eat as much candy as you want.

Please welcome the newest listing to SoberSites…

THE RECOVERY PLACE

The Recovery Place is a Florida drug rehab center where real hope and guidance come in the form of dedicated professional and effective drug rehabilitation, drug treatment, alcohol treatment and mental health treatment. We know there are many Florida drug treatment centers and Florida alcohol treatment centers to choose from and with one visit you’ll see how we’re different from the rest. Our treatment facilities are second to none, offering the ideal balance between structure and comfort necessary for effective drug and alcohol rehab.

Highlighted Program….

Dual Diagnosis

The goal of our Dual Diagnosis program is to help the client achieve and sustain long-term management over psychological symptoms and maintain long term sobriety. This Dual Diagnosis program provides comprehensive short-term structured treatment for adults and takes place daily. Individual and group therapy, psychiatric evaluation, and medication management services are all inclusive as well as transportation, grocery shopping, and community activities.  read more

Highlighted Feature…

Live Web Chat

All of The Recovery Place live chat sessions are protected, secured, and encrypted with industry leading AES-256 High Grade SSL Security to ensure that all information you chat to us about is protected. This is the same security level approved by the U.S. government and the NSA for top secret information.

So, this is a view of the construction area on the site of the demolished sections of the old J Complex at Oregon State Hospital. Some parts that are not yet demolished are in the foreground. The walls coming up in back are going to be the “ABC” (Acute Behavioral Care?) section of the new hospital- corresponds with the current maximum security unit on 48B. If you click the pic it will bring up the full-res 8-megapixel shot. But here’s what’s even more cool- they have put up a webcam that refreshes every 15 minutes and shows various angles of the construction zone.

Go here.

First off, June 30th was the last work day for my supervisor at the Oregon State Hospital. He has been a supportive and wise boss, not something you find everyday. My new boss can’t fill his shoes. My co-worker and I (there is essentially just one other person here doing the same job as myself) feel like we’ve been hung out to dry.

This is something that he wrote before retiring, click for download (word doc)

The Lighter Side of 45 Years Working in St

Other news at work- Next week the Department of Justice comes to visit. Oregon State Hospital is under fire, in trouble, up sh*t creek (pick your metaphor) due to problems in patient care, staffing, use of seclusion & restraints, etc. Staff have been told they shouldn’t try to talk to the DOJ Team. Especially we should not mention the horrible understaffing, mandated overtime and burnout which has not improved since their last visit. Patients have to sign up with their ward/ unit staff to be put on a lsit to talk to the Team. Some wards, notorious for poor conditions, treatment, have tried to spruce up; treating patients better for the past week in hopes that everyone will forget how things really are.

Some links to articles about the visit:

http://www.disabilityrightsoregon.org/usdoj-coming-back-to-oregon-state-hospital

http://www.mentalhealthportland.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/oregons-letter-to-the-federal-department-of-justice.pdf

http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/mentalhealth/osh/news/0709.pdf

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20090712/NEWS/907120329/1001/news

Did any of you happen to watch the Martin Bashir interview with Michael Jackson this weekend on MSNBC?

I didn’t see the interview when it first aired some years ago and I still didn’t get to watch the entire interview but the parts I watched were excruciating because Michael Jackson clearly needed therapy and over the years it seems he was allowed to get worst and worst.

Of all the signs Jackson displayed, that seem to indicate he needed some type of therapy, the one that leaped out at me was the answer he gave to Bashir about his plastic surgery. Jackson seemed to believe that he could actually convince Bashir and the world that he only had two operations and that he was born with pale skin and a dimpled chin!  He even tried to convince Bashir that the changes occurred because of puberty and him ‘changing’.  Whoa!

It was also hard to watch Jackson become visibly upset when it looks like his fans had turned against him after the Berlin baby dangling incident.  And how abruptly his body language changes when Bashir starts to talk about the treatment he received from his father while growing up and why it’s understandable he would want to change his appearance because of all the teasing he received.  And most adults that were tormented as children can definitely sympathize with Jackson here but it’s evident that even after all this time, some thirty to forty years later, Jackson had yet to come to terms with the treatment he received at the hands of his father Joe Jackson. 

I don’t know if  Jackson had ever been to or sought therapy or  mental health treatment because the topic of therapy is still a big taboo in the black community however his behavior went beyond eccentric and his family and friends should have convinced him to seek help.

Many of those around him will now have to come to terms with the fact that Michael Jackson may have been crying out for help all this time and none them were able to or allowed themselves to hear his calls. 

These are stories of people subjected to torture and humiliation in the name of “treatment” for mental health issues. They are found (with many others) on the website: http://psychrights.org/index.htm

CHOMP Hell

On October 15, 2007, I was kidnapped, put in solitary confinement, and I was physically abused for 3 days.

My husband had called the suicide prevention hotline and thought he would get help for me coping with stress and depression. My husband was ignorant and admits that he was wrong. Two police officers showed up with paramedics. They brutally pulled me out of my bed, injected me with something and transported me to the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP). I remember being sexually molested in the ambulance, I remember being tied up in the hospital bed for hours, one doctor screamed at me, another doctor laughed sarcastically when I told him I was held against my will. During the 3 day ordeal I was numerous times injected with medication and was forced to swallow piles of pills. Nobody talked to me about the treatment and medication; asked for my consent or cared about my well being. CHOMP nurses also drew my blood and catheterized me against my will.

I feel like I was mentally raped. When I started menstruating and blood was running down my legs, nobody at the hospital offered a tampon or a feminine pad. I received no water or other fluids during my 3 day ordeal. I did not receive any food either. I was humiliated, laughed at and degraded by the staff of CHOMP. The nurses and doctors were destroying my self-worth, self-respect and dignity. Instead of simple depression I suffer now from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. I am still terrified that it can happen again. I am afraid to go to bed at night. I have daily flashbacks of the trauma. This experience is haunting me now for 15 months. It impacted my professional life and completely destroyed my private life.

More than anything else it would help me tremendously if CHOMP would not be allowed to conduct these torture techniques on other human beings. CHOMP officials, the suicide prevention hotline, the Seaside Police Department and the ambulance service all claim that they went by the “BOOK”. If this “Book” really exists, it needs tremendous improvements. I also believe the medical code states “DO NO HARM”, Why is then CHOMP running their psychiatric ward like a concentration camp? Why is CHOMP restraining people, putting them into solitary confinement, humiliating them and torturing them? I was simply depressed and would have needed somebody caring and compassionate to talk to but I experience hell instead.

Jeffrey James – Death by “Restraint”

by Don Weitz

For two or three days, I attended the recent inquest in the tragic death of Jeffrey James, it ended in Toronto on October 10, 2008. Although there were some good and detailed recommendations from the Empowerment Council and Coroner’s Jury, the Jury did not demand the end of physical restraints (e.g. 2-point & 4- point restraints) and “seclusion”(solitary confinement, but the Council did.

The Jury should have at least recommended phasing out all physical restraints and seclusion because they’re forms of cruel and unusual punishment or torture. The fact is that physical restraints triggered the “pulmonary thromboembolism” (blot clot in lungs that traveled from James’ leg) that killed Jeffrey James. A young 34-year old black man, Jeffrey died a horrible death in the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto’s notorious psychoprison, on July 13, 2005. Approximately one month before he died, James had been transferred from Oak Ridge/Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre, another Ontario psychoprison notorious for its brutality; he ended up CAMH’s “medium-security” Unit (3-2) – but not for long. For 5 1/2 consecutive days, Jeffrey was severely restrained – tied down with 4-point restraints wrapped around his ankles and wrists, forced to lie on his back so he couldn’t move his arms and legs, forbidden to get up and exercise, “chemically restrained” (forcibly drugged) with the powerful neuroleptic Loxepine and ‘minor tranquillizer’ Lorazepam – while languishing in solitary confinement (“seclusion”)! CAMH psychiatrists and doctors repeatedly ordered physical restraints ad seclusion; in fact, they didn’t even examine Jeffrey before writing restraint orders – facts confirmed during the cross-examination of Drs. Siu and Darby by lawyer Anita Szigeti. Psychiatrist Siu was the last doctor to see Jeffrey, he wrote restraint orders one and two days before Jeffrey died. According to Szigeti, who represented the Empowerment Council at the inquest, Dr. Siu also failed to request an “external consult” (a second opinion) after 72 hours of continuous physical restraint. This sounds unethical to me– a violation of hospital or provincial government restraint guidelines, medical neglect, or a breach of medical ethics.

It’s bizarre as to how James ended up in physical restraints and “seclusion” in the first place. The psychiatrists threw James into “seclusion” after some nurses complained to a psychiatrist that James was “masturbating” in front of the nursing station – horrors at such “inappropriate sexual behaviour”! Although he was previously accused of “sexual assault”, James had not assaulted or harmed any CAMH staff or patient. It’s also important to point out that no nurse and no psychiatrist or doctor bothered to communicate with and understand James as a person before he died. Apparently, dialogue (not to mention empathy or compassion) is a ‘privilege’ at CAMH and other Ontario psychoprisons. 2-point and 4-point physical restraints and “seclusion” in psychiatric facilities constitute cruel and unusual punishment or torture sanitized as “restraint”. I may report these psychiatric tortures to Amnesty International and the United Nations Committee Against Torture; owever, I’m not hopeful of action since neither human rights body has officially condemned physical restraints, forced drugging or electroshock (“ECT”) as forms of torture. So far, no doctor or psychiatrist is being held accountable for Jeffrey James’ death – unfortunately the Coroner’s Act of Ontario forbids the corner or coroner’s jury from blaming or charging anybody with unethical conduct or a crime. Let’s get real here. Like coroners, most judges uncritically accept or believe that psychiatry’s fraudulent medical model is “medical science”; coroners and judges rarely challenge psychiatric ”expertise”, they rarely question bogus psychiatric procedures including forced drugging, electroshock, physical restraints or “seclusion” (solitary confinement).

Nevertheless, some of the jury’s 66 recommendations were constructive and helpful- if acted on. For many years, the Ontario government has been notoriously and routinely negligent in refusing to enforce jury recommendations, especially those concerning psychiatric survivors and homeless people. One recommendation in the James inquest states that the Chief Coroner of Ontario must call an inquest when anybody dies while in physical restraints, but why limit the call to only physical restraints? Many more psychiatric prisoners (involuntary psychiatric patients) also die from chemical restraints (forced drugging), some from electroshock (‘ECT’). Obviously, this recommendation doesn’t go far enough. When a person dies in an Ontario jail or prison (by whatever means), the Coroner must call an inquest, but the Coroner doesn’t have to call an inquest if a person dies in a psychiatric facility or “mental health centre”; according to the Coroner’s Act, that decision is “discretionary”. In a recent human rights case, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal justly and wisely ruled that inquests into deaths in psychiatric facilities should be mandatory- just as they are for prisons, but an Ontario Superior Court judge recently overruled this important Tribunal decision.

In the meantime, physical restraints, seclusion, trauma, deaths and cover-ups continue at CAMH and every other psychoprison in Ontario and other provinces. Unfortunately, psychiatric torture is not and never was an election issue – it should be. Another national and international shame!

Biographical information: Don Weitz is an antipsychiatry activist, Executive member of the Coalition Against Psychiatric Assault (CAPA), and Co-editor of Shrink Resistant: The Struggle Against Psychiatry in Canada.

My name is Elise . . .

I am twenty-one years old; however, the events that have taken place in my life so far seem to have delayed the progress of my life. In many aspects, I am still a child. I don’t believe I am lacking in emotional maturity, yet I have been lodged in a socially retarded position. I believe this degraded standard of living is a direct result of my involvement with the mental health community.

Six years ago, I began to see a psychologist. My parents were concerned, as I had been displaying signs of depression. At that point, I didn’t necessarily agree with this assumption. Granted, I was a little distressed due to my recent transition into high school… but aren’t all freshman? There was also the added stress of my choice to attend a Catholic high school and this meant many if not all of my friends from grammar school would no longer be in my class. I had to make all new friends, and I gravitated toward the kids with similar interests to my own, which have been inexplicably morbid for as long as I can remember. I do have a dark sense of humor, but when I was fifteen it was nothing more than that. The real trouble came later, after my visits to the psychologist became visits to the psychiatrist.

I don’t see anything wrong with “going to therapy.” I’m sure talking to a therapist was a good outlet for me at that fragile stage in my life. The problem I’d like to address is not general psychiatric treatment; but the specific dangers of psychiatric medication. I believe the introduction of substances like these to a child or a teen is extremely dangerous. Although I was thoroughly warned of any health risks I could encounter, I based my decision on the positive changes I would encounter. Yes, I chose to take these medications-but I was a profoundly naïve sixteen year old girl. I was under the impression that all I would ever have to do was swallow the magic pill.

I had no clue how the next five years of my life would play out. If anything, I anticipated to glide through high school smoothly, happy and productive. I had to drop out of high school junior year, despite the fact that my grades were among the top of my class. I missed too many classes due to several nights in a crisis center, outpatient therapy that took place in the morning, and eventually a two-week inpatient stay on an adolescent psychiatric ward. When I was sixteen, I started drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, indulging in acts of self-mutilation, and “running away” from home. My parents did everything they could. My psychiatrist did more. Between the ages of sixteen and twenty I was prescribed over 20 different psychiatric medications.

As I said, I am twenty-one years old now. It was my 2008 New Year’s Resolution to gradually reduce my daily doses of Lithium and Seroquel; these were the last two medications I took regularly. They were also the two medications I had taken the longest, over three years each. I was finally clean in March, and I was so relieved to be done with that whole experience… I feel wonderful. But this newfound clarity has revealed a side of my treatment I had been too distracted to grasp. I was coerced into becoming a legal drug addict at a disturbingly young age. The real trouble came after I was medicated.

Immediately after I dropped out of high school, I took the GED exam. My score was exceptional, and I started to take a few classes at a community college. Then I dropped out of college, too. I’ve lost half a dozen jobs. I do not know how to drive a car. I have never had the opportunity to manage my own life. Because of this, my wedding to the man I love has been postponed indefinitely. I am suffering extremely high levels of anxiety when it comes to re-orienting myself with society, and I do not truly believe this has everything to do with a preexisting medical condition. The past five years of “treatment” have been traumatizing.

I have had to request disability benefits to try and support myself; my parents have spent an obscene amount of money on my medical treatment and have gone bankrupt. There were other contributing factors to my parents’ financial difficulty, though my expenses are monumental. My family and I have had to move into a house that is half the size of our old house. I am one of six people; I also have a nineteen-year-old sister, a fourteen-year-old sister, and a ten-year-old brother. I volunteered to occupy the unfinished basement so that everyone else could have a bedroom. I do not blame my family for this mess, as they have been unrelentingly supportive. They’d like me to have a better life, just as much as I do… but they cannot help me financially anymore. Medicaid simply doesn’t cut it. My entire life has been reduced to a prescription.

The phrase “If only I hadn’t swallowed that first pill…” is constantly on my mind. My fifteen-year-old self had so much potential; I was a great student, I was my art teacher’s pride pupil, I was a blue ribbon equestrian. I didn’t have any scars. For the first time in five years, I feel like I can be that kind of girl again… at least that’s how I feel. I am five crucial years behind any normal person of my age-and I am so emotionally damaged, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to catch up.

It should not be legal in any way, shape, or form to medicate children like this. Psychiatric medication has stunted my growth as an individual. The companies that make and sell these drugs have an inherent responsibility to refrain from distributing them to people who are simply not capable of comprehending the long-term effects. As an adult, I am well aware of the things I should have considered before swallowing that first pill. As an adolescent I certainly was not. A person presented with that kind of choice should have enough life experience to make it properly. Now, I fear I may never have the chance to experience adult life the way it was meant to be.

I am certainly not saying my psychiatrist or the medications he prescribed caused my “disorder.” I am saying that in the case of a troubled adolescent, certain medications should not be implemented because some “side effects” may not occur until much later in that person’s life…physical, and emotional side effects. I think drug manufacturers are aware of this risk, and yet they continue to sell these drugs without taking the precaution of imposing an age restriction. I think it should be illegal for any person under a certain age to consume medicines like Lithium and Seroquel. I do not think these companies should be able to sell them, otherwise.

I will suffer the stigma of a mental patient for the rest of my life, even if I no longer take psychiatric medication. I want drug companies to outline the emotional side effects of their product just as clearly as the physical side effects, and offer this information to potential patients who are of an appropriate age to understand that kind of risk. I wish to be compensated for my personal losses on account of their negligence.

The Truth can set you Free
Felice Debra Eliscu

The first time I saw a Psychiatrist, I was 8 years old. My parents were going through a very messy divorce. My Father wanted custody of my 2 brothers and I. This was very hard on me; it did not fit into my reality of what a family was. Divorce was a new thing back then in 1973, we were the first in our neighborhood. The “shrink” asked me who I wanted to live with. It was right then I realized that there was something very wrong with Psychiatrists. What kind of person would ask an 8 year old girl to pick between her parents? I loved both of them the same, the way I now love both of my Daughters the same.

FAST FORWARD>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I am 13 years old and my Father tells me we have an appointment with a Psychiatrist in Downtown Chicago. I have a few problems, but what 13 year old does not? I watched my Father mentally destroy my mother. He then used her mental instability against her to take away the only thing that mattered in her life…her children. He then married his mistress of 7 years (also his secretary). I was not exactly thrilled to be living with the woman who helped to destroy my happy home. Not to mention the fact that she was an adulteress. I wished her dead several times a day and even prayed to G-D at night to take this wicked woman away. Eventually I got to know her and she was very kind and loving to me. I liked her. She would never be my Mom, but she was my friend for sure.

While on Vacation in Mexico with my Father she became very sick. She assumed this was her pregnancy. However it was not. She was not only carrying my half-brother in her womb, she was carrying a tumor the size of a large orange in her brain. My Father truly loved this woman and did everything he could to save her life. In the end he brought her home to die. It was a terrible sight to see. She was in a vegetative state. You could see where the Doctors had cut a huge hole in her skull. There was nothing left of her, just a body waiting to die. It was a constant reminder of how I had prayed to G-D to take her life and how I had wished her dead. Of course I do not have that power, but at the time I felt a lot of guilt. I was sent to summer-camp knowing I would never see her again. On July 1st I awoke around 6:00 a.m. and demanded to call immediately.  I knew she woke me up on the way out, I could not explain it but I knew. The counselors at the camp assured me that if something had happened my Father would have called. Two days later my Father called to say she had died (at the time and date I woke up). I later found out that when my Father went to his safety deposit box all the watches in there were stopped at the exact time of her death. I guess you could say I was a little twisted from this trauma. My Father a member of the Jewish Priesthood most high has never set foot in a synagogue since. One day, I went to this appointment at Northwest Memorial Hospital and met Dr. Derrick Miller a shrink from England, only I was not allowed to leave. This was my new home; an Adolescent Treatment Program. It was a locked unit for teens with a system based on reward and punishment with a level system. The higher the level the more privileges you earned. There were day patients there to teach me all about street drugs and crime. One day we stole the unit key and escaped into downtown Chicago where I got so drunk I passed out in the stairwell of some high-rise.

I would be released and re-admitted to the same unit one more time. The day patients would bring in drugs, we were allowed to smoke cigarettes it was not so bad. I liked my shrink, because he said my Father was the one with a problem.

My next Adolescent Treatment program was at Chicago Lakeshore Hospital. Same basic program of behavior modification, only this time they added medication. I did not like medication. My “shrink” was Dr. Luinbuk, a wealthy Psychiatrist from Israel who wore alligator shoes. He told me that manipulation was a positive thing. All I had to do was be Daddy’s little Jewish Princess and the world would be mine. For my Birthday I was given a “Dental Pass”. My Father and new Step-Monster took me and a friend to see The Rolling Stones. We were seated separately. My friend brought all kinds of goodies. I was returned to the Hospital “tripping” and put in solitary confinement. Many years later I was told by another Psychiatrist that the combination of medications I was on at that Hospital were not approved for people under 18 and the combination could have killed me. In both Hospitals there was this rumor/threat that if we did not succeed we might end up at a horrible place called Élan. “The last resort”.

In 1981 that is exactly where my Father wanted to put me. We went in front of the School board for some type of meeting. The School would not pay for my placement there and furthermore stated that I that I did not need to be in Élan. I could go to Public school. My Father said “fine then I will pay for it myself”  My first day at Élan I was escorted to a bathroom, made to strip in front of two strangers and take a Quell shower. I was told I would be a resident of House #3. There were many Houses in Poland Spring, Maine. #3, #5, #7, #8 and Administration #1. There was also a house in Waterford, Maine #6 and two houses in Parsonsfield, Maine #2 and #4. Élan #3 was “the big House.”

The first thing I noticed was all the costumes. These were called Learning Experiences or L.E.; they were made from mostly cardboard and came from the communications Dept. Dunce caps Cigarette hats. Nuclear Reactor Boxes, Whore and Pimp costumes the list goes on. Whatever the “issue” was there was a L.E. to go with it. With every L.E. there was a sign sometimes you only got a sign. These would always start out “Please confront me as to why……..” It was not unusual to see someone with 15 signs. One night at school a kid walked into class from another house wearing a huge penis on his head with a sign in it that said “ Please confront me as to why I think with one head and not the other” I had to hide behind my book to not laugh. If you laughed at someone’s L.E. you got the same one.

There were boxing rings to beat you into submission, Haircuts where 3 people yelled at you over trivial stuff. General Meetings where hundreds of your peers were whipped into frenzy in the dining room before you arrived and when you did then would all rush at you to yell and spit in your face. Then the Director would emotionally lambaste you for hours. At the end you were given an L.E. and “Shotdown” made to scrub floors and toilets all day. Then there was the Corner for those who would not “get with the program”. It was meant to be used for a couple of hours, because it was unbearable. You could not talk or read or listen to music or anything and some other poor kid had to supervise you the whole time. I stayed in the corner for 5 months. I refused to abuse my peers. I was not going to humiliate others. For this I was severely abused, but I did not care. I gave it right back. I was not going to join a cult.

In a last effort to get me to conform, my Father flew up and told me that I was going to be there until the bulldozers came. Three weeks later he returned to pick me up; I had done the impossible I had been kicked out of Élan in eight months. My Father and Step monster tried to drop me off in Mass. It was a school for mostly mentally handicapped Teens. I told them I would raise hell and they would not take me. Unwillingly me Father had no choice but to take me home. I took the G.E.D. and tried to go to Columbia Collage. There was something wrong with me at this point, socially although I could not put my finger on it. To cope while in the corner I would use different techniques that I had read about. I was not allowed to close my eyes so I would stare at the vertex until everything went black. Each time it was easier. I would at first astral travel. After the meeting with my Father I decided to try “Creative Visualization”. I had read a small book by the same name before entering Élan and it was the perfect time to try it out. I imagined the same scenario over and over again. When it actually happened I was sure I was still in the corner visualizing it. Only after the visualization went past the point of my creation did I know that it had worked. I think I was in shock.

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. -Abraham Lincoln

FAST FORWARD>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

For many years I did not have a relationship with my Father and Step-monster. One day in 1998 I was given the opportunity for my Children and I to get away from my abusive Husband and move to rural Wisconsin. Choosing what I felt was the lesser of two evils I took the bait. There was one condition I had to see a Psychiatrist. This should have been a big red flag for me, but it was not. My Children were enrolled in School and were doing well. I had a job at Lands’ End main headquarters. It was located 3 blocks from where I lived in Dodgeville, WI. On the weekends I would have brunch with my Father an Step monster who never failed to condescend. I put up with it for monetary benefit.

On August 16th 2000 a Social Services worker showed up at my door and requested to see my oldest Daughter. She was sleeping at a friend’s house. I told her this. Within minutes my house was surrounded by The Dodgeville Police Department, The Iowa County Sheriffs and Unmarked vehicles, I agreed to let a Dodgeville Police Officer search my house, he confirmed my Daughter was not there. My Daughter then called on the phone I told her what was going on. She agreed to speak with Social Services. To make a long story short, both of my Daughters were taken from me that day. At the request of my Step-monster. They were put into Foster care, where one remains today. They were 8 & 12 at the time. I was sent to a Mental Hospital the very same day, for getting “Hysterical”. If you ask me, if you do not act a little “Hysterical” when someone comes and takes your Children away you really have a serious problem. For the next 2 years I was systematically harassed in an attempt to criminalize me. I think it might have  worked exxcept for the fact that I pleaded NGI. I also opted for a bench trial for reasons that I will not make public at this time. If you take my kids away on the basis of my Mental Illness, please do not call me a criminal. When I found the actual paper in my case file at the court house that contained the evidence of my Step monsters report to Social Services I was irate to say the least. It said I had been diagnosed with Mental Illness and she did not care what happened to me but she wanted my Children to be put in Foster Care. Before my Children were taken from me in 2000 I was seeing a Therapist and Psychiatrist of my own choice. I was on 2 Medications. I had a healthy and happy life. I had no criminal charges. We need to look at how this is seen for a reason for removal of Children from the home. I have never in my life experienced such stigma and open hatred for wanting to get some help in the MH industry. I also have to state that this event has been the most Traumatic thing I have and continue to experience in my life.

 ”You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered.”-Lyndon B. Johnson

I was sent to the state Hospital and Diagnosed with 5 different things. I am now court ordered to take 6 different kinds of medication and 1 more because they make me physically Ill.  I have a D.O.C. worker who gives me random urinalyses. I have a Conditional release worker. I have a Court appointed Psychiatrist and a court appointed Therapist. We must not forget the Social services worker either. I never had any freedom in America to begin with. I am not paranoid I have justified fear. Outpatient Commitment is Unconstitutional, but so is The Patriot Act. Without a lawyer, like many Americans find out you have no chance for justice. I have a good cases against the State of Wisconsin for both unjust removal of my Children and continued denial of my Civil and Constitutional rights. As far as my “Conditional Release” I have a good case there too. I just cannot afford a lawyer. If you look at the statistics, people most affected by this are the ones who cannot afford proper legal representation. Any lawyer out there willing to help? Here is a list of the Court ordered Medications I am forced to take:

· Adderall 30mg. tab 3 times daily
· Paxil 40mg. tab 2 times daily
· Topomax 100mg. tab 1/2 tab in a.m. 2 tabs in p.m.
· Ativan 1mg. tab 1-4 tablets daily as needed
· Trazadone HCL 100mg. tab 2 at bedtime
· Ambien 10mg. 1 at bedtime
· Hyoscyamine sulfate 0.375mg.ter (gen.Equiv for Levbid) Take one Tablet by Mouth every twelve hours for Abdominal cramps & Diarrhea. (Because now I have Irritable bowel syndrome from the other six medications)

My first hand knowledge of Outpatient forced treatment is basic. You cannot force someone to change. You can monitor them, provide services, overmedicate them (this applies to me) and check their bodily fluids to make sure that G-d forbid they do not use any herbal medications of their own choosing. But real change comes from within. As an alternative to Prison it is of course the preferred route to go. You have to ask yourself, how far backward have we gone? Let’s take a look at my Outpatient Commitment. After my release from WHMI I was given all of the above mentioned services with the threat that I could be re-hospitalized at any moment for not following my Conditional Release Plan. This could be initiated by any of the above mentioned people. This causes additional anxiety. Knowing what I know now. I would never seek help. My “confidential” MH files were used against me in court to take my Children. Knowing what my “issues” were: I was provoked and harassed daily.

(I was also Drugged with everything from neuroleptics’ to antipsychotics’ and SSRI’s you name it! I was forced to report to the Iowa County Sherriff 4 times daily for Medication and if I was late I was charged with Bail Jumping.)

After 3 years of taking my Medication by myself, The Judge has ordered Medication Monitoring after a revocation hearing where I was sent home.

Now my Conditional release worker wants’ to hire 3 students from the U.W. Platteville to bring me my Medication 4 times a day.

I am currently taking 3 medications

1. Adderal- 20 mg. 8 and Noon and 10mg. at 4p.m.
2. Ativan- 2mg. (8 a.m., noon and 4 p.m.)
3. Ambien- 20 mg. at Bedtime. (They would like my Bedtime to be 8 p. m.)

I consider this an invasion of privacy.

There is a lot more to this story, if you are interested.

Thank You,

Felice Debra Eliscu

Behind Locked Doors

(Click for full size)

Moon not exactly full

Last nights show was great, though a week late. I’ll get the MP3 up as soon as possible for the archives. Only 3 callers who hung on (several hang-ups when lines were busy). Enough on that topic.

My Friend, Senor Ref. C. on Ward 34D

Yesterday I saw a man at the “hospital” where I work. Of course, the term hospital is not a true description of what happens to people there. So much suffering, so much torment. but enough of that- this is the story:

(For those of you who are unfamiliar with my work, I am a loose cannon patient support person at a “Forensic Mental Health Facility”- read: a place where people are kept who have been judged by the courts of Oregon to be “Guilty but Insane”.)

So, this guy, I’ll call him “Mr. Castle” for the purpose of confidentiality; I met him the first couple weeks I was there at a time I was doing Hospital Improvement Surveys as a tool for getting to know the place and it’s people. He live in a gero ward, 34D, with other older and physically limited folks. I really enjoyed talking with him. He is smart and very thoughtful, insightful (despite his current diagnosis of dementia and organic brain disease). He is a deeply spiritual man.

He transferred from the Oregon State Prison a few years back when they could no longer care for him adequately. He is serving a life sentence, convicted of a “terrible mis-deed”  (his words), or, conversely, “Murder” according to his chart. (I once asked him about his treatment in prison compared to the Hospital- he said that Prison was where God had opened his eyes to the world of the spirit and the true purpose of his life. Here he was just surviving and trying to keep devotion to “God and The Mystery” while watching what he realized was a progressive condition that will eventually take away his mind.) In his former life he was a father of 9 children, a US war veteran and a social worker. He has studied psychology and is extremely smart. His memory sometimes fails him. He has had strokes that have affected his mobility. He has PTSD and traumatic brain injury from his military service.

I used to go see him every week the first few months I was working there- I enjoyed our talks. His religious devotion along with a penetrating insight is a joy. Lately I haven’t seen him in at least 2 months. I’ve been busy as I’ve had to work toward a balance in my efforts to be useful to the over 600 patients who live in that island of  Mental Hell Treatment.

I decided to go see Mr. Castle yesterday in the morning after I finished some paperwork. I didn’t think he would remember me. I did not call ahead. I walked to 34D, across “campus” about a quarter mile or more from my office.

I walked into the downstairs lobby. Mr. Castle was with a small group of staff and patients waiting for the elevator to go back to the ward from “crafts class”. He saw me with a puzzled look. I said, “You might not remember me. Can you recall my name?”

He said, “Of course, Mr. Rick. You have arrived just in time. I will only need a small amount of your attention. We can be through in about 20 minutes.” I had a very strong feeling he was seeing me for what he considered an appointment and that he was glad I was not late. “This will work well because I have lunch in about a half an hour from now,” he added.

We went up the elevator, through the locked doors that get us eventually into 34D. He said, “It will only take me a few minutes to get my papers together.” He walked down the hall (with his walker) and gestured for me to follow him.

In his room, he rummaged through papers he had been keeping, seemingly for his anticipated discussion with me. The papers included print-outs from a group he had attended and some writings of his own (in Spanish, but he translated).

First he read to me the key points in his recent writings. Part had to do with a topic we had discussed before- the “purpose of Man in God’s plan and the Ultimate Penetration of the Holy Mystery”. As he translated his own writing he came to several places where he could not find an English equivalent. The most simplistic summary would be: Man is composed of 3 principles- Spirit, Soul (to this he included mind, emotion, habits, attachments) and Body (simply the physical form and it’s basic needs for survival- not the physical desires, which he insists are attributes of Mind). “So, these 3 things make a man. They are all required for Man to fulfill his purpose and promise in the world. One can not outweigh the others or there will be problems, illness and “mis-deeds”.

Then he pulled out a handout from a group he had attended on the ward. He said, “I am a college graduate with much training in psychology. So, you see, I am capable of focusing my mind in the study of this information. I have applied my concentration to understanding what is here.” He had marked up the pages in various parts- mostly underlines and asterisk.

“Psychology is a great and powerful science”, he said, “but it is flawed and does not have a complete understanding of who we are and why we are.” He went on to critique the handouts, respectfully but completely. I won’t go into detail.

In summary, Mr. Castle explained that too much emphasis on the mind and it’s needs and habits is detrimental to a Man in the fulfillment of God’s purpose. The Spirit and the Body must receive appropriate nourishment. Without proper sustenance of each element of our being we cannot penetrate the mystery. He told me a story from his life, the gist of which was that his mind had led him into “terrible misdeeds”. His eyes became red and he began to cry. “I have been locked up for 30 years and suffered great remorse because I did not know the proper balance of my whole being”.

Then he stopped crying. His eyes cleared. He said that everything that had happened was part of his education. He said, “Man always wants to blame God or blame anyone else for their own mistakes. Adam blamed Eve and God, Eve blamed the serpent and God. Ever since then all Man wants to do is place the blame on someone else.”

Then he said it was time for me to go. His lunch would be arriving soon.

From the Washington Post:

A Silenced Drug Study Creates An Uproar

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 18, 2009; A01

The study would come to be called “cursed,” but it started out just as Study

15.

It was a long-term trial of the antipsychotic drug Seroquel. The common wisdom

in psychiatric circles was that newer drugs were far better than older drugs,

but Study 15’s results suggested otherwise.

As a result, newly unearthed documents show, Study 15 suffered the same fate as

many industry-sponsored trials that yield data drugmakers don’t like: It got

buried. It took eight years before a taxpayer-funded study rediscovered what

Study 15 had found — and raised serious concerns about an entire new class of

expensive drugs.

Study 15 was silenced in 1997, the same year Seroquel was approved by the Food

and Drug Administration to treat schizophrenia. The drug went on to be

prescribed to hundreds of thousands of patients around the world and has earned

billions for London-based AstraZeneca International — including nearly $12

billion in the past three years.

The results of Study 15 were never published or shared with doctors, even as

less rigorous studies that came up with positive results for Seroquel were

published and used in marketing campaigns aimed at physicians and in television

ads aimed at consumers. The results of Study 15 were provided only to the Food

and Drug Administration — and the agency has strenuously maintained that it

does not have the authority to place such studies in the public domain.

AstraZeneca spokesman Tony Jewell defended the Seroquel research and said the

company had disclosed the drug’s risks. Since 1997, the drug’s labeling has

noted that weight gain and diabetes were seen in study patients, although the

company says the data are not definitive. The label states that the metabolic

disorders may be related to patients’ underlying diseases.

The FDA, Jewell added, had access to Study 15 when it declared Seroquel safe

and effective. The trial, which compared patients taking Seroquel and an older

drug called Haldol, “did not identify any safety concerns,” AstraZeneca said in

an e-mail. Jewell added, “A large proportion of patients dropped out in both

groups, which the company felt made the results difficult to interpret.”

The saga of Study 15 has become a case study in how drug companies can control

the publicly available research about their products, along with other

practices that recently have prompted hand-wringing at universities and

scientific journals, remonstrations by medical groups about conflicts of

interest, and threats of exposure by trial lawyers and congressional watchdogs.

Even if most doctors are ethical, corporate grants, gifts and underwriting have

compromised psychiatry, said an editorial this month in the American Journal of

Psychiatry, the flagship journal of the American Psychiatric Association.

“The public and private resources available for the care of our patients depend

upon the public perception of the integrity of our profession as a whole,”

wrote Robert Freedman, the editor in chief, and others. “The subsidy that each

of us has been receiving is part of what has fueled the excesses that are

currently under investigation.”

Details of Study 15 have emerged through lawsuits now playing out in courtrooms

nationwide alleging that Seroquel caused weight gain, hyperglycemia and

diabetes in thousands of patients. The Houston-based law firm Blizzard,

McCarthy & Nabers, one of several that have filed about 9,210 lawsuits over

Seroquel, publicized the documents, which show that the patients taking

Seroquel in Study 15 gained an average of 11 pounds in a year — alarming

company scientists and marketing executives. A Washington Post analysis found

that about four out of five patients quit taking the drug in less than a year,

raising pointed doubts about its effectiveness.

An FDA report in 1997, moreover, said Study 15 did offer useful safety data.

Mentioning few details, the FDA said the study showed that patients taking

higher doses of the drug gained more weight.

In approving Seroquel, the agency said 23 percent of patients taking the drug

in all studies available up to that point experienced significant weight

increases, compared with 6 percent of control-group patients taking sugar

pills. In 2006, FDA warned AstraZeneca against minimizing metabolic problems in

its sales pitches.

In the years since, taxpayer-funded research has found that newer antipsychotic

drugs such as Seroquel, which are 10 times as expensive, offer little advantage

over older ones. The older drugs cause involuntary muscle movements known as

tardive dyskinesia, and the newer ones have been linked to metabolic problems.

Far from dismissing Study 15, internal documents show that company officials

were worried because 45 percent of the Seroquel patients had experienced what

AstraZeneca physician Lisa Arvanitis termed “clinically significant” weight

gain.

In an e-mail dated Aug. 13, 1997, Arvanitis reported that across all patient

groups and treatment regimens, regardless of how numbers were crunched,

patients taking Seroquel gained weight: “I’m not sure there is yet any type of

competitive opportunity no matter how weak.”

In a separate note, company strategist Richard Lawrence praised AstraZeneca’s

efforts to put a “positive spin” on “this cursed study” and said of Arvanitis:

“Lisa has done a great ’smoke and mirrors’ job!”

Two years after those exchanges, in 1999, the documents show that the company

presented different data at an American Psychiatric Association conference and

at a European meeting. The conclusion: Seroquel helped psychotic patients lose

weight.

The claim was based on a company-sponsored study by a Chicago psychiatrist, who

reviewed the records of 65 patients who switched their medication to Seroquel.

It found that patients lost an average of nine pounds over 10 months.

Within the company, meanwhile, officials explicitly discussed misleading

physicians. The chief of a team charged with getting articles published, John

Tumas, defended “cherry-picking” data.

“That does not mean we should continue to advocate” selective use of data, he

wrote on Dec. 6, 1999, referring to a trial, called COSTAR, that also produced

unfavorable results. But he added, “Thus far, we have buried Trials 15, 31, 56

and are now considering COSTAR.”

Although the company pushed the favorable study to physicians, the documents

show that AstraZeneca held the psychiatrist in light regard and had concerns

that he had modified study protocols and failed to get informed consent from

patients. Company officials wrote that they did not trust the doctor with

anything more complicated than chart reviews — the basis of the 1999 study

showing Seroquel helped patients lose weight.

For practicing psychiatrists, Study 15 could have said a lot not just about

safety but also effectiveness. Like all antipsychotics, Seroquel does not cure

the diseases it has been approved to treat — schizophrenia and bipolar

disorder — but controls symptoms such as agitation, hallucinations and

delusions. When government scientists later decided to test the effectiveness

of the class of drugs to which Seroquel belongs, they focused on a simple

measure — how long patients stayed on the drugs. Discontinuation rates, they

decided, were the best measure of effectiveness.

Study 15 had three groups of about 90 patients each taking different Seroquel

doses, according to an FDA document. Approximately 31 patients were on Haldol.

The study showed that Seroquel failed to outperform Haldol in preventing

psychotic relapses.

In disputing Study 15’s weight-gain data, company officials said they were not

reliable because only about 50 patients completed the year-long trial. But even

without precise numbers, this suggests a high discontinuation rate among

patients taking Seroquel. Even if every single patient taking Haldol dropped

out, it appears that at a minimum about 220 patients — or about 82 percent of

patients on Seroquel — dropped out.

Eight years after Study 15 was buried, an expensive taxpayer-funded study

pitted Seroquel and other new drugs against another older antipsychotic drug.

The study found that most patients getting the new and supposedly safer drugs

stopped taking them because of intolerable side effects. The study also found

that the new drugs had few advantages. As with older drugs, the new medications

had very high discontinuation rates. The results caused consternation among

doctors, who had been kept in the dark about trials such as Study 15.

The federal study also reported the number of Seroquel patients who

discontinued the drug within 18 months: 82 percent.

Jeffrey Lieberman, a Columbia University psychiatrist who led the federal

study, said doctors missed clues in evaluating antipsychotics such as Seroquel.

If a doctor had known about Study 15, he added, “it would raise your eyebrows.”

Introduction

Poems are by JN- a patient in the 50 building on Ward F. Printed with his permission but anonymous because he didn’t want to mess with all the written approval red tape- which has to be approved by the hospital and somethings just don’t find there way through the process.

JN is a big man- over 6′6″ I think. He wears suspenders and has very broad shoulders. My first impression on meeting him was “Paul Bunyan”. He never hurts anyone- no record of him assaulting staff or patients that I could find.

(JN has published a book of poetry. He has no copy but knows some libraries where it is available. He wrote it in the 1990’s.)

Still, staff are afraid of him. Especially small, female staff. He has a temper and when he’s angry he raises his voice. Usually, it’s over some small issue of arbitrary rule compliance.

Example: the soda machine in the hall outside the ward was out of product in the morning at 10 a.m. when it is on the ward schedule that they can go in the hallway with staff to get a soda from the machine. The machine was filled by noon. At 2 :00 p.m. JN asked to be able to go out to the hallway (6 feet from the ward door) with staff to buy a soda. He was told “No. The time for buying soda is 10 a.m.” JN said, “But the soda machine was empty. We didn’t get our soda at 10 a.m. Why can’t we get something now?” Staff: “That’s the rule. You know the rule. No soda. Wait until tomorrow.” JN raises his voice, red n the face, pointing his finger at the staff person,  one more minor indignity piled on top of so many others, “I am so sick of your rules! I’m sick of being treated like a child!” Staff: “That was a verbal threat. I’m putting it in your chart that you threatened me.”

Being charted as making a verbal threat means that he will have no privileges- sometimes it can mean “ward restriction”- meaning that even some of the small spaces available to sit with others or by yourself, are off limits. Sometimes it means they won’t let you go with other patients to the “yard” for fresh air. There are levels of privilege given within the confines of what is already an extremely restricted space. Level zero is the worst.

JN has not been above level zero in the year or so he has been locked up this time around. He does not expect to ever be above level zero. He has at least 8 more years in the hospital as assigned by the PSRB (the Psychiatric Security Review Board- an agency of the state courts).

Sometime I’ll post JN’s description of how he ended up in the hospital- it will blow you away. It started with a psychotic break, being told what to do by voices. No one was harmed.

BTW- not all of JN’s poetry is as heartbreaking as this- some is inspiring. You know how great it is when you are dreaming and find out you can fly? Sometimes reading his poems I feel like crying and flying at the same time.

I will be posting more of JN’s work over time. Maybe we’ll get permission to show his name- he’d like that. The guy that does the hospital newsletter (which never has patient-produced content since I’ve worked there) says he will print one of JN’s poems in next month’s edition. I’ll be waiting.

Girlfriend

written 2/21/09 6:25 p.m.

We watched a butterfly be born into the world

Held hands at a scary film

Thought silly jokes were funny

Smiled with our eyes

I love you was spoken a lot

Mingled with other couples

Broke up once or twice

People talked about our relationship

She wrote when I was gone in jail

This is where we failed

My time was longer than her love

Have a picture of her I can’t tear up

It looks like she is shaking her finger at me in the picture

Wish I wouldn’t have made my mistake

Stakes were too high for me

Alone again with 40 men

Contemplation

written 2/21/09, 5:30 p.m.

The sentences flowed with suicide contempt

Depression is in the suggestion note

He was a perfectionist in writing what was said

It started with “To Whom it may concern”

It was the sadness in-between that will catch your heart

It wasn’t his dear concern that frightened me

It was the truth of his light that shined through

He was the only one feeling

Feeling like life wasn’t much living worth

More of his emotional turmoil churning the past

At last he was drained and insane

Mentally whipped- to no return to serenity

This is was his suggestion

Void was full of that dark stuff

Nothing to carry him to the next moment

At this second he was dead

All blessings to you, JN, with your deep compassion for the pain of others, your courage in the face of utter dark, with your warrior spirit-heart that lets loose the birds of language you call poems.

I love that you have new poetry for me every time I see you in your prison even though you hadn’t written in years before we met.

My thanks, my prayers for your trust and faith.

Inspired by a patient (or 2 or 10 or 600) at OSH- poorly performed, sadly pathetic production values, my voice doesn’t work, the words are after- here it is:

robert3609

My name is Robert

I live in Oregon State Hospital in building 35

I can’t say much about my live before this place

I’ve been locked up 40 years, don’t know if I’ll get out alive

You may think worse of me to know I hear spirits in the night

As they walk the narrow halls I hear them cry

Nameless Men and Women who lived out their days in here

Maybe I will join them by and by

–

Chorus:

Me, I get up early every single day

Look out on the ward and wish that I was far away

But if my life has been wasted you don’t need to see

The only one who knows I’m here is me

–

When I was young my life here was a nightmare

I was raped by other patients and tied down by MHTs

[Mental Health Technicians- the bottom rung of ward staff]

Then left in the seclusion room while staff would sit outside

Catching up on their reading, just as distant as you please

It’s not so bad here for me now it’s just an awful boring place

We go to groups, the same day after day

And if staff don’t give a damn they mostly leave us all alone

Sometimes we get good ones, they won’t stay

–

Chorus

–

I don’t just sit around all day

I’d go crazy if I did, I’ve seen it happen to a few

I used to work on grounds but now we’re locked down pretty tight

It seems as though there never is enough for me to do

My IDT gave me my Treatment Plan last week

[Interdisciplinary Treatment Team- the primary instruments of Ward Rule]

All my goals right there for me to read

It always just amazes me they know me so damn well

Without ever asking what I need

—

Chorus

*

I’ll put this on the music page later- after I do a better recording of it.

A scene is the ideal way in which an area should be. In other words, if you had your “druthers” ( “I like …”) what things seem and how they might act in the best of all possible worlds? We can state unequivocally that the scene in most state departments of mental health services is an abomination. If they were really doing their jobs well, patients and their recovery is being sent, healthy people in society as productive. That does not have much research to know that is not the case, just Google “psychiatric abuse”.

In Missouri, for example, the annual budget for the state department of mental health is more than $ 1 billion. Has generally been increasing over the past thirty-seven years, while state mental institutions to continue to abuse their patients. In fact, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch revealed the scandalous level of psychiatric abuse in Missouri in a series of articles called “broken promises, broken lives,” published June 11-14, 2006. They said, “mentally retarded and mentally ill in Missouri have been sexually assaulted, beaten, wounded and left to die from abuse and neglect by caregivers in a system that for years has failed at all levels for their protection.”

[See a graphic resource for the Missouri Department of Mental Health annual budgets.]

Similar situations are found in other states. For example, December 30, 2007, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published “A Hidden Shame: Danger and death in psychiatric hospitals in Georgia,” saying that “despite intense scrutiny, the conditions are still weak in many patients in seven facilities.

The following are the necessary characteristics of an ideal state mental health department. If the state mental health department does not fit these criteria, where are his letters to his own, saying the representatives and senators to get busy and fix it? It’s all here for you now write letters.

Nobody should be forced to undergo electric shock treatment, psychosurgery, coercive psychiatric treatment, or the forced administration of mind-altering drugs. Governments should prohibit such abuses. Prosecute an offense as any and all cases of physical damage caused by the use of psychiatric electroshock, brain surgery or drug abuse “treatment.”

People in desperate circumstances must always be correct and effective medical care. Doctors, not psychiatric, care, good nutrition, a safe and healthy environment and activity that promotes the confidence to do much more than the brutality of psychiatric drug treatments. Housing and jobs to do more for homeless people of life-debilitating effects of psychiatric drugs and other psychiatric treatments that destroy responsibility.

The use of physical and mechanical restraints should be proscribed. Until this occurs, any member of the psychiatric staff and the psychiatrist who authorized the procedure, should be criminally liable for that detention will result in physical harm or death.

Emphasize community treatment laws that are based on mandatory and, therefore, enforcement action be abolished, or prevent and dismantle “mental health courts, which are another conduit for drugs into our communities.

Human mental health hospitals and homes should be established to replace coercive psychiatric institutions. They must have a full complement of competent natural (not psychiatric) medical and diagnostic equipment, non-psychiatric physicians can use to review and test for underlying physical problems that can manifest as disruptive behavior. Government and private sector should be channeled to this place of abusive psychiatric institutions and programs that have proven not to work.

Legal protection should be put in place to ensure that psychiatrists and psychologists are prohibited from violating the right of everyone to exercise all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, as recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other relevant instruments.

Appropriate state regulatory agencies should investigate all complaints of psychiatric assault, fraud or sale of illegal drugs. These bodies should revoke or suspend a psychiatrist or psychologist for a license to such criminal practices. All patients had complaints of sexual abuse should be referred to the police, the prosecutor general or the prosecutor should be obliged to investigate and prosecute.

The responsible officials of regulatory agencies, or their advisers and criminally accountable for the damage caused by psychiatric drugs and other psychiatric “treatment” if it is proved that they knew or should have known of the damage, either through performance of clinical trials, adverse reaction reports or widely available public information.

Establish the rights of patients and their insurance companies for reimbursement for mental health treatment that did not achieve the promised result or better, or which resulted in damage to the person shown, thus ensuring that the responsibility lies with the individual doctor and psychiatric facility instead of the Government or its agencies.

Clinical and financial audits should be done in all government-run and private psychiatric facilities that receive government subsidies or insurance to ensure accountability, and the compilation of statistics on income, treatment and death, without violating patient confidentiality.

Establish or increase the number of psychiatric research fraud to recover funds that are diverted into the mental health system.

Taxpayers’ money should not be used to finance unviable psychiatry and methods of “treatment” for “diseases” that can not be scientifically verified.

We must recognize that each person is responsible for their own actions and accountable for their actions. State lawmakers should repeal laws that allow the defense of insanity and diminished capacity grounds.

Remove the psychiatrists and psychologists as consultants or advisers in the courts, police, prisons, criminal rehabilitation and parole services, and educational institutions. Because psychiatrists have no scientific basis for their claims, do not let the opinions of or to treat drug addiction, criminal behavior and crime, or probe for alleged dangerous behavior.

None of the 374 mental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (or of the International Classification of Mental Illness section) must be eligible for insurance coverage because they have no scientific, physical validation.

I’ve been a social since 2000 and have been working in the mental health field since 2004 so I have a fair amount of experience dealing with both the mentally ill children as well as adults. My two areas of specialty are in fact substance abuse and child and family therapy. I’ve been asked on countless occasions why a particular child acts the way he does and each time the answer more complex than questioner was counting on. I’ve noticed, just through experience, that when children become violent it’s because of a mix of problems: absence of a father, abuse at home, exposure to violence (at home or in the street), lax or inconsistent parenting, and exposure to drugs. There’s no one predictor of violence in a child that can be legislated against. The answer to society’s ills is simply that nobody should have a child until they are ready, there should always be two parents involved in that child’s life and said parent’s should not abuse the child (physically, sexually or otherwise).

The AP reports that:

A new large study challenges the idea that mental illness alone is a leading cause of violence. Researchers instead blame a combination of factors, specifically substance abuse and a history of violent acts, that drives up the danger when combined with mental illness in what they call an “intricate link.”

People with serious mental illness, without other big risk factors, are no more violent than most people, according to the study of more than 34,000 U.S. adults. The research was released Monday in Archives of General Psychiatry.

“Mental illness can provide the knee-jerk explanation for the Virginia Tech shootings,” but it’s not a strong predictor of violence by itself, said lead author Eric Elbogen of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

It’s really sad that it takes mass killing at a college for this country to give a crap about mental health issues. The reality is that in most families throughout this country (and the world most likely) people are dealing with mental health issues all of the time, diagnosed or otherwise. My mother suffered from Bipolar Disorder for years before she was actually diagnosed and treated for it. And then of course there’s substance abuse treatment. Apparently the only way you can get it in this country is either to be rich or be ordered by a judge. For me, this is the money shot of the whole article:

“We are being misled by our own fears,” said Columbia University psychiatry professor Dr. Paul Appelbaum, who wasn’t involved in the new study. “We ought to be concerned about providing good treatment and helping people lead fulfilling lives, not obsessed with protecting ourselves from phantom threats that appear to be unrelated to mental illness.”

U.S. systems to treat mental illness and substance abuse are separate, uncoordinated and could do a better job treating people with both problems, Appelbaum said.

This is a problem I confront every day. Many of my clients are dually diagnosed (they have a mental health disorder and are drug addicted) but we only treat the mental health disorder. If you need detox or substance abuse treatment, we send you elsewhere, which may seem OK on paper but is trying and often debilitating for the client. I remember one lady who suffered from Bipolar Disorder with psychotic features(she heard voices telling her to kill herself), who when confronted about her co-occurring alcohol addiction, got up and walked out the door vowing not to return. Instead of attempting to use a harm reduction model to help this women, we told her to come back after she went to detox. It takes an incredible amount of courage for most people to even walk through the door seeking mental health treatment but due to lack of funding, we continue to treat sick people like her as if they were dogs.

One more example of the flaws in our mental health system. If someone attempts to hurt himself or someone else (suicidal or homicidal intent) they can be forcibly admitted to a crisis stabilization unit here in our local county. They will spend usually up to three days and receive about a months worth of medication to treat their condition. However, no provisions are made for them to continue to see a physician in order to continue receiving anti-psychotics and mood stabilizers and so shortly after they run out of medication they are back in a CSU. This will typically happen 3 – 4 times before an outpatient doctor finally can see them for an evaluation. The reason is partly because mental health services are so underfunded but also because we don’t have wrap-around services to make sure the clients needs are taken care of in a competent and caring fashion. We have isolated programs that act as islands, barely communicating with one another and usually adding to the suffering of sick people.

We can’t solve the problem from the front because we simply can’t stop people from having children in less than ideal circumstances. However, we could do a much better of providing wrap-around services so that those children (and adults) don’t suffer at the hands of a callous and indifferent mental health and substance abuse system.

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then something must be going right. This photo, taken by Annie Leibovitz, appears in the March 2009 issue of Vanity Fair. Notice Tom Daschle in the pic? Just when this issue hits the stands, Tom will not be heading the HHS, probably ever. Looking at this picture kind of got me to smile a bit. Perhaps it’s unkind of me to laugh at someone’s tax mistakes, but it really was a dumb, $100,000+ mistake. That smile also let me know that a little part of me is coming back to life. I also saw Gov. Charlie Crist’s interview (R-Fla.) on Countdown and found his comments about the stimulus bill fascinating. Yup. I think that’s a good sign, too.

Two more treatments to go this week. I get more nervous right before the anesthesia now, but I’ve only consented to 12, and I’m at #8.

Hoboken, NJ) October 15, 2008 – Schizophrenia affects an estimated 2.5 million Americans and some 1% of the world’s population. It is twice as common as Alzheimer’s disease or HIV/AIDS, yet few people understand this no-fault brain disorder until it hits home, affecting a family member, close friend, neighbor, or colleague. Because of the pervasive stigma, misinformation, and myths associated with schizophrenia, on average, it takes more than eight years between the time symptoms first appear and when a person is finally diagnosed and treated.

Schizophrenia For Dummies^® (Wiley, October 2008, ISBN: 978-0-470-25927-6) is part of the trusted yellow-and-black reference series that provides practical help in plain-English and an accessible format. The series covers a wide range of topics, including medical disorders and other health issues. Based on the latest research findings and clinical practice guidelines, Schizophrenia For Dummies provides solid advice to patients and their families on recognizing the first signs of the disorder; getting an accurate diagnosis; selecting a team of health care professionals; understanding medications, psychosocial, cognitive and psychoeducational treatments; handling psychiatric emergencies; navigating the fragmented system of community-based treatments and services; and helping people with schizophrenia and their families find hope, help, and support.

A diagnosis of schizophrenia is always frightening, but no longer does it mean that the future is bleak or hopeless. With the development of new treatments, new technologies, and changed social policies and attitudes towards people with mental disorders, most people with schizophrenia are now able to live symptom-free or learn to manage their symptoms. With appropriate and timely treatment, the ultimate goal of recovery is to help people get back to work or school, to enjoy friends and family, to have rewarding leisure time pursuits, and to lead a life well-lived.

Schizophrenia for Dummies is a ground-breaking book that will improve public awareness, expand mental health literacy, and reduce the stigma and discrimination that stand in the way of helping people with schizophrenia lead the full lives they deserve.

Ken Duckworth, MD, Medical Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (the nation’s largest grassroots mental health advocacy organization) has endorsed the book, stating: “Mental illnesses affect the entire family. This book is written for families and friends of anyone who lives with schizophrenia, a disease that is too often misunderstood. It is easily-read and provides an informative roadmap that can help everyone to orient themselves and navigate uncertain terrain- as part of a journey toward recovery.”

Irene S. Levine, PhD, coauthor and a clinical psychologist, says, “We hope that this book gives families and friends the tools and information that might otherwise take them years to acquire. Family advocacy, both individually and collectively, is a vital component to full recovery.”

Jerome Levine, MD, research psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine, says, “Psychiatric research is paving the way for more targeted and personalized treatments, and the recent passage of federal mental health parity legislation promises better access to appropriate treatment. The future for people with schizophrenia and their families has never been more hopeful.

Like all For Dummies^® books, Schizophrenia For Dummies concludes with “The Part of Tens,” which includes myths about the disease and ways to avoid a relapse. A helpful “Cheat Sheet” in the front of the book includes tips for remembering to take medication, a list of items to have on hand in the event of a crisis, and questions to ask a new psychiatrist.

About the Authors

Jerome Levine, MD is a board-certified psychiatrist. As chief of psychopharmacology at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for more than 20 years, he helped design and oversee much of the federally-funded research that serves as the foundation for modern psychopharmacology. He is Deputy Director of the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in Orangeburg, New York and is a Professor of Psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine.

Irene S. Levine, PhD is trained as a clinical psychologist. She was the principal architect and director of the NIMH Program for the Homeless Mentally Ill and served as the first Deputy Director of The U.S. Center for Mental Health Services. A Professor of Psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine, she is also an award-winning freelance journalist and author.

For more information, contact: Adrienne Fontaine 201-748-5626 afontain@wiley.com

Schizophrenia for Dummies by Jerome Levine, MD and Irene S. Levine, PhD Wiley; October 2008; $19.99 978-0-470-25927-6;

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Douglas Bodin and Kevin Kindlin, Educational Consultants at Bodin were recently interviewed by Allen Cardoza’s Radio Show, Answers for the Family.  If you are interested in listening click on the following link http://www.latalkradio.com/Allen.php

If you are the parent of a struggling teen you may cringe when the phone rings and the caller ID shows the number of your child’s school.  This is the time of year that the promises your child made and the hopes that you had that this year would be different are falling apart.  It may be the time of year that you need to call an Educational Consultant to begin developing an alternative plan for success if your student continues to struggle.  At Bodin,  our Educational Consultants are skilled in working with families who have children, adolescents and young adults sruggling with issues ranging from learning differences to major mental health issues.

If you have a child who is struggling, please feel free to contact us aat 800-874-2124.

Gen. Barry McCaffrey and Brenda Loringer-Bell of Bodin

I attended the “Recovery Takes Flight” celebration in Marin County last week to honor the many who have battled addiction, sought treatment and had the opportunity to thrive in recovery from addiction. Myself included.

Former US Drug Czar and Retired Four-Star General Barry McCaffrey was there and reminded the audience and media that ” Twenty on million Americans need but do not receive treatment for illicit drug or alcohol problems according to the numbers form HHS; less than three million receive treatment. In California, 3.1 million need but do not receive treatment; less than 200,000 are treated. We have a huge treatment gap.”

While I could not find data to show out those numbers, how many are adolescents and young adults, it is fair to assume that at Bodin, we have the opportunity and obligation to every family we see to be aware of the current trends in drug abuse and addiction. This includes keeping informed about the current drugs of abuse, recent studies, options for treatment and employing Educational Consultants who have extensive experience in addiction treatment.

I could go on and on, but the message is this…recovery happens and it feels really good to be a part of it.

Douglas Bodin, CEO

www.thebodingroup.com

http://admittingmistakesasaparent.blogspot.com/

Dear Sue—

That’s a fantastic reminder to desperate parents of the risks associated with getting on the internet. Predatory practices by otherwise reputable organizations, let alone those by the disreputable ones, are outrageously commonplace. As an Educational Consultant I also agree almost entirely with your assessment of educational consultants! My firm is the largest in the country, employing almost exclusively Masters and Ph.D. – level, experienced professionals to act as the guides and planners for families in crisis. It’s the best of both worlds, in my opinion. As trained therapists, they understand the intricacies and nuances of often significantly clinical issues. But as a team of 15, constantly traveling around the country visiting and evaluating hundreds of programs, we bring a level of knowledge and on-the-ground experience that is unmatched. Furthermore, with a diversity of clinical experiences and backgrounds, our team approach allows each consultant to collaborate and derive support and guidance from other members of the team on a regular and routine basis. I further agree that consulting with your therapist is an important component of the process. We get most of our referrals from therapists who may recognize the possible need for a residential placement but rely on our travel, experience and expertise to help determine its necessity and location. Finally, with regard to the politics, I believe you are unfortunately correct that individual practitioners are limited in the number of programs with which they can remain conversant. They have their “favorites” that are often based on factors unrelated to the specific needs of a particular child. And while Wilderness programs are often an extraordinary first step as a preparatory and evaluative tool, they aren’t for everyone. Adhering rigidly to the best interests of the child, advocating for his or her needs and remaining involved throughout placement(s), guiding a family and problem-solving at every step is an essential recipe for successful outcomes. Being more than mere “matchmakers” is what has contributed to our success and growth for 30 years.

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