Cross posted from Beyond Vermont State Hospital:
Hardly anyone in Vermont sees this, but one of the activities at Vermont State Hospital is the forced drugging of some of the patients there. The Vermont Supreme Court has held that forced drugging is an even greater infringement on someone's personal liberty than someone being involuntarily committed to the hospital.
The psychiatric drugs provided at Waterbury can have very dangerous side effects. At Beyond VSH we're always glad when news of the dangers of psychiatric drugs, dangers that people who deal with the mental health system every day are already familiar with, crosses over into the mainstream media. Here's an interview in Salon with the author of a new book, Anatomy of an Epidemic.
I haven't read the book, but I understand that one of the people profiled in the book is from Vermont.
I think policy makers, people considering using psychiatric drugs, and all Vermonters should take a look at this book to get a greater understanding of the potential consequences of expanded use of these drugs.
It’s cheap and has no adverse side affects. It cannot be patented thus no profit, so it’s not promoted by the healthcare industry. It’s Vitamin D3.
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org…
I don’t know about the patients at the State Hospital or anyone else with a severe mental illness, but for those who suffer from mental illness but are well enough to get through daily life and who are tired of the adverse side affects of pharmaceuticals that so often don’t work, maybe this will help achieve true wellness Vs. band-aiding symptoms.
It worked for me.
I know this article specifically deals with psychiatric patients, but the issue extends well beyond the boundaries of mental health facilities. Millions upon millions of children in this country are being treated as if they are mentally ill, simply because they are not perfectly-controlled automatons. We are re-wiring our children’s brains without knowing the consequences. Over the next 10 years, the Prozac generation will be reaching the age in adulthood where they will start being responsible for making the decisions in business and politics. It will be interesting to see what this large-scale medical experiment has wrought…
The pharmacological era of mental illness is still in its infancy. There are still many unknowns, and many dangers. I think we need a comprehensive review of how these drugs may affect people, and policy crafted to ensure proper protections for both those being treated and society at large.
Pharmaceutical companies are highly invested (literally) in promoting widespread use of their products. We’re fully aware of the maneuvering corporations can do around mandated review and regulation. And the mentally ill have historically been one of the most abused populations.
My mother was a registered nurse in a small private hospital in the 50’s, that had a psychiatric floor. The owner of the hospital (who was, I presumed, a licensed medical practitioner and psychiatrist) routinely practiced electro-convulsive therapy, which, judging from the stories I heard about him and the hospital in general, I would guess he was ill-equipped to prescribe or administer (even by 1950’s standards.) Despite the fact that our family relied on the income, my mother quit after he insisted one day that she assist with this procedure. I believe the hospital later closed under suspicious circumstances.