Hi, Philip. Fuller Torrey isn't the only one promoting the cat poop theory. Here's a short item I ran in my Newsletter in January:

The Straight Poop

Consider this from an article in Proceedings: Biological, published by the Royal Society:

"Epidemiological and neuropathological studies indicate that some cases of schizophrenia may be associated with environmental factors, such as exposure to the ubiquitous protozoan Toxoplasma gondii."

T gondii is a parasite found in rats, which may work its way up the food chain to cats. Humans may be exposed to T gondii by way of cat feces.

Before you laugh, there is a convincing body of evidence that some cases of schizophrenia and mood disorders may stem from exposure to animal pathogens, including the Borna virus (from horses) and Lyme disease (from deer).

With reference to the above quote, researchers at Imperial College (London) treated infected rats with Haldol and Depakote and found the meds reduced the behavioral symptoms of T gondii, leading the authors of the study to conclude: "It may be that anti-psychotic drugs work partly by parasite inhibition, and this could lead to new medicine and treatment combinations."

The breathing the air of 24 hr cat poop was the comment he made that he says is true, and I feel is a reckless statement, without any data provided, I wonder how many women went home and thought how many times they avoided scooping the poop, and yet who knew we had 24 hr old time bombs in the litter box exposing our unborn babies to a life of possible schizophrenia, by breathing the air. I asked him if in fact then this entire room, due to to breathing, was exposed and he said yes.
We are all exposed and many of us (according to him)are toxo-positive.
He focused predominantly on cats, no other animals.
He also said that a cat that is an indoor cat is not a problem for toxo, due to not going outside and eating rats.
So apparently, we can scoop indoor cat's poop and breath the air in our homes and relax.
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck....

Hi, Stephany. I admit it's a bit weird to hear the guy 60 Minutes calls America's most famous psychiatrist go on and on about cat poop. But if Dr Torrey ever winds the Nobel Prize you can proudly remember your momentous moments in Seattle. I am leaning over right now as I am typing this and my cat has nestled into back of my chair and is leaning into the small of my back. If I lean back some serious shit is about to go down. I wonder if Dr Torrey has a theory on that.

John ,

I thought my momentous moment was supposed to be spitting off the top of the Eiffel Tower.

My cat slept on my stomach all night, and she even taps me on the face with her paws, oh my.
Yeah, it was weird, and its not just 60 minutes.

NAMI Greater Seattle intro to him was "The most important key note speaker/psychiatrist they could think of to speak."

Just kibbles and bits.

C'est La Vie

:)

fuller torrey has family in the seattle area, and whenever he's out here he offers to do an event to help nami raise money. i am not opposed to the local nami raising money. i am not opposed to ft talking about t ghondi and cat shit. i am not opposed to him researchering the shit out of it. i am opposed to the rhetoric of tac and everything ft says being quoted by the media without question or balance or context.

I was happy to finally have the opportunity to meet Dr. Torrey. I've had a close family member whose suffered with schizophrenia for 30 years, and Torrey's book was the only thing I found that gave me sustanance and comfort. What else has been out there?

Dr. Torrey's idea of an infectious disease doesn't seem odd to me, and even though I love cats and I have cats. Torrey doesn't make me feel that I am responsible for family's illness. Torrey doesn't blame moms and he doesn't even blame bad genes. His ideas are in line with a lot of research being done on other chronic illnesses.

I found Dr. E. Fuller Torrey to be the compassionate advocate for the mentally ill that I always thought he would be.

Reader Responds:

Some final thoughts re: Torrey in Seattle.

What I wish I could have highlighted in bold print was this:
Torrey wants forced medication laws.
Why listening to him present his ideas regarding the reason for schizophrenia is dangerous? because of his "60 minutes" reputation, the widely read author that he is, leaves many an audience member where ever it is that he speaks, feeling they have heard the ultimate authority. This is an unbalanced power. The TAC website clearly adds media hype articles to their blog with a basic notion of "oh no look, another murder by a mentally ill person, what to do?".
Not all people with mental health issues kill people.In fact they are usually victims themselves.I am not going into a stats area here. But, because of the media hype, most are afraid to speak up and admit they are suffering from the many types of mental illness, and or are on meds or not, for fear of undue public fear, shame or being fired from their job, losing friends and becoming isolated, which they already are, which is the saddest part,many people with mental illness never confide in anyone, for fear of the stigma that media fuels.(Such as the TAC website.)So they suffer in silence. But there are so many of us. It is time to stop being silent.
Torrey is standing on the backs of innocent people to get what he wants,which is the public notoriety that he needs to be heard by lawmakers.
I am against forced medication laws of any type. Torrey's other agenda. I regret, the night I heard him speak, that I did not ask about his opinion about forced medication, or unmedicated mental health patients, I wanted to stay on topic.
I wanted to actually stand up out of my seat and speak more boldly, beyond the cat poop and antipsychotic=antiviral questions and ask what his stand on forced medication law means to everyone in that room that night.
I also was taken aback by some of his comments that were offensive, such as "there are some wacky ones out there" when someone asked about why he did not study Egyptians, where the cat originated. According to him, not enough data. He refused to comment about several hot topics, such as scientology. Though in his powerpoint presentation he used the word Scientology and medications.
I am glad he has been a comfort to many people, but that is what is wrong with this picture. He cannot be the most leading authority with an agenda to force medication.
Medication is not always the answer, and anyone who is mentally ill, or has a loved one who is, knows this. There are more facets to being well than medication, that most of the time has so many side effects it makes life unbearable for many people.
Imagine being forced to take medication that you know makes you sick, could leave your body damaged for life, and still not be able to function, but because of a court order, someone shows up at your door every morning, to watch you swallow those pills. I have a different idea of the meaning of compassion.

I'm definitely new to this debate, but at the NAMI dinner the topic of Andrea Yates came up. Torry's opinion, from what I understood, was that courts are more easily choosing jail over the mental health system in cases like hers because the mental health system is failing to adequately help those who are severely ill. Certainly, if someone is psychotic and homicidal, something needs to be done. I agree with Torry that I'd much rather have a loved one kept safe by a forced outpatient medication program than by forced jail or forced hospitalization. Medication might not be the answer to all mental illness, but if you live with someone who is psychotic and suicidal/homicidal you definitely want that person on medication.

Previous post said:
"Medication might not be the answer to all mental illness, but if you live with someone who is psychotic and suicidal/homicidal you definitely want that person on medication."

I have lived with someone suicidal and homicidal and the person was on medication. ON medication.
I just refuse to allow myself to go down in the same sentence as a comparison at a private dinner,left being compared to Andrea Yates.
That was brilliant, though of Torrey, to rope people in at 50 bucks a pop, on the premise of fundraising, for his platform.
As a consumer and a mother of mentally ill children , I can say that I want the right to choose what medication I take and when I take it.
I have the unusual position to write from just about as many angles as one can from the mental health patient/advocate/parent/daughter point of view.
I have witnessed extremely violent situations in med-compliant people. I have been injured by a family member who was on medication.
I am a respectful human being, and compassionate, and kind and caring, but there is a line that cannot be crossed with me. The one that generalizes all psychiatric patients as one large group who need to be on pysch drugs.
I know there are others out there who have seen suffering of others on meds, and violence from others while they were on meds, and I would hope that TAC would show stats like those.

Let me repeat myself:

The person I lived with who was extremely psychotic,suicidal and homicidal was on medications prescribed by a psychiatrist. I
disagree, that:
"you definitely want that person on medication."
I am actually not surprised Torrey took the chance to further his twisted logic into the mind of dinner guests via the Andrea Yates case.
To use a vehicle such as that, is exactly what TAC does.
Media then takes off with it, and the innocent people who are functioning on meds, or off of meds, get burned at the stake.
I remain on my horse with my banner held high, and refuse to give up. I paid my 10 bucks to verify what I suspected.
Public brainwashing at it's best, fueling the mental health stigma that is alive and well.

Hi, gang. I just came back from the NAMI national convention in Washington DC 5 minutes ago. Dr Torrey is God to your typical NAMI parent. Mind you, if you spent two days listening to their stories you can see why they have this view. Mind you, I feel about the ambulance-chasing tactics of TAC the same way Phillip has, and I was writing about this 7 years ago. For a totally surreal experience, there was a Scientology "church" two blocks from the hotel where the convention was. I stood in front of the steps for a full five seconds before I got totally weirded out.

John,
Thank you for verifying what I experienced in person myself, and this is truly horrifying.
That man is super good at brainwashing innocent minds.

I hope you find a peaceful place to unwind in the middle of the garbage.
Thanks for the update.
I always ask questions, linger, ask more, etc and the night Torrey spoke in SEA, was one I never ran so fast for my car.
I will walk this road alone, as always, rather than be promoted into believing I am evil.
Yep.
He promotes mental illness as evil.
Gotta witness this shit to believe it.

I know I have said I have one last thing to say before, and so what.
This man IS God in NAMI folks minds, they love him, soak him up, he is the last word in their minds.
I will gladly walk the road alone, as a parent, a consumer, an advocate "the best one ever seen",all of it alone, rather than ever be associated with Torrey/Nami.
Some one has to speak up, and usually it is me.
I will not stop.
Oh, weirded out? yeah. Cult-like.
Witness Torrey in person consumers!
Laws will be passed, while he, the only loud mouth getting undue credit, will end up ringing your doorbell with your meds.
Side effects? who cares! Torrey said, no problem, we need you contained, so swallow!

Consumer /Advocate Speaks

As a parent of a very vulnerable child who turned 18 in the middle of her most recent crisis, I am going to say what I want to say re: mentally ill people (consumers)and advocates (me)
Both!
Yes. It happens.
I am bipolar, and a mother of 3 beautiful daughters. I have researched, read, studied, and probably have my own abstract to enter in any convention, but I stay back.
I read about things before I make a move. I knew what and who NAMI represented long before I paid (reluctatly)10 bucks to hear Torrey speak in person, that I would sit in the back row, not sign in, listen to the shit and get out fast.
I took so many notes, and had to deep breathe my way through the Bullshit.
I felt I was in a brainwashing at it's finest event.
Oh anyone reading who takes offense, surely must not understand this man's true quest, nor do they understand what it is like to suffer from mental illness in any form, to believe in forced outpatient treatment.
My youngest, brilliant 4.0 daughter, is on meds.
It is the right med that works.
If forced to take medication in the typical Russian Roulette system that psych's have, then there will be more to deal with than run amok murderers.
I love TAC's page where they are welcoming NAMI to the area with a powerpoint!!
Read it and weep.
When I went to the real time Torrey event, I was deep breathing, eating TicTacs like my pal xanax, and writing as fast as I could while trying not to scream.
NAMI applauded this man as if he was God.
Ran for the car. Went to a gas station, got gas to get home, and had a headache for hours, actually had to go to bed to sleep off the shit I saw.
I am speaking now to patients, consumers, whatever the fuck you call yourself, this man is speaking for you and doing a damn good job at shutting you up.
Speak up!
Is the stage still empty?
Why must someone like me who cannot speak without saying words backwards be the one with the light blinding my eyes?
Walk out there as a group, or let the NAMI's and the Torrey's ring your bell and deliver your meds in the morning.

Reader responds to Torrey in Seattle:

I want to apologize for my rants re: Torrey. Though many of us have different vantage points and views re:mental health and all that encompasses it: I want to say that I am sorry to those who I have hurt or upset by reading my posts re: Torrey's visit in Seattle. I truly appreciate the pain we all as a whole suffer, and what is the core of my being, has always been never to pass pain on to others, especially due to my own.

As a result of my posts, I have no doubt that I have offended some readers, and this was not my intention. I sincerely appreciate all of the efforts that people have taken to shed light on mental illness, health, and well being.

I have my opinions, as we all do, but I just wanted to express apologies to anyone that took offense at my words. We are all on the same road, the same path, we all have a story, and we all make a difference.