I fear that the panels investigating the shootings are primarily designed to make people feel better about themselves, not find the truth. And people would feel better if they reported that Cho was a poor mentally ill person who just needed more medication. An Associated Press report makes it sound like a political issue, not a crime issue.

- Michael from The US Desk at TheNewsRoom.com

And as most people suspected, it was Cho’s untreated symptoms that caused so much devastation.-TAC

Untreated organic reasons, such as brain tumor, thyroid issues,[and more] and the autism link should not be ignored.

TAC has an agenda, plain and simple. Who can explain Ted Bundy or The Green River Killer? I bet TAC can.

I just have to say one more thing about that TAC post that bugs me. Cho was coherent, and lucid enough to plan his actions, hell even stop and take time to mail video tapes. If he was THAT sick off of meds like TAC wants all to believe--I seriously doubt he could have accomplished what he did.

9 out of 10 killers are on Fukitol, so maybe Cho wasn't on it. We should forget about the nine because TAC has the correct answers to mental illness. NOT
http://www.moto.kiev.ua/_people/_12553040204/Fuckitall.jpg

From the Journal of Analytical Toxicology:

Quetiapine[Seroquel] is being found with increasing frequency in postmortem cases in Virginia.

Torrey and TAC are hate at its most powerful. It's testimony to the lack of credibility of psychiatry that no one is saying "well, he had a psych eval so we know its not that he was mentally ill." This brain disease stuff isn't as proven as the TAC site would have you believe. Here's a link to Reason article sighted in Slate:
http://www.reason.com/news/show/120266.html

No amount or kind of truth is going to make a difference to the folks running the show in Virginia. A research study done of all the commitment hearings done in Virginia this May showed that only 9% of people were released without any treatment, and yet we will still here over and over how hard it is to commit anyone in Virginia from the usual suspects and we still heard that we HAVE to reform our commitment laws, that it's just a question of how broadly from the chair of the Commission on Mental Health Law Reform. 9% is hard? I have had an argument over a factual matter with a TAC person that was not related to commitment at all. She was wrong, I looked it up and sent her the facts, she never acknowledged the fact that she was wrong. That's how it is.

This is unfortunately a political fight. What we need is a paid lobbyist.

I still believe there is a possiblity of drug withdrawal. The potential for violence from withdrawals are just as great being on the drug itself. Why does TAC believe and PROCLAIM that there is only one possibility? They sound like a fucking broken record.

If the research shows, as TAC claims, that bipolar and schizophrenia are diseases of the brain, then why can't they be diagnosed by way of any physical observables?

Despite all E. Fuller Torrey's blather, these "serious biological brain disorders" can still only be diagnosed via psychiatrist's checklist.

I regret MindFreedom's approach on this one. I can just imagine Torrey's smug little face at this moment. Barf.

I don't want to think about E. Fuller Torrey any more! From TAC's website:

TAC president Dr. E. Fuller Torrey: "Until we find the causes and definitive treatments for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, we have an obligation to those who are suffering to try to improve their lives ...."

Or, as Francesca Allan would translate it into plain English: "Until we know what we're doing, we need the force of law behind us."

What's this asshole saying? That, once we find the causes and treatments, then we're going to drop our obligation to improve the lives of the suffering?

I just can't parse the gobbledygook.

Just wrote to the good folks at TAC:

"In response to the first paragraph of your June 27 blog entry, I had a couple of questions for you. By way of background, I am bipolar, so I
guess that means I have a brain disease. My bipolar is severe, so much so that I cannot make reasoned treatment decisions. I know this to be true because I completely reject biological psychiatry, just as I reject phrenology, witchcraft, baptism, astrology, etc. So, obviously, I'm not able to make reasoned treatment decisions. Under the draconian legislation that the Treatment Advocacy Center promotes, I have been incarcerated, tied
down, force-drugged and electroshocked. I have never committed a crime. I have never been violent, beyond self-defence when medical professionals attempt to treat me. What does the Treatment Advocacy Center say about people like me? I would really appreciate an answer from you."

I'll let you (Furious Seasons) know when I receive a response.

No reply from Torrey & Co. so I tried again ...

"I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I disagree with that diagnosis and, consequently, I don't take medication for it. According to your blog, you would conclude that I must therefore be suffering from "anosognosia" or "lack of insight."

My question to you is this: What if I was, in fact, misdiagnosed? Would you still contend that my refusal to accept that misdiagnosis is itself
another psychiatric condition? Are there pills for anosognosia?

As I'm sure you are aware, a psychiatric label has profound consequences on a person's life. What safeguard do you have in place to protect the
wrongly diagnosed?

Please let me know."