All I can say about Daily Kos is OMG -- those commenters have a long way to go and yes, we should be over there, trying to make some headway but geez, I just don't have the energy right now. I'll stay here where at least I usually don't have to start from square one. Still it's fabulous you have a new forum and one that surely needs your point of view. I hope you make some headway -- good stuff -- keep it coming. And to those of you who might be visiting from DK keep reading -- there's a lot to learn here on this site. And check out the blog roll too.

Thank you for posting on DKOS! I am also whipped upon reading that thread, as a lefty it is an embarrassment and total disgrace. But we have to square our shoulders and move out of our comfort zones. The discourse is taking place and to go forward without our input is more troubling than being instantly slagged as a straw scientologist.

We are the stakeholders, this is our work, we know of what we speak.

oh my, that was profoundly disturbing...ignorant? or just plain stupid, I don't know??? Certainly lazy if nothing else. And yes, as a lefty it's embarrassing but truly scary as well.

So glad to see you on the Daily Kos. Just added your new RSS feed to Safari. Keep up the great writing!

I've been reading Opednews.com and though it is less popular than Daily Kos, there is a wide variety of stuff on there, mostly progressive. I am not happy with the progressive agenda in that these issues are left out totally. The only "health" thing that makes the cut is universal health care. They could also use a lacing, Phil.

I take that back. They do run Evelyn Pringle's sizzling articles there. Maybe Daily Kos is the place to be. It is a mighty popular blog, and from what you say could use some eye opening.

Phil,

Thanks for posting on Daily Kos. As a Democrat, some of those posts makes me so mad.

But I guess I have to remember that before I saw the light on psych meds and started tapering off of them, I probably could written similar type messages. I can't believe how brainwashed I was.

I can't see how to post a comment and I have tried doing it on Firefox and IE. Any tips? I did sign in.

Thanks for everything you do.

AA

Just read the comments on your Daily Kos blog. Boy, does that group have a long way to go. Either switch over to talking about National Health Care or make a decision to keep educating. Death rates, use rates, etc., might open some eyes. Pediatric bipolar might stir up a fuss. It wasn't so many years ago there wasn't any ped. bipolar and aren't we the only country in the world to have this "outbreak"?

I'm not that surprised, to be honest. When one has been immersed in this subject matter for a while, one forgets just how much faith is put in the medical profession.

One goes to the doctor, and one is prescribed with something. One assumes that this is because the doc knows that this drug gives results based on his/her experience. WE know that docs often prescribe psychoactive drugs because they have been told they work by drugs reps (and they may also have been motivated by freebies, or even bribes). In essence, then, a patient gets his information from the drugs companies - no conflict there, then!

People who have never been exposed to a diagnosis of mental illness, with all the BS stigma that goes with it, will never be required to question the professionalism of the professionals. And they will never be exposed to the material that we view on a regular basis - if they are, fleetingly, then it will probably suit their perspective to dismiss it as scaremongering, and look for a motive behind the "scaremongering" (eg, scientology, gun lobby, etc, etc).

Anyway, I quite regularly post current pharma news stories on the BBC boards (ie, stories that show pharma in a bad light - allegations of bribery/corruption; suppression of side effects data, etc). Nobody's interested. While nobody has been able to pin the "anti-Pharma/anti-globalization" tag on me, nor anything else, one or two of the comments that I've received suggest that that's where my motivation comes from. The Worshipful Company, meanwhile, just wants to help people!

Matt

Matt said "I'm not that surprised, to be honest. When one has been immersed in this subject matter for a while, one forgets just how much faith is put in the medical profession."

I, too, am astonished whenever I hear someone express confidence in their doctor's judgement, not just with mental health issues, but physical ones also.

I had a condition go undiagnosed and untreated for 30 years that has basically robbed me of most of my adult life. My neighbour walked around on a broken hip for three years before some bright light thought to take an X-ray. (Du-uh)

My sweet, trusting accountant husband suffered with MRSA from May to November. We knew in June or July what it was but couldn't get anyone to figure out the diagnosis or take a culture. My own MRSA went totally untreated and finally disappeared (I hope) on its own. My sweetie used to be totally trusting of doctors, just like a "normal" person. Now he looks at the scars on his leg and just growls.

In short, I friggin' couldn't agree with you more, Matt! The world seems to be populated by two groups of people: those who trust doctors and those who've learned to know better. Sadly, there are plenty of the latter group around.
S.