The post reminds me of the popular "Russian psychiatry was political but American psychiatry is not" falsehood. By criticizing specific procedures you imply agreement that others are bona fide treatments for a medical illness, and I reject this implication as totally erroneous.

For a few brief moments I had some faith in this blog, but sadly both the writer and majority of those leaving comments seem to strongly believe in mental illness and all of the dire consequences that ugly concept entails. It wouldn't surprise me if China frees Tibet long before American citizens are no longer subjected to coercive psychiatry.

Sincerely,
Ted

I don't get the comment up above. How can you NOT believe in mental illness if your living it 24/7.

And what is wrong with reporting another wrong. Like I said. I don't get the above comment at all. Sorry Ted.

Brain damage doesn't cure depression any more than it cures schizophrenia or anything else. Brain damage is brain damage. Same problem as with ECT and as with long term use of anti-psychotics, all cause brain damage. We are causing brain damage in millions of Americans as we speak. We also execute about as many folks as China per capita, we just don't charge the families for the bullet nor steal their organs, yet. I don't want to live in China, but the U.S. is becoming more and more like it. We also imprison more folks than any other Western country by far, for non-violent offenses other countries have the sense to deal with differently. But we have to feed the prison-industrial complex and private prisons and rural areas that want jobs even if it means locking other folks up to create the jobs. Same as with rebuilding large institutions--jobs and money for poor areas of the country. I think we should take a look around our own country first.

Alison,

We may not charge the families for the bullet directly, but they pay.

Mark,

Believing you're living with mental illness 24/7 is believing you're living with mental illness 24/7, sort of like believing in space aliens or the dogma of a particular religion, it's a belief you're free to have, that you choose to have. Beliefs unlike facts are subject to change.

Welp, could it be I've spotted a certain problem around this joint?

By criticizing specific procedures you imply agreement that others are bona fide treatments for a medical illness

Does Dawdy imply or do the trolls infer?

"but it took a reporter at an English language paper and victims' families he interviewed to do something about it. "
Yeap!

I once wrote to ssristories.com asking why they only reported cases from USA and UK and they told me they had access but to stories written in English. They even asked me if I could translate anything from Brazil. I have to tell them that the media in Brazil does not report anything claiming that SSRI is involved. Even suicides are not on papers for people are still afraid of "Werther effect".

I also had written to Robert Whitaker when he published "Mad in America" for I have reading an article about the book that in third world countries mental ill people were not taking medicines and were much better.
I told him that as far as Brazil is concerned we have all the "global psychiatric drugs".
He was kind enough to answer me but said that the data in which he based his was from WHO.
I hope that in this next book he can give a much broad view of the problem.

Even in Islamabad and New Delhi, I have some connections with young people of around 20 years, they are being told to take psychiatric drugs.
I don't care about which country under what regime abuses mental illness people humans rights.
Lobotomy is inadmissible and a hideous crime. Chemical lobotomy too.
I believe that Philip made that very clear in his post that what he care is beyond north, south, east or west.

I believe we have enough "politics" involved on all this psychiatry scandal.
Old treatments and drugs are beyond nations, regimes, continents... you name it.
We need Global Justice to mental health cases.
In 2006 Brazil was condemned for Humans Rights violations by Inter-American Court in the Damião Ximenes case. He was murdered in a mental hospital.
His family was advised to go to this court for in Brazil it would be another case and nothing was going to happen.

The case is in this link:
http://www.global.org.br/english/damiaoximenescase.html
or searching for " Damião Ximenes case" in Google there are other links.