She's the 'real deal' Schizophrenic. That statement means absolutely nothing. A brief period of distress, is what you are presenting as 'evidence' that the label is legitimate? I'm sorry that doesn't cut it at all. Far more likely than a 'brain disease' that nobody has ever seen in her, because I think it is safe to assume, that like millions of others labeled, she's been diagnosed without any sort of biological test, her distress is no doubt compounded by the way she's been abused and lied to by psychiatry who has degraded her own view of herself and thrown her life into turmoil. Simply claiming that she's the 'real deal' is absurd.

And I don't care what you shilled for big pharma, and I don't care if others claim you are an award winning journalist, I've looked into those organizations that gave you an award, they are tied to pharma themselves.

cindy, you simply have no idea what you are talking about. i hope philip bans your ass because you are hassling him in a way he sure doesn't deserve.

already done, jones. 'cindy' appears to be none other than 'aaron' who used to be 'poe' who is a very very angry aussie anti-psychiatrist who seems to be a wee bit obsessed with me and likes to use his wireless to log into this site from various ip addresses in oz. this sort of thing has happened before with a few other anti-psych sorts. i'll just keep banning him/her until he/she catches the hint and goes and starts his/her own blog. which he/she should do.

Aaron is Poe?
:o)
Cindy is Poe and Aaron?
I remember Poe wrote much better and with more arguments than simply denying schizophrenia.

This is not anti-psychiatry. This is ignorance pure and simple.
The term anti-psychiatry is not making any sense any longer.

THis is nonsense.

Philip, I know how hard it is to see a person during a crisis.
Take care.

Philip,

I am so sorry that this incident happened to you and I hope the woman who called is doing better now.

This diagnosis of schizophrenia is something that I don't really understand but then who does understand it. All I know is that our family watched a much loved person become floridly psychotic and agitated [really, out of their mind] while on Prozac [but we didn't know it was the Prozac causing this]. This person was then hospitalized [way back in the early 1990's] and given the diagnosis of "latent schizophrenia'.

Everyone was shocked and nervous about this label and it was months before the family realized that it was the Prozac which had done this - thus our families interest in the Prozac Survivors Support Group.

After developing a deep interest in the harm being caused to others by Prozac, I was astounded to learn that this same thing happens to over 200,000 people a year [although by the mid 1990's they were being diagnosed as bipolar]. Here is the Journal Article which explaines about the 200,000 people going into the hospital with a Prozac/SSRI reaction: "The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 2001: 62: 30-33 titled: 'Antidepressant-Associated Mania and Psychosis Resulting in Psychiatric Admissions by Adrian Preda, M.D.; Rebecca W. MacLean, M.D.; Carolyn M. Mazure, Ph.D.; and Malcolm B. Bowers, Jr., M.D'."

www.SSRIstories.com has over 2,600 cases of people who took a Prozac/SSRI antidepressant and ran into worse trouble than just being hospitalized and diagnosed with latent schizophrenia or latent bipolar disorder [although this is a horrible tragedy].

Our "latent schizophrenic" is totally recovered now but it was a harrowing/traumatizing event and one we will never forget.

Bless you, Philip, for being there for this person who called you.

Philip-
Once again, thanks for your act of selflessness, crisis intervention abilities, and knowledge. I find it interesting that you need to post a notation to about your friend being a diagnosed schizophrenia. She was in crisis, that’s all that that matters. As for Aaron-maybe the new DSM can include a specific section aimed for those like him with the heading “get a life.”

Philip,

It is absurd to accuse you of shilling for big pharma. As you know, I don't believe that there's a genetic or medical basis for "schizophrenia" and even psychiatrists agree it's a general category for a lot of behavior that is not understood by the person witnessing it. Still profound emotional distress does exist and it is worthy of attention and the attention given is often exhausting to the attention giver. You are to be applauded for attending to your friend. I hope she ends up at a Respite Center like the one Jayme runs here in Atlanta.

Sadly, I read today in the New York Times that the officer who gave the order for the man who feel to his death to be tasered committed suicide. When we as a society look at why the man who feel to his death is considered mentally ill and in need of AOT ant the cop responsible for his death who commits suicide isn't, then we'll be closer to addressing some of the reasons our society has become so horrible that more and more people are apparently finding functioning in it impossible.

As someone who lives with "voices" daily, I can empathize with what your friend might have possibly been going through. I'm glad you were able to keep her calm and I hope she's doing better now and is getting the proper care and meds, if needed/wanted. And I hope you're feeling better, too, after such a frightening, exhausting experience.

I'm confused. I've read a lot of anti-psych rants on here, but not all the posters were banned. What's the criteria for deciding which anti-psych people stay and which go?

I'm keeping your friend in my thoughts Philip. I'm so glad the person has you for support.

mhf, commenters don't get banned for their views whatever they might be. they get banned for how they treat other commenters and how they treat me.

Philip,

Last year when I was in crisis, many people from your blog reached out to me by emails, and one wonderful person phoned me.

It made a difference, knowing there were people out there in the universe who actually gave a damn about me.

Maybe we can do the same for your friend? Send her letters or just show her your entry here so she will know there are people out there who will never actually know her irl, but care and are rooting for her.

Dear Philip,

Your friend is fortunate to have a caring friend such as you. You’re a good man.

I apologize for having to interject my thoughts at this time on this topic but seeing as your need to make the following comment I thought it apropos to share my thoughts on sharing ones views as opposed to the need to attack the individual.

“mhf, commenters don't get banned for their views whatever they might be. they get banned for how they treat other commenters and how they treat me.” --- Philip Dawdy

“I attack ideas. I don’t attack people and some very good people have some very bad ideas and if you can’t separate the two you got to get another day job…” --- Justice Scalia

http://vnsdepression.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=621

Warmly,
Herb
VNSdepression.com

Philip,

My sincere apologies for being insensitive enough to ask about banning on this particular thread. I didn't intend to be so thoughtless, but simply typed the question impulsively.

And Herb, thank you for indirectly drawing my attention to my misdeed. I needed the wake-up call.

I do hope your friend is feeling better soon. She's lucky to have you in her life.

Hi Philip, just a word of thanks for the treatment you gave to your friend who was going through an extremely bad time. I can just imagine the time that person may have had if no such supports were available. As one who was very agitated a few times a while ago I think I can guess what this person was going through. It's the fact that people like you are out there, available and willing to listen that I and doubtless many more are here today. Unfortunately there are people who are not as kind and may react with violence, or as I have experienced utter revulsion - get the *#ck out of my house and don't ever call me again - this from someone who I considered a friend. When a person goes through somehing like this the people with more humanity shine out and the shallower fair-weather friends run a mile. In a smalll town the person may be gossipped about and may become the victim of stigma, even harrassment to the point of stalking which I have experienced - which compounds the problem and leaves the person with a lot of pieces to pick up. If we are in the age of reason (or science) its can be hard to live in a society where anything against the norm is frowned upon. Hopefully your friend has plenty of social support and people to call when going through a crisis. And again profound thanks from a fellow sufferer for helping out when needs must. All the best.

I truly hope your friend is getting better soon. Having had a small taste of psychotic symptoms associated with bipolar disorder, I can BARELY imagine how bad someone suffering from schizophrenia experiences psychotic episodes. They are definitely real and definitely distressing. Fortunately for her she had someone to turn to. Not everyone has that option. I sincerely hope she gets well soon.

I don't really know what "anti-psychiatry" means. I don't know anyone who denies the existence of insanity. The question, it seems to me, is whether or not insanity can be classified as a "disease." I don't believe it can. Does that make me an anti-psychiatrist?

Good for you, Philip, for being there for your friend. I've been on the receiving end of such non-medical help and it's been a lifesaver.

Philip - I echo the thankfulness for people that can see when something is more important than themselves. I know that I have been rescued by dear friends when things get sideways. I am so sick of the stigma that mental illness has. It is great to see another campaigning for people. We need to look past the symptoms and see the person.

she's been diagnosed without any sort of biological test

You mean like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's or...well you get the idea :)