Refusing psychiatry without pissing off the neighbors

One of my favorite blogs is Refusing Psychiatry (Without Pissing Off the Neighbors). The author's bio says "I became an attorney late in life primarily to advocate for the universal human right to refuse psychiatry." I believe that the author is now retired but volunteers his legal services in his state's penal institutions. You can follow him on Twitter: @mentalhealthlaw 

In his most recent post, he examines the case of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.. Rep. Jackson recently was released from the Mayo Clinic after being treated for bipolar II disorder.

MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

Gold-plated psychiatry? Ha!

The August 26 edition of the Southtown Star, a neighborhood newspaper in Chicago, includes a letter from one Cornell Hudson of Steger.

Mr. Hudson complains that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-2nd) is receiving the best medical care in the world from the Mayo Clinic, which most of his constituents could never afford.  He continues, "Because of a recent lack of funding, his constituents can no longer visit the recently closed community mental health center that has served the South Side for 37 years. Had Jackson sought care from this center, it might still be open."

But community mental health centers, and state institutions like Tinley Park Mental Health Center, are being closed because the people of Illinois simply do not want to pay for this garbage any more. Psychiatry has clearly failed to reduce mental illness by operating under a medical model, given the opportunity of almost unlimited funding for at least two generations. Arguably, the total efforts of the mental health orthodoxy have dramatically increased the incidence of mental illness and disability!

Read the rest here