MUST READ: plan to screen whole population for mental illness . . .

[OneBlueSky]

I think I just fell down the rabbit hole . . . screen the whole population, and decide who will be drugged with Eli Lily's (BIG Bush contributor) latest concoctions . . . arrrggghhh! . . .

Bush plans to screen whole US population for mental illness
by Jeanne Lenzer
www.bmj.com (British Medical Journal)

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7454/1458

A sweeping mental health initiative will be unveiled by President George W Bush in July. The plan promises to integrate mentally ill patients fully into the community by providing "services in the community, rather than institutions," according to a March 2004 progress report entitled New Freedom Initiative (www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/newfreedom/toc-2004.html). While some praise the plan's goals, others say it protects the profits of drug companies at the expense of the public.

Bush established the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in April 2002 to conduct a "comprehensive study of the United States mental health service delivery system." The commission issued its recommendations in July 2003. Bush instructed more than 25 federal agencies to develop an implementation plan based on those recommendations.

The president's commission found that "despite their prevalence, mental disorders often go undiagnosed" and recommended comprehensive mental health screening for "consumers of all ages," including preschool children. According to the commission, "Each year, young children are expelled from preschools and childcare facilities for severely disruptive behaviours and emotional disorders." Schools, wrote the commission, are in a "key position" to screen the 52 million students and 6 million adults who work at the schools.

The commission also recommended "Linkage with treatment and supports" including "state-of-the-art treatments" using "specific medications for specific conditions." The commission commended the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP) as a "model" medication treatment plan that "illustrates an evidence-based practice that results in better consumer outcomes."

- more . . .

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7454/1458

[molly]

1. He's starting with himself - right?

[Octafish]

9. LOL! Beat me to it, molly!

Public Nutjob Number 1.

[Qutzupalotl]

14. "See? We're not crazy. Everyone ELSE in the country is crazy."

(It's the administration's one guiding principle: when you want to get away with something, accuse someone else of doing it.)

How do you think people will react to being told this? "Sorry, ma'am. Your kid has to go on an antipsychotic for the rest of his life."

[MISSDem]

37. They'll do it if an M.D. tells them to do it.

Thousands today have put their children on drugs for ADD at the advise of teachers and doctors. The child's crime? Being a child.

[IkeWarnedUs]

2. Bush should go first

If there is any American who needs to be screened for mental illness, it's George Bush!

[porphyrian]

3. "Now Billy, do your parents ever say mean things about you..."

"...or the President?"

[Hoping4Change]

4. Who wants to bet Dems will be deemed criminally insane?

[nickinSTL]

5. Bush first

Hah someone just beat me to it.

Bush should be first up.

There's no way this'd fly. People don't want their psychological oddities to be a matter of record.

[The empressof all]

6. Sorry I can't help making snarky comments here.

Will he be first in line?

Why, the drugs haven't been working for him!

[Lucky Luciano]

7. SO what will they consider to be a mental problem?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.....Is this a thinly veiled attempt at introducing thought police...maybe they will consider dissenters mentally ill? Perhaps I am just being a touch paranoid, but I put nothing past that prick in the Oval Office.

[htuttle]

11. Hey, hey hey, calm down!

Otherwise you might earn yourself a visit to Room 101...for therapy.

[Lucky Luciano]

19. LOL!

[Vitruvius]

30. Dissidents were considered "mentally ill" in the old USSR.

The same ploy is common in Fortune 1000 companies -- which are also dictatorships in all but name; for example, if you don't go along with some management bid-rigging scheme, they'll slime you in just that way; similarly, if mg't promotes one of their little no-talent buddies on one of your breakthrus, and you don't like it, one of the smears they will throw at you is that you must be mentally ill for daring to expect to be promoted on performance.

As for Democrats -- we already see Rethug pols & pundits smearing anybody who doesn't support Bu$h 1000% as "mentally ill". Q: Will Rethugs diagnose Dems as mentally ill? A: They already do so.

Nothing quite like hearing some Rethug/big business SOCIOPATH claiming that OTHER people are "mentally ill".


P.S: Note that any diagnosis requires (a) a qualified psychiatrist to b) conduct a full examination c) according to prescribed procedures. But little things like facts never stopped a Commissar or a Rethugnican or a Big Business Boss yet...

[smirkymonkey]

43. You raise a very important point.

Is anyone else getting very worried about where this might lead?

I feel that the Reich may be setting a precedent for future "institutionalizations". Lobotomies for Liberals!

[jukes]

8. Just

when you think it can't get any worse...

[Nay]

40. Really! No matter how cynical I get, I just can't keep up with this bunch!

[seemslikeadream]

10. WTF!

Thanks for posting and I'm gonna gossip and post it in LBN

[Lucky Luciano]

20. I am still somewhat of a newbie to political msg boards

What is LBN?

[MissB]

22. Late Breaking News

Another board within Democratic Underground.

[silverweb]

12. I'm sending this out...

And I'm calling it, "Mental Health Police Coming Soon to Your Hometown At Your Expense."

:grr:

[smirkymonkey]

42. Yes, since the Republicans, with a little help from

the health insurance industry, are blocking a bill supporting mental health parity, it's up to us to pay for our forced screenings and cover the full amount for the v-chip implantation and cost of the anesthesia.

Health Insurers Block Mental Health Parity Bill
6/15/2004

http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/summaries/reader/0,1854,571565,00.html

"Health-insurance companies have been successful in blocking a bill that would mandate equal coverage for mental and physical illnesses, the Associated Press reported June 14.

The parity bill appeared to have majority support in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. But House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) refused to schedule a House vote. In the Senate, Republicans blocked passage of the bill last fall.

"The bottom line is there is still enormous resistance from employers and health plans, and they've been able to turn to allies in the Senate and especially the House," said Andrew Sperling, a lobbyist for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill."

(snip)

"The Congressional Budget Office had estimated that the legislation would increase health insurance costs by less than 1 percent."

ONE F**ING PERCENT! Their greed knows no bounds!

[Davis_X_Machina]

13. I wouldn't trust these people to find flies in an outhouse...

...but the idea is worth a second look.

My school-aged kids have their eyes and ears screened annually, and no one assumes that it's a put up job by the hearing aid manufacturers, or the chain optometrists.

My daughter is screened for scoliosis -- a potentially crippling condition, but not one that kills a fair proportion of its sufferers, as depression does.

I work in a medium-sized school that averages a suicide a year, and if my school nurse, and her colleagues, want to screen for depression, I say 'have at it'.

I'm tired of burying student suicides, or the drunk- and drugged drivers, some of whom are self-medicating, because there's precious little mental health care in the community, and massive stigma, especially among the boys, attached to accessing it.

Even a blind pig -- and pigs come no blinder than this administration -- finds an acorn occasionally.

[MadHound]

32. I agree with your premise, but only in a perfect world

But the diagnosis and treatment of the mentally is a veeerrrrryyy subjective science. What you and I consider perfectly normal, others consider stark raving bonkers, and vice versa. Screenings for hearing and sight are not open to interpretation, you either can see/hear normally or you can't, and the same goes for most other physical illnesses.

Then there is the matter of treatment. While an opthomoligist can make a buck off of a patient once a year, psychologists and psychiatrists can make tons of money off of once a week, twice a week, or even daily appointments with a patient. In addition, while the cost of corrective glasses or hearing aids is a once or twice a year expense, prescription drug companies stand to make tons of money. Think of it, one person who is considered mentally ill can and will consume upwards of 5-10 different drugs every day.

Then there is the sticky matter of how a diagnosis of mental illness sticks with a person for the rest of their life. Think about it, due to greed and stupidity, some poor kid is labeled with one of the more serious mental illnesses when they are simply normal kids, yet that tag of being "nuts" with haunt them for the rest of their life, limiting their opportunities in all phases of life. Do you really want to take that kind of chance?

I agree that something more needs to be done about childhood mental health, but I think it should be done on a voluntary basis, with both the school and parents involved. It shouldn't be government mandated with no hope of appeal, performed by people who have little or no training in childhood mental health.

[LizW]

15. "The New Freedom Commission"..... BZZZZZTTTT!

Dead giveaway!

When something associated with the Bush Empire has a name that includes the word freedom, or secure, or patriot, or clean, or preservation, or conservation, or anything that tries to give a warm, fuzzy feeling ----- you know it is intended for evil ends.

Let's see, what is the opposite of freedom? If you said IMPRISONMENT, then I think you probably have an idea where this initiative is headed.

I'm only sort of joking. :scared:

[silverweb]

21. Bingo.

Texas-styled mental health police get to decide who needs meds and what kind, and taxpayers get fleeced to pay for THE newest, most expensive brands.

Never mind psychotherapy or counseling. Never mind affordable help for those who seek it or need it, or some modicum of choice involving treatment options.

EVERYTHING that Bush proposes takes a 180-degree direction from what he touts. Look at his so-called "Clear Skies" and "Healthy Forests" initiatives.

When he wins access to all of our medical records, he and his henchmen will be able to decide just who is "mentally ill" -- and who is undesirable for having other health problems or "guilty" of having unapproved procedures (i.e., abortion).

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Better, get angry. Get VERY angry. And work to defeat the evil bastards!

[MallRat]

26. New Freedom Commission? It's DOUBLEPLUSGOOD!

:eyes:

[Bluebear]

16. Forced screenings? "Freedom commission"? What in hell is happening to us?

nt

[Media_Lies_Daily]

17. Eugenics is next.

[elf]

18. Then gas chamber??

[MallRat]

23. This is scary.

I don't like where this is heading. Nationwide screening effectively leads to registration of the mentally ill.

Once you create that information, it makes it more likely to abuse it. For example...


Mentally and Physically Handicapped: Victims of the Nazi Era

Soon after Hitler took power, the Nazis formulated policy based on their vision of a biologically "pure" population, to create an "Aryan master race." The "Law for the prevention of Progeny with Hereditary Diseases," proclaimed July 14, 1933, forced the sterilization of all persons who suffered from diseases considered hereditary, such as mental illness (schizophrenia and manic depression), retardation ("congenital feeble-mindedness"), physical deformity, epilepsy, blindness, deafness, and severe alcoholism.

http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/index.php?content=/education/resource/handic/handicapped.php%3fmenu=/export/home/www/doc_root/education/foreducators/include/menu.txt%26bgcolor=CD9544

[silverweb]

28. Exactly!

Shout it from the rooftops!

It shouldn't be too hard to figure out what demographics will be targeted. Just follow the old Nazi playbook. Bush&Co have stuck very closely to that script all along.

And don't forget that the RW considers GLBT people to be "aberrant," as well.

The brand of "mentally ill" will be used liberally, you can bet on that!

[Cat Atomic]

24. Ok, so can I compare him to Hitler yet, or do I have to let my

grandchildren do that when they visit the crumbling old liberal concentration camps?

[MallRat]

29. Permission granted.

This is just fuckin' scary, scary, scary.

How can we allow this shit to happen?

HERE?

[smirkymonkey]

44. Paging Dr. Mengele...

[dweller]

25. hmm..now where is that link to the secret internment camps ..??

segue.
dp

[Bluebear]

49. .

[doni_georgia]

27. One of the marks of an insane person is to think that he is the only sane

person, and everyone else is crazy.

[Mountainman]

39. Another sign is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different

result. Stay the course.

What would freepers be diagnosed with?

[parasim]

31. Check out this site that counters the New Freedom Commission

http://mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/bush_b.shtml

-snip

Satel is an American Enterprise Institute psychiatrist whose own web site, book, interviews and speeches directly attack the very idea of mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors organizing for self-determination and their human rights. Dr. Satel's plan? She promotes the involuntary psychiatric drugging of thousands of more Americans, including Americans living out in the community in their own homes.

-snip

The AEI rears it's ugly head once again...

[silverweb]

35. The MindFreedom site is a goldmine.

Much, much very valuable information there! Thank you for the link. I'd never heard anything about Sally Satel before and this needs to get out into public awareness.

[mdmc]

45. I bookmarked it too

:kick:ass

[Spinzonner]

33. SInce this Administration is (in)famous for un(der)funded mandates

Why should we expect this one to turn out anything different ?

It's an election year PR stunt.

[silverweb]

34. Wait...

You forgot that the only mandates in this administration that ARE fully funded are those that benefit GOP donor corporations.

The pharmaceutical companies, one of THE biggest lobbies in the country, stand to make a killing off this.

Of course it will be funded -- by you and me and every other taxpayer. It's another example of the perfect merger between government and big business -- and a way to siphon more money out of the general population to the rich.

Do you get it yet?

[ContinentalOp]

36. And the eugenics begin...

[blindpig]

38. apparently "feelies" (tv) aren't enough, now we get soma. n/t

[Cat Atomic]

41. lol- that's about it. Two parts Orwell, one part Huxley.

[Carl Brennan]

48. You can already get your "soma" online:

http://www.online-drugs-store.com/soma/soma-sale/aldous-huxley.html

[Gordon25]

46. Most basic mental health question one must ask

I did quite a bit of reading and research a few years back for a writer doing a book on mental health "experts". One thing became quickly apparent.

All of the "professional expertise" of all psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts is self-awarded.

This became evident because they all claim "expertise" in the field of the human mind and human emotions --- yet no two of them can agree on a common definition for, or description of, what the human mind is or how it works. Peruse the literature. Each expert has a pet theory. Few of them agree on anything except that they are the "experts" and mental health is what they say it is.

And the fact is that the actual "cure" rate of all the various therapeutic modalities employed in the treatment of what they define as "mental illness" is actually less than chance. In fact, few "mental health" professionals actually even agree on what a "cure" might be, which is not surprising given their lack of ability to define what it is they are supposedly treating.

According to World Almanac statistics, more Americans died in U.S. mental hospitals between 1960 and 1978 (the year I started the research) than died in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Spanish American War, Korea and Vietnam combined. Deaths averaged at that time 65,000 to 75,000 Americans per year, many of them involuntarily committed to these institutions.

One psychiatrist in the sixties based his claim to expertise on the fact that he performed over 15,000 prefrontal lobotomies in just under ten years. This is a fifteen minute procedure in which an ice pick like instrument is inserted through the eye socket and used to sever the connections between the two frontal lobes of the brain. Life expectancy for someone on whom the procedure was performed turned out to be less than five years. But during that five years they didn't act out.

Even today, accepted psychiatric treatment for clinical depression is electro-shock therapy in which a patient is strapped to a table and fifty thousand volts of electricity is passed through their brain repetitively. This treatment originated from an observation made by an attendee at a Chicago psychiatric convention who, during a break in the conference, visited the Chicago slaughter houses. He noted that when the cattle were penned up prior to being sent up the walk way into the slaughter house they became agitated and uncooperative until they were hit between the eyes several times with an electric cattle prod, at which point they became docile. He saw it as a wonderful technique to "humanely" control unruly mental patients. Tried it out a few times and found that "depressives no longer manifested the symptoms of their condition." It's like having a computer that always crashes when you run a particular program so you hit it with fifty thousand volts and it no longer crashes -- though of course it doesn't run any programs any more after that.

As pointed out in a post above, the use of psychiatric diagnosis and commitments as a tool of political repression was extensively used in Soviet Russia, as well as Nazi Germany.

Having said all that, let me add that I am far from lacking in compassion for those suffering the agonies of mental illness (agonies both for the individuals afflicted and those who care about them). I know first hand the helplessness that one feels when a loved one is stricken. What can be done? I have no answers beyond setting up as safe and compassionate an environment as possible and doing our best to tend to their survival needs while protecting them and others from the effects of their affliction. One study which was done in the seventies (sorry, no link - the net didn't exist then) showed that twenty-six percent of those involuntarily committed had severe underlying medical, nutritional and/or body structural problems, and that correcting those problems also alleviated the "mental illness."

So, the point of this perhaps overlong post, is that when any government -- and this one in particular -- wants to start screening the population for mental illness, what they are looking for are those people who fall outside their definitions of sanity. Remember all those rightwing remarks recently after Al Gore's speech in New York calling the Bush administration to account; remarks coming like a litany from the all the media repub talking heads to the effect that "Gore has lost it" "Gore's insane rantings" etc.? Or the current right wing talking point about how all who oppose Bush's policies are "haters whose hatred distorts their ability to see the truth"?

Sure there are big profits to be made by the drug cartels who support Bush, but there are also big political profits to be had by those who set up the screening, treatment and commitment procedures and who get to define what mental health is.

For anyone interested in pursuing this further I recommend the writings of Dr. Thomas Szasz, one of the few psychiatrists I found in my research who criticized his profession for its pretended expertise. I especially liked his book, Law, Liberty and Psychiatry. He likened modern mental health diagnosis to witchcraft, and said the day the U.S. legal system allowed the first mental health professional into a courtroom as an "expert" witness, the law made an ass of itself.

If this program is put into effect and the Bushistas are returned to power in November, it will be time to be afraid. Very, very afraid.

Gordon25

[Carl Brennan]

56. Szasz wrote "The Manufacture of Madness"

Isn't it strange that the sudden increase in these mental "problems" coincides with the CIA mind control experiments using LSD and other drugs?

[mdmc]

47. first they came for the mentally ill,

and I don't know how the rest turned out. They took me away.

Bush suffered from alcoholism and cocaine addiction (or, as we like to refer to it, "being young and indiscreet).

[Cleita]

50. Eh,, so are they going to give everyone medical coverage to

pay for all of this? If not, what do they plan to do to those who can't pay, won't pay and won't take the pills? Will those Americans who don't take their daily ration of SOMA be exiled somewhere?

[Gordon25]

51. Yeah, to prison. n/t

[cosmicdot]

52. Link to similar thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=630988

[Catherine Vincent]

53. They should start with those rabid Clinton-haters out there.

Those people are fucked up.

[OneBlueSky]

54. kick for the Saturday crew . . . n/t

.

[OneBlueSky]

55. kick . . . n/t

.