ACT: Email President Campaigns re: Psychiatric Rights

Wed Mar 26 10:49:28 CDT 2008

MindFreedom International News - 26 March 2008
United Independent Activism for Human Rights in Mental Health
http://www.mindfreedom.org/events_listing - please forward

    Call For Action from MindFreedom International

    USA Presidential Election Opens Big Opportunities for Movement to  
Change Mental Health System

    How You Can E-mail to Issue Committees for the Three Presidential  
Candidates

When the social change movement led by psychiatric survivors and  
allies began in the 1970s, it was hard to imagine when, or if, we  
would become part of mainstream politics. We were pretty invisible on  
the political radar.

But psychiatric survivors do not give up. Activists such as Ted  
Chabasinski -- who spent almost his entire childhood in a state  
hospital in New York -- devoted decades to courageous advocacy and  
community organizing. Since 1971 Ted, who is now an attorney and  
board member of MindFreedom International, has continued to speak  
truth to power, as you will see from his powerful call for action,  
below.

Nearly four decades later, we've come a long way. The public has come  
to see more and more how everyone is affected by abuse in the mental  
health system.

*** Today, drug giant Eli Lilly just made another settlement about  
their psychiatric drug Zyprexa with another outraged State, Alaska.

*** Major newspapers run stories about false advertising, suppressed  
studies, and the corruption and undue influence of drug companies.

*** Outraged parents organize against mental health screening.

*** A poll by the American Psychiatric Association even found at  
least one third of Americans surveyed thought psychiatric drugs do  
more harm than good.

And when we bring our cause into the political arena, we have had  
victories. In 1982, voters in Berkeley, California, often among the  
first to support new causes that later become mainstream, voted  
overwhelmingly to ban shock treatment there in a ballot campaign led  
by psych survivors.

More recently, the California Network of Mental Health Clients fought  
an outpatient commitment bill to require citizens to take psychiatric  
drugs while living in their own homes. In a campaign lasting several  
years, and using tactics ranging from lobbying legislators to showing  
up at hearings wearing the black triangles that Hitler forced "mental  
defectives" to wear, the Network succeeded in gutting the bill so  
that it was essentially unenforceable.

Our movement has grown tremendously. MindFreedom International alone  
now has thousands of members and over 100 groups from countries all  
over the world in its coalition. And MFI is just one group among many.

PLEASE ACT ON THE PASSIONATE WORDS BELOW from Ted Chabasinski.  
Whether you live in the USA or not, please speak out now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

    A CALL FOR PASSION, A CALL FOR ACTION!

    E-MAIL TO USA PRESIDENT CAMPAIGNS TO SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHTS IN  
MENTAL HEALTH

BY TED CHABASINSKI

It is time we realize we now have the strength as a movement to be  
taken much more seriously. We should take advantage of this window of  
opportunity, where voters are paying more attention to political  
issues than they have in decades.

The major-party candidates for President have committees that are  
working on their positions about disability rights issues. The  
movement of people with disabilities, has been very supportive of the  
issues of psychiatric consumer/survivors, and we should be contacting  
the campaign staff of the candidates and letting them know what is  
important to us.

Although the campaign organizations are huge, the "issue committees"  
working on platforms are relatively small. A few hundred letters  
would be noticed and make a big difference. Let's show these  
candidates that there is a real movement out there, and push them to  
take our issues seriously.

*** We can educate the campaigns about the emergency of human rights  
violations in the mental health system, like forced drugging and  
forced electroshock.

*** We can oppose the moves to replace the current legal safeguards  
for involuntary commitment with a standard of "need for treatment."

*** We should talk about replacing a system that offers nothing but  
drugs, drugs, and more drugs, with programs controlled by their users  
that offer real help.

*** We should demand that the practice of drugging small children  
even to the point of death, as in the Rebecca Riley case in Boston,  
be stopped.

There are many other things we can and should tell these politicians.  
And it's time we came forward and did just that.

Because it is important that the campaigns know that there is a real  
movement, if you represent or are active in an organization, say so.  
Mention MindFreedom, too. Or just talk about your own concerns.

Tell these officials that our issues count.

*** That we are citizens whose rights must be respected.

*** That forced electroshock, forced drugging, and forced restraint  
are unacceptable practices that cannot continue and must be stopped.

*** That we all need alternatives to a drug-based, one-size-fits-all  
mental health system.

We have reason to think that at least some of the people you will  
write to are already somewhat sympathetic to our cause, and will  
listen. But we need to make them see that there is a real movement  
out there, and that the excesses and abuses of the current mental  
health system threaten everyone.

So, yes, write with PASSION! Let's get these politicians to take us  
seriously.

Now is the time for our movement to make itself heard. Let's take  
OURSELVES seriously and do this!

"Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are  
people who want crops without plowing up the ground...Power concedes  
nothing without a struggle. It never has and it never will." -  
Frederick Douglass

~~~~~~~~~~~~

    * * * ACTION * * * ACTION * * * ACTION * * *

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

E-MAIL a civil but passionate note to the chairs of the disability  
committees of these USA Presidential candidates:

BARACK OBAMA CAMPAIGN:

    Stan Klein -- stan at disabilitiesbooks.com; Seth Harris --  
sethdharris at comcast.net

HILLARY CLINTON CAMPAIGN:

    Catherine Brown -- cbrown at hillaryclinton.com

JOHN McCAIN CAMPAIGN:

    Donna Jones -- djones at mccain08hq.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please FORWARD this call for action to all appropriate places on and  
off the Internet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Build united strength in numbers!

JOIN MINDFREEDOM INTERNATIONAL!

http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donate

* Win human rights campaigns in mental health.

* End abuse by the psychiatric drug industry.

* Support self-determination of psychiatric survivors.

* Promote safe, humane, effective options in mental health.

* Show your MAD PRIDE!

MindFreedom is a nonprofit human rights group that unites 100 sponsor  
and affiliate groups with individual members.

MindFreedom is one of the very few totally independent activist  
groups in the mental health field with no funding from governments,  
drug companies, religions, corporations, or the mental health system.

All human rights supporters are invited to join MFI by donating here:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donate

For hard-to-find books and gear, including a normality screening kit,  
go to MFI's Mad Market here:

http://www.madmarket.org

MindFreedom International Office:

454 Willamette, Suite 216 - POB 11284; Eugene, OR 97440-3484 USA

web site: http://www.mindfreedom.org
e-mail: office(at)mindfreedom(dot)org
MFI office phone: (541) 345-9106
MFI member services toll free: 1-877-MAD-PRIDe or 1-877-623-7743
fax: (541) 345-3737

Please forward.

~~~~~~~~~~~

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