Psychiatrists’ Torture of Patients Lawsuit to Proceed

Former residents of an Ontario, Canada, psychiatric facility have been given the green light to proceed with a class action civil suit against two psychiatrists who, for years, carried out torturous treatment programs. Given the nature of the torturous “treatment” residents were subjected to, one can only wonder why the named psychiatrists are not being held criminally responsible for the acknowledged abuses. Justice Perell explained that “the three programs ... implemented by the doctors.... were torture and a degradation of human dignity.”

Psychiatric Association Wants FDA to Expand Electroshock Used on Children and Elderly

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed the electroshock therapy (ECT) device to remain on the market without requiring clinical studies proving safety and efficacy, and is considering the American Psychiatric Association’s written proposal to expand ECT’s use on the general public, including on children. According to the FDA’s mission statement, the FDA “is responsible for protecting the public health by ensuring the safety” and “efficacy” of medical products, including “medical devices” (the ECT device included). Due to the documented risks attributed to ECT, we are calling on the FDA to prohibit its use.

New Task Force Guidelines Call For Screening Every Adult, Pregnant Women For Depression

A new recommendation has been released by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a government advisory group that is now recommending all adults be routinely screened for depression as part of their healthcare. The first part of the recommendation suggests that all adults be screened, but singles out pregnant women and new mothers as a target population. Allowing doctors, social workers or any other authority figure to violate rights based upon their conclusion that a person is suffering from a mental disorder is a slippery slope indeed.

Study: Virgin Coconut Oil More Effective than Drugs in Combating Stress and Depression

A study conducted in Malaysia looked at the effects of consuming high-antioxidant virgin coconut oil on mental health. Published in the journal Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine and believed to be the first study of its kind, researchers evaluated the anti-stress and antioxidant effects of virgin coconut oil in mice with stress-induced injuries. The title of the study is "Antistress and antioxidant effects of virgin coconut oil in vivo." Their results were quite impressive, and suggest that using a high quality virgin coconut oil can rival antidepressant drugs without the dangerous side effects.

Big Pharma want to “Protect” the Elderly from “Dangers” of Coconut Oil and Natural Supplements

A new study has been published by a psychiatrist working for a VA hospital educating other psychiatrists on how to protect their patients against the dangerous side effects from coconut oil and other natural supplements. However, with no recorded deaths due to the side effects of coconut oil or other natural supplements in recent years, and with the medical community themselves admitting that over 100,000 people a year die from their prescription drugs, one has to wonder who is really being "protected" with this advice?

Senate Bill Would Subject Children to Mental Health Screening Without Parental Consent

Nothing would prevent a social worker from taking a child from an innocent family and having a “mental health care provider” (which could even include an unlicensed intern) conduct a psychological witch hunt under the guise of a “mental health screening,” prior to the initial detention hearing. The results of the screening (that is, the subjective analysis of one hand-picked mental health provider) could then be used as evidence to give the state authority over the child when in fact no abuse or neglect exists.

Mental illness: Is ‘Chemical Imbalance’ Theory a Myth? Answer: Yes

In the minds of many neuroscientists today, the chemical imbalance theory has turned out to be a myth, with little more scientific or medicinal substance than poetry or song. And the pills are now largely recognized by a multitude of experts, as well as some of the pharmaceutical companies that make them, as concoctions of magical thinking.

Obama Endorses Sweeping Mental Health Programs Just As Psychiatry’s Diagnostic Manual Comes Under Fire

The White House’s sweeping mental health initiatives—which rely on psychiatry’s diagnostic procedures—do not take into account the major controversy currently raging over the lack of science behind psychiatry’s methods of diagnosing mental disorders. Should the conversation suggested by the President be restricted to supporting mental health informational initiatives based on a flawed, unsafe diagnosing manual, things may progress as Dr. Allen Frances predicts: "soon most of us will have a fake mental disorder (or a few) and we will live in a Brave New World where nearly everyone uses medicine.”