National Institute of Mental Health about their
"Strategic Plan." Deadline: This Fri., 21 Dec.
NEEDED: Voices for Choices in Mental Health!
Why you ought to call on NIMH for research on more
CHOICES in mental health system other than drugs,
drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs and more drugs.
One of the biggest funders of research in the mental health field on
Earth is the USA National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
NIMH is requesting public comment, which you can e-mail to them,
about a draft of their "Strategic Plan" about NIMH research goals
over the next three to five years. Their deadline to receive e-mail
comments is *this* Friday, 21 December, 2007.
E-mail to: strategicplanning2@mail.nih
Why Bother?
MindFreedom International has a copy of the 26-page NIMH Draft
Strategic Plan.
To help you understand it here is...
~~~~~~~~~~~
NIMH DRAFT STRATEGIC PLAN -- BY THE NUMBERS!
98 - number of times NIMH draft uses any of words "drug, medication,
biological, illness, disease, genetics"
38 - number of times NIMH draft uses word "brain"
16 - number of times NIMH draft uses word "recovery"
2 - number of times NIMH draft refers to the "mind"
0 [zero] - number of times NIMH draft uses any of the words
"counseling, consumers, survivors, peer, mutual support, empowerment,
self-determination, rights, employment, jobs, housing, psychosocial,
wholistic, holistic, psychotherapy"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, the lion's share of NIMH research on mental wellness
in the past has with few exceptions gone to the following ten (10)
research areas:
drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs
NIMH is considering getting into an 11th area.
And that would be "more drugs."
Seriously, MindFreedom is pro-choice about personal health care
decisions, and many MFI members choose to take prescribed psychiatric
drugs. But we all stand UNITED in saying that the corporate drug
industry model is choking out non-drug choices, including jobs,
housing, peer support, psychosocial approaches, and more.
Only one choice is no choice at all!
So why bother to e-mail in your comments?
Because, at least, that way NIMH can't claim they never heard from
citizens with another point of view!
~~~~~~~~~~~
* * * ACTION ACTION ACTION * * *
VOICES FOR CHOICES IN MENTAL HEALTH CARE!
ACT NOW! DEADLINE: This Friday, 21 December 2007.
E-mail in *your* comment to NIMH.
Sample message: Ask in your own words that far more non-drug choices
be included in the draft plan!
E-mail your comment TODAY to NIMH to:
strategicplanning2@mail.nih
If you wish, bcc to news@mindfreedom.org for possible publication on
the MFI web site.
~~~~~~~~~~~
MORE INFORMATION ON NIMH REQUEST FOR COMMENTS
You can read about the NIMH request for comments here:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about
strategic-plan.shtml
or use this web address:
http://tinyurl.com/2w2fwq
You may download a PDF (789 kb) draft of the NIMH strategic plan here:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about
strategic-plan.pdf
or use this web address:
http://tinyurl.com/37bzv7
You may e-mail your comment to NIMH to:
strategicplanning2@mail.nih
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why You Ought to Bother to E-Mail Your Input Into NIMH About their
Draft Strategic Plan!
by Tom Wilson, MindFreedom Lane County Advisory Committee
This is an opportunity to contribute your thoughts to the direction
and funding of mental health research in the USA over the next 3 to 5
years.
If we do not respond we can expect more of the same:
New drugs and more new drugs.
As we know, silence gets us no where, please respond!
If we want to get past temporary stability at a terrible cost through
drug therapy it is imperative that we get research dollars focused
dollars elsewhere also.
MindFreedom board member Al Galves, PhD, said,
"I believe it is important to continue studying the brain, nervous
system and its functioning. However, the scientific evidence is that
direct manipulation of brain chemistry and brain structure through
psychotropic drugs, electroconvulsive treatment and other
psychosurgery is only marginally effective in helping individuals who
are diagnosed with behavioral health disorders when compared to
placebo and is very harmful.
"I would encourage the NIMH to put a significantly larger percentage
of its budget and its effort into research on a wide variety of
interventions that are more likely to be helpful to persons diagnosed
with behavioral health disorders and less likely to harm them.
Examples of such interventions include:
" * All kinds of non-drug psychotherapy - not just the ones that can
be manualized. Included should be Gestalt therapies, psychoanalysis,
other psychodynamic therapies, expressive therapies, narrative
therapy, solution-focused therapy, hypnotherapy, modern group
technique (based on Hyman Spotnitz' work), body-centered
psychotherapy, Reikian therapy, etc., etc., etc
" * Other forms of intervening to help persons diagnosed with
behavioral health disorders including employment assistance,
supportive housing, peer specialist training, Soteria-type houses,
expanded clubhouses, traditional education, non-traditional
education, self-directed care (giving patients control over some the
money that is allocated for treatment), etc., etc., etc.
"The bottom line is that I encourage NIMH to spend a much larger
percentage of its budget on research and demonstrations that promise
to help people in the immediate future, i.e. within five to ten
years. That is not true of brain research."
- end of alert -
E-mail your comment to NIMH by Friday, 21 December 2007:
strategicplanning2@mail.nih
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More news at the MindFreedom News Web Site:
http://www.mindfreedom.org
Don't see a news item? Submit it to news@mindfreedom.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Build united strength in numbers!
JOIN MINDFREEDOM INTERNATIONAL!
http://www.mindfreedom.org
* 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.
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 or donate here:
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