Support Coalition - David Oaks <dendron at efn.org> wrote:
>This is a side step. Actually, your original argument was that people
>refuse neuroleptics mainly because they've been exposed to negative
>coverage about the drugs in the mainstream media. I cited the "medical"
>literature only to indicate that there are actually some very good reasons
>for people to refuse. I also asked for any cites about these mainstream media
>articles over the years. By and large the mainstream media praises
>neuroleptics no end as a "miracle cure."
Why do you call attention to your side- stepping of the issues?
>Believe me, we've watched for ANY mention in the mainstream media about
>neuroleptic-induced "tardive dyskinesia." This is one of the first, so
>thanks for mentioning it to us.
That's strange. My impression is TD has been mentioned in _The
Chicago Tribune_, _TIME_ magazine, _Scientific American_, and even
your arch- enemy NAMI- approved Fuller Torrey's book _Surviving
Schizophrenia_. I would consider all of these to be mainstream media.
Also, sometimes TD doesn't continue to get worse, sometimes it
spontaneously *goes away*. I don't understand why you seem to believe
any medical mental illness professional would ever find it in anyone's
best interest not to inform mental patients of side- effects.
[The parts of the rest of the post written by Dendron are self-
contradictory, inconsistent with earlier and concurrent posts from the
same email address, and opaque if not totally incoherent, so I will
skip down to:]
>> I believe every mental patient should have the right to refuse
>> medication; but I believe that part of competent medicine is
>> monitoring for side- effects and their amelioration; physicians
>> should take the whole patient's life into consideration when
>> formulating a treatment plan, using as much input from the patient as
>> is feasible-- including a consideration of who the patient was before
>> the disease hit and, who the patient would have been had the disease
>> not hit.
>>Let's just make sure we have this correct: You are absolutely FOR the
>right of the individual to refuse their neuroleptics.
No, I said they should have the right to refuse medication, but that
part of competent medicine was... and then I mentioned what should be
included in any psychiatric intervention. Medication does not consist
of prescriptions or treatments dictated to medical professionals by
insurance industry bean- counters; nor does medication consist of
psychiatric abuses having no connection to doctors' orders.
When I wrote the part unequivically equating medication with medicine,
it was from my own biased perspective as an individual who has seen
enough anecdotal real- life evidence to susbstantiate the consensus
thinking that medical intervention is probably the single most
important factor in palliating symptoms of mental illness, and from my
bias as someone who values the ability to think coherently.
Obviously, these are my biases. With respect to yours, I simply do
not agree with them. Anyone should be allowed the right to refuse
medicine. More importantly, anyone should be allowed the right to
access it. Unfortunately, your ramblings here in bionet.neuroscience
and other Usenet groups-- I hadn't realized how wide- spread your
spamming was until I looked at Alta Vista, BTW-- your posts only
serve as glaring examples of the many ways in which there really is no
ability for most people to choose medicine when they desire that
option. You have helped me to understand that under the present
insurance delivery ``system'', medicine is available far less often
than even I had suspected. It is unfortunate many people who might
benefit from medical mental illness intervention but they just don't
get it. Repeat: many people who might benefit from medical mental
illness intervention but they just don't get it.
I have no need to get in the last word, and at this point I no longer
feel obligated to devote so much of my time on Usenet arguing with
beliefs you have derived from your own biases. It is obvious you
aren't interested in responding in any meaningful way to posts
critical of your belief system. I see no further need to respond to
posts from Dendron Oaks at this time.
--
Legislate the in$urance indu$try out of the business of preventing
medical care. Bean-counters have a DNR order with *your* name on it.