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Showing results for tags 'advocacy'.
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January 14 at 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm US Pacific Time / 8:00pm to 10:00pm Eastern. As the numbers of the chronically ill grow rapidly worldwide due to what is being called “long Covid,” there is much to be learned from the experience of those who were grappling with the effects of difficult-to-diagnose, understudied, and invisibilized diseases long before the appearance of the novel coronavirus. What do the experiences of the chronically ill teach us about how to survive – not just physically, but emotionally and socially – in the face of huge knowledge gaps and medical disbelief? How can patients separated by vast distances and often unable to engage in traditional political organizing join together to demand answers and treatment? What do patient voices tell us about how the organization of medicine needs to change in order to better serve the well-being of us all? To register, please see: https://ucsc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Mx5NkZQfSdGgTkdn2tN5gw One speaker is Jennifer Brea, from the ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome community. She's a co-founder of #MEAction, which seems a very successful patient advocacy group. I wonder if there are any lessons we could learn from them. I suspect a recording will end up on youtube eventually. -
I believe the death of actress Patty Duke has presented an opportunity for us to speak out against her brand of "advocacy" and all those who would tell us to "Sit down! Shut up! And take your meds!" To this end, I have written this short "letter to the editor" which I intend to submit to local papers. Please feel free to copy and distribute this to your local papers, etc. You can even claim it as your own. Patty Duke, Advocate for Big Pharma, Not People In a 2008 speech sponsored by the drug company Astra Zeneca to the American Psychiatric Association, Patty Duke is quoted as saying “When I hear someone say, at one of my talks, ‘I don’t need the medication, I don’t take it,’ I tell them to ‘sit down, you are making a fool of yourself.’” (Anatomy of an Epidemic, Robert Whitaker). Wow! Harsh! She sounds more like an enemy of people who have been diagnosed with a mental illness than an advocate for them. With drug companies raking in billions every year, and thousands of people joining the ranks of the permanently disabled only AFTER being put psychotropic drugs (I ought to know I’m one of them), it’s clear who was helped by Ms. Duke’s advocacy – Big Pharma. For more information on the harm being done by misguided treatments for mental illness, see MadinAmerica.org.
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What would you give a MD interested in learning about psych drug WD?
greentrain posted a topic in Events, actions, controversies
Hi everyone - My mother's doctor has asked for more information on this "protracted drug withdrawal syndrome" that he obviously doesn't believe in. He is trying to talk her out of slowly tapering with a liquid form of her AD. I'm calling his bluff and sending off the information. Unfortunately, however, everytime I sit down to write him a letter I simmer in a stew of anger, bitterness and overwhelm so terribly that I can't get anything down on paper. So, I thought I would ask the experts..... What info would you point him to TO INFORM AND VALIDATE PROTRACTED PSYCH DRUG WITHDRAWAL? Your recommendations will help me to develop an appendix of sorts to the letters I plan on sending to all of the irresponsible, uniformed doctors, psychologists, etc who have ever treated me. I will share my final letter for anyone else who would like to use it for their purposes. Thank you! -
so, i live in the US and am planning to write a series of letters to pertinent organizations and entities regarding my withdrawal experience. im seeking advice on who i should write, and how to style these letters. i have already written to a few places, like a psychiatric clinic to tell them of their continued misdiagnoses and mistreatment and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education [DARE] program that "teaches" kids about drugs to inform them of the dangers and ease of access to prescription psychotropics, but these letters unsurprisingly received no response or acknowledgement whatsoever. i am taking things offline and plan to send only physically mailed letters when possible, including redundant or amended copies of previous letters to places i have already written digital messages to. any suggestions of who to write to, or what to include (or exclude)? i realize this is, in some ways, potentially rather fruitless, but it seems like a meaningful step to take in my recovery process and desire to advocate to what degrees i can in my limited state of health. i would also surely welcome any joint-venture plans for specific content or for having multiple members contact the same pre-agreed organizations. post in here if you are interested, or PM me if that is more comfortable.
