Michelin

From Ex-Psychiatric Inmates
——A discussion on the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders of "mental health" liberation

1) Why are you proud to be an ex-inmate (ex-psychiatric inmate)?

J. M. (England) : It's who I am.

I. S.（USA）: I see the world for what it is—all of its oppression and harshness and stunning beauty. I have very little pretense and am not scared of many things that scare other people. I know the truth about human beings: what they are capable of and their power to heal, to be in charge, to transform oppressive situations.

R.(USA): I'm proud that I tackled some heavy real-world sexism and young people's oppression that was scary enough to have restimulated my whole extended family into silence for decades. I'm proud that I took a big risk in talking about it openly, even though the consequence was that I got expelled from my extended family, which caused me to unocclude early terror, get confused, and ultimately be put in the "mental health" system. I'm also proud of the way 1 held on, through all the inhumane experiences I went through, to my belief in the importance of human connection.

"Henry Church"(USA): The experience of being an inmate has given me a lot of perspective on life and "mental health" oppression. They targeted me, and I came out the other side. Now I'm an ex-inmate success story!

L. (New Zealand): Being an ex-inmate and an RC leader is a powerful combination. It certainly goes against what I was told, during and shortly after my "adventure" in the "mental health" system, my life should be like. I have persisted and figured out a lot. I know that I will never give up. As an ex-inmate young adult, I assume that I courageously tried some things to push the envelope of my liberation.

J. F.(USA): I am proud that I figured out how to make it through a very hard time in my life and then how to make my life right——all before I got into RC. As I wrote to Harvey in about 1977, "I have been to the bottom and come back up, by using the discharge process." I really know the value of discharge and RC.

"Ayla "(USA): I am proud of the "ex" part. I am proud I got out and never went back.

M. G. M.(USA):I have a deep understanding of how people can feel bad enough about themselves to take drugs, l also know that I am okay now, which can model that it's possible to survive off drugs. I know that drugs are not the answer. I feel very strongly about that.

DJL(USA): They didn't kill me. I got away. They told me I would be on drugs for the rest of my life, and I proved them wrong.

A. S. (USA): As an ex-inmate, I'm proud of myself for reclaiming the discharge process and making a home for myself in Re-evaluation Counseling. I wish I hadn't been hospitalized, but l was. And I use the experience of being institutionalized, as well as the experience of getting out of the "mental health" system, every day. From being an ex-psychiatric inmate, I've learned that I am resilient. I am a survivor. I'm smart about relationships and being close to people. I have a good life.

G. G. (USA): I never compromised on having "my world" exactly the way I wanted it. Never! I thought a mental hospital might provide some support and caring. It did not happen, and I left after four days. I am proud that I held out the possibility of getting support and went on to actively and powerfully seek the support I deserve. I am proud to be an ex-inmate fighting for "mental health" liberation, and all other liberations.

G. H. (Sweden): I survived, 1 never gave up, I wanted to be myself and have continued being myself.

R. B.-M. (Israel): For many years after l was hospitalized (back in 1987), I was terribly ashamed of being an ex-inmate. It took me years of hard work to overcome that. Since about 1997 I have led many "mental health" liberation classes, and some workshops. I am open in the RC Community about my "mental health" story, and this seems to create a safe environment for other people to tell their stories.

2) What did you learn from being an inmate that has been useful in later life?

G. G.: To trust my thinking, my endurance, and how fighting for liberation is the sanest thing I could ever do. Ever!

J. F.: I learned that things can look bleak and hopeless and later turn out fine; that I am a strong person, emotionally speaking, and can handle very, hard things; that people who cared about me were the most important "thing" I needed for moving out of a tough situation. I also learned, from the inside, what's wrong with the "mental health" system and how it "works." As my friend in the psychiatric survivors' movement once said about me, "They locked up the wrong person!"

"Ayla": I learned that I am stronger than I thought I was. We are all stronger than we think we are. I learned a lot about the "mental health" system: It's more about intimidation and control than about helping people. I learned something about society at large: Because I was removed from society, I could look at it from the outside (like when the astronauts realized there are no borders, no lines, drawn on the globe——that it's just one small blue planet). I learned that many people are just going through the motions of living——not living mindful, meaningful, purposeful lives; just acting on patterns (though I did not have that word at the time), traditions, obligations. Also, I saw people putting tasks ahead of relationships. People weren't understanding that the most important things are not things at all but relationships with other humans. Despite being heavily drugged, I was able to ponder these things in the hospital.

M. G. M.: I know 1 will never go back there. I know 1 will never get that isolated from people who love me.

R.: When I was in and out of the hospital several times over an eight-month period, I met a few people who had nowhere to turn once they got out. I realized that though my nuclear family was scared for my well-being and not quite sure what to do, they were a hundred percent willing to support me in whatever ways they could, I understood that my family and close friends were the reason I didn't end up on the street.
When I came out of the hospital and while I was still on drugs, I began making decisions about who I wanted to be in the world. I made commitments to end oppression——formally for eight years as an activist and informally in my interactions with peopJe. I learned that it didn't make sense to be judgmental about people's struggles, which has made it possible for me to reach out for relationships with people who don't look or act "normal" and to see not just their struggles but the wonderful person inside, As a result I've been able to form relationships with many people I treasure.
I learned that everything worth doing takes time; I now have a long-term perspective on getting close to people, overcoming difficulties, and pursuing dreams and goals, so I don't find myself trapped in disappointment when things don't work out as I hoped the first time around. (I still feel and discharge disappointment; I just don't drown in it.)
I learned is that it is okay to take big risks, make mistakes that are obvious to everyone but me, and try again when something doesn't work.
All of these things I learned when coming off drugs, and I try to remember them when other people (in and out of RC) come to me for support with their struggles.

DJL: I learned that it isn't helpful to insert myself into a "mental health" system that recreates the dysfunctionality of my childhood and, at the same time, punishes me for discharge, That pretty much sums up my experience in mental hospitals (all three of them). I went into the hospital, seeking empathy and support but found neither. I've l learned to gather people around me who support rather than punish discharge.
I learned how to get off of psych drugs safely. I use the difficult experience of four years of withdrawal, and detox to counsel others on getting off of drugs.
I learned that I was misdiagnosed with "major depression" and drugged, when the underlying real medical problem was hormonal in nature. Because I was put on and abruptly taken off of as many as fourteen different psych drugs, I get sessions whenever the possibility arises of taking any pharmaceutical I won't get fooled again.

G. H.: The experience has taught me that I hae to trust my own thinking hecause the "thinking” of the system is not really something you can trust.

R. B.-M.: The experience of being an inmate started the process that helped me become more sensitive to my own emotions, which after some more years made me ripe for RC. Before that there was no chance l would have even considered opening up with people I hadn't known for at least twenty years.

3) How did you get out, and stay out, of the "mental health" system?

J. M.: One day I decided I'd had enough, and I walked out and went home. When I returned the same day, I was asked if I wanted to become a day patient (home each evening and back each morning). That was the beginning of my getting discharged. At one of my out-patient visits, I was crying and the doctor asked if I wanted to come back to them. I said no, and I decided I was never going back.

I. S.: At the age of thirteen, I decided to have the appearance of conformity and I agreed with whatever I needed to in order to get out. Then I got out! And I kept making decisions until I was completely away from the system and the people who put me there. I moved away from my primary parent and in with the other one, who I didn't know at all but who was a lot safer. That involved moving halfway across the country, with no friends. I listened to a lot of music, drew, meditated, sewed, danced around my bedroom, played guitar, wrote in a journal, and made new friends and spent time with them.

R.: I got myself out of the hospital four times by doing what I understood from the hospital staff was expected of me. I got out of the "mental health" system by deciding to do an experiment. My doctors told me that because I had a permanent chemical imbalance in my brain, I would need to be on drugs and see a therapist for the rest of my life. Around my twenty-fifth birthday, I decided that I didn't want to take pills, I didn't want to feel fragile and be dependent on the "mental health" system for the next seventy-five years, so I did an experiment to see whether they were right that I needed the drugs to function. Because I was on some heavy stuff, and was in a state (of the United States, not a state of mind) where people can be hospitalized if they refuse to take their drugs and their doctor gets scared, it took me two years and seven months to convince my psychiatrist to help me wean off and then stop taking psychiatric drugs.
I changed my line of work to something I believed in and wanted to do. I changed my living situation to support me better. During the last phase of stopping drugs, I learned RC, which made things a lot easier. With discharge I've been able to make and stick to decisions that keep me on the road to being powerful in my life. Plus discharge and RC theory prevent me from getting confused by the old feelings that come up to be discharged when my life in the present contradicts them.

"Henry Church": To get out, l figured out what the staff on the psychiatric ward thought was "normal" and acted that way. Using slang I would say that “I kissed ass" (acted subservient to gain favor). to get out. 1 was looking for information on how to keep crying, as I knew that crying was important and that it was getting harder for me. 1 think it was inevitable that I would get into RC I remember reading and re-reading the description of RC on the back of Present Time and thinking, "This is it; this is what l've been looking for." 1 have been having lots of Co-Counseling sessions, and that's how I've stayed off of the system.

L: How l stayed out: Getting in an RC ex-inmate support group, almost immediately. Becoming an assistant to the group's leader. Setting up my life to have lots of Co-Counseling sessions. Living my life fully, not backing off of anything. Building lots of contact with people into my life and work and living situations. Having great allies, especially my RC Reference People. My close family being supportive of my thinking and decisions (for example, my walking away from the urgent offer of psychiatric drugs for life). One especially close friend, on one particular occasion, staying close to me and helping me sleep instead of pointing me toward the "mental health" system.

J. F.: My parents were going out of town on vacation and were unwilling to leave me in the "hospital" while they were gone, so they got permission from my psychiatrist to take me with them. Once I was out of the "hospital," 1 realized it wasn't any harder to be outside than in (I had been feeling like I couldn't function outside, largely because I
was on a lot of psychiatric drugs). I went back to the "hospital" for a month of "observation" and then was released. Also, my insurance had run out, which was probably an additional factor.
I knew deep down that I was never going to go back there, no matter what. I saw my psychiatrist (who was a young resident physician and a great listener and was okay with me discharging) twice a week and then once a week for about a year and a half. During that time (and prior to it) he gradually reduced the drugs I was taking so that about six months after I left the "hospital" 1 was no longer on them. I got an apartment with a friend from the "hospital," so I didn't have to live at my parents' house, and found a part-time job. Later I married an old friend and left the city I'd grown up in so that no one around me knew I was an ex-inmate and I had a completely fresh start. A few years after that (1973) l accidentally found RC and discharged up a storm. I discharged through breakfast, lunch, and dinner at some workshops. Five years later (1978), I began helping to build "mental health" liberation work. That, along with other things, led to my having to figure out how to get myself in present time and how to stay present.

"Ayla": The psychiatrist told me, "You are very sick. I would like to send you to Shepherd Pratt (an expensive private psychiatric hospital), but your parents are too poor, so I will have to send you to the state facility in Sykesville, Maryland (USA). As soon as I got out of that meeting with "Dr. Lock-up" (what all of us young people called him, because he loved locking us up in long-term facilities), I ran around begging everyone for fifteen cents for a phone call. I got the fifteen cents and called my mother. I was a minor (less than eighteen years old), which meant that I could not just leave the hospital or even sign myself out AMA (against medical advice). I told Morn that the doctor meant to lock me up and throw away the key and that she should come and sign me out against medical advice. She did. It helps to have allies.
How I stayed out: I was determined to prove them wrong and never go back, and I have been living a fine life not locked up. Shortly after leaving the hospital, I was introduced to RC. That was extremely helpful. After my first RC class meeting, I decided that RC theory included me, and the logical conclusion was to flush the psych drugs down the toilet. So I stopped taking Stelazine cold turkey (not something I recommend). I knew about withdrawal from alcohol. I had witnessed it, so I knew it was rough. Intellectually I understood that the vivid hallucinations, the inability to sleep, and the hyperness were not symptoms of "insanity" but rather withdrawal symptoms from a powerful major tranquilizer. Because I did not have a job and was not in school, I had the time to let myself recover. I did not seek support. Partly that was Catholic internalized oppression, but I also feared telling my RC teacher I was on psych drugs, as she had made it clear she would not let anyone in the class who was on them. Somehow she was oblivious to the fact that I was drugged, which turned out to be a good thing for me. Even if it was inside my distress to tough it out on my own, it was much better to not be on psych drugs. Sometimes the end justifies the means.
(Interestingly enough, I found that quitting smoking was a hundred times harder, because smoking felt "good." Taking psych drugs did not feel good; in fact, it was painful——physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I think I quit smoking twenty times before I really quit.)
So RC, my determination, and getting off psych drugs helped me stay out of the "mental health" system.

M. G. M.: First I thought to get a psychiatrist, and then I got him to listen to me and allow me to cut down the dosage. Then 1 was off drugs completely but would
go back on for a few months every time my job got too oppressive. He let me be in charge of that. Finally I walked away from my job.

DJL： Eight years before I began thinking about getting off of psych drugs, I spent six consecutive years in three psych hospitals. That was more than enough time for them to brainwash me into believing their misinformation, confusion, and biological models of "mental illness." The first hospital threatened me with a commitment hearing when I said I wanted to leave because being there wasn't helping. It would be three suicide attempts and five more years before I again asked to leave. During the relatively short eight months I spent in the third hospital, it was clear to me that the hospital model still wasn't working. The third hospital operated under a different therapeutic philosophy than the first two and agreed to let me out when I said I wanted to go. I spent eight more years compliantly taking the psych drugs. I was aware on some level, with every dose I took, that they were ineffective. I just didn't have any other answers and felt all alone——until I started reading anti-psychiatry literature.
Fury at the "mental health" system for failing to "help" me got me through four years of nasty withdrawal and detox from two drugs. I started reading everything I could get my hands on about safely getting off psych drugs. Early in 2001 I tried unsuccessfully to get off an antidepressant. I was ill with a withdrawal syndrome for eighteen months and used that time to educate myself so I would not fail again. The book that influenced me most was Call Me Crazy: Stories from the Mad Movement, by Irit Shimrat. I found it in an LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) bookstore. It included information about the Mad Pride Movement, the Support Coalition International (Mindfreedom), and online anti-psychiatry support groups. It even made mention of RC. Almost ten years earlier a close friend had offered to teach me RC. I wasn't ready then, but after reading Call Me Crazy I was eager to add the tools of RC to my toolbox. And so, I am out!

A. S.: A large way I survived my experiences in the "mental health" system was by assimilating into what a white middle-class woman "should" be like: pretty and straight. I remember distinctly my psychiatrist commenting on how much better I was doing and relating that to the fact that I was wearing lipstick. It was that direct. (Years later in reading through my chart, I saw that every visit documented my appearance.) I learned that "looking good" was my best shot (chance) at getting away from the label of "depression." The intersection of sexism and "mental health" oppression is infuriating.
While conformity and the appearance of conformity played a big part in my getting out of the system, I also made a decision to learn how to break the ancient habit of getting sunk by my chronic material. I stopped listening to the music that got me down. I stopped watching sappy (overly sentimental) movies and TV shows that made me long for a life other than mine. 1 moved to be closer to friends and do the things I wanted to do.

G. H.：I got out because they let me out. I tried to get attention from other people, not doctors. When 1 really left the "mental health" system, forever, was when I started Co-Counseling.

4) What makes it hard for you to identify as an ex-inmate?

"Henry Church"：I think some people in RC are confused and think that my claiming
the ex-inmate identity means that I identify with patterns of victimization. Actually, to claim the identity and work on it are very much outside of my victimization. Pretending that my inmate experience didn't happen was causing many problems in my life. Claiming the identity and working on it are part of the way out. Claiming the identity is the opposite of victimization for me. One thing that makes it hard to claim is that ex-inmate liberation theory is not generally understood or worked on in the RC Communities.

L: I don't want anyone confused about it. In my mind, my ex-inmate status communicates very little about me or my struggles (past or present), so I don't tell anyone about it, except my Co-Counselors and a select few friends and family members. Recently it has been useful for an ex-inmate Co-Counselor of mine to push me on this a bit.

"Ayla": Shame, humiliation, fear of not being taken seriously, fear of having my mind and my thinking invalidated.

R.: I don't like having to give people sessions that they suddenly and unawarely feel free to talk about their own "mental health" stories.
For a long time, when I was working as an activist, it was important not to give people who were against the positions of my organization an excuse to attack me as a leader in it.

M. G. M.: Sometimes it makes others uncomfortable to hear about it and it’s easier to be silent. My family does not like to hear about it. The subject is so heavy for the general public.

DJL : I am freely open about this identity within RC. Many Co-Counselors have done "mental health" liberation work and thus feel safe to me. I also share in an attempt to educate others and encourage them to start working on "mental health" liberation. The more practiced I get at being open about the identity within RC——for example, by discharging on my "mentat health" story——the easier it becomes for me to be open outside of RC. Sometimes I surprise myself by opening up to a relative stranger. I've yet to regret opening up, but before I do, I do size up (evaluate) someone's ability to listen.

G. G.: I often have feelings about how people feel about my status as an ex-inmate, but I try to not let it stop me from sharing the identity.

R. B.-M.：Except in very safe places, I am still hesitant to tell people out in the world about my being an ex-inmate, Harvey used to say that we do not have to be martyrs, I feel I have no reason to tell people unless I suppose it will give me some support.

5) If you've done so, what has been useful about claiming the identity publicly?

J. F.: In 1981 I wrote a draft policy for "mental health" liberation and then asked Harvey Jackins if D. B. and I could be invited to the RC World Conference to represent ex-"mental patients." Harvey invited us both. At the conference I had to stand up in front of two hundred RC leaders from all over the world and say that I was there to represent ex-"mental patients." I felt completely terrified but had to do it, so I did. By the end of the conference, which was a week long, I'd had many opportunities to "come out," and to shake while doing so, and it didn't seem so hard to do it anymore. I had also made a hugely important internal decision to see that "mental health" oppression was ended.
A few years later, from 1987 to 1989, I worked for a wide-world organization in which my job was to set up and direct a state-wide organization of US "mental health" consumers (ex- and current "mental patients"). I had to train "mental health" workers and advocates, and others, about our issues as former and current "mental patients"; represent us on the boards of a lot of "mental health" organizations and at many types of "mental health" conferences; and write about our issues for journals and newsletters. I met many wonderful ex-inmates who were active on a national level in the psychiatric survivors' movement and were not shy about "coming out" in that context. More important, I saw how much respect others had for our having been "mental patients" and then making our way back to being in good shape, fighting for our rights, leading others, and so on. All of that experience (and discharging about it) got me to where I was able to be pretty relaxed, in most contexts, when talking about myself as an ex-psychiatric inmate. For me it is no longer such an uncomfortable "big, dark secret."

"Ayla": I have "come out" as an ex-psychiatric inmate in another organization I am in and have found that there is something liberating about coming out, not having it secret, It goes against the shame and humiliation.

M. G. M. : I often speak up about the misuse of drugs and feel that I can be heard because I myself used drugs to control a "bipolar" condition. In other words, I have been there.

A. S.: I have a hard time publicly identifying as an ex-inmate. I feel like I got out by not looking or acting like one, and the old fear that people will once again label me as "depressed" or "less-than" impedes my mentioning it. "Mental health" oppression is intense, and I feel like I have to avoid it at all costs, However, to not mention that part of myself fails to give people a true picture of who I am: a survivor, someone who has been through hell and built a really good life for herself. As I become closer with J. F. and other ex-inmates in RC, I feel braver about being "out" in my RC Community and even in my wide-world life.

C. G.: It is a powerful way of bringing in allies. People want to get through their feelings about someone "being institutionalized," and publicly claiming my identity and sharing my story (my humanity) allows this to happen.

6) How does internalized oppression affect you, and what have you done to go against that?

"Henry Church": My inmate experience reinforced a chronic pattern that said it was not okay to show how scared I was. Once l got out, I felt, even more than before, the pressure to function at a high level, to appear unafraid and unaffected by anything hard that might happen. I'm learning to tell my Co-Counselors how scared I am and to work on how scary things get sometimes.

L: The internalized oppression comes up most visibly to me before I go to an RC workshop or take on especially difficult goals. Things go best when I get a good session on my "mental health" system story before I go to a workshop or shortly after I get there.

G. G.: I still hold back from going all out (living fully). I discharge deeply on that and take bold directions and make bold decisions against it.

J. F.: One way the internalized oppression affected me was that I had an image of myself as not capable, confident, good enough, or acceptable, and I felt hopeless and humiliated. Deciding to see that "mental health" oppression is ended was of great benefit to me. It meant that I had to lead RCers around me, which meant that I had to act on being confident and hopeful, though I didn't feel that way at all. I am guessing that I haven't discharged all the feelings yet, but they must be almost gone since they rarely come into my mind and I have a much better image of myself 1 am much more confident and hopeful than I used to be in 1978, when 1 started leading "mental health" liberation.

"Ayla": Since I was told that I needed to be locked up forever (at least that is what I internalized——that I was "sick" forever), living my life outside the hospital is a contradiction.
I often don't trust my thinking——when leading people and presenting my thinking publicly, even answering these questions. Am I answering them correctly? (Of course I am, but the feeling is quite the opposite.)
I still struggle with being marginalized (like being removed from society and put in a "mental hospital"). Staying close to J. F., going to her support group, and getting closer with my Area and Regional Reference Persons are helpful. I recently led a gather-in for my Area on the current economic situation. All these things help me to be more central in RC.

M. G. M.：I often feel I am not able to explain very well what I know. I feel I'm not smart enough to be leading, but leading actually helps. Hearing feedback from groups I lead reassures me that I am okay.

DJL：Restimulation sometimes still leads me to feel that I want to take psych drugs to numb out or that I need to be in a hospital. It gets ever easier to remember that since neither of those options worked in the past, it's pretty doubtful that they will work now or in the future. When I'm feeling really sunk, my Co-Counselors help me to remember.

A. S.: The internalized oppression keeps me quiet and small, and I try to go against it. I often feel like I have nothing to add in conversations, but I force myself to say things and participate because it just can't be true that I have no thoughts. I sometimes feel like I'm babbling, but to believe my material leaves me feeling terrible, so I continue to take the risk. I also risk, more and more, calling attention to myself by making jokes or being goofy.
I find that teaching RC is a huge contradiction to the oppression of having been a "mental patient." Clearly there is nothing wrong with my mind or my "mental health" if I can clearly articulate RC theory, counsel people well, and be close and connected with people.

(From Present Time, Oct 2010 page28-36)

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

M. (2009.4.4):
I want to remind all of you to be thoughtful about how you talk about the avoidance of drugs and alcohol to new people. Many people use RC to give up addictions to drugs, but have to learn to trust the process and the community first.

    I have someone in my current class who is giving up a 20 year dependency on Seroxat, a frequently subscribed anti-depressant. She is
cutting down the dose very gradually, on medical advice and the whole
process will take a year. After a few weeks of working on her distress
about it all, she admitted for the first time that she was also addicted to sleeping tablets. Ending this addiction may take just as long and I am delighted that she is in my class and getting some support for this.
    ......
    When I talk about these things in an introductory talk I talk about how we use mind/mood altering drugs to avoid feeling things and that they get in the way of the process, therefore our aim is to end our dependency on them in favour of discharge and re-evaluation.

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

B. S. (2009.1.23):

    I work in a Mental Health Programme, and my main job is to lead a weekly diary session where people get to say what's going well and what's hard. The agreement is that we listen, we keep confidentiality, and we make space for emotions. The leader of the programme is an RC, and so is another worker.
At the weekly session we have people who have brain damage and either cannot speak, or have very littlle language. I love it when the group attention is turned on one or other of them, and how their eyes light up and they smile and just love it. They are a great example to the rest of us of how to use the information about paying attention, releasing emotions and claiming our thinking, which is our caring and our loving. We also have people who simply never learned to read or write, and who with attention are blooming. Last year we produced a newspaper where everyone had a chance to see their own story in print.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
E. R.(2007.10.4):
    As a mental health worker now in private practice, I often meet people who are on psychiatric drugs when they first come into my office. During my first session with them, there are several protocols that I have to go through, like signing legal agreements, explaining office policies, arranging financial payment, etc. Within these activities I ask them about their medical health and if they are on any medication of any kind. If they are already on psychiatric drugs, I ask them what they think and feel about that. Some tell me the drugs "saved their lives" or allow them to function daily in a way they could not before.
Some tell me they did not really want to do it and feel funny about it, but they did not know what else to do. Some tell me about the "side effects" like sleeplessness, weight gain, etc. Each person has a unique relationship to the situation. After listening and acknowledging their situation, I explain to them that I respect their decision and that I am convinced that the drugs are not useful for them. The challenging and exciting thing at this point is to stay connected to the person while asking them to consider another point of view. I explain how I view the work of healing (a 2 minute introductory lecture on RC theory) and tell them that the drugs definitely interfere with this healing process. At best, it slows the process down. I also ask them to think about it and bring it up to talk about it again when they are ready.

    Many people come back with new ideas as a result of this interaction. Some stop taking the drugs right away. Some justify the reasons they are staying on the drugs. Some indicate that they want to come off but are afraid. Some don't bring up the subject again. (In that case I usually wait awhile and then asked them again what they think about it.) In each case, I ask myself "what is the hurt here" and try to get the discharge happening.

    Discharging in my own sessions on the RC Policy on Psychiatric Drugs has been the most important thing for me . The Policy states: "That all Co-Counselors strongly oppose, in words and actions, the use of psychiatric drugs. People using them should not be blamed. Instead, the oppressive society should be seen as the source of the difficulty. The decision to stop using psychiatric drugs must be made by the person using them. All Co-Counselors are asked to discharge any distress that interferes with them taking a firm stand against the use of psychiatric drugs and the concept of 'mental illness' ".

     I believe that my success in helping others think for themselves about this continually increases as I discharge on the policy. There is still fear of reprisal, of losing my license, of being marginalized within my profession for taking this unpopular stand. However, in the past 8 years, many more people have questioned the use of psych drugs. (this is due to many factors, including a vast network of activists working for people's rights in this area.)

     The joy and satisfaction I get from working with people who want to heal and are willing to face their distresses is much bigger than the fear.
     Eight years ago I suggested in an article I wrote that it is important to know and be part of the plan that people make to come off psych drugs. (See Present Time in July 1999, "Moving Against "Mental Health" Oppression as a "Mental Health" Worker") My experiences over the last years have caused me to modify that idea. Sometimes it happens that a person wants help making a plan. More often, the person makes a decision to stop by themselves and announces it to me after they have done it. The story of one of my clients, a mother of three young children, who came to see me about a year ago, having just been released from a psychiatric hospital where she was given multiple shock treatments and was heavily drugged is an example.   When I gave my talk about drugs, she was adamant that the drugs were necessary to keep her out of the hospital. Her confidence in herself was at a low and she could not see my point. We kept developing a warm relationship where I encouraged her to believe there is nothing wrong with her mind. Recently she told me that she had stopped
taking the drugs over 3 months ago. I was amazed. She said she did not tell me, or her doctor, or her family because she wanted to think for herself and was tired of people telling her what was right. She did not want anyone with their opinions breathing down her neck (watching her too closely). Bravo, I said. She was able to take our initial discussion and work on it in her own mind until she made the decision herself. What a triumph!

     One of the lessons for me is that when I express my beliefs, even though I may not see the results, it usually makes a difference.

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

M. T.(2007.2.5):

    Last November, ....We gathered to look at general MHL theory,
the particular how this oppression hits us as Asians, to learn about each other, get closer, ...

    When we were babies it felt like someone else was in charge of our discharge so now it can be hard to fully discharge, we don't want to upset anyone,even our counselors. Everyone is affected by this oppression, even those that don't have direct contact with the MH system. It has a particular relationship with capitalism. It keeps us from being relaxed about talking about RC. We need to tell our earliest experiences with the "Mental Health" system. J. talks a lot about how to do this work with a light and humerous tone and we laughed and laughed throughout our time together. This oppression sits like a huge wet blanket on top of all other oppressions,keeping them in place.   One reason the "Mental Health" system exists is to change people so they can fit into the oppressive society, in RC, we want to
change the oppressive society to fit people. I encourage everyone to read the "Mental Health " pamphlet and Recovery and Re-emergence, the MHL journal for tons of good information.
..........

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

Julian Weissglass(2006.9.27):
    Why are we drugging so many of our children, and what can we do about it? A study published in the June 2006 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry found that the use of antipsychotic drugs to
treat children and adolescents increased by more than five times from 1993 to 2002. ("Anti-psychotic Drugs," June 14, 2006.) Six
years ago, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration reported to Congress that prior to 1991, sales of methylphenidate, the compound in
Ritalin and other brand-name drugs often prescribed for young people labeled with "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder," or ADHD, remained stable. But by 1999, sales had increased by nearly 500 percent, with sales of amphetamine (also used to treat ADHD) increasing
by 2,000 percent in nine years.

    Are educators, parents, and citizens aware of or concerned about this tremendous increase in prescribing psychiatric drugs for young people? If the drugs were being prescribed in this quantity for a physical disease, medical and political leaders would be alarmed. They would want to know why. How can we explain the growing use of these psychoactive drugs? Why is it happening here and not in other industrialized countries? (In 1999, the United Nations reported that the United States produces and consumes about 85 percent of the world's methylphenidate.)

    The situation is not simple. Has there been an increase in the set of behaviors that are labeled as ADHD? If so, what are the reasons? Some possible causes might include the following:

o Changes in children's diets (more sugar, fat, and chemical additives, for example).

o Environmental pollution or maternal ingestion of legal or illegal drugs that may be affecting youngsters' nervous systems.

o Increased pressure on children from schools and families to conform to unrealistic expectations and to perform well on standardized tests.

o A decrease in opportunities in school for creativity, for children to think for themselves, to play, and to exercise.

o Fewer opportunities, away from school, for children to be in the natural world.

o Increasing student alienation from school.

o An increase in the amount of time young people spend in front of electronic devices.

On the other hand, perhaps young people's behavior has not changed very much. In that case, the increase in prescriptions might be explained
by any or all of the following:

o Greater public awareness of the possibility of suppressing unwanted behavior with drugs.

o Economic or other societal pressures that result in adults' having less patience with and attention for the energy and emotions that are
normal in young people.

o Marketing campaigns by pharmaceutical companies aimed at increasing

profits.

o A desire for easy solutions to complex social and psychological situations that make us uncomfortable.

    Educators, parents, and medical professionals should engage in broad discussion of this phenomenon and its possible causes, which may
involve other influences not listed here. It would be helpful to have accurate data on the sale of psychiatric drugs, the prescription rates
for children, and the risk of negative health effects (including suicide), but this information is not easily accessible.

    Whatever its explanation, the phenomenon raises a question of the rights and freedom of young people. Though I am not a lawyer, I doubt that children have the right to refuse to take the drugs. Yet there are known and unknown risks to taking psychiatric medications. Recently, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel charged with creating protocols for testing drugs prescribed for young people labeled with ADHD recommended requiring a label on Ritalin and similar drugs saying there is a danger that they could cause heart attacks. ("Cardiac Cases Raise Concerns Over Drugs for ADHD," Feb. 22, 2006.)

I am reminded of the children's book The Big Box, by the Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and her son. She writes about three youngsters who are confined to an attractive and well-supplied room (the box) by adults who cannot handle the youngsters' freedom. Each says a variant of the following:

"If owls can scream
And rabbits hop
And beavers chew trees when they need 'em,
Why can't I be a kid like me
Who doesn't have to handle his freedom?
I know you are smart and I know that you think
You're doing what is best for me.
But if freedom is handled just your way,
Then it's not my freedom or free."

    My belief is that much of the increase in prescriptions of psychiatric drugs is because children's behavior and emotions are difficult for adults to handle. This is impossible to prove, but if even one child is prescribed drugs because of adults' discomfort with his or her behavior, it is a grave injustice. Children have the right to be themselves as they grow up, to be loved and supported, and to have their emotions attended to by caring adults. If they are acting
in ways that are inconvenient or difficult for adults to handle, then it would be wise to give the adults emotional support, so that they can
constructively handle the young people's behavior, rather than resort to drugging them.

    When such large numbers of children have to be drugged to cope in school, we should consider changing schools, so that they are better places for young people. We could well begin by asking what kind of school will assist young people to have full, meaningful lives, rather than measuring the success of schools by students' performance on standardized tests.

    I am not saying that parents and educators are purposely acting in ways harmful to young people. Parents and educators are good people who need better support systems and the information that will enable them to think of better solutions than drugs. Neither am I saying that young people don't act in disruptive and irrational ways. They do. But much of such behavior, I believe, is caused by institutional rigidities or painful emotions from hurtful experiences that have not been healed.

    Although educators are not therapists, there is much that they do that affects the emotional health of their students. Repressing children's natural physiological processes of releasing emotions is harmful. I have written about this in Ripples of Hope, but perhaps the best insight comes from the 13th-century Persian poet Jalaluddin Rumi:

The cloud weeps, and then the garden sprouts.
The baby cries, and the mother's milk flows.
The nurse of creation has said, let them cry a lot.
This rain-weeping and sun-burning twine together to make us grow.
Keep your intelligence white-hot and your grief
glistening, so your life will stay fresh.
Cry easily like a little child.

    Rumi knew about the relationship between crying and intelligence almost eight centuries ago. Yet, in the very institutions assigned the
responsibility of developing children's intelligence, crying and other forms of emotional release are often repressed or ridiculed. This
should change.

    When children are hurt, they cry; when they are scared, they tremble or laugh (if it is only a little scary or embarrassing); when they are frustrated, they may have a tantrum. No one teaches a child to cry, shake, laugh, or have a tantrum. It is a natural response to distressing experiences. If children were allowed to release their emotions as much as they needed to, they would recover from the distress. They would have more attention for learning. In our society,
however, the natural recovery processes are rarely allowed to take place, and so the damage accumulates.

    Every 4-year-old I've ever met is eager to start school, because 4-year-olds want to explore, play, and learn. Ten years later, though, large numbers of them are alienated from school. A 2003 report from the National Research Council said that "40 to 60 percent of high school students are chronically disengaged; they are inattentive, exert little effort, do not complete tasks, and claim to be bored." The figure did not, the report added, include those who have already dropped out. Perhaps if society designed schools to meet young people's needs,rather than coercing students to meet the needs of the school, they would be more engaged.

    What can educators do to reverse the trends toward increasing prescription-drug use and growing alienation from school? Here are some
suggestions:

o Support parents to resist resorting to drugs for their children. Help them learn to play with their children and attend to their emotions.

o Work in professional and political organizations to change national, state, and district policies that are leading to schools' becoming less enjoyable places for young people.

o Decrease the emphasis on testing and test scores as a measure of educational quality.

o Be sure that the curriculum includes choices (such as art, music, technology) for students to pursue their creative interests.

o Include plenty of time for informal and spontaneous activities and conversations (recess) and opportunities for enjoyable (no pressure to
win) sports.

o Increase opportunities for young people to be in the natural world.

o Support teachers to create classrooms where children have the freedom to be themselves.

o Provide emotional support to young people, teachers, and parents so that they can realize their full energy and creativity.

o Educate parents and yourself about the dangers of drugs, keeping in mind that marketing campaigns may avoid disclosing the negative effects of using them.

o Respect young people completely as full human beings with intelligence, knowledge, and emotions. Most importantly, understand that part of being human is having emotions and releasing them when you are hurt.

    Providing complete respect for young people will require a drastic reordering of our policies and priorities. Let us begin.

*Julian Weissglass is a professor in the department of education at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the director of the National Coalition for Equity in Education.

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