I have recently submitted my newest blog to Mad In America. The topic is about the betrayal of a federal agency regarding involuntary outpatient psychiatric drugging. This is my 45th year working for human rights of people in the mental health system.
To be very clear, let me begin by saying I very much wanted to have my Covid-19 vaccination. My wife and I felt a great relief and gratitude after we got our vax. We knew we were not only helping ourselves, but our community in general is supported by having a high vax rate.
That said, in a way I kind of can understand where the distrust of the pharmaceutical industry has come from among those who hesitate to get vaxxed. For decades, I have witnessed and documented arrogant, negative, thoughtless, harmful oppression by drug companies. In my research about mental health human rights, centuries of a kind of war by “normal” has killed and disabled so many people with psychiatric labels.
These centuries of oppression have not been very visible, but I believe that many tap into this distrust and are hesitant to be vaccinated even though it may save the lives of themselves, loved ones, and the overall community.
MAD Unite: We Need Your Voices More Than Ever!
In a few days, Mad In America will publish my blog, in which I announce that MAD Pride Month begins in a few days, July. Of course, MAD has no official definition. But I like thinking of M.A.D. as standing for “Marginalized And Disempowered!” Maybe it is hopeful thinking, but it seems like those of us considered “other” are getting a stronger and stronger voice. The psychiatric survivors, people with disabilities, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), and LGBT, among others, need to amplify and build solidarity as never before.
In a few hours, here in Eugene, Oregon, Sunday, 27 June 2021, the temperature is supposed to break records. We are supposed to climb over 103 degrees F, a record for June that was just set yesterday.
Later this afternoon, the temperature climbed even more, to over 108 degrees F. This heat is not only unusual for Eugene in June, 108 is the all-time historic record for all months and years here in Eugene. We made very ugly history by reaching 111.
My great friend and activist, David Zupan, directed me to a new article that just came out a few days ago in TruthOut about climate:
truthout.org/articles/terrifying-un-draft-climate-report-urges-total-transformation-of-our-way-of-life
The fact is, the enormous world body that has been focusing on the greenhouse effect, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has for years been playing a defense game. IPCC itself says it is not a strictly-speaking “scientific” organization. It is a planetary collaborative effort, and because of all the deniers who have focused on uncertainty, IPCC has focused on certainty.
However, one of the main dangers of climate chaos is triggering feedback loops that mean we can have cascading runaway amplification of extremely hazardous uncertainty. To understand this, I highly recommend the new documentary by David Attenborough, Breaking Boundaries, on Netflix.
The famous climate activist, Greta Thunberg, has been involved with several brief videos that help explain this feedback effect. You can find this info here:
feedbackloopsclimate.com
Climate Crisis Hurts the Marginalized the Most
For many years, during heat waves, I have pointed out that one of the most common families of psychiatric drugs that are given coercively are the neuroleptics or what is now commonly called “antipsychotics.” Because of the trend of court-ordered involuntary outpatient psychiatric drugging, and because marginalized people often do not have air conditioning, this can be a recipe for killing. Neuroleptics, like many psychiatric drugs, can make people more sensitive to high temperatures, and can even suppress the heat regulatory systems.
There are so many reasons to oppose involuntary outpatient psychiatric drugging. For example, we all know about Robin Williams, but many do not know that he had dementia caused by a disease known as Lewy Body. This was only discovered during the autopsy, according to a documentary that came out in 2020, Robin’s Wish.
Let me repeat, even someone with the resources of Robin Williams, could not be diagnosed with Lewy Body until after death. This is true for many people with this type of dementia. But it is well-established in medicine that neuroleptic drugs are contraindicated when someone has Lewy Body, the mortality rate can increase sharply.
Of course, as a survivor of involuntary neuroleptics myself, I could give you a hundred reasons why forced psychiatric drugging is a mistake. But as my blog explains, the major federal agency, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), has spent more than $25 million to support court-ordered outpatient mental health, which can often mean coerced neuroleptics.
Emergency: Our Society Needs to Hear From Marginalized People Now!
Instead of promoting forced psychiatric drugging of those considered “other,” we ought to be listening more carefully to the marginalized and disempowered.
And so I wait for Mad In America to soon publish my blog. And today, Eugene’s temperature will set records for not only the month, but for all recorded history.
In a few days, MAD Pride Month begins, July. We only have a few days, but this year I would like to focus on laying the groundwork for next year, 2022.
This is because I feel like the next two centuries after 2022, are crucial for life and humanity. The year 2222 would clearly be seven generations ahead. Will people still be there?
For humans and life to exist, we need to have a global revolution. Everyone. You. Me. We.
Dear 2222. . . Are you there?
To Get The News About My New Blog, When It Is Published…
The moment Mad In America publishes my new blog, I will get out the word to the folks on our ConstantContact free confidential email list. In order to make sure your email address is there, click here:
https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/KP5C4KZ/dwoaksnews
(To be very clear, I have three different blogs. This is my personal blog, thanks for reading it. I refer here to my blog on the website Mad In America, which as I mentioned will publish my piece soon, please get on the above list to be notified. I also have a blog over on my consulting business, Aciu Institute, LLC.)
