Bush plans to screen whole US population for mental illness

[MizzT]

Dear George:
If this is even remotely true.....its time for you to go.
and hmmmnnnn.....the #1 drug chosen to hypnotize us all is an Eli Lilly drug.....what a coincidence.

*********************

Bush plans to screen whole US population for mental illness

BMJ 2004;328:1458 (19 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7454.1458

Bush plans to screen whole US population for mental illness
Jeanne Lenzer
New York


A sweeping mental health initiative will be unveiled by President
George W Bush in July. The plan promises to integrate mentally ill
patients fully into the community by providing "services in the
community, rather than institutions," according to a March 2004
progress report entitled New Freedom Initiative
(http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/ne.../toc-2004.html). While some
praise the plan's goals, others say it protects the profits of drug
companies at the expense of the public.

Bush established the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in
April 2002 to conduct a "comprehensive study of the United States
mental health service delivery system." The commission issued its
recommendations in July 2003. Bush instructed more than 25 federal
agencies to develop an implementation plan based on those
recommendations.

The president's commission found that "despite their prevalence,
mental disorders often go undiagnosed" and recommended comprehensive
mental health screening for "consumers of all ages," including
preschool children. According to the commission, "Each year, young
children are expelled from preschools and childcare facilities for
severely disruptive behaviours and emotional disorders." Schools,
wrote the commission, are in a "key position" to screen the 52
million students and 6 million adults who work at the schools.

The commission also recommended "Linkage [of screening] with
treatment and supports" including "state-of-the-art treatments"
using "specific medications for specific conditions." The commission
commended the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP) as a "model"
medication treatment plan that "illustrates an evidence-based
practice that results in better consumer outcomes."

Dr Darrel Regier, director of research at the American Psychiatric
Association (APA), lauded the president's initiative and the Texas
project model saying, "What's nice about TMAP is that this is a
logical plan based on efficacy data from clinical trials."

He said the association has called for increased funding for
implementation of the overall plan.

But the Texas project, which promotes the use of newer, more
expensive antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs, sparked off
controversy when Allen Jones, an employee of the Pennsylvania Office
of the Inspector General, revealed that key officials with influence
over the medication plan in his state received money and perks from
drug companies with a stake in the medication algorithm (15 May,
p1153). He was sacked this week for speaking to the BMJ and the New
York Times.

The Texas project started in 1995 as an alliance of individuals from
the pharmaceutical industry, the University of Texas, and the mental
health and corrections systems of Texas. The project was funded by a
Robert Wood Johnson grant—and by several drug companies.

Mr Jones told the BMJ that the same "political/pharmaceutical
alliance" that generated the Texas project was behind the
recommendations of the New Freedom Commission, which, according to
his whistleblower report, were "poised to consolidate the TMAP
effort into a comprehensive national policy to treat mental illness
with expensive, patented medications of questionable benefit and
deadly side effects, and to force private insurers to pick up more
of the tab"
(http://psychrights.org/Drugs/AllenJo...PJanuary20.pdf).

Larry D Sasich, research associate with Public Citizen in
Washington, DC, told the BMJ that studies in both the United States
and Great Britain suggest that "using the older drugs first makes
sense. There's nothing in the labeling of the newer atypical
antipsychotic drugs that suggests they are superior in efficacy to
haloperidol [an older "typical" antipsychotic]. There has to be an
enormous amount of unnecessary expenditures for the newer drugs."



Drug companies have contributed three times more to the campaign of
George Bush, seen here campaigning in Florida, than to that of his
rival John Kerry





Olanzapine (trade name Zyprexa), one of the atypical antipsychotic
drugs recommended as a first line drug in the Texas algorithm,
grossed $4.28bn (£2.35bn; 3.56bn) worldwide in 2003 and is Eli
Lilly's top selling drug. A 2003 New York Times article by Gardiner
Harris reported that 70% of olanzapine sales are paid for by
government agencies, such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Eli Lilly, manufacturer of olanzapine, has multiple ties to the Bush
administration. George Bush Sr was a member of Lilly's board of
directors and Bush Jr appointed Lilly's chief executive officer,
Sidney Taurel, to a seat on the Homeland Security Council. Lilly
made $1.6m in political contributions in 2000—82% of which went to
Bush and the Republican Party.

Jones points out that the companies that helped to start up the
Texas project have been, and still are, big contributors to the
election funds of George W Bush. In addition, some members of the
New Freedom Commission have served on advisory boards for these same
companies, while others have direct ties to the Texas Medication
Algorithm Project.

Bush was the governor of Texas during the development of the Texas
project, and, during his 2000 presidential campaign, he boasted of
his support for the project and the fact that the legislation he
passed expanded Medicaid coverage of psychotropic drugs.

Bush is the clear front runner when it comes to drug company
contributions. According to the Center for Responsive Politics
(CRP), manufacturers of drugs and health products have contributed
$764 274 to the 2004 Bush campaign through their political action
committees and employees—far outstripping the $149 400 given to his
chief rival, John Kerry, by 26 April.

Drug companies have fared exceedingly well under the Bush
administration, according to the centre's spokesperson, Steven
Weiss.

The commission's recommendation for increased screening has also
been questioned. Robert Whitaker, journalist and author of Mad in
America, says that while increased screening "may seem defensible,"
it could also be seen as "fishing for customers," and that
exorbitant spending on new drugs "robs from other forms of care such
as job training and shelter programmes."

But Dr Graham Emslie, who helped develop the Texas project, defends
screening: "There are good data showing that if you identify kids at
an earlier age who are aggressive, you can intervene... and change
their trajectory."

[MizzT]

add this to it.
****************
Bush Leagues
Washington Shrink Calls Bush a Paranoid, Sadistic Meglomaniac
By Staff and Wire Reports
Jun 14, 2004, 00:22

A new book by a prominent Washington psychoanalyst says President George W. Bush is a "paranoid meglomaniac" as well as a sadist and "untreated alcoholic." The doctor's analysis appears to confirm earlier reports the President may be emotionally unstable.

Dr. Justin Frank, writing in Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President, also says the President has a ""lifelong streak of sadism, ranging from childhood pranks (using firecrackers to explode frogs) to insulting journalists, gloating over state executions ... [and] pumping his fist gleefully before the bombing of Baghdad."

Even worse, Dr. Frank concludes, the President's years of heavy drinking*""may have affected his brain function - and his decision to quit drinking without the help of a 12-step program [puts] him at far higher risk of relapse."

Dr. Frank's revelations comes on the heels of last week's <http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artma...tml>Capitol Hill Blue exclusive that revealed increasing concern by White House aides over Bush's emotional stability.

Aides, who spoke only on condition that their names be withheld, told stories of wide mood swings by the President who would go from quoting the Bible one minute to obscenity-filled outbursts the next.

Bush shows an inability to grieve - dating back to age 7, when his sister died. "The family's reaction - no funeral and no mourning - set in motion his life-long pattern of turning away from pain [and hiding] behind antic behavior," says Frank, who says*Bush may suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Other findings by Dr. Frank:

His mother, Barbara Bush - tabbed by some family friends as "the one who instills fear" - had trouble connecting emotionally with her son, Frank argues.
George H.W. Bush's "emotional and physical absence during his son's youth triggered feelings of both adoration and revenge in George W."
The President suffers from "character pathology," including "grandiosity" and "megalomania" -- viewing himself, America and God as interchangeable.

Dr. Frank has been a psychiatrist for 35 years and is director of psychiatry at George Washington University. A Democrat, he once headed the Washington Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

In an interview with The Washington Post's Richard Leiby, Dr. Frank said he began to be concerned about Bush's behavior in 2002.

"I was really very unsettled by him and I started watching everything he did and reading what he wrote, and watching him on videotape. I felt he was disturbed," Dr. Frank told Leiby. Bush, he said,*"fits the profile of a former drinker whose alcoholism has been arrested but not treated."

Dr. Frank's expert recommendation? ""Our sole treatment option -- for his benefit and for ours -- is to remove President Bush from office . . . before it is too late."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan refused to comment on the specifics of Dr. Frank's book or the earlier story by Capitol Hill Blue.

"I don't do book reviews," McClellan said, even though he last week recommended the latest book by the Washington Post's Bob Woodward to reporters at the daily press briefing.

© Copyright 2004 Capitol Hill Blue

[genevieve]

I am so happy to live in canada, not in the USA... but you know, we may get stephen harper on june 28th so maybe we are not so lucky...
(sorry if I offended some conservative supporters...)

[safarigal]

add this to the Patriot Act. What happened to the land of the free?

According to the commission, "Each year, young
children are expelled from preschools and childcare facilities for
severely disruptive behaviours and emotional disorders."

This deeply disturbs me. So what do they propose, give preschoolers drugs???? Why not promote healthy parenting? Why do we not see those commercials anymore that have an egg...this is your brain, and then an egg frying... this is your brain on drugs? Because there are too many commercials promoting drugs now.

[genevieve]

colleen, I think you did not understand well...
paxil is GOOD for you
drugs (like cocaine or marijuana) are BAD
why?
they act on the same chemicals in your brain
they are both addictive
they change your behavior and thoughts
they cost a lot of $$

BUT! paxil is given to you by a nice doctor in a white suit and marijuana is given to you by an evil drug dealer... and paxil CORRECTS your chemical imbalance (proof? sorry, we dont have this!)

[darcyb]

My reply to the BMJ article:

The problem with mass awareness campaigns is that they ensnare more than they inform, through a mechanism of fear. Fear is the #1 motivator from a marketing perspective, and you wouldn't have money without it. Mix the funding, with the power of paranoia and you can CREATE any group consciousness you want to.

Suicide rates have never been so high as they have been since the antidepressants of the 80s and 90s were introduced. People are denying themselves the permission to be a human being, feel low, and launch themselves forward again triumphantly. The antidepressants only treat symptoms and do NOTHING for the sources/causes of mental health challenges.

Someone loses their job, and a spouse dies. Instead of going through a few years of grieving and self reinvention, they're given drugs because "it is too inconvenient "to society for the human being to be more human than a machine-like employee. It should never be an inconvenience to emote at length. But even in more dire situations where a self mutilating agoraphobe who does indeed emote and doesn't discover relief, even they should never be seen as broken, and merely temporarily disconnected from themselves and the world around them. However, even they cannot be motivated to heal and change unless they feel the weight of their challenge.

An antidepressant denies people the ability to truly know what they are up against, and therefore, robs them of the ability to scale their will to the challenge. They will only know to give a 5% push with 95% of the stimuli removed. You cannot know how much pressure to apply to a wound if you are wearing glasses so dark that you cannot see the bleeding!

Also, antidepressants do not treat causes, they treat symptoms. Therefore, one totally misses the realization that anxiety and/or depression is not the problem. They are merely the DEMONSTRATION of a problem that lies deeper still. It's like screening people for headaches and giving them aspirin while never going after the cause of the headache. It's silly, ignorant, and shallows the depth humanity's awareness of itself.

I've been on Paxil. I've had it relieve me of panic attacks, but it did nothing to solve the anxiety challenge I was faced with. It spun my wheels and the hands of time in a game of denial and pause. It wasn't until I was off Paxil, that I could truly look at my anxiety straight in the eye and realize that I was looking at myself. I could then do the work to heal myself of the problems that were manifesting as anxiety. It took several years to do this enough that I felt satisfied and victorious, but it was an investment in the rest of my life! I haven't had an anxiety challenge, nor any medication since October 2000 and I have never felt better. A drug was an investment in the moment, at the expense the future. The same fast- food mentality that generates hoards of cash at the expense of consumers.

This awareness campaign and money shifting efforts of the Bush administration is an extremely ignorant quick-fix wheel spinner. It looks good, sounds good, and "buys" them popularity/hype/paranoia justification time, but in the long run does not empower anyone except to have better dollar performance in the stock market which does nothing for anyone if they are still afraid/depressed and reaching for yet another pill, instead of solving the fear/depression problem.

People free themselves from their mental health challenges and drugs all the time. I've personally watched thousands do it. The most successful are the ones who spend more time believing they are not forsaken/broken. Awareness programs drive the point home that people are broken through the cognitive power of labels. Those who believe themselves so inadequate that they have to go "outside" themselves to reach for pills, alcohol, street drugs etc., are the ones who continue to be stuck in mental health challenges. As long as they believe they NEED help, they unnecessariliy become addicted to it.

As to the "Washington Shrink Calls Bush a Paranoid, Sadistic Meglomaniac " article, I can't help but continue nodding! I think that doctor is on to something.

[Dream]

oh, we were never truly free... But hey, we're still really really really brave. especially if we re-elect Mr Bush to the whitehouse

[scotty]

"This deeply disturbs me. So what do they propose, give preschoolers drugs???? "

The 0-5 year old population has shown a marked increase in SSRI use!! There was an article recently on treating babies that cry alot with SSRI's. These companies are sick!!

[darcyb]

Originally Posted by defonz3

add this to it.
****************
Bush Leagues
Washington Shrink Calls Bush a Paranoid, Sadistic Meglomaniac
By Staff and Wire Reports
Jun 14, 2004, 00:22

I need a URL for this on Beverly. Thanks!

[MizzT]

Hi Darcy

here 'tis
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artma...cle_4687.shtml

It was not easy....i deleted the email that came with the original url.
then i finally found it in a long strange search....then i copied it and Explorer quit at that second. Had to reboot...and lo and behold i still had the copy in the clipboard!!! small miracles!

all sorts of articles on that site!!

Beverly

[darcyb]

Heh, the articles on that CapitolHillBlue site are hillarious. They're having fun writing those articles in shocking ways that's for sure. Even their fine print is amusing:

Capitol Hill Blue is a not-for-profit, non-commercial experiment in on-line journalism published by Doug Thompson Media purely for the enjoyment of our readers. All material is © 2004 Capitol Hill Blue.

But even better, is their FAQ page here: http://www.capitolhillblue.com/faq.asp

I especially like:

Don't you take anything seriously?
Nah, we leave that to the politicians (and some of our readers). They take everything, including themselves, far too seriously.