Dan Stradford, Editor
Alan Graham, Assistant Editor
Gloria McTaggart, Assistant Editor
SafeHarborProj@aol.com
www.AlternativeMentalHealth.com

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Safe Harbor was founded in 1998 in the wake of growing public dissatisfaction with the unwanted effects of orthodox psychiatric treatments such as medication and shock therapy. Seeking to satisfy the desire for safer, more effective treatments, Safe Harbor is dedicated to educating the public, the medical profession, and government officials on research and treatments that, minimally, do no harm and, optimally, cure the causes of severe mental symptoms. Our primary thrust is education on the medical causes of severe mental symptoms and the use of nutritional and other natural treatments.

ALTERNATIVE
MENTALHEALTH.COM IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST WEB SITE DEVOTED exclusively to alternative mental health treatments. It includes a directory of over 240 physicians, nutritionists, experts, organizations, and facilities around the U.S. that offer or promote safe, alternative treatments for severe mental symptoms. Many of the physicians listed do in-depth examinations to find the physical causes behind mental problems.

Also included on the site is an array of articles on topics ranging from the medical causes of schizophrenia to the effects of toxic metals on mental health.

Special AlternativeMentalHealth.com T-shirts and bumper stickers are available at our online store.

A bookstore page lists top books that cover many areas of alternative treatments with titles like Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and Other Common Mental Disorders and No More Ritalin.

AlternativeMentalHealth.com has been created to educate the public, practitioners, and government officials on the medical conditions that create "mental illness" and the many safe resources available for addressing and often curing severe mental symptoms.

Safe Harbor
1718 Colorado Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90041
U.S.A.
Phone:  323-257-7338
Fax:  323-257-7014
SafeHarborProj@aol.com
AlternativeMentalHealth.com

Last year I began receiving emails from a woman - I'll call her Mary - whose young adult son had become psychotic, and though she was willing to medicate him as a last resort, she did not want him placed in a state or county facility where he would most certainly be drugged into submission as a permanent solution and put on a road from which there would be no return to a normal life.

Mary relayed how he became violent occasionally and she felt torn between concern for her own safety and her worry for her son's demise if she put him in a public facility. Once she phoned from a neighbor's house because she was not safe at home with her son.

Like so many we speak with, Mary looked and looked in vain for an affordable private facility where her son could be placed. She sought nothing special. Simply a place where he could be given a thorough medical exam, good food, appropriate nutrition, and rest. Drugs if necessary, yes, but minimally, enough to calm him down so that treatments such as nutrients could be applied.

Is that so much to ask? Is that such a burdensome request that none of our 50 states are willing to provide this option or even legalize it in the private sector for the millions of citizens who do not want to take the drugs-for-life route - the only solution that states usually offer?

Apparently it IS too much to ask. 

Yesterday, I received an email from Mary's by-now familiar email address. But it was not from Mary. It was from her family. They told me that Mary had been senselessly killed by her son's hand.

Things MUST change. Decent people must be given a choice in how their loved ones are treated in mental health facilities so they are not given the anguished choice Mary had to make.

We are very pleased to announce that Safe Harbor Boston is presenting a talk by James Greenblatt, M.D., THE BENEFITS OF NUTRITIONAL THERAPY FOR THE TREATMENT OF MENTAL ILLNESS.

Time/Date: 7:30 pm, MAY 8, 2003

Location: Waltham Hospital's DeVeber Conference Center, Hope Ave., Waltham, MA

Admission: Free

Dr. Greenblatt is a dually board-certified child and adult psychiatrist who combines his interest in alternative treatments for psychiatric disorders with a traditional background in medicine. He has lectured throughout the U.S. to professionals and families on the scientific evidence of complementary and alternative therapies for psychiatric disorders. Dr. Greenblatt is the Founder and Medical Director of Comprehensive Psychiatric Resources, Inc., and is a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Greenblatt's talk will be followed by a SUPPORT GROUP MEETING.

Safe Harbor Boston, a satellite office of Safe Harbor, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public and mental health professionals about the advantages of using nutritional and other natural therapies for the treatment of mental illness. We also provide support group venues for those diagnosed with a mental illness and those who care for the mentally ill.

Waltham Hospital's DeVeber Conference Center is Safe Harbor's weekly meeting place. We offer weekly support group meetings every Thursday, starting May 8, 2003, from 7:30 to 9:00 PM when there is no guest speaker. During Thursday evenings when we do have a guest speaker our support group will start immediately after the talk. All are welcome to join our support group to share experiences and learn from one another in an open and nonjudgmental environment.

For more information call: 617-964-5544 or write to SafeHarborB@aol.com
Visit Safe Harbor's site: www.alternativementalhealth.com
For directions: call 781-647-6000 or visit www.waltham.caregroup.org 

Anthony Stephan, cofounder of Truehope, will be speaking at Safe Harbor's support group at 1718 Colorado Blvd. in Los Angeles, which meets from 7 PM to 9 PM on April 9, 2003. There is no charge.

He will also be speaking on April 10 as a "NAMI Natural" presentation at the Chino Hills, CA, office of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (N.A.M.I)at 6251 Schaefer Ave., Unit G, Chino, CA (corner of Mountain and Schaefer). RSVP to (909) 606-9959 to confirm. Seating is limited.

Truehope created the nutritional supplement which has been used by several thousand people to alleviate symptoms of mental disorders and reduce dependency on psychiatric medication. (See article in this issue about a recent study with the supplement written up in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.)

Although reported as particularly effective for people with symptoms of bipolar disorder, the supplement has been used for all types of psychiatric diagnoses.

It has been reported that those with bipolar symptoms have a record of 70% or better in coming off of medications using the supplement. The supplement has been reported widely in the Canadian media, where the Truehope offices are. More info on Truehope is at www.truehope.com.

The public is invited. RSVP to the Safe Harbor office at (323) 257-7338 or email to SafeHarborProj@aol.com.  

A new radio show specifically for and about AD/HD and other learning disorders is on the air. If you haven't heard of the Results Project, maybe it's time you did. Steve Plog, its founder, just got his own radio show in London, ON, Canada, called the "Results Radio Show." The goal of the Results Project is simply to show the benefits of good nutrition and its potential to improve health, academic and athletic performance. 

This may be the first radio show specifically for and about AD/HD and other "learning disorders." Plog has just signed a two year contract to do his one-hour weekly show.

The Results Radio Show is a call-in talk show that will offer callers the opportunity to present their parenting and personal concerns to professionals. It will feature segments such as: a roundtable discussion about current events, issues or treatments, a review of upcoming possibilities, specialists, scientists (over the phone reporting live) and a joke of the week.

It will also feature interviews with local and international physicians, interviews with teens, parents and children, open phones, etc. Many of these topics could be weekly features.

The host, along with special guests, will be able to successfully field calls on a wide variety of concerns.

Plog created his Results Project, 4-Step, 12-week program in 1997. Since then it has greatly improved the academic achievements, behavior and lives in a large majority of the 1600+ kids that have participated to date, while they have also greatly reduced or eliminated the need for Class II prescription drugs. His website is at: www.resultsproject.net

If you are within a 200 - 300 mile radius of London ON. Canada, such as Detroit MI, Cleveland OH, Buffalo NY and Toronto, ON, you may be able to listen. The Results Radio Show can be heard on CJBK Radio -1290AM, Every Sunday 10:00AM - 11:00AM from: London, Ontario, Canada.

If your child is between 4 to 8 years old, diagnosed with autism or related childhood developmental disorders (Asperger's Disorder or PDD-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)), and generally healthy, your child may be eligible to participate in this clinical trial. This 10-week study will begin in late April 2003, and is limited to Florida residents.

Participants will receive all study material, forms, and study supplements in the mail. All communications and follow-ups will take place via mail, phone, and/or email with the research staff. Your child will be randomized to either the group taking the supplements or the group taking the placebo pills. A total of 13 capsules per day will be required for both study groups during the 10-week study.

The study is being led by Dr. Jeff Bradstreet (a physician with a large autism practice in Florida), with the assistance of the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences and Arizona State University.

For more information on the clinical trial please call (321) 953-0278 or email to ek@gnd.org. 

The Defeat Autism Now ! (DAN!) conference, 2003, will be held in Philadelphia, May 16-18.

www.danconference.com

Some key speakers include:
-Bernard Rimland PhD
-William Shaw PhD
-Andrew Stoll MD
-Andrew Wakefield MD
-Jaquelyn McCandless MD
-Lisa Lewis PhD
-Sidney Baker MD  

In the first half of the twentieth century chiropractic treatment was used to aid a large number of mental patients in recovery in the United States. At least two successful chiropractic mental hospitals existed.

The history of this movement is detailed in a PowerPoint presentation available at this link.

This presentation is also listed on the Articles page of www.alternativementalhealth.com.  

The Safe Harbor offices in Los Angeles and Boston are seeking volunteers in those areas.  Safe Harbor Los Angeles needs volunteers to work in the office during normal business hours. We need assistance with clerical, phone calling, answering emails, etc. Contact us at SafeHarborProj@aol.com or at (323) 257-7338.

Safe Harbor Boston needs help with its support group, promotion, and other activities. Contact SafeHarborB@aol.com or 617 964 5544.  

The Parents' Alliance for Special Kids is in need of a volunteer web designer to set up a web site for them. The group, located in San Diego, California, specializes in educating parents on the importance of nutrition in solving behavioral, physical, and other problems in children. Contact Ivory Lewis at ivorius@att.net or at (858) 457-3003.  

From Rick Palmquist, DVM:

We have had several incidents of pets presenting for nasal or respiratory difficulties, or even depression and lethargy after being collared with pesticide flea collars. I have seen three cases where children sleeping with these pets were experiencing chronic rhinitis that had been diagnosed as "allergy," which were actually discharge phases of reaction to the toxins in the collars. These children had been placed on multiple drugs in an attempt to handle the symptoms, which disappeared upon removing the collar from the pet. The collars seem to irritate many persons with asthma, too.

I'll bet some people diagnosed as depressed will be irritated by the toxicity and perhaps some are actually toxic and not depressed. Since the organophosphate or other insecticides are metabolized in the liver, it would be logical to suspect that a drug interaction could occur with other drugs such as psychotropics. It would be extremely easy for a doctor to miss this as it is not part of any routine medical history.

From Nancy Mullan, M.D., Burbank, CA:

My most recent bipolar patient came in looking very symptomatic and on multiple meds which were not holding very well. Fortunately, he calmed down with correct empathy. After he calmed down I started to talk to him about diet and nutrition. He really couldn't relate to any approach which was so different from the standard practice of psychiatry. Over time he could relate and I allergy tested him and put him on some nutrition.

We didn't even get to the next step which is GI testing before he got much better. He took himself off of lithium pretty quickly. He keeps to the diet because he has seen it help. He has explored the Safe Harbor website and is now starting to see what different amino acids do for or to him. He is amazed at the world to which I have introduced him. He no longer feels like there is something wrong with his brain. It seems that there is something wrong with his nutrition.

What I am getting to with all this is that there are probably several ways to start with any patient and then one continues until enough discovery about the problem has been accomplished that the patient feels well.  

A new study of 19 "bipolar" patients by Miles Simmons, M.D., Town Park Psychiatric Associates, Brunswick, Maine, provides independent confirmation of the effectiveness of Truehope's E.M.Power+ nutritional supplement in such cases. Dr. Simmons states:

"By clinical global estimate, 12 of the 19 patients showed marked clinical improvement, 3 showed moderate improvement, and 1 showed mild improvement. Thirteen patients (10 marked responders, 3 moderate responders) were able to completely discontinue psychiatric medications over a mean of 5.2 weeks (range, 3-10 weeks) and remain stable on EMP alone. Of the 12 showing marked improvement, 10 have remained on EMP (current follow-up mean length = 13 months; range 5-21). One of the 3 moderate responders has also continued on EMP, so that 11 of 19 patients have chosen to remain on EMP rather than psychiatric medication."

"....It is clear that the effectiveness and safety of EMP remain to be established in controlled trials, but this approach does appear to represent an exciting potential direction for new research in bipolar disorder."

Dr. Simmons reports no financial or other relationships relevant to the subject matter of this article.  

Can you remember your first sip of cola, first chocolate cookie, or first bite of chocolate? If you're like the millions of other caffeine consumers, chances are, you can't. What about birthday parties, Easters, Valentine's Days