Glued Pages and Sticky Questions
by Louise Loots Thornton
When I sat down to read the last issue of The Journal, a publication of NAMI California, I could not open the first two pages because they were stuck together. You're such a dodo, I thought to myself. I am always spilling something, and I thought I must have flooded the magazine with water or tea, making the pages stick. Imagine my surprise when I learned that these pages had been glued together
by the NAMI California Board, the second time they had attempted censorship of the "Publisher's Note" by Dan Weisburd, the editor and founder of the magazine.
It happened the first time in the Volume 11, Number
3, issue on "Mental Illness and the Law" after Weisburd questioned the validity of a statement by Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, a highly regarded psychiatrist known for his support of the mentally ill. Torrey had published a series of articles in
The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post that included the statement: "the mentally ill are responsible for about 1,000 homicides a year in the United States." Torrey attributed this frightening statistic to a 1988 study by Dawson & Langan, statisticians for the Department of Justice.
Perhaps Torrey's intent was to make lawmakers so frightened of untreated mentally ill individuals that they would increase funding for treatment.
The statement seemingly worked. It was mentioned on 60 Minutes and was read into the Congressional Record. However, there is a problem. It does not seem to be founded on facts. When the National Stigma Clearinghouse became concerned that our mentally ill loved ones were again being misrepresented, one of its members talked to Dr. Patrick Langan. He told the Clearinghouse that this data had not appeared in his study and that the statistic was "wholly unsubstantiated." He also noted that the homicide rate in general had substantially declined since 1988.
When Weisburd learned of this information, he called Torrey to ask him about the validity of the statement. Torrey said it was a "guesstimate." This answer led Weisburd to quote the late Daniel X. Freedman, M.D., who felt that Torrey did not engage in "serious science" because, "Hunger for the spotlight often brings a willingness to bend things?" Weisburd also mentioned Josef Goebbels, who said, "Make a statement often enough and it becomes a part of the common wisdom."
When members of the Board of NAMI California read what Weisburd said about Torrey, they felt they could be held libel for defamation and decided to censor the article without discussing it with Weisburd, who had cleared the article with four separate lawyers. Before this issue was distributed, the Board allegedly hired individuals with mental illness to glue together the pages containing Weisburd's "Publisher's Note" not only in this issue but in the following one, "Wellness."
In the "Wellness" issue, Weisburd expressed his concern that physicals are not given to mentally ill individuals on a regular basis. This can be dangerous because "the marvelous new atypical medications significantly elevate both cholesterol and triglycerides in most patients who take them." Weisburd scolded himself for not insisting that his son, David, who has schizophrenia and is on high levels of Clorazil and Zyprexa, receive regular physicals. When David was tested, several times, his cholesterol and triglycerides were "outrageous." Because of the family history of heart problems and his son's two pack a day cigarette habit, Weisburd wondered, "Why hadn't his psychiatrist of eight years warned us?" He learned that few, if any, clients of the Los Angeles County Mental Health system receive physicals because of the cost. He urged us to remember that necessary services must be funded for recovery to happen.
It is not clear why either of these articles was censored. First of all, one of the basic principles of this country is freedom of speech. Second, it seems we must be made aware when, on the one hand, our mentally ill loved ones are being maligned----again falsely portrayed as "mad murderers" ---and on the other hand denied services due to inadequate funding which might save their lives.
It is also not clear why publication of The Journal has been suspended. On January 5, 2001, NAMI California members received a letter from Grace McAndrews, Executive Director of the Board of Directors, stating that the Board, after carefully considering the future of this magazine, decided that, "there might not be sufficient funds to ensure a viable future" for its publication. Therefore they were temporarily suspending it. She added that the Board does want to save "…. this exceptional publication and to expand its distribution…so it has the possibility of a bright and lasting future." The letter does not mention the Board's disagreement with Weisburd's writings or its attempts at censorship.
It is very probable that this publication, which relies on the expertise of many professionals and often includes stunning artwork, requires substantial funding. However, the letter does not give us the choice of paying more dues, paying separately for The Journal or letting it die. It is therefore not clear whether The Journal is simply too expensive for NAMI California to keep publishing or if the Board has attempted to censor Weisburd once and for all by taking this publication away from him.
I mourn the loss of this excellent publication. It has provided me with extensive information about schizophrenia, the illness my son has and that my father had. (An article I wrote about my father appeared in
Volume 7, Number 3, of The Journal.) It has also taught me about other mental illnesses, inspired me with its lavish artwork and its focus on recovery and deepened my determination to fight for the rights of the mentally ill. At this point I do not see a "bright and lasting future." I see fear and its repercussions---false or withheld information, censorship and suspension of publication.
If you would like to express an opinion about this matter, you can
E-mail the following addresses:
Andrew Sperling, NAMI's national director of public
policy
NAMI national contact information
NAMI California
Dan Weisburd
You can call NAMI toll free at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) Ext. 2 or NAMI California at 916-567-0163.
Webmaster's note: Comments on this article may be sent to the
author or to the
editor of the NAMI Santa Cruz County Newsletter. Check out other
references to this story:
Click
here for the National Stigma Clearinghouse news item from February 18, 2001.
Click
here for the original "NAMI unglued" alert from Support Coalition
International.
Click
here for the text of the censored articles.
Additional
Footnote: The gluing and censorship of the NAMI journal was the work of
the newly-elected NAMI California board of directors, not any local chapter, not
the national group. In fact, to clear up a mystery, the NAMI California board
itself chose the glue. (And while sometimes the pages can be easily pulled
apart, sometimes peeling does destroy patches of print on the censored pages.)
The director of the vocational rehabilitation program, Turning Point, which did
the gluing says they feel tricked by NAMI. When Turning Point agreed to the job,
they had no idea it involved a controversial censorship. The director said they
would have refused if they'd been fully informed. You can e-mail
NAMI California and ask that they share your comments with their board of
directors, including Mr. Jacobs at: namica@pacbell.net
Click
here for the Update:
Dan
Weisburd DEMAND Notice released March 8, 2001. Dan Weisburd demands a retraction
and apology from the NAMI
California Board of Directors.
Click
here for the "IT
IS CENSORSHIP! I WILL NEVER KOWTOW TO A DICTATORSHIP!" article by Dan
E. Weisburd Editor of The JOURNAL (March, 2001)
Click
here for Dan
Weisburd's email to NAMI Sacramento regarding his original Sept. 5, 2000 letter
to NAMI California.
