Two Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Two Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

by Loren Mosher, M.D.

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Following was published in San Francisco's _STREET SHEET E-Zine_ for JUNE, 2001 , based on a recent speech:
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"There is no tyranny so great as that which is practiced for the benefit of the victim". - C.S. Lewis

It is a fact that most of California's social problems, especially those of the underclass, have taken a back seat to a monumental governmental screw-up - the energy thing. However, to be forewarned is to be forearmed so I want to share with STREET SHEET readers the contents of a bill currently before the assembly that would provide yet another means to harass the disenfranchised.

The strategy - as I understand it - is a clever, if devious, one: to get this bill passed without its $50 million price tag so it will be on the books when and if money becomes available.

So, here's the deal: Now comes psychiatric nurse, Assembly member Helen Thomson with her second attempt to allow preventive involuntary outpatient psychiatric commitment (AB 1421). As an opening gambit and attempt at mystification the bill's actual title is "Assisted Outpatient Treatment" - a euphemism coined by Dr. E. Fuller Torrey's Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC) in Arlington, Virginia. This Center, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) and pharmaceutical corporations have mounted (read: financed) a nation-wide campaign to pass involuntary ("assisted") outpatient commitment bills. Seemingly undaunted by last year's failure to pass Cuckoo's Nest One - AB 1800 - the indomitable Lady Thomson once again wants a much expanded group of mind police to get after those nefarious psychiatric treatment (read medication) evaders (the infamous "non-compliant" persons).

It is well known that a large percentage of such persons are hiding out among the homeless. It may seem heartless of me not to appreciate Nurse Thomson's good intentions but given the level of mystification, distortion, and downright human rights malevolence in this bill it seems time that a spade is called a spade. For those of you fortunate enough to have not read it let me sketch out what AB 1421 is REALLY about (remember, given the slippery state of psychiatric diagnosis, being poor and homeless can nearly always be associated with some kind of "mental illness"):

	It is about further loss of civil rights by persons labeled as being mentally ill;
	It is about loss of the freedom to choose by persons labeled as being mentally ill;
	It is about the loss of autonomy of persons labeled as being mentally ill;
	It is about being coerced to accept treatment that persons labeled as being mentally ill have no voice in designing and need not be seen or present when the plan is made;
	It is about forcing persons labeled as being mentally ill to take mind-altering medications with known serious adverse effects that IMPEDE recovery long term;
	It is about multinational pharmaceutical corporations heaping profits from their ever-expanding number of expensive new drugs that can be forcibly administered - in their own homes or on the street - to persons labeled mentally ill;
	It is about needing psychic-like crystal ball powers of prediction of future events (to allow preventive commitment) by a court or hearing officer;
	It is about allowing persons labeled as being mentally ill to be removed from their homes (if they are lucky enough to have one) and taken to a mental hospital at the behest of nearly anyone;
	It is about the potential end of trusting relationships with those closest to them (relatives, friends and a variety of mental health workers) of persons labeled mentally ill - all of whom have the right to commit them;

It is ultimately about the deprivation of the basic human rights of persons labeled mentally ill to assure that they remain marginalized, discriminated against, powerless and dependent -mental illness-ism, an -ism as virulent as the others - racism, sexism etc.

As mentioned previously, this charmer of a bill carries a $50 million price tag so it will not likely be funded in the current budget cycle. Still, I like to think about what $50 million would do as $500 per month per person housing vouchers? While no mathematician, my figures are a year's worth of such vouchers for nearly 8500 folks. It's still only a drop in the bucket, but a lot better way to spend tax dollars than on dehumanizing and ineffective forced psychiatric outpatient treatment. So, my friends, I believe it may be time to recall what a sanguine clergyman - Pastor Martin Niemoller, 1892-1984 - had to say:

"In Germany, they first came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't in a union. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up".

Dr. Loren Mosher (Loren Mosher, M.D. is the former Clinical Director of the San Diego County Mental Health and Clinical Professor of [voluntary] Psychiatry at UC San Diego. This commentary is modified from a speech given in Sacramento at a rally against AB1421 organized by the California Network of Mental Health Clients.)

Note: Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by NAMI Santa Cruz County.

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