Gitmo

Tell me it ain’t so. Tell me it’s my imagination. Will we finally see the end of Gitmo? Who would’ve guessed this to be one of the first edicts broadcast from the new administration? (When you stop and think about it there’s a real possibility we’d seen the same even if the election had turned out different. Especially in light of the opposing candidate’s Hanoi-Hilton history.) At any rate, while perhaps not popular with all, this action is long overdue.

Does anyone remember the slew of charges concerning detainee neglect, even torture, at Gitmo? And don’t forget the shady government contractors and their ride’em cowboy tactics. And the scandalous photos. Did I mention the scandalous photos? Yes, those scandalous photos. Those twisted, contorted, anatomically-incorrect scandalous photos. If the same charges solidified by the same ugly evidence came to light concerning any other world power, even one of our allies, we’d holler from the rooftops for immediate closure of any facility that bred such shameful fruit. It hurts to think that such corrupt and ugly acts were wrought by us noble Americans. Shame on us. And forget the ‘all’s fair in love and war’ cliche. First, it’s an immoral cliche, and second it’s just that, a cliche. No one really believes it anyway.

So, what to do with the fallout, all those jailed detainees? Truth is, it’s a case-by-case basis. If any real evidence exists that these men are guilty of terrorism (and much of it does exist) then they should be formally charged and tried.  But if they’re residents at Gitmo merely because of where they lived, what they believe, or who they know then they should be released at once.
But I’ve got another idea. Each and every detainee, I believe, should be sentenced to one solid year of life as an average American.

First, each detainee will be given a job — of sorts.  Under my plan, the detainee’s job will be to tag along to work, on a daily basis, with an average American who holds a job they love and do well.  The detainee will experience it all:  the daily-grind commute, the office politics, the endless slew of useless emails. It’s a package deal.

Second, each detainee will be assigned to a family, a loving family of three or more. For a year, they will live with the family, and live life as the family lives it.  The house/apartment, the bills, the car, the kids, and the lawnmower. Again, it’s a package deal.

Third, and here is perhaps the most important part: Each detainee, in their ‘spare’ time will be force-fed a continuous diet of Americana; things like:

– A walk in a park with a few snotty-nosed kids and the family dog.
– An intense session of Spore.
– A ride on a Harley
– A middle-school talent show
– An 8-hour marathon of the Three Stooges
– Barbecue & Homemade ice cream
– 12 back-to-back showings of “Dumb & Dumber”
– A big, fat American wedding
– 12 back-to-back showings of “It’s a Wonderful Life”
– A bar mitzvah
– An eight-hour stint as Greeter at Wal Mart
– Last, but definitely not least, four hours in a ticket line at a major American airport followed by ten, yes, ten back-to-back trips through Security

Perhaps then these individuals will see that there really is nothing to fear from us, there really is no reason to hate us or our way of life.  They’ll see that all of us, for the most part, are merely trying to get through another day, mind, body and soul intact. Perhaps this sort of sentence will allow these men to enter into the heart of the American way of life. Perhaps they’ll see the magic, the defining moments that we Americans call Life.  Those moments through which the rivers run.

Something tells me, though, that it’s not quite that simple. It just aint that quaint. As Jack Nicholoson’s Nathan Jessep so aptly says in “A Few Good Men” “You want me on that wall, you need me on that wall.” And we do. We want to be protected from evil. We deserve to be protected from evil. But let’s not become a nation of Nathan Jesseps in the process of it. I mean, what Jessep said is right — we do need him on that wall. But, what Jessep was is wrong. So please, let’s not become a nation of Nathan Jesseps. What kind of existence is that?

“Medication Madness” — Book Review

Per Breggin.com:

Peter R. Breggin, MD, has been called “the conscience of psychiatry” for his efforts to reform the mental health field, including his promotion of caring psychotherapeutic approaches and his opposition to the escalating overuse of psychiatric medications, the oppressive diagnosing and drugging of children, electroshock, lobotomy, involuntary treatment, and false biological theories.

Dr Breggin is also known as “the Ralph Nader of psychiatry.” He has been the medical expert in countless court cases involving the use or misuse of psychoactive medications. This unusual position has given him unprecedented access to private pharmaceutical research and correspondence files, information from which informs this straight-talking guide to the most prescribed and controversial category of American drugs: antidepressants.

A Harvard-trained psychiatrist and former full-time consultant at the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH), Dr. Breggin’s private practice is in Ithaca, New York, where he treats adults, couples, and families with children. He also offers consultations in clinical psychopharmacology and often acts as a medical expert in criminal, malpractice and product liability suits. He is the author of many scientific articles and books including Medication Madness: A psychiatrist exposes the dangers of mood-altering medications.

Statements above referenced from breggin.com website.

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Review: “Medication Madness”

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The title may read like a tabloid headline, but don’t let that fool you. The author, Harvard-trained psychiatrist, Dr. Peter Breggin, has the credentials and the experience to make this book rock-solid credible. Breggin has authored numerous books pertaining to psychiatric drugs and is a champion in the psychiatry-reform movement. Per this books’ jacket-cover, Dr. Breggin “documents how the FDA, the medical establishment and the pharmaceutical industry have oversold the value of psychiatric drugs.” Breggins’ thesis, simply put, is that commonly used antidepressants, tranquilizers, and ADHD medications are not only over-prescribed in America, but are indeed detrimental to the health of its citizens.

If you or a loved one take prescription medication for depression, anxiety, or ADHD this book is required reading.

I repeat:

If you or a loved one take prescription medication for depression, anxiety, or ADHD this book is required reading.

First, let it be said that untold thousands of people who suffer with depression and/or anxiety have derived great benefit from antidepressant therapy when it is managed correctly and monitored closely by reputable physicians. This writer is one of them. Second, the cases documented in the book are extreme examples of adverse reactions to psychiatric medications and certainly not the norm. Even Breggin admits that (p 19). However, the gut-wrenching accounts of wrecked lives that Dr. Breggin has documented — and the degree to which said lives have been wrecked — necessitate that this information be not only published, but shouted from the rooftop, regardless of how miniscule its rate of occurrence.

Breggin has framed the book around several dozen case-study stories (approximately fifty) of individuals he has worked with who have suffered negative consequences as a result of psychiatric drug therapy. But these are not your run-of-the-mill, negative side-effects — these folks have suffered out-and-out life-crashing crises due to psychiatric medications. Breggin, who has years of medical research experience, has taken careful steps to ensure the accuracy and reliability of these cases. First, a vast body of scientific literature has been cited and referenced, resulting in thirty-three pages of chapter notes and bibliography listings at the rear of the book. Second, he has included in the book only cases where, in his opinion, other possible causative effects on the individuals behavior were minimal to non-existent (p 33). Third, the vast majority of cases Breggin has included in the book are cases that he has followed closely for an extended period of time. Detailed medical histories for each case study have been documented. Family members, friends, and professional associates have been interviewed multiple times. And, in many instances, Dr. Breggin has served as a medical expert in the criminal and/or civil trials of the individuals documented in the book.

Key to the book is a concept Breggin has developed known as ‘medication spellbinding.’ Spellbinding is a condition in which “ . . . the drugs mask or hide their harmful mental and emotional effects . . . many people feel better when in reality they are doing worse” (p 18) After beginning an antidepressant or tranquilizer, an individual may experience any myriad of symptoms (anger, sadness, somnolence, confusion, fatigue, euphoria, disorientation, suicidal thoughts) yet attribute the newfound symptoms to other factors in their life, when in reality, it is the medication itself that is causing the problem. Breggin believes that psychiatric medications actually created and/or worsened the problems that these individuals experienced. Spellbinding can occur at different degrees and manifest itself in a variety of ways. Its effects can range from minor, barely noticeable personality changes to out-and-out psychotic behavior, “leading people to behave in ways that they would otherwise reject as hazardous or wrong.”

It is this extreme, out-of-character behavior that Breggin documents thoroughly throughout the book. Some have become so ‘spellbound’ by medication that they begin to engage in criminal activity. This is where these cases become tragic. Breggins’ thesis here — that the drugs are to blame for such activity — is strongly supported by the fact that these individuals have no criminal history and, no real need to commit the crime. Furthermore, they commit crimes that are completely irrational. These individuals make absolutely no attempt to hide or cover-up their actions, or even to properly defend themselves in a court of law. In most of the cases documented by Dr. Breggin, the bizarre actions of the individual are completely out of character for them according to friends, family, even law enforcement personnel. These are tragic stories.

A college student on a popular medication for depression and panic attacks commits several armed robberies of convenience stores and gas stops. But he chooses establishments that both he and his parents frequent. He wears no disguise. He ignores visible video cameras, even after being informed of their presence. He even uses the family car, a vehicle known and recognized by the personnel employed at the establishments he robs (p 113). To top it all off, this was a young man who had no real need to steal — he resided with his parents who by all accounts had plenty of money. The young man was soon caught by law enforcement personnel.

A physician begins an odd habit of stealing construction equipment, including a fuel-tanker, a backhoe, and a dump-truck. He even parks the stolen vehicles just outside of his home. Again, no attempt is made by the individual to conceal his bizarre crimes (p 83).

A reputable professional, under the ‘spellbinding’ effects of a medication widely prescribed for depression and panic attacks, begins to embezzle money from the company he works for. Again, the individual makes no attempts to cover up the crime. He actually writes the checks to himself documenting his own criminal activity. Co-workers were shocked at the brazenness he displayed. This man was “so spellbound that he had no idea he was being adversely affected” (p 117). He actually thought he was doing better since starting the medication. This particular case left even the judge scratching his head (p 117, 118).

Dr. Breggin does not adhere to the concept that depression and anxiety are caused by a ‘biochemical imbalance’ in the brain. Conversely, he believes that psychiatric medications actually cause biochemical imbalances in the brain (p 270). He has thoroughly documented in the book many cases where individuals actually become worse, sometimes immobilized even, after starting on a psychiatric medication. “It is a sad, ironic, and tragic tale: it’s impossible to prove that antidepressants actually relieve depression but it’s relatively easy to demonstrate that they can worsen depression and cause mania, murder, and suicide (p 53). Again, Dr. Breggin presents ample evidence to support his claim.

In his forty years of practice, Dr. Breggin has never prescribed an antidepressant to a patient, unless he is managing a patients’ antidepressant-withdrawal process. Breggin believes that this is the reason he has never had a suicide amongst his patients (p 53 – 54).

In the final chapters of the book, Dr. Breggin dispels what he believes are myths concerning the biochemistry of the brain and the pharmacology of psychiatric drugs. He also addresses withdrawal from psychiatric drugs and provides guidance for individuals who may choose to cease psychiatric drug therapy safely. Dr.Breggin ends the book with thorough discussions concerning healthy psychotherapy and living a ‘principled life.’ He sets forth an agenda, for sure, but one that clearly is in the interest of people and families and healthy emotions.

Breggin MD, Peter R “Medication Madness”

St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY