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American Snakepits© John McManamy
"People with psychiatric disabilities are treated as less than full human beings."
"When I was in a psychiatric facility," a survivor testified, "because I questioned conditions, I was dragged into solitary confinement and held down on a bare mattress, forcibly injected with powerful psychiatric drugs, and held in solitary confinement. And I found since then that this is routine, that this is happening all over the - all over the psychiatric system. Usually forced psychiatric drugging occurs behind institutional walls, but in the last few years coerced drugging is now out in the community." Earlier this year, the US National Council on Disability released "From Privileges to Rights," a damning indictment of the chamber of horrors that passes for psychiatric "treatment" in many parts of this country. Make no mistake, this is not a report about what is right with the system. There is no attempt to strike a balance here. Rather, by having survivors come forward with their stories, the NCD has adopted a procedure that has worked so well for South Africa and other countries as part of a process of truth and reconciliation. As the NCD put it, they "heard testimony graphically describing how people with psychiatric disabilities have been beaten, shocked, isolated, incarcerated, restricted, raped, deprived of food and bathroom privileges, and physically and psychologically abused in institutions and in their communities. The testimony pointed to the inescapable fact that people with psychiatric disabilities are systematically and routinely deprived of their rights, and treated as less than full citizens or full human beings." The NCD described the situation as a "national disgrace," and called for drastic change. "People with psychiatric disabilities," they note, "even when they vigorously protest treatments they do not want, are routinely subjected to them anyway, on the justification that they 'lack insight' or are unable to recognize their need for treatment because of their 'mental illness.' In practice, 'lack of insight' becomes disagreement with the treating professional, and people who disagree are labeled 'noncompliant' or 'uncooperative with treatment.'" Listen to one survivor: "I spent 15 consecutive months on Unit 5 North. This was the single most traumatic experience of my life. The treatment consisted of an unrelenting, 24-hour-a-day attack on my personal autonomy and self-esteem, which I believe only exacerbated my symptoms." Protection and Advocacy Systems, according to the report, responded to 34,000 cases regarding abuse and neglect in 1998, and have conducted 5,000 death investigations over the past 20 years, a mere "tip of the iceberg," according to the report. As many as 81 percent of women have been physically or sexually abused in institutions. Listen:
The copyright of the article American Snakepits in Depression is owned by John McManamy. Permission to republish American Snakepits in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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