Allen Ginsberg said

"the soul
is innocent and immortal it should never die
ungodly in an armed madhouse"

Mental illness is a POLITICAL ISSUE. You are LIBERALS. Take the goddamn LIBERAL position on the issue.
:grr:

And now my best friend in the whole fucking world is locked up in one of these abusive instituions with no respect for human rights. Where I've seen a red-haired thug smash an autistic child's head against the wall. Where people who had to deal drugs for food money just to escape abusive foster parents are locked in cells and forcibly injected with sedatives for not fitting the "good american kid" steryotype.

Fuck it. I've used up all of my eloquence and all of my diplomacy on you, and it's gotten me nowhere. So now I guess I'll just sound like another angry teenager. Are you happy now?

:cry:

In the world.
Is locked up.
In an abusive institution.
For the crime of being depressed.
Do you speak English?

We didnt put her there.

and nobody CARED. But I figured, it's okay, some shit happened to me in there, but I'll survive, but now my it's best friend in there and that's not okay.

Plus, half the people here think NAMI is their friend, and NAMI loves cooerced treatment like this. NAMI is not your friend!

I really, really do. I was 'put away' in a place like that when I was a teenager also. And years later, I sat helplessly by as my Mother put my sister in the same place I had once been. Unlike myself, who was (imho) just a normal emotional teenager, my sister is Bipolar and has spent most of her life in and out of various institutions. Some of them not so bad... and others (the state hospital) pretty hellish.

And I agree with the larger point you're making. Something needs to be done to protect those who cant always protect themselves. Especially for teens. State programs like foster homes and group homes almost always suck. I know, because I spent some time in a few of those as a teen too. The foster father was sexually abusive and the mother threw me out for "inviting" it. Off to another locked facility. And all for the crime of running away from home.

Its such a big issue though. Hard to tackle. Where to begin?

I feel for you. :hug:

:hug:

We don't have to accept their premises.
We don't have to accept the premise that the mentally ill are not qualified to make their own choices regarding medication.
We don't have to accept the premise that captivity heals when in fact it only punishes.
We don't have to accept the premise that abuse is treatment.
There's a mad pride revolution in the works.

http://www.freedom-center.org/

http://writhesafely.wordpress.com/

http://www.wildestcolts.com/

but I'll never forget how it felt to be in those situations. No one should have to endure such torture. Not me. Not you. Not your friend. No one. Oh, and my original crime that got me 'put away'? I wore too much black. For that, they will lock up a 15 year old kid. For THAT! :banghead:

Your friend is lucky to have someone like you who clearly loves and cares for her so much. You'll be instrumental in helping her through this horrible time in her life.

I wish there was something more I could do to help your situation. Even as a stranger its hard to feel helpless when things like this go on.

I will thoroughly check out the links you provided and do whatever I can to help correct the incredibly unnecessary problems that far too many people have to deal with. You're right- as liberals its our job to demand human rights protections for every single person in our country.

I'm with you otherlander. PM me anytime if you need to vent. Often times strangers are great for things like that. :hug:

but the fact that we even think to call it that points out the thought process that pervades the entire mental health system. When people are really in need of help, they'll ask for it if the kind of help that's being offered is respectful of them. But that's not what we have. What we have is NAMI-approved punishment posing as help.

And yes, the entire healthcare system is pretty fucked up. But the main healthcare system could be fixed by providing it with proper funding and making healthcare universal for all. If we did that to the mental health system, though, it wouldn't become "fixed", it would just become more well-funded abuse. That's the difference.

BTW, welcome to my buddy list.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=276

They may have some contacts and advice that could help both you and your friend.

I agree with you that mental health (as well as all health issues) is a political issue.

There are far too many groups who see the mentally ill as some kind of meal ticket or guinea pig to be used in ideological experimentation.

All you can do is be a good friend and go to the forum (the link is posted above) and talk to other people who have been where you are and know better what options there are.

yes I have. The threads mostly seem to be centered around personal experiences with mental illness, which can be very helpful at times, but what I really need right now is discussion more centered around rights/advocacy. I have found that elsewhere among anarchists and punks, but it just gets me angry sometimes that mainstream liberals so rarely object to the coerced-treatment model.

Perhaps the conversation should be centered around children's rights as opposed to specific medical treatment?

BTW, I am not an expert on either.

It's not just kids, though. Adults are mistreated in psych wards too but don't speak out because of the stigma surrounding mental health treatment...

Yeah. I'll definitley do that. Thanks.
:hi:

...is because of what you said regarding a patient being held "coerced-treatment".

I think a little research might surprise you when it comes to exactly how many rights children have even in America.

Also, I doubt the number of adults mistreated in psych wards exceeds abuses in other institutional situations.

Hollywood has never depicted science acurately.