Category Archives: Psychotropic drugs

A Couple’s Healing Journey – May 2, 2018

A COUPLE’S HEALING JOURNEY

1 Story, 2 People,
8 No Psychiatric Drugs

Natural, science-backed approaches
to taming psychiatric symptoms

Meghan D. and her partner, Todd O., will share their remarkable journey through a dizzying maze of medical doctors, naturopathic doctors, psychiatric hospitals and criminal justice institutions to discover the physical roots of Meghan’s psychiatric diagnoses while learning how to bloom with the help of science and spirit.

In less than a year, Meghan went from experiencing debilitating chronic fatigue and rapid-cycling mania with psychosis to resuming an independent life including full-time work, college coursework, and regular exercise.  This remarkable turnaround started with a belief that there were identifiable physiological causes for her symptoms, and that it would be possible to heal the sources of illness once they were known.

Inspired by their naturopathic doctor’s insightful diagnosis of several underlying conditions, Todd began a deep dive into cutting edge neuroscience, immunology, and herbalism.  The research-backed remedies he discovered allowed Meghan to regain her full and active life.  Along the way, Todd discovered numerous studies revealing a form of neuropathology common to severe psychiatric symptoms such as schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar mania, depression, and dementia, as well as ongoing research into treatable drivers of this condition.

Join us as Meghan and Todd share their stories, insights, and tools that have helped them regain and maintain health and vitality.

Wednesday, May 2, 2018, 7 – 9 PM
Unite Oregon
700 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR
(across from PCC Cascade Campus)
Click here for map

FREE! (Donations Welcome $0 – $20 suggested)
For questions, contact RethinkingPsychiatry@gmail.com or message us on our Facebook Page.

Click here to download flyer.

Coming Off Psych Drugs – April 20, 2016

Rethinking Psychiatry Presents
Daniel Mackler’s acclaimed documentary

Coming Off Psych Drugs: A Meeting of the Minds

In June of 2012, twenty-three people came together to discuss the subject of coming off psychiatric drugs.

 We were psychiatric survivors, therapists, mental health consumers, family members, and activists, united by a passion for truth-telling.

More than half of us had successfully come off psych drugs, including cocktails of antipsychotics and mood stabilizers.

Please join us in our own meeting of the minds, to watch and continue this discussion, with an opportunity to share our own experiences on, off, and coming off of psych drugs.

Click here to view trailer.

projectorWednesday, April 20, 2016
7:00 PM
The Center for Intercultural Organizing
700 N. Killingsworth St., Portland Oregon

Discussion to follow. Download flier here.

Big Pharma buys influence in Oregon Legislature

phrmacashInformation just released by The Lund Report reveals that pharmaceutical companies spent nearly half a million dollars since 2011 to influence elections and legislation in the Oregon State Legislature.  Top donors to political campaigns include the world’s largest drug company, Pfizer (maker of Zoloft and Xanax), and Eli Lilly, the world’s largest manufacturer of psychiatric medications (maker of Prozac).

Recipients of Pharma campaign contributions include members of the Senate & House leadership, and members of key committees.  The report concludes Big Pharma got its money’s worth.   Read the full report here.

 

Beyond Soteria – Jan. 15, 2014

Creating a Place for Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs & Restoring Wellness

Cindi Fisher, Founder of the M.O.M.S. Movement, and Grace Silvia, who worked at Soteria Alaska, will share their vision for a place for withdrawing from psychiatric drugs and restoring wellness.  They invite people who have come off meds, people who want to come off meds, family, friends and allies to share their experiences and build a common vision to take this dream into action!

Chitari

Dr. Satya Ambrose will introduce  her collaborative healing community, Chitari.  Chitari is a non-profit holistic healing center where the worlds of conventional and natural medicine meet to promote wellness of the body and spirit.

Join us at our next meeting!

April 17th, 7:00 PM

Coming Off Psych Drugs: A Meeting of the MindsComing Off
Psych Drugs

A Meeting of the Minds

 

Our April meeting will feature a new documentary film by Daniel Mackler.

More than half the film’s subjects have successfully come off a variety of medications, including antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, antidepressants, and benzos, and several participants give trainings on the process. Here they tell how they did it and they provide a philosophy and framework for coming off. Starring Will Hall, Oryx Cohen, Laura Delano, Chaya Grossberg, Daniel Hazen, Laura Van Tosh, and Spencer and Matt Ladner.  View trailer

Date: Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Time: 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Location: First Unitarian Church,  1011 SW 12th Ave., Portland, OR
Note: Laura Van Tosh is unable to attend this meeting as previously promoted.

Rethinking Psychiatry Film Festival Opens with Mind Zone

Opening night  Thursday, Feb 21, 2013

Mind Zone: Therapists Behind the Front LinesWe are proud and excited to kick off this year’s Rethinking Psychiatry’s film festival with the first public showing of the newly completed documentary, Mind Zone: Therapists Behind the Front Lines.

Mind Zone explores the controversies and challenges of keeping people in unhealthy places, of therapists as both healers and warriors. While public consciousness grows of the post-traumatic stress disorder and the alarming suicide rates among soldiers and veterans, the struggle of those attempting to diagnose and treat them has never been told. Mind Zone is their story.  

While making Mind Zone, director Dr. Jan Haaken, Portland State professor, clinical psychologist and documentary filmmaker was embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan. For the first time in historythe U.S. Army granted access to a team of filmmakers to document the challenges of maintaining mental and emotional healing on the front lines.

Dr. Haaken will introduce the film and answer questions afterwards.

Co-sponsored by

Will Hall: Understanding Psychiatric Medications: a Harm Reduction Approach – Oct 21

Will Hall - Portland Hearing Voices How can anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, and other drugs be used wisely?  What are the risks and benefits?  How can we collaborate effectively with prescribers, and what about reducing and discontinuing medications?  Come learn a pragmatic harm reduction approach that is neither pro- nor anti- medication, but instead based in mental diversity. Everyone is welcome: professionals, survivors, students, family, and anyone taking or not taking medications.

Event details…

Seminar: When Treatment Might Cause Harm

Ron Unger LCSWPam Birrell PhD and Ron Unger LCSW present “When Treatment Might Cause Harm: Exploring Ethical Dilemmas related to Diagnosis, Drugs, and other Possibly Iatrogenic Aspects of Mental Health Care

  • Eugene on 9/7/12
  • Portland on 9/14/12.

6 NASW CEU’s in ethics available.  Register early for the 3 week in advance “early bird” discount, or the scholarship offered to c/s/x!  See http://recoveryfromschizophrenia.org/home/

MOMS 100-mile walk July 23-24

Cindi Fisher, founder of MOMS Movement

Two mothers, each with a child who was failed by the “standard of care” within the current psycho-pharmaceutical treatment model, will be walking 100 miles to shine a light on how our systems are broken and have failed us.

The walk begins in at the Portland First Unitarian Church, July 23 at noon.  From there, stops will include the Portland Oregon State Hospital, the Clark County Courthouse in Vancouver, and the Western State Hospital in Lakewood, Washington.

Download flier with complete details

Support this walk by making a tax deductible donation, and by joining these mothers in their walk.

For more information, contact Cindi Fisher,

Phone: 360-254-8703
Email: momsmovement@gmail.com
Website: http://www.mentalhealthrightsyes.com

The Relationship Between Medication and Veteran Suicide

Dr. Peter R. Breggin, MDDr. Peter Breggin, MD was asked to testify before the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on the link between antidepressants and suicide.  He provided a detailed analysis emphasizing the science that demonstrates a causal relationship between the newer antidepressants and the production of suicide, violence, mania and other behavioral abnormalities. He emhasized the considerable risk in giving these drugs to heavily armed young men and women.

The newer antidepressants frequently cause suicide, violence, and manic-like symptoms of activation or overstimulation, presenting serious hazards to active-duty soldiers who carry weapons under stressful conditions.  These antidepressant-induced symptoms of activation can mimic post-traumatic stress disorder, and are likely to worsen this common disorder in soldiers, increasing the hazard when they are prescribed to military personnel.  Antidepressants should not be prescribed to soldiers during or after deployment.

View video of Dr. Breggin’s testimony (26 min)

Written testimony: Antidepressant-Induced Suicide, Violence, and Mania: Risks for Military Personnel