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Dear NBC Nightly News and Brian Williams
Dear Producers and Brian Williams: I am shocked and saddened that last night, Brian Williams said Ariel Castro is “the face of mental illness.” No, he most certainly isn’t. Not only did a psychiatrist testify that he IS NOT mentally ill, but the horrific things he did are NOT a byproduct of any mental illness.…
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Hospitalization How-To (When You Have To)
One of my kids was in the psychiatric hospital, or the “phosp” as we short hand it in the Facebook Support Group, last week. It doesn’t matter which one. Even though each of my kids with mental health concerns has, of course, their own distinctly different issues, the experience of being hospitalized, working on those…
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Ignoring The Thin Line Between Stability And Psychosis
Back in March of this year, Congressman Tim Murphy, Republican of Pennsylvania, sponsored a hearing to the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on violence and severe mental illness. Many people were called to testify, including author Pete Earley, NIMH Director Dr. Thomas Insel, parents of persons with…
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Fear and Misinformation and Throwing Away 50%
DJ Jaffe and Dr. Fuller Torrey are two leading figures in the cause for forced treatment of persons with severe mental illness. Their argument is that persons with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and severe bipolar disorder lack the ability to contribute to their care. While in many cases, that is true, in equally as many cases…
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Not Guilty
I knew better, but I read the comments anyway. “He needs the death penalty immediately!”“Bring back public hanging!”“Electric chair sounds nice, live on paperview.” (sic)“Cut his balls off and feed them to him.” I wish he had pled Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity so the public could see what a joke our mental health care…
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Congressional Hearing on Violence & Mental Illness – My Open Letter to Congressman Murphy
March 6, 2013Representative Tim MurphyFax: (202) 225-1844 Dear Congressman Murphy: My name is Chrisa Hickey and I am a parent of four young adults, two of which are diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder. I write a blog about Childhood Onset Mental Illness and moderate a support group of over 600 parents of children diagnosed with all…