Feedback: We'd like to hear your comments and views. Please forward them to the e-mail address above. Contact information is below.

Also included on the site is an array of articles on topics ranging from the medical causes of schizophrenia to the effects of toxic metals on mental health.

Special AlternativeMentalHealth.com T-shirts and bumper stickers are available at our online store.

A bookstore page lists top books that cover many areas of alternative treatments with titles like Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and Other Common Mental Disorders and No More Ritalin.

AlternativeMentalHealth.com has been created to educate the public, practitioners, and government officials on the medical conditions that create "mental illness" and the many safe resources available for addressing and often curing severe mental symptoms.

The Harvard conference features presentations by nearly 20 Harvard faculty members, most from the Dept. of Psychiatry, plus several others.

To our knowledge, this is the first university to present such a conference. That it is from Harvard Medical School is all the better.

This event marks a dramatic shift in the medical establishment's position on non-drug mental health treatments. No longer will psychiatrists and other physicians have the excuse that these treatments are not recognized by mainstream medicine. If it is good enough to teach Harvard psychiatrists and physicians, it's good enough for their colleagues across the country and the world.

It has been our experience over the past several years that the field of alternative mental health, thanks to our work and the work of many others, is growing at an astonishing rate across the U.S. and the world. So this announcement does not come as a total surprise. But we want to publicly thank the Harvard School of Medicine for showing the fortitude and leadership and advocating these natural treatments, which are far superior to the "old" practice of drugging symptoms into oblivion.

The email address for it is SafeHarborB@aol.com.

The phone number is:  617-964-5544

Heading the operation is Gary Shapiro, a local businessman who is passionate about getting the word out about non-drug approaches for mental health. He will be working with healthcare professionals in his area and setting up Safe Harbor talks and a support group in the Boston area. 

We are extremely pleased to be in Boston. It is the home of Harvard and other well-known institutions where some outstanding cutting-edge research is occurring these days with nutritional treatment of mental disorders. It is home to Dr. Joseph Glenmullen, author of Prozac Backlash; Dr. Andrew Stoll, who is continues outstanding research showing fish oil to be as effective as drugs in treating those diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder; and Dr. Charles Popper, who has published on the 70% success rate he's has using the TrueHope supplements (www.truehope.com) on his patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder. All three are from Harvard.

Boston is also home to Courtenay Harding, Ph.D., of Boston University, who has done remarkable research showing that 2/3 of people diagnosed with schizophrenia recover or greatly improve on their own over time.

We look forward to helping improve the health of many in the Boston area.

The course, entitled Natural Remedies for Psychiatric Disorders: Considering the Alternatives, is being offered by Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, on April 25 - 27, 2003 at the Westin Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts.

It is intended that the course will give practitioners the information they need to advise their patients on alternatives, and will cover a wide range of diagnoses such as Depression, Anxiety and Sleep Disorders, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, and Dementia, and alternative treatments such as St. John's Wort, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, SAMe, Folate, B12, Melatonin, Inositol, Ginkgo Biloba, Galantamine, GH, and Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and Glycine.

The course will be presented by a faculty of experts from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and other major institutions.

We will have a support group meeting from 7 PM to 8 PM and the talk and a question-and-answer period will last from 8 PM to 9 PM. The talk is free and all are invited.

The lecture will be Wednesday, February 12, 2003, at the Safe Harbor office at 1718 Colorado Blvd. in the Eagle Rock section of Los Angeles.

Admission is free and all are invited. We ask that you call the Safe Harbor office or email to let us know you are coming: (323) 257-7338 or SafeHarborProj@aol.com.

The topic is "Natural Approaches for Mental Disorders."

The public is invited. There is no fee.

The address is: 101 E. Huntington Dr., Monrovia, California.  

David Gilbert, medical representative for Evince, will speak on two consecutive evenings in Southern California on recent published research in nutrient intervention for mental disorders, their ongoing open case study program of people using the nutrients, and support and monitoring systems used to assist study participants and their health care providers.

There is no charge.

Times and locations:

7:00 - 9:00 PM, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003: Chino Hills, CA, office of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) at 6251 Schaefer Ave, Unit G, Chino Hills, CA. Phone: (909) 606-9959

7:00 - 9:00 PM, Friday, Feb. 28, 2003: Safe Harbor office, 1718 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. Phone: (323) 257-7338

Seating is limited. Please call to reserve a seat.  

The morning program, Nutrition and Mental Health Treatment - Sense or Nonsense?, will begin with an overview of nutritional influences on brain function and go on to cover:

• Protein intake and neurotransmitter signals
• Carbohydrate addiction and brainfog/the current Atkins controversy
• Fats: the good, the bad and the ugly
• Fish oil vs. Prozac

The afternoon program, Practical Suggestions for Integrating Alternative Therapies into a Mental Health Practice, will cover specific herbal and nutritional supplements that have been used in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Topics include Food Allergies, St. John's Wort, Kava Kava, SAMe, Inositol and NADH.

Dates and locations:

Friday, February 28, 2003, the Holiday Inn, Dedham, MA
Friday, March 14, 2003, the Danversport Yacht Club, Danvers, MA

Tuition: $77.00

Contact: Commonwealth Education Seminars, 800-376-3345, ces22@attbi.com.  

They will be doing another presentation in Lawrence in April on Natural Approaches to Depression and Anxiety. If you would like to be notified of the exact time and place, email us at SafeHarborProj@aol.com and we will put you on the list.

We are moving into our fifth year and going strong, changing lives every day. Every week thousands come to our Web site for help and information. 

Thanks to Safe Harbor's work, the field of alternative mental health is growing rapidly and gaining favor and understanding in the public consciousness. Our continued success depends a great deal on the donations of people like yourself, who want to see the field of mental health and the lives of those involved improved. By partnering with us through your membership fees, you help us deliver:

• 24 Hour Access to www.AlternativeMentalHealth.com
• "ADD" Educational Workshops for Parents, Teachers, Social Workers & the Public
• Alternative Mental Health Workshops
• Online Physician & Practitioner Referral List
• Direct Phone and E-mail Consultation
• Community Mental Health Reform
• Practitioner Training and More!

Please print out and provide the information requested below and mail to:
    Safe Harbor
    1718 Colorado Boulevard
    Los Angeles, CA 90041
    U.S.A.

You may also go to www.AlternativeMentalHealth.com and make your donation online, or call 323-257-7338 and we will take your information by phone.

Membership:

• $1-44 Free Monthly Ezine (online newsletter)
• $45 Free Monthly Ezine & Bumper Sticker
• $75 Free Monthly Ezine, Bumper Sticker & T-shirt (Circle size: M L XL)
• $125 Free Monthly Ezine, Bumper Sticker, T-shirt (Circle size: M L XL) & your choice of Book: _____ No More ADHD OR _____ Orthomolecular Treatment of Schizophrenia
• $200+ Get all of the above and a special gift

I would like to donate [   ]     I would like to volunteer [   ]

Name ___________________________________________________________

Address ________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Telephone ___________________    E-mail ________________________

Thank you very much for helping us continue changing lives every day!

From a veterinarian:

Yesterday a client returned to my office with her cats. I haven't seen her for over two years. She looks great and the cats are doing well. She smiles and tells me,

"Thanks."

I say, "For what?"

She proceeds to tell me that last time she came to our office she was on an antidepressant and was depressed severely and doing poorly. I told her to visit AlternativeMentalHealth.com and she did.

She looked up information on her condition and it made sense.

She put the information into action in her life and now she is no longer on disability and is off all drugs. She has a job and is happy and has income to take care of her cats which makes me happy, too!

Life is good when people care for one another and have correct information.

Thanks to you all for participating.

I'm smiling. Are you?

From Willam Walsh, Ph.D., senior scientist for the Pfeiffer Treatment Center (www.hriptc.org):

Severe wheat gluten (a protein complex in grains) intolerance can cause classic symptoms of schizophrenia, and amounts to about 4% of all schizophrenia diagnoses in the U.S. These persons usually become quite normal when placed on a gluten-free diet. Psychiatry continues to ignore the small, but significant, population, estimated at 100,000 to 300,000 Americans. These people are usually treated with atypical antipsychotic medications, but simply need a dietary change to become free of symptoms.

There are classic symptoms/markers of gluten intolerance which enable you to determine the small percentage that have symptoms consistent with this disorder. Examples are (1) compulsive, ritualistic behavior, (2) family history of malabsorption, (3) frequent, explosive bowel movements, (4) lethargy, (5) abdominal pain, and (6) Dermatitis Herpetiformis (skin disorder). One could screen a psychiatric hospital population for the presence of some of these markers of celiac disease & then perform diagnostic tests to nail it down.

In a few short weeks [from Dec. 2002], the results of the study measuring the prevalence of celiac disease in the United States will be published in a medical journal [Feb 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine]. The results are astounding: 1 in 179 healthy Americans produces antibiodies to gluten, the first step in a celiac disease diagnosis. We are proud to have contributed significant data to this important study.

For grandparents, grandchildren, aunts and uncles of people with celiac diseas, that number jumps to 1 in 40. For the parents, offspring and siblings of people with celiac disease, the prevalence of celiac disease is 1 in 20.

Dr. Guandalini's program offers free celiac testing at the university every fall. Contact info: 773-702 7593, www.celiacdisease.net  

Support Coalition International, a collection of over 100 organizations supporting patients' rights, voted recently to make the fast a "self-governing project" of the Coalition.

Initial core groups of nine hunger strikers and seven scientific experts have been organized.

"The prospect of putting the mainstream mental health system on the defensive and pressuring the champions of biopsychiatry to back up their claims is really exciting," said Mickey Weinberg, a Support Coalition board member who is helping to organize the hunger strike.

Said Mickey, "People in emotional distress and their families deserve more than public relations sound bites and manipulative TV ads."

Excerpts of the Coalition's official statement follow:

For more information see www.MindFreedom.org. Prospective hunger strikers and all others willing to help in concrete ways should contact Mickey Weinberg at mickey37@earthlink.net.

The 10 children, who ranged from age three to eight, were diagnosed with autism through use of a computer-assessed symptom score. They received thiamine (TTFD) twice a day for two months in the form of a rectal suppository containing 50 mg. of the vitamin. This synthetic disulfide derivative of the vitamin is manufactured in Japan and has never been approved for use in the United States. Dr. Lonsdale was able to use the TTFD in the study because he holds an independent investigator license from the Food & Drug Administration.

As the study progressed, eight of the 10 children experienced improvement in their symptoms, as measured by the computer-assessed Autism Treatment Checklist (ATEC) forms The most severely affected patients showed the best symptomatic response. One patient showed worsening of symptoms during the study.

Dr. Lonsdale and his cohorts examined the children's urine at the outset of the study, and then at 30- and 60-day intervals. They found a number of urinary metals, especially arsenic, exceeding those of healthy controls. These elevated arsenic levels decreased over the course of the treatment. (Dr. Lonsdale and his associates note that a statistical analysis was impossible due to the small number of children studied and the wide variation of urinary arsenic concentrations.)

Four children also had increased arsenic levels in their hair at the study's outset and six more children at the study's conclusion, representing secretion of arsenic into the hair. Following administration of TTFD, two children showed an increase in cadmium in their urine, one child, lead, and another, nickel. However, sulfur metabolites in the urine of the children with autism did not differ from those measured in healthy controls.

The pilot study thus suggests that TTFD may help remove toxic metals from the children's body. According to a press statement issued by Neuroendocrinology Letters, William Walsh, Ph.D., of the Pfeiffer Treatment Center in Illinois found that more than 90 percent of over 300 tested children with autistic spectrum disorder had evidence of a missing sulfur-containing protein called metallothionein. This is known to provide protection from the toxic effects of toxic metals, which attack sulfur metabolism. Further study will be required to confirm the beneficial role of thiamine as a treatment for autism.

The study was reported in the August, 2002, issue of Neuroendocrinology Letters (Vol. 23, No. 4, 2002) at www.nel.edu.)  

I received a message from a doctor. A very interesting message. Here are excerpts:

"I'm an MD, an internist, board-certified. In no way am I what is called an alternative practitioner.

"I never gave much thought to the whole raft of mental disorders which are being diagnosed these days. Until my ten-year-old son received a diagnosis of clinical depression...

"He had been sent, without my knowledge, from his school, to a psychiatrist. That's how the diagnosis occurred...

"Frankly, at first I thought it was a joke or a mistake. How could anyone offer a professional opinion that a ten-year old is suffering from clinical depression?

"I spoke with the psychiatrist, who was a little taken aback by the fact that I am a doctor. He was nervous. But he maintained that his diagnosis was correct...

"I asked him about his prescription for Paxil. That was what my son was supposed to take. I told the psychiatrist that I had done a little research, and Paxil is a very powerful drug.

"The psychiatrist didn't have much to say about that. I told him the drug is heavily addicting, and the withdrawal symptoms can be severe. That alarmed me...

"The psychiatrist maintained that it was a good drug for depression...

"I asked him if he was prepared to take full legal responsibility for any possible effects of the drug on my son. I said I was ready to do tests...continuing tests to see what effects Paxil was having. I said I was ready to have other medical people and mental-health people interview my boy at regular intervals to see what the drug might be doing to do his mental and emotional state, and I hoped he [the school-connected psychiatrist] might suggest a few of these people as well, so we could have an objective panel of experts. Of course, this was all sheer nonsense. I had no intention of subjecting my son to interviews or regular blood tests or brain scans --- and I wasn't about to put him on the drug. But I wanted to see what this psychiatrist would say. I also told him that it was too bad other children's parents did not have the resources to undertake such careful medical and psychological follow-up on their children who were being put on Ritalin and the SSRIs.

"He [the school psychiatrist] began to bend. He said he needed to speak with people at the school --- by which I assume he meant lawyers. I said I couldn't imagine what they would tell him. They weren't medical experts...

"Finally he said --- and I thought this was very interesting---'You know, Doctor, if you want to make trouble here, and cause everyone a lot of grief, then I think you should take responsibility for your child. I'll rescind my prescription.'...

"I told him I WAS taking responsibility for my child. He said he thought that was matter of opinion...

"The upshot is, my son is not taking any drugs. He is fine. I spoke with him, and I found out he was lagging behind in math because he was being taught in an ineffective way. We got him a tutor who knew what she was doing, and now he's all caught up. He is no longer 'depressed.'"

I like them apples. I like them very much.

This is a must-read for clinicians and lay persons who want to know the underlying physical factors in poor mental health, ranging from depression to schizophrenia to Alzheimer's.

Covering more than just nutrition, it delves into hormonal function, allergies, toxins, and many of the other hidden influences that so bedevil the "mentally ill" and result in their being misdiagnosed with psychiatric disorders. Virtually all forms of mental misfunction are reviewed, from sleep problems to poor memory to full-blown psychosis.

Chapter titles include: Overcoming Depression, Schizophrenia Can Be Cured, The Dangers of Drugs and How to Get off Them, The Way Up from Down's Syndrome, and Answers for Autism.

The subject Holford covers is a vast one and no doubt a few purists might like to see more detail in a spot or two, but this comes with the territory of trying to tackle such a complex topic. Overall, Holford has done an excellent job of showing what really lies behind the bulk of mental problems.

Psychiatrists have the unfortunate reputation of commonly being poor physicians who only treat symptoms with drugs. If one wanted to teach psychiatrists about how to treat the actual causes of most mental illness (and often cure it), THIS should be their first textbook. We WILL be recommending Optimum Nutrition for the Mind as the standard text for anyone who wants to know how physical influences affect the mind.

In a little over 100 pages, Dr. Kamph tells us in easy-to-understand language how a body works and how to feed and care for one properly, with lots of emphasis on how the health of the body affects the mind.

Giving the reader the benefit of her 30 years in practice, Dr. Kamph fills this lively text with additional info on supplements, many commonsense remedies for health problems, and tons of tips on how to keep mind and body revved for happy living.

The approval by HHS marks the culmination of a six-year effort by Alternative Link (The Link) and, more recently, The Foundation for Integrative Healthcare (FIHC) to plug a gap in the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS), the healthcare industry's equivalent of bar codes.

"This is a huge step toward measuring and comparing the quality and cost-effectiveness of different approaches to healthcare," said Melinna Giannini, coding expert and board member of the FIHC. "Codes developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the American Medical Association have left unanswered questions about integrative healthcare. With this approval comes real promise that health policymakers will soon be able to draw from a new body of more complete and accurate data. It makes possible a more rational approach to research, management and commerce in healthcare."

"Testing and standardization of coding for integrative healthcare, made possible by the HHS approval, will help improve healthcare quality and efficiencies by highlighting best practices among all approaches to care, not just among physician-directed and disease-based models of care," notes Ms. Giannini. The approval creates an exception to the current HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations that originally led to the naming of HCPCS as a national standard. Ms. Giannini credits legal and government relations experts - Tony Martinez, Debra Bass and Sam Brunelli - for "bringing the benefits of the ABC codes to the attention of health policymakers and employers impacted by rising healthcare costs."

The ABC codes will help facilitate comparisons of the economic and health outcomes of conventional, complementary and alternative practices.

While no one can state authoritatively when the codes will be supported by widespread insurance reimbursement, Ms. Molina predicts that the code testing "will lead to major improvements in the national health information infrastructure, as well as health insurance benefit plan design, managed care and provider contracting, utilization management, clinical practice management, claims processing, outcomes research and actuarial analyses."

Those interested in participating in the testing of ABC codes may apply as demonstration partners at www.alternativelink.com.

Researchers asked 107 GPs in northwest England to explain how they made the decision to prescribe certain new drugs. A total of 19 drugs that had been introduced in the United Kingdom between January 1998 and May 1999 were included in the study.

The doctors were asked to describe the context in which they prescribed the new drugs, the reasons why the chose one drug instead of another, and how they obtained the information that influenced their decision.

Most commonly, GPs were initially introduced to new drugs through sales representatives. Other sources included newspapers and hospital consultants.

Drug companies were also the greatest influence on the GPs' decisions of which drugs to prescribe, followed by consultants and patient requests for specific treatments.

About 70 percent of GPs regarded drug representatives as an efficient way to obtain new drug information, according to researchers. While professing wariness of the drug industry's objectives, they tended to believe that its information would be selective but accurate.

The GPs asserted that they could generally spot misleading information, but only 17 percent actually sought out evidence from peer-reviewed journals before making prescribing decisions. Lack of time and difficulty in interpretation were cited as reasons for not consulting independent sources.

The results of the study, conducted by Dr. Lorann Stallones and Cheryl Beseler of Colorado State University in Fort Collins, were published in the August, 2002 issue of the Annals of Epidemiology.

Through personal interviews, the investigators assessed various aspects of the physical and mental health of farm residents, operators, and their spouses who lived in Colorado between 1992 and 1997. Information was also gathered regarding the participants' exposure to organophosphates, and possible poisoning by the substance. The symptoms of organophosphate poisoning include vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, headaches and blurred vision.

Of the 761 people interviewed, 69 participants reported having been poisoned by exposure to the pesticides. Taking into account other known depression risk factors such as age, marital status, education level and alcohol use, the authors found that farmers who reported organophosphate poisoning were 5.8 times more likely to test high for depression than farmers who were not poisoned.

Stallones and Beseler concluded that "The findings reported here provide further support for evidence of an association between mental health and pesticide poisoning."

My son was diagnosed with 10 different food allergies as an infant. His diet required professional supervision to ensure he ate sufficient fats and vitamins to grow well. As he became a pre-schooler, he did outgrown nine of those allergies, but he maintains a severe dairy allergy at 11 years old, so he continues to be under an allergist's care to monitor this allergy and his mild asthma.

By the time he entered kindergarten, we blamed a lot of his behavior on his asthma. We noticed he seemed to have a tantrum often before an asthma attack, but the allergist assured us that this was unrelated. Still, I am not sure. By second grade, the school was implying he had ADD, though we really did not believe this. We had him evaluated by two developmental pediatricians, who would commit to nothing other than to tell us he was perhaps borderline hyperactive/ADD. One of them recommended we read a book about hidden food allergies, but our allergist denied that the book had any merit. Still, we read it and learned about the food dye-behavior connection. Later, the allergist agreed that this connection is real, but it is a chemical reaction rather than an allergic reaction.

At this time, serendipitously, we ran into another family who was reading labels at a party to check for ingredients. We offered to share our chocolate soy milk, if it was a dairy issue. However, we learned that their daughter avoided Red Dye #40. When we asked what would happen to her, her mother hesitated and then shared that her daughter's behavior would dramatically change. She would throw a loud, aggressive tantrum after eating Red Dye #40. I had heard of this before, and had really resisted having to "go organic" since our diet had already been so dramatically altered due to the food allergies.

However, my husband and I could not deny that this was something we should check into after we gave him a red candy for a treat at an event serving only dairy and "junk foods, " and within fifteen minutes he was swearing, kicking, and just downright rude. We experimented; completely avoiding it and then letting him have it. It was like turning a light switch on and off, "good behavior" and then "bad behavior." These tantrums were such that we would put him in his bedroom and he would just kick the door and swear and then later he would just say, "Can I come out? I feel better."

Car trips were always a horrible nightmare for us, with his continual tantrums after about an hour. Then, we realized that we always served him juice boxes in the car, with artificial Red Dye #40 in it! Now, we can go for four or five hour trips without more than the "normal" restlessness. It is incredible. When I think back to how many tears I cried out of frustration and how much I would have to fight the urge to leave him on the side of the road, well, that is why I am writing this!

He is now in fifth grade, and voluntarily avoids artificial red foods. He just shrugs and tells people, "You don't wanna know what will happen to me if I eat that! Really, I will just go nuts." But the sad part is, there's got to be lots of kids out there that do "go nuts" and they may not be as fortunate as our son to have parents that figured this out. They may be suffering and getting into trouble with their families, schools, and even the police. When you realize that it is lower incomed, less educated families that eat more of the "junk food" it compounds the issue.

Years ago, I worked with emotionally disturbed children, and I know we fed them artificial colors, and I remember seeing this kind of behavior at that group home. How many of them could have been managed at home with healthier diets? I think it is outrageous that this type of chemical pollution is permitted to in our food stream as if it were, well, candy.