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In This Issue
about
safe harbor
about
alternative
mentalhealth.com
Editor's note
Articles
Outdoor
Greenery Walks Improve Depression
Alternative
Mental Health Conference, Las Vegas, 9/14
Alzheimer’s-Omega-3
Study Launched
Depression
Risk Higher with Diet of High Omega-6/Omega-3 Ratio
Safe
Harbor President to Speak on Philadelphia Radio, June 30
BOOK REVIEW:
Healing Schizophrenia – Using Medication Wisely
Holistic
Psychiatrist Files Landmark Suit Against Maryland Medical
Board
Many
Schizophrenics Recover Faster Without Drugs
Alzheimer’s
Disease Worsens With Nursing Home Placement
The Editors
Dan Stradford, Editor
Alan Graham, Contributing Editor
SafeHarborProj@aol.com
AlternativeMentalHealth.com
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About Safe Harbor
Safe Harbor was founded in 1998 in the
wake of growing public dissatisfaction with the unwanted
effects of orthodox psychiatric treatments such as medication
and shock therapy.
Seeking to satisfy the desire for safer, more
effective treatments, Safe Harbor is dedicated to educating
the public, the medical profession, and government officials
on research and treatments that, minimally, do no harm and,
optimally, cure the causes of severe mental symptoms. Our
primary thrust is education on the medical causes of severe
mental symptoms and the use of nutritional and other natural
treatments.
About AlternativeMental
Health.com
ALTERNATIVEMENTALHEALTH.COM
is the world's largest website devoted exclusively to
alternative mental health treatments. It includes a directory
of over 350 physicians, nutritionists, experts, organizations,
and facilities around the U.S. that offer or promote safe,
alternative treatments for severe mental symptoms. Many of the
physicians listed do in-depth examinations to find the
physical causes behind mental problems.
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.
Contact Us
Safe Harbor
787 W. Woodbury Rd., #2
Altadena, CA 91001
Phone: 626-791-7868
Fax: 626-791-7869
SafeHarborProj@aol.com
AlternativeMentalHealth.com
Safe Harbor New Mexico
Louisa Putnam, President
505-988-4242
louisa_putnam@mcmxi.com
We welcome your donations. As a nonprofit
organization, Safe Harbor is supported solely through the
generosity of the public. Donations can be made online at our
web site or mailed to the above address. We also accept Visa/
MasterCard by phone. Thank you.
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Editor's note
A recent USA Today headline—quite startling,
really—splashed across its pages: MENTALLY ILL DIE 25
YEARS EARLIER, ON AVERAGE. One would think this would
strike the psychiatric world like a 9/11, stirring drastic
changes. It did not.
They've known for decades that psychiatric patients die
earlier that the average population. But since the early 1990s
the lifespan gap has DOUBLED. That's right. Patients used to
live 10-15 years less. Now it's 25. Still, psychiatrists are
not storming CNN to get the message out.
Even more damning is the fact that the research that
discovered this 25-year gap was published in 2006 and is only
now reaching a major newspaper. We are left to wonder if the
lives of the mentally ill are considered less important—so
much so that the guardians of their care, modern psychiatry
and its professional organizations, brushes off this news with
a sigh and the usual finger-pointing.
If a headline announced that the general public was dying
10-15 years earlier, what do you think the response would be
from the public and private sectors?
Also, one would think that alarm bells would be ringing
over two matters.
First, the only thing that has significantly changed in
psychiatry in the past two decades is the medications.
"Modern" medications cause diabetes, obesity and
other medical complications. A reasonable person could
conclude that they are shortening the lives of millions of
people by 10-15 years and that this could easily be regarded
as a national crisis. In fact, this was stated blatantly in
the January 2007 issue of the Canadian Journal of
Psychiatry by researcher Mary Seeman: "The general
health of individuals with schizophrenia suffers from neglect,
poor life style choices, and current treatments that increase
death rates."
Secondly, while numerous explanations have traditionally
been given for why the mentally ill die early, even before the
1990s, one reason that is never given is the most obvious
reason of all: They are physically ill. Perhaps most mental
illness is caused by hidden physical disorders that not only
affects the person's mind but his body as well and will kill
him early if not detected and treated.
When a population has a life expectancy of 1/3 less than
the rest of the population, why is this most obvious
conclusion not being addressed? Why are millions spent on more
drugs for symptoms and almost no treatments being developed
that detect and address underlying physiological causes?
"We're going in the wrong direction and have to change
course," says Joseph Parks, director of psychiatric
services for the Missouri Department of Mental Health and lead
author of the report.
The facts are simple. A person with a mental
disorder had a far better chance of living longer 50 years ago
than he does today. When medical doctors "treat"
people resulting in an ADDITIONAL 10-15 year loss of lifespan,
calling it a "wrong direction" is charitable at
best. A court might call it negligent homicide—on a very
large scale.
Outdoor Greenery Walks
Improve Depression
For centuries, the use of mild exercise in the green
outdoors was a routine part of mental health treatment. As far
back as the thirteenth century, residents of Gheel, Belgium
took in mentally troubled travelers and allowed them to assist
on local farms.
In the 1800s sanitariums with lots of acreage sprang up
modeled after the Quakers' famed York Retreat in England. In
the U.S. state mental hospitals were placed in rural settings
to allow patients the benefits of walks, peace and rest in a
natural setting.
As mental health treatment has become more modern, the use
of the outdoors as a therapy has virtually vanished.
Recent research, however, has revived the concept of
healing through greenery. In a groundbreaking report entitled
"Ecotherapy
– The Green Agenda for Mental Health" by MIND,
England's leading mental health nonprofit, in conjunction with
the University of Essex, we find studies that show the mental
benefits of mild outdoor exercise.
Researchers examined members of local MIND groups—all
mental health clients—who took part in two walks, one in a
country park and one in an indoor shopping centre, to test the
impact on self-esteem, mood and enjoyment.
Results:
- 71 per cent reported decreased levels of depression
after the green walk.
- 22 per cent felt their depression increased after
walking through an indoor shopping centre and only 45 per
cent experienced a decrease in depression.
- 71 per cent said they felt less tense after the green
walk.
- 50 per cent said they felt more tense after the shopping
centre walk.
- 90 per cent said their self-esteem increased after the
country walk.
- 44 per cent reported decreased self-esteem after window
shopping in the shopping centre.
- 88 per cent of people reported improved mood after the
green walk.
- 44.5 per cent of people reported feeling in a worse mood
after the shopping centre walk, 11 per cent reported no
change and 44.5 per cent said their mood improved.
- 71 per cent of people said they felt less fatigued after
the green walk and 53 per cent said they felt more
vigorous.
Encouraged by these resounding findings and
calling the outdoor exercise "ecotherapy," Mind has
launched a campaign promoting that:
- The health profession see ecotherapy as a
clinically-valid treatment for mental distress.
- Doctors consider ecotherapy when prescribing treatments
for patients in mental distress.
- People on care plans have access to green spaces.
- Health and social care referrals include care farms
(farms used for therapy).
- Health and social care budgets consider the
cost-benefits of ecotherapy.
- All health, social care and criminal justice
institutions offer access to green space.
- Town and country planners incorporate mental wellbeing
in their design.
- Public health campaigns promote the benefits of green
exercise.
Alternative Mental Health
Conference, Las Vegas, 9/14
On Friday, September 14, 2007, The Results Project (www.resultsproject.net)
will host a conference in Las Vegas entitled "What's
Causing My Symptoms?"
The conference will focus on modern lab testing techniques
that pinpoint risk factors for mental disorders. Conference
promoters pose the following question:
Question: What causes symptoms of ADD, OCD ODD, PDD,
depression, mood swings, anger, Bi-polar, Autism and
Asperger's?
Answer: Toxic metals, nutrient depletion, sugar, low pH
balance, delayed food allergies, hormone imbalances and
aspartame.
Solution: Get a lab test and find out, stop taking a visual
evaluation to get on drugs! Hear from the labs themselves and
get the proof you need to be drug free.
The Results Project reports getting "over 1,500 kids
off drugs like Ritalin and Prozac using lab tests and we've
invited those labs to speak."
Tickets are $29, buy 10 get 1 free, buy 20 get
3 free. The conference will seat 1500. For more information,
visit www.whatcausedmysymptoms.com.
Alzheimer's-Omega-3 Study
Launched
More research has now confirmed previous studies that
showed that supplementing with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
improves ADHD symptoms.
Researchers studied 132 Australian children, aged 7-12, who
scored high on ADHD symptom testing. Those put on omega-3
(fish oil) and omega-6 (primrose oil) supplements, showed
significant improvement after 15 weeks, according to parental
reports, than those on placebo. Improvement continued the
following 15 weeks. When the placebo group was put on the
supplements, they, too, showed the same level of improvement.
Researchers concluded: "Significant medium to strong
positive treatment effects were found on parent ratings of
core ADHD symptoms."
The study was reported in the April 2007 issue
of the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.
Depression Risk Higher with
Diet of High Omega-6/Omega-3 Ratio
Two common essential fatty acids are Omega-3, found in
fish, leafy greens and other foods, and Omega-6, found in
olive oil, some nuts and seeds, and other sources. A 1:3
balance of omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs in the diet is recommended
by many nutritionists. Western cultures typically consume
higher quantities of omega-6 EFAs, because these are found in
meat, animal products, and common cooking oils, resulting in
unhealthy EFA balances. The average North American diet is
about 15:1 and Americans have a ratio as skewed as 1:40.
The April 2007 issue of Psychosomatic Medicine
reports on a study of adults with high Omega 6:Omega 3 diets
and how this impacted their rate of depression. The research
showed that those with a high ratio exhibited significantly
more low mood.
According to Medscape, lead author Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser,
PhD, from Ohio State University in Columbus, told: "The
major finding here is that yes, [diet] matters, and it
probably matters more in people who have high levels of
depressive symptoms." She added that this study provides
evidence that diet seems to be very important in the way that
people respond to depression and stress, and that "diet
is not just a sideline player."
Safe Harbor President to
Speak on Philadelphia Radio, June 30
On Saturday, June 30, at 9 AM EST (1 PM Greenwich Mean
Time), Safe Harbor founder and president Dan Stradford will do
a rare interview for an hour with psychologist Parthenia
Izzard on WWDB radio, at 860 on the AM dial.
The show will also be featured internationally on the
internet at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=cmz9obcab.0.rr5yobcab.sx8mssn6.12473&ts=S0256&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.modavox.com%2F7thwavenetwork%2F.
He will be taking questions from Dr. Izzard and
listeners about non-drug approaches to mental disorders and
the vast array of resources for those seeking non-drug
solutions.
Book Review: Healing
Schizophrenia—Using Medication Wisely
One of the most disheartening diagnoses in the mental
health world is the constellation of symptoms known as
schizophrenia. This disorder—which can have many different
causes—is commonly a death knell for the social life of
those so labeled. And it is so resistive to orthodox treatment
that a past edition of psychiatry's DSM (Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual) claimed that if a person recovered from
schizophrenia, it is likely he was misdiagnosed in the first
place.
Modern-day psychiatry has a single primary approach to this
problem: medication. While drugs have been a godsend for many
to bring them relief from the demons of schizophrenia, the
problem is that people are then left on pharmaceuticals for
the rest of their lives, living with the side effects and
having no real address to the causes of their symptoms.
John Watkins has done a superb job of addressing these
issues in a meticulous fashion in his book Healing
Schizophrenia—Using Medication Wisely. He looks at the
statistics of medication usage and all the other options
available. Additionally, he gives us a frank discussion of the
pros and cons of medication use, with an in-depth analysis of
the many issues that must be weighed when considering the drug
route.
His writing is sensible. There is no agenda here, pushing
drugs or railing against them. It is just a frank
acknowledgment that a life on medication is not preferred and
that, if approached in a holistic and intelligent manner, an
individual's treatment plan may be able to reduce or even
eliminate the need for drugs.
This is not really a book on alternative mental
health treatments (although some common sense matters such as
diet and exercise are addressed) but asks that psychiatrists
rely on less medication with the tools that they have. This
book has been needed for a long time and will, no doubt,
improve a lot of lives.
Holistic Psychiatrist Files
Landmark Suit Against Maryland Medical Board
On May 10, 2007, psychiatrist Alice Lee-Bloem, M.D., filed
an unprecedented lawsuit against the Maryland Board of
Physician Quality Assurance to protect her right to practice
complementary medicine. Following is her statement:
Your right to choose a physician who uses complementary
and integrative methods for healing mental illness is
currently being threatened by the Maryland Board of Physician
Quality Assurance. Because of my choice to use
complementary and integrative treatment methods, the Board
subjected me to a "peer review" by three traditional
psychiatrists. I was not peer reviewed because the Board had
received even one legitimate letter of complaint from a
patient. Instead the peer review process was triggered by a
frivolous letter of complaint to the Board written by an
ex-partner of one of my patients. The patient had chosen
alternative psychiatric treatment, which was at odds with the
ex-partner's belief in traditional psychiatric treatment.
Because the ex-partner's letter contained numerous false
allegations, the patient herself wrote a letter to the Board,
explaining the situation and asking the Board to drop the
case.
The Board, however, ignored the patient and chose to
proceed with the peer review process. During one peer review
interview, the reviewer never asked
me even one question about the case in question, but
said that the case depended on whether orthomolecular
psychiatry was a legitimate approach for healing mental
illness. In order to judge me, the reviewer asked that I
bring articles and information to him so that he could begin
to familiarize himself with the field and thus judge me on my
orthomolecular skills. The other reviewers were less frank,
and they were not interested in any articles, but they were
prepared to judge me anyway.
In addition, the Board pays peer reviewers to act as
expert witnesses for the prosecution of a physician. The
peer review process is currently not much more than a step
towards license revocation--with the physician providing the
information to the reviewer that will later be used against
the physician. (My medical license has NOT been revoked).
To add to this charade of justice, the Board has not had
any formal guidelines or rules to govern the peer review
process for years. Therefore, as a physician, I had no
rights within their administrative proceedings.
However, as a citizen of the state of Maryland and the
United States, I do have certain guaranteed rights, which the
Board of Maryland had disregarded and had violated during the
peer review process. These rights are defensible in court. On
May 10, 2007, I filed an unprecedented lawsuit against the
Maryland Board for violating my right to due process and for
its unconstitutional practices. This
lawsuit sets a precedent in a number of ways:
[ Remainder of article
found at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=cmz9obcab.0.vr5yobcab.sx8mssn6.12473&ts=S0256&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.drbloem.com%2Fhp%2Famddonatemain.htm
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Many Schizophrenics Recover
Faster Without Drugs
Research published in the May 2007 issue of the Journal
of Nervous and Mental Disease has found that many people
diagnosed with schizophrenia actually recover without
medication. The study's author's concluded, "The current
longitudinal data suggest not all schizophrenia patients need
to use antipsychotic medications continuously throughout their
lives."
The research found that, after 10 years, 79% of patients on
antipsychotics were psychotic, whereas 23% of those not on
medication were psychotic. After 15 years, 65 per cent of
patients on antipsychotics were psychotic, whereas only 28% of
those not on medication were psychotic.
Those who did well off of medication tended to have certain
character traits including better premorbid (before the
illness) developmental achievements, favorable personality and
attitudinal approaches, less vulnerability, greater
resilience, and favorable prognostic factors.
The study concluded that there is a subgroup of
patients diagnosed with schizophrenia who do not immediately
relapse while off antipsychotics and experience intervals of
recovery.
Alzheimer's Disease Worsens
With Nursing Home Placement
People with Alzheimer's disease experience an acceleration
in the rate of cognitive decline after being placed in a
nursing home according to a new study by Rush University
Medical Center. The study, published in the June issue of the American
Journal of Psychiatry, finds that prior experience in
adult day care may lessen this association.
The observational study involved 432 older persons with
Alzheimer's disease who were recruited from health care
settings in the Chicago area. At baseline, they lived in the
community and 196 participants were using day care services
from 2 to 6 days a week for an overall mean of 1.7 days a
week. At six month intervals for up to four years, they
completed nine cognitive tests from which a composite measure
of global cognition was derived.
On average, cognition declined at a gradually increasing
rate for all participants. During the study period, 155
persons were placed in a nursing home, and placement was
associated with a lower level of cognition and more rapid
cognitive decline.
Study participants who had previous adult day care
experience fared better. As level of day care use at study
onset increased, the association of nursing home placement
with accelerated cognitive decline substantially decreased.
Thus, people using day care 3 to 4 days a week at the
beginning of the study showed no increase in cognitive decline
upon nursing home placement.
"The findings suggest that experience in day care may
help individuals with Alzheimer's disease make the transition
from the community to institutional residence," said
study author Robert S. Wilson, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist at
the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center.
The study also found that a higher level of education was
associated with accelerated cognitive decline upon nursing
home placement. Yet, day care use markedly reduced the
association of education with accelerated cognitive decline in
the nursing home; further evidence that there is a robust
association between day care experience and cognition during
the transition to a nursing home.
The authors considered the possibility that nursing home
placement is simply a sign of increased severity of
Alzheimer's disease. Yet, the nursing-home-related increase in
cognitive decline was observed even after simultaneous control
for cognitive and noncognitive indicators of dementia severity
at the time of nursing home entry.
Alternatively, the increased cognitive decline upon
placement may reflect difficulty adapting to an unfamiliar
environment, consistent with clinical reports of increased
confusion and behavior problems in those with dementia during
acute hospitalization or trips away from home. Patients who
had prior adult day care services may be better able to adjust
to the unfamiliar environment.
"The findings suggest that the transition from the
community to a nursing home is particularly difficult for
people with Alzheimer's disease and that those planning for
their care should consider the possibility that experience in
adult day care programs may help prepare affected persons for
institutional living," said Wilson.
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