Federal Funds for Learning Disorders

Posted on January 2, 2012 by cchrstl

IDEA – The Source of Federal Funds for Learning Disorders

Special Education under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) has become a gravy train for psychiatrists and psychologists diagnosing children with ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder] or “learning disorders” and hooking these kids on drugs.

Of the approximate $50 billion spent annually on Special Education, an estimated $29 billion covers education for subjective “mental disorders,” when the law was originally intended for children with physical handicaps such as autism, speech impediments, blindness or other physical disabilities.

Underlying the coerced drugging of children is the definition of “disability” under Special Education law. The primary purpose of IDEA, which covers Special Education, was to provide a free and appropriate education for children with hearing, sight, speech and other physical handicaps. However, the term “handicapped” was changed to “learning disabled,” and children who fidget in class, interrupt their teachers, or simply fall behind academically were classified as “disabled.”

In order to receive federal funds under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, the “Prohibition on Mandatory Medication Amendment,” was signed into law by President Bush in 2004 and requires schools to implement policies that prohibit schoolchildren being forced onto psychiatric drugs as a requisite for their education: “The State educational agency shall prohibit State and local educational agency personnel from requiring a child to obtain a prescription for a substance covered by the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) as a condition of attending school, receiving an evaluation under subsection (a) or (c) of section 614, or receiving services under this title.” [Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004]

Funding for learning disabilities in Missouri is documented in Missouri Revised Statutes (RSMo), Chapter 162, Section 700 “Special educational services, …” [http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/c100-199/1620000700.htm]

RSMo 162.675 defines “Children with disabilities” or “handicapped children” as “children under the age of twenty-one years who have not completed an approved high school program and who, because of mental, physical, emotional or learning problems, require special educational services.”

Note, however, that RSMo 162.700 denies children needing extra help the most beneficial service by specifying that “remedial reading programs are not a special education service.”

See also RSMo 162.670 “School Districts – Statement of Policy” [http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/c100-199/1620000670.htm] which ties Missouri educational policy to the provisions of IDEA.

It is difficult to determine an exact dollar amount per child; there are a number of formulas governing federal funds given to states for many different programs, which vary year by year based on the federal budget and the state. See also the Wikipedia article on IDEA at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individuals_with_Disabilities_Education_Act.

As an example, see this link [http://www.rense.com/general4/addd.htm] for an article called “How Schools Are Making Big Money On ‘ADD/ADHD’.”

Why is this such an issue?

Well, for example, in the news this week is an article about “ADHD-drug abuse popular on Oregon campuses.” The article makes the point that “Adderall and its counterparts, including Ritalin and the over-the-counter Vivarin, are growing in popularity among students who don’t have ADHD but use the medications as study tools to stay awake and alert during prolonged cram sessions.”

One wonders if these college students learned to use/abuse ADHD drugs in elementary or high school. According to this article, various ADHD drugs are readily available with or without a prescription. One student said, “So many kids have Adderall prescriptions. Doctors just give it away like it’s candy or something. A lot of kids just will give it away for free.”

The drugging of children for ADHD is an epidemic. More than 5 million U.S. children, or 9.5 percent, were diagnosed with ADHD as of 2007. About 2.8 million had received a prescription for a stimulant medication in 2008.

The ADHD diagnosis does not identify a genuine biological or psychological disorder. The diagnosis, from the 2000 edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, is simply a list of behaviors that may appear disruptive or inappropriate.

The prevalence of this fraudulent diagnosis then increases the availability of the drugs, which are addictive and have harmful side effects, and as we see here are abused by others.

For more information about the side effects of psychiatric drugs, go to http://www.cchrstl.org/sideeffects.shtml.

Contact your schools and your local, state and federal officials and let them know what you think about this.

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Inspectors ask Congress to regulate psychiatric drugs

Posted on December 25, 2011 by cchrstl

Just in time for a holiday treat, we read an encouraging article in The Concordia Concordian (Concordia, Lafayette County, Missouri).

This December 7th article reports that the federal government Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General Daniel Levinson proposed to Congress that Medicare force nursing homes to pay for drugs prescribed inapproriately.

“Government inspectors told lawmakers Wednesday [12/7/2011] Medicare officials need to do more to stop doctors from prescribing powerful psychiatric drugs to nursing home patients with dementia, an unapproved practice that has flourished despite repeated government warnings.”

It seems these harmful drugs are given to hundreds of thousands of elderly nursing home patients to pacify aggressive behavior related to dementia, in spite of FDA warnings that these drugs increase the risk of death in seniors with dementia.

A report from HHS issued last May found that 83 percent of Medicare claims for antipsychotics were for nursing home residents with dementia, and 14 percent of all nursing home residents were prescribed antipsychotics.

While doctors are allowed to prescribe drugs for such off-label uses, it is illegal for drug companies to promote off-label use. Yet this alarming practice continues to bilk Medicare for unapproved drugs, which is another example of psychiatric fraud.

What is the alternative to psychotropic drugs?

Not only do psychiatrists not understand the cause of any mental disorder, they cannot cure them. Though psychiatry may have given up on effective mental healing, this is fortunately false. Mental problems can be resolved, and without harmful and addictive psychotropic drugs.

The first and most obvious action to take with someone mentally disturbed is to Do No Harm. That means ensuring that they are not subjected to psychiatric treatments that use force and harm in an attempt to control behavior. More than anything, the person needs rest, security, good nutrition, exercise, and attention to the real underlying, possibly undiagnosed, medical problems.

We do understand that a nursing staff faced with a seriously disturbed and irrational resident can become desperate in their attempts to resolve the behavior. The psychiatric industry has suppressed workable methods of helping such individuals.

There are far too many workable non-psychiatric alternatives to list them here. As a brief guide, always help a person with quiet, food, rest, and only if necessary to achieve rest, a mild drug so that he or she can rest properly and sufficiently. Never turn someone who is mentally disturbed over to people who use force, seclusion, or physically damaging practices and “treatments.” Ensure that a full and searching medical examination is conducted to determine any undiagnosed and untreated medical conditions. Always find the cause of the person’s problems. Never be satisfied with a mere explanation of the symptoms.

While sanctioning nursing homes that defraud Medicare is certainly a step in the right direction, there is truly only one way to reform the field of mental health and that is to remove psychiatry’s monopoly of it that has led only to upwardly spiraling mental illness statistics and no cures.

Click here for more information about alternatives to abusive psychiatric drugs and treatments.

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Blowing the Whistle

Posted on December 20, 2011 by cchrstl
Qui Tam: An abbreviated version of the Latin phrase Qui Tam pro domino rege quam pro si ipso in hac parte sequitur, which means “Who sues on behalf of the King, as well as for Himself.”

Whistleblower (also whistle-blower): One who reveals wrongdoing to the public or to those in positions of authority; probably an allusion to a police officer blowing a whistle on observing a violation of the law.

In Qui Tam litigation a private citizen (the whistleblower) who knows of fraud committed against the government may, through his own privately retained lawyers, file a law suit in his own name and in the name of the United States, to recover the losses caused by the government fraud. The federal False Claims Act [31 U.S.C.A. § 3729] provides huge financial incentives to citizen whistleblowers to retain attorneys and come forward, prosecute these lawsuits and fight government fraud.

Blowing the whistle on health care fraud, particularly mental health care fraud, can be scary for one who has never done this before. Fear of retaliation and the stigma associated with being a “troublemaker” contribute to the underreporting of fraud in health care. Anyone contemplating such a qui tam action may need guidance to decide whether to report, how to report, and what they should do to protect themselves when they do report.

What constitutes fraud in mental health care?

The massive psychiatric drugging of America’s children, particularly poor, disadvantaged children and youth through Medicaid and in foster care is an unfolding public health catastrophe of massive proportions. This catastrophe is being caused by the fraudulent promotion of these harmful practices by psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies sacrificing children and youth’s health, futures and lives on the altar of corporate profits. An example as it pertains to Medicaid recipients can be described as:

Psychiatrist (or other medical doctor) prescribes a psychotropic drug that is not for a medically accepted indication. The pharmacy presents the prescription to Medicaid for reimbursement. This is a false claim because 42 USC 1396R-8(k)(3) prohibits reimbursement under Medicaid for any outpatient drugs “used for a medical indication which is not a medically accepted indication.”

An overview of statistics on fraud recoveries by the US government during the period October 1, 1986 to September 30, 2008 can be found here: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/November/fraud-statistics1986-2008.htm.

Other kinds of psychiatric fraud can be found here [http://www.cchrstl.org/fraud.shtml].

What about psychiatric abuse?

While qui tam law suits are only for fraud, there may be cases where reporting abuse is either warranted or required.

For example, the Missouri Revised Statutes (Chapter 210 Section 210.115) basically state that when anyone engaged in the care or treatment of children has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been subjected to abuse, that person must immediately report such to the Division of Family Services [http://www.dss.mo.gov/cd/rptcan.htm].

Examples of psychiatric abuse can be found here [http://www.cchrstl.org/abuse.shtml].

Whistleblower guidelines and protection

The references below identify steps for blowing the whistle on fraud or abuse, and make numerous suggestions for learning how to do this and carrying it through.

CCHR also recommends preparing Living Wills [http://www.cchrstl.org/takeaction.shtml#LivingWill] for yourself and your family. A Living Will lets you specify decisions about one’s own health care treatment in advance. Should you be in a position where you are to be subject to unwanted psychiatric hospitalization and/or mental or medical treatment, this Letter of Protection from Psychiatric Incarceration and/or Treatment directs that such incarceration, hospitalization, treatment or procedures not be imposed, committed or used on you.

Of course, you can also report psychiatric drug side effects to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/], and you can report psychiatric abuse to CCHR [http://www.cchr.org/take-action/psychiatric-abuse-report-form.html].

Whistleblowing is certainly one of society’s best lines of defense against psychiatric fraud and abuse, which have been eroding our mental health care system for many years. CCHR, with your support, works toward the day when whistleblowing is no longer needed. You can express your support by volunteering your time, or giving someone for whom you care a membership in CCHR St. Louis.

References:

1. “Preparing to Blow the Whistle, A Survival Guide for Nurses”; Nayna C. Philipsen, JD; Donald Soeken, LCSW-C; MedScape posted 11/18/2011 [http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/751347]; Journal for Nurse Practitioners 2011;7(9):740-746. © Elsevier Science, Inc.

2. PsychRights’ Medicaid Fraud Initiative Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children & Youth [http://psychrights.org/education/ModelQuiTam/ModelQuiTam.htm]

3. Whistle Blower – Qui Tam, Ashcraft & Gerel LLP [http://www.ashcraftandgerel.com/practiceareas/whistle-blower-qui-tam/]

4. The Free Dictionary [http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/whistleblower]

5. Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund – a nonprofit, public interest organization dedicated to combating fraud against the Federal Government through the promotion and use of the Federal False Claims Act and its qui tam provisions. [http://taf.org]

6. The National Whistleblowers Center (NWC) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting employees’ lawful disclosure of waste, fraud, and abuse. [http://www.whistleblowers.org]

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Psychologist falsifies research

Posted on December 11, 2011 by cchrstl

According to a recent Wikipedia article, “Diederik Alexander Stapel (born in Oegstgeest, 19 October 1966) is a former professor of social psychology at Tilburg University and before that at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. In 2011 Tilburg University suspended Stapel, pending further investigation, for admittedly fabricating and manipulating data for his research publications. This scientific misconduct lasted for years and affected at least 30 publications.”

Stapel worked in the field of behavioral science, and managed to behave pretty badly on his own admission. He voluntarily returned his Ph.D to the University of Amsterdam; meanwhile, Tilburg University is conducting an extensive review of his research and publications. So far, it has been found that Stapel made up the data for at least 30 publications in such places as the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and Science magazine.

Natural News stated that, “There is no indication, however, that Stapel will be held criminally liable for his disturbing actions, or even that his studies will be withdrawn from the journals in which they were published. Bruce Alberts, editor-in-chief of Science, wrote in an “expression of concern” on the online edition of the journal that “the extent of the fraud by Stapel is substantial.”

While grotesque, this behavior is hardly surprising or unusual in a field largely dominated by fraud and false data. How many other psychologists and psychiatrists are presenting falsified research?

Big Pharma has regularly manipulated the published data on psychiatric drugs, for example.

“In 2008, research showed that pharmaceutical companies systematically failed to publish negative studies on their SSRIs, the Prozac generation of antidepressants. Of 74 clinical trials, 38 produced positive results and 36 did not: 94 per cent of the positive studies were published, but only 23 per cent of the negative ones were, and two-thirds of those were spun to make them look more positive.” [Read the full report on this here.]

The psychiatric and psychological industries are also prone to inflate statistics of mental trauma in order to justify more funding. In September 2001, a U.S. Senate hearing on “Psychological Trauma and Terrorism” was told that, “Seventy-one percent of Americans said that they have felt depressed by the [9/11] attacks.” It’s a worrying statistic, until one realizes that the survey was conducted during the six days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks when Americans were, naturally, in a state of shock. The survey sampled 1,200 people only, which, by some quantum leap, led to the conclusion that nearly three-quarters of Americans were mentally damaged, requiring “professional” help.

As experience has shown that there are many criminal mental health practitioners, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights has developed a database at www.psychcrime.org that lists people in the mental health industry who have been convicted and jailed. Many have appeared in the news for fraud or abuse. Read the article about Stapel there as well.

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ABC News 20/20 Blasts Child Drugging

Posted on December 4, 2011 by cchrstl

As reported on ABC News, “A 12-year-old boy told Congress today that he was medicated into a near-stupor with mind-altering drugs during the four years he bounced among foster care homes.”

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that the federal government had not done enough to oversee the treatment of foster children with powerful drugs. The report, whose contents were revealed by ABC News on November 30, coincided with a nationwide ABC investigation on the overuse of the most potent mind-altering drugs on many of the country’s nearly 425,000 foster children.

The report found that drug amounts exceeding maximum doses for a child’s age were many times more likely to be prescribed to foster children than to other children in the federal-state program for lower-income people. The GAO, which submitted its findings as part of a Senate hearing, also found that foster children were several times more likely than other Medicaid youngsters to be taking five or more psychotropic drugs at the same time. Among the drugs analyzed were antipsychotics such as Abilify and Risperdal, antidepressants such as Cymbalta and Paxil, and attention-deficit hyperactivity-disorder drugs such as Ritalin and Strattera. [Fox News]

Quoting from the GAO report, “no evidence supports the concomitant use of five or more psychotropic drugs in adults or children, yet hundreds of both foster and nonfoster children in the five states had such a drug regimen. Similarly, thousands of foster and nonfoster children were prescribed doses higher than the maximum levels cited in guidelines developed by Texas based on FDA-approved labels, which GAO’s experts said increases the risk of adverse side effects and does not typically increase the efficacy of the drugs to any significant extent. Further, foster and nonfoster children under 1 year old were prescribed psychotropic drugs, which GAO’s experts said have no established use for mental health conditions in infants; providing them these drugs could result in serious adverse effects.”

ABC News 20/20 aired three episodes exposing the fact that doctors are putting foster children on harmful, mind-altering drugs at rates up to 13 times that of children in the general population.

Watch all the 20/20 episodes on PsychSearch.Net.

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Psychology Today

Posted on November 20, 2011 by cchrstl

Psychology Today

College majors with the highest unemployment [CBS News 11/16/11]

Clinical psychology 19.5%
Educational psychology 10.9%
Organizational psychology 10.4%
Miscellaneous psychology 10.3%
Social psychology 8.8%

“Five of the college majors with the worst job prospects on this list are related to psychology. Ironically, psychology is the fifth most popular college degree.”

One of the essential problems with psychology is its reliance upon psychiatric or biological behavioral models — a far cry from its foundations. Psychology once followed early philosophy and initially meant the study of the soul — psyche (soul) and ology (study of). The general thought was that the mind and body were separate entities. Thus, each man and woman was regarded as a composite of soul, mind and matter.

In 1829, Webster’s International Dictionary of the English Language defined “psychology” as “a discourse or treatise on the human soul; the doctrine of the nature and properties of the soul.” In 1892, Webster’s High School Dictionary said “psychology” related to “the powers and function of the soul.”

However, all this changed in the late 1800s when German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt established the first “experimental psychology” laboratory in Leipzig University, officially rejecting the existence of the soul and declaring—without a shred of evidence—that man was merely a product of his genes. In his words, “If one assumes that there is nothing there to begin with but a body, a brain and a nervous system, then one must try to educate by inducing sensations in that nervous system.” In a Wundt textbook, translated into English in 1911, Wundt declared, “The…soul can no longer exist in the face of our present day physiological knowledge.”

By 1961, Merriam Webster’s 3rd International Dictionary defined “psychology” as “the science of mind or mental phenomena or activities; the study of biological organism (as man) and the physical and social environment.”

With the soul eliminated, psychologists set about manipulating behavior and “training” an individual much like one would train a bear, a dog or any other animal.

Although this man-is-an-animal theory is easily debunked (dogs do not drive cars, horses will never paint masterpieces and concertos have yet to be performed by an orchestra of monkeys), psychology drew heavily on Wundt’s theories and declared Man a victim of his environment.

In placing man as the direct and unknowing effect of an authoritarian and soulless philosophy, those psychologists supporting this view are promoting the idea that one’s mental health depends upon an adjustment to the world rather than its conquest. This presumes that man cannot, therefore, effect positive change on the world around him but must submit to its random will. Implicit also is the belief that he cannot even be responsible for his own mental healing, as his behaviors are entirely the product of the functions or malfunctions of the brain. In other words, that like dogs, men are basically stimulus response mechanisms.

While Man is capable of great evil, there is an inherent decency in us all that makes us want happiness for ourselves, those we hold dear, and even those we hardly know. The good is there to be cultivated. It cannot be nurtured in a world where psychological and psychiatric doctrine and thought permeate our culture with the philosophy that we are mere animals who have no hope of finding happiness outside of a medicine cabinet.

Get the Facts! Fight Back!

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Illinois Public Act 097-0245

Posted on November 15, 2011 by cchrstl

Illinois Public Act 097-0245, signed into law on 4 August 2011, creates the Administration of Psychotropic Medications to Children Act, requiring the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to create and publish rules establishing and maintaining standards and procedures to govern the administration of psychotropic medications to children in its care.

Recognizing that drugging children under state care has been problematic, one of the provisions of this law prohibits the administration of psychotropic medications to persons for whom the Department is legally responsible as punishment for bad behavior, for the convenience of staff or caregivers, or as a substitute for adequate mental health care or other services.

Furthermore, DCFS must identify the name and dosage of psychotropic drugs administered to children along with any negative side effects.

This is a positive step forward for Illinois. Other states should seriously consider implementing safeguards against harmful child drugging by their respective Children and Family Services departments.

We also suggest supporting the federal Parental Consent Act introduced by Congressman Ron Paul, a bill which prohibits federal funds from being used to establish or implement any universal or mandatory mental health, psychiatric, or socioemotional screening program.

Model Legislation to prevent a range of psychiatric abuses should also be distributed to your state representatives, urging them to incorporate these safeguards against psychiatric fraud and abuse into your state laws.

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Antidepressant Induced Violence and Suicide

Posted on November 12, 2011 by cchrstl

In September 2009 a Winnipeg, Canada 16-year-old boy stabbed a friend to death. The teen, who had no criminal record, had been prescribed Prozac three months prior to the slaying.

The teen’s parents complained he was getting worse while taking the drug, only to have his doctor increase the dosage. He went from a loving, happy-go-lucky kid to a dark, depressed drug abuser. He began to act out violently and even tried to harm himself on several occasions.

Provincial court Judge Robert Heinrichs cited the teen’s use of Prozac at the time of the slaying as a major factor. In a ruling given November 4, 2011 he said, “His basic normalcy now further confirms he no longer poses a risk of violence to anyone and that his mental deterioration and resulting violence would not have taken place without exposure to Prozac. …(Prozac) clearly affected his behaviour in an alarming way. He was simply not the same person.”

Violence and suicide are but two of the horrific side effects of Prozac and similar psychiatric drugs.

Watch the documentary Dead Wrong – How psychiatric drugs can kill your child featuring mothers who work alongside CCHR to expose the lethal risks of prescribing psychiatric drugs to kids.

Watch a short 5-minute introduction to the documentary here.

Do psychiatric drugs actually help in any way? Find out here.

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PTSD Pathologizing Tragedy and War to Sell Drugs

Posted on November 5, 2011 by cchrstl

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Pathologizing Tragedy and War to Sell Drugs

In November 2011, General Peter Chiarelli, the Army vice chief of staff, called for changing the name of PTSD to Post Traumatic Stress Injury in order to remove its connotation with mental illness. Naturally, psychiatrists revising the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) oppose this, as it might remove a whole class of patients from psychiatric treatment.

The diagnosis of PTSD was first included in the third edition of the DSM in 1980. Dr. Frank Ochberg, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Michigan State University, who at that time was involved in updating the manual, said he and his colleagues wanted it called a disorder because — only half–jokingly — “we figured if we did, then Blue Cross would pay for it.”

The favored “treatment” for PTSD is psychotropic drugs known to cause violence and suicide.

In 2006, The Philadelphia Enquirer reported that soldiers and veterans groups had found drug use was an increasing problem in Iraq, especially because medics were generously handing out prescription medications that were being abused.

Bruce E. Levine, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and author of Surviving America’s Depression Epidemic, said that in February 2009, “Americans heard about a dramatic rise in suicides among U.S. soldiers.” Army statistics, which include the Army Reserve and the National Guard, confirmed 128 suicides (with 15 more deaths under investigation). Suicides for the Marines also increased, with 41 in 2008, up from 33 in 2007 and 25 in 2006.

In an article published by Best Syndication News on April 17, 2009, suicides among Iraq war soldiers were reported to be twice that of other wars. The number of soldiers who committed suicide during January 2009 actually surpassed the number of soldiers who were killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan during the same time period, the article said.

One of the suggested reasons for the high suicide rate is that with so many troops being labeled with “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” (PTSD), many of them are prescribed drugs that didn’t exist during other wars, especially antidepressants known to cause suicidal thoughts and feelings.

In March 2004, an FDA Public Health Advisory about these antidepressants, warned: “Anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, impulsivity, akathisia [severe restlessness], hypomania [abnormal excitement, mild mania] and mania [psychosis characterized by exalted feelings, delusions of grandeur and overproduction of ideas], have been reported in adult and pediatric patients being treated with antidepressants…both psychiatric and non-psychiatric.”

Dr. Levine pointed out: “While treatment for emotionally troubled soldiers increasingly consists of antidepressants such as Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft, recent investigations show that these drugs are no more effective than placebos and can actually increase suicidality.”

California neurologist, Dr. Fred A. Baughman, Jr. investigated a series of veterans’ suicides in 2008 and believes that they actually died from psychiatric drugs inducing cardiac arrest. All seemed “normal” when they went to bed. All of them were prescribed a cocktail of antipsychotics and tranquilizers. On January 15 2009, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that antipsychotics double the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

It was reported in June 2008 that 89% of veterans labeled with “PTSD” are given antidepressants and 34% antipsychotics. “A third, then, are exposed to the additive potential to cause sudden death,” Baughman stated.

“In order to prevent even more suicides, both the research and basic common sense instruct us that we need less psychiatric drugs and more political courage,” adds Dr. Levine.

Go here [http://www.cchrint.org/cchr-issues/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-pathologizing-tragedy-and-war-to-sell-drugs/] to read more about PTSD.

Go here [http://www.cchrstl.org/dsm.shtml] to find out more about the DSM.

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Psychiatry’s Deadliest Scam

Posted on October 29, 2011 by cchrstl

Diagnostic & Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders (DSM)
Psychiatry’s Deadliest Scam

It’s psychiatry’s best-selling catalog of mental illness — 943 pages long and covering everything from depression and anxiety to stuttering, cigarette addiction, fear of spiders, nightmares, problems with math and even disorder of infancy — all reinterpreted and labeled as a brain disease.


And though it weighs less than five pounds, its influence pervades all aspects of modern society: our governments, our courts, our military, our media and our schools.

Using it, psychiatrists can enforce psychiatric drugging, seize your children and even take away your most precious personal freedoms.

It is psychiatry’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and it is the engine that drives a $330 billion psychiatric industry.

But is there any proof behind the DSM? Or is it nothing more than an elaborate pseudoscientific sham?

From the makers of the award-winning documentaries Making a Killing, The Marketing of Madness and Dead Wrong, comes the shocking truth behind psychiatry’s deadliest scam. Watch the documentary here.

Protect Yourself Against Misdiagnosis and Abuse

Anyone diagnosed with a psychiatric (mental) disorder and/or their parent or guardian has the right to informed consent before any treatment is undertaken. Unlike diagnoses for medical conditions, psychiatrists do not have blood tests or any other biological tests to ascertain the presence or absence of a mental illness. It is important to know that according to one state government medical manual, “Mental health professionals working within a mental health system have a professional and a legal obligation to recognize the presence of physical disease in their patients” and to rule out any physical condition causing “a patient’s mental disorder.”

Psychiatrists rarely conduct thorough physical examinations to rule out medical conditions, thereby misdiagnosing the patient. This can result in inappropriate and dangerous treatment, added to the fact that the real underlying medical condition is left untreated. Treatment for alleged mental illness is also extremely expensive to you or to your insurance company.

Further, if a psychiatrist asserts that your mental condition is caused by a “chemical imbalance” in the brain or is a neurobiological disorder, you have the right to ask for the lab test or other test to prove the accuracy of that diagnosis.

The DSM in Missouri Law

The Missouri Revised Statutes (RSMo) contains several explicit mentions of the DSM in Chapter 376 on Life, Health and Accident Insurance.

Section 376.810: Definitions for policy requirements for chemical dependency

(10) “Recognized mental illness”, those conditions classified as “mental disorders” in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but shall not include mental retardation;

Section 376.1550: Mental health coverage, requirements–definitions–exclusions

(4) “Mental health condition”, any condition or disorder defined by categories listed in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders except for chemical dependency;

Section 376.1224: Definitions–insurance coverage required–limitations on coverage–maximum benefit amount, adjustments–reimbursements, how made–applicability to plans–waiver, when–report

(3) “Autism spectrum disorders”, a neurobiological disorder, an illness of the nervous system, which includes Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, Rett’s Disorder, and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, as defined in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association;

Contact your Missouri State Senator and Representative and ask them to remove all references to the DSM from Missouri State Law.

CCHR has been vigilant in exposing the lack of science behind psychiatry’s diagnostic methods that, left unquestioned for years by authorities and insurance companies, led to soaring increases in dangerous psychiatric drugs being prescribed. Click here for more information about the DSM.

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