Psychiatric Advocacy
At the New York Person-Centered Resource Center we believe our nation's psychiatric medication practices are based on poor science and we cannot trust the research, advice, and expertise of most mental health professionals. The reasons for this national crisis are complex, yet stated briefly, to think that so called "mental illness" is biologically based and to think that a pill will cure so called "mental illness," are two huge manipulations of the truth.
There is a significant body of research supporting our philosophy. What do people do who have been prescribed psychiatric medication and do not want to go on it or want to find a way to get off it? Unfortunately the medical support to oversee tapering and/or withdrawal from psychiatric medications is seriously limited because there are very few psychiatrists or other licensed mental health professionals who are willing to help their clients come off psychiatric medications. This fact often deters individuals and families who are seeking support in tapering from psychiatric medications.
Many individuals who have been prescribed psychiatric medication for an extended period without a full description of the varieties of treatment options available as well as an honest assessment of the short and long term side effects of the medications become "medically disempowered." Often medical disempowerment leads to a destructive belief that the oversight from a directive medical expert is necessary for recovery.
Instead, a new approach is necessary, one that involves:
building a strong egalitarian therapeutic alliance with all involved health professionals
becoming more educated about the wide variety of treatment options and clinical perspectives available
creating a long-term plan for treatment and recovery
creating a unified family and community support system
accepting a renewed focus on the actual underlying social and psychological issues that have originated the trauma.
In response to medical disempowerment clients need mental health professionals who offer psychiatric advocacy instead of psychiatric dictation. At the New York Person Centered Resource Center we strive to act as true advocates for all our clients, educating and empowering them to make progressive decisions about their health.
If you are interested in learning more about how we can offer you psychiatric advoacy, please contact us for an initial consultation.
For further reading, please refer to:
Robert Whitaker’s Anatomy of an Epidemic (book)
Robert Whitaker has won numerous awards as a journalist covering medicine and science, including the George Polk Award for Medical Writing and a National Association for Science Writers’ Award for best magazine article. In 1998, he co-wrote a series on psychiatric research for the Boston Globe that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Anatomy of an Epidemic won the 2010 Investigative Reporters and Editors book award for best investigative journalism.
Robert Whitaker's Mad in America: Science, Psychiatry and Community (website)
Mad in America’s mission is to serve as a catalyst for rethinking psychiatric care in the United States (and abroad). We believe that the current drug-based paradigm of care has failed our society, and that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, calls for profound change.
Peter Breggin’s Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal (book)
Dr. Peter Breggin is known for such books as Talking Back to Prozac, Toxic Psychiatry, and Medication Madness, is a lifelong reformer and scientist in mental health whose work has brought about significant change in psychiatric practice. This book provides critical information about when to consider psychiatric drug reduction or withdrawal, and how to accomplish it as safely, expeditiously, and comfortably as possible. It offers the theoretical framework underlying this approach along with extensive scientific information, practical advice, and illustrative case studies that will assist practitioners in multiple ways, including how to:
Recognize common and sometimes overlooked adverse drug effects that may require withdrawal
Treat emergencies during drug therapy and during withdrawal
Determine the first drugs to withdraw during multi-drug therapy
Distinguish between withdrawal reactions, newly occurring emotional problems, and recurrence of premedication issues
Estimate the length of withdrawal