Barbara Kingsolver
I am MadProud of this week's Saturday Survivor, MindFreedom International member, Cindi Fisher. Cindi is an mental health activist living in Vancouver, Washington. She is the mother and passionate advocate for her son, Siddharta; who has a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Cindi, who has both general and medical power of attorney for her son, had her authority questioned, when advocating for Sid at Western State Hospital in Lakewood, Washington when he was under an involuntary commitment order. The State of Washington is now threatening to appoint a Guardian other than Cindi, his mother. This decision would be contrary to Sid's wishes outlined in his legally executed Power of Attorney.
There is something seriously wrong when State authorities or agents step in; in effect, act in loco parentis for minors or as guardians for adults when there are parents, or others chosen, who are willing and capable of doing so. Cindi was designated by her son as his first choice should it become necessary for a Guardian to be appointed for him. In the case of minors in the State of Washington, it is the Law itself that grants parents the authority to make mental health decisions for their minor children, in my experience, this is ignored by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. Can it be that Family Rights are not important to Washington State?
from Cindi's Website:
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Hello, My name is Cindi Fisher and I am co-founder of this website and organization. Today just after midnight, beginning September 1, 2010 on Wednesday, I began my fast for Mental Health Rights. The most immediate catalyst for this fast was/is my 33 year old son, Siddharta Fisher.
The MOMS Movement is:
The Movement of Mothers and others StandingUp Together
Why are Mothers and Others StandingUp?
Inspired by an ancient African proverb,
WE ARE:
RAISING the VILLAGE
and
taking back Our Children
(from the mental institutions, from the jails and prisons, from
drugs, from sexual slavery, from the streets, from the state)
Cindi and I have a lot in common and I am in awe of her. I am inspired by what she does and how much she has accomplished.
Please check out her website and consider what you can do as a Mother or Other, for MOMS. Cindi did not abdicate her parental rights when her son was a minor, and should not have to worry that Washington State will wrest away her ability to continue to act on her son's behalf, as long as Sid wants her to, and she is willing and able to do so.
When our children were minors, our rights as parents to make decisions for their benefit, are protected by the Constitution of the United States. For a parent, it is horrifying to know that because of a psychiatric label, a beloved child, is at risk because of the illness itself. It is an added burden to know it also means that your child will NOT have his individual rights to Procedural Due Process of Law protected or defended, nor will effective assistance of counsel provided when facing Involuntary Commitment. Violations are not even investigated if reported. Simply because of a diagnosis of mental illness; one can lose the right to choose whether or not to take drugs or have ECT. Diagnosis for psychitric conditions are based solely on subjective opinion, not based on any medical certainty. Involuntary Commitment Laws DO NOT protect the Constitutional Rights of our vulnerable mentally ill!
MOMS is against court-ordered drugging and court-ordered ECT!
Forced treatment is a violation of Human Rights!
Forced treatment is a violation of Human Rights!
Take a Stand
StandUp with MOMS
Mental Health Rights
YES!!
Although we may not know it, we have, in our day,
witnessed the birth of the Therapeutic State.
witnessed the birth of the Therapeutic State.
This is perhaps the major implication of psychiatry as an institution of social control.
--Thomas S. Szasz, Law, Liberty, and Psychiatry:
An Inquiry Into the Social Uses of Mental Health Practices,
The Macmillan Company, New York, 1963
Motherhood is priced of God at price no man may dare to lessen or misunderstand.
Helen Fiske Hunt Jackson
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