E. Fuller Torrey Brain Collector, Psychiatric Fraud

I decided to update this blogpost after seeing the Torrey's quote about Thomas Szasz in the NY Times when I read Rossa's blog, Holistic Recovery from Schizophrenia. 

"Whenever a doctor cannot do good, he must be kept from doing harm." 

Hippocrates

I wonder why blowing up our proverbial skirts about the "safety" and "efficacy" of psychiatric "treatments" appears to be the preferred method for some "advocates" and advocacy groups?


A prime example:
The psychiatrist who is the most vocal in advocating a forced treatment agenda for "the seriously mentally ill,"  E. Fuller Torrey.  I would be interested to know how this came to be.  He used to admire, but now vilifies, Dr. Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus of State University of New York Upstate Medical University at Syracuse.    


In his book, "The Death of Psychiatry" 1974, Torrey stated, "The very term ['mental disease'] is nonsensica­l, a semantic mistake. The two words cannot go together except metaphoric­ally; you can no more have a mental 'disease' than you can have a purple idea or a wise space". Similarly, there can no more be a "mental illness" than there can be a "moral illness." The words "mental" and "illness" do not go together logically. Mental "illness" does not exist, and neither does mental "health." These terms indicate only approval or disapproval of some aspect of a person's mentality (thinking, emotions, or behavior)." emphasis mine

HOW did this man become the Nation's leading forced psychiatric treatment advocate? What motivated Torrey to become an outspoken proponent  of using coercion and force?  "Mental Illnesses" he now believes are real diseases which require the force of Law, to "successfully treat." there is not public record that I can find to indicate what caused Torrey's aboutface, although Torrey's transformation does coincide with becoming a benificiary of Ted Stanley's generosity.  He believes schizophrenia is caused by cat feces and collects brains as a hobby---and is not particular about having permission of the decedant or their family members...

Torrey's supposed status as a "researcher" would almost be humorous---if he didn't have the massive amount of  money from Ted Stanley, and the Stanley Family Foundation to fund his crack pot ideas, collect brains, and propel the massive media machine that distributes his biased research findings and his fear-based and bigotry directed at "the seriously mentallhy ill" themselves. Ted Stanley supports E. Fuller Torrey's "research," and the intolerant, discriminatory  "treatment" agenda, Torrey champions.   I wonder if Torrey's ideas for a Brand New World were once delusions that the illusory "mental illnesses" are actual diseases, have become entrenched "delusions of grandeur."  

The only reason I have found that may explain why Torrey went from having a perspective that "mental illness" is not disease, to that of being a maniacal proponent of forced psychiatric treatment, is this abrupt about-face coincided with his becoming the "pet project" of Ted Stanley, and a benefactor of The Stanley Family Foundation's beneficence.  In 21 years, The Stanley Family foundation gave over $300 million dollars The Treatment Advocacy Center and The Stanley Medical Research Institute both of which were under  Torrey's direction.  These organizations have a pre-determined biased research agenda in seeking to treat schizophrenia.   More accurately, these organizations have directed all research, education and advocacy activities towards an agenda of finding proof that mental illnesses are caused by a brain disease, and have lobbied for forced psychiatric treatment--TAC is a special interest pseudo think tank and lobbying group which advises and vigorously lobbies State Legislators to pass more stringent Involuntary Treatment Laws.  

Torrey was given a faculty position at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and was made an Adjunct Professor at George Mason School of Law. If it were just one of these positions bought and paid for it would cause a person would wonder what the hell?! The guy is not a "researcher " per se--ok, he isn't worth a fuck as a researcher, IMO--which isn't worth a helluva lot itself, Ha! Edwin Fuller Torrey is an adjunct faculty at a Law School is beyond ludicrous.  The man has recommended people commit crimes, i.e. lying to the Police and the Court, in effect work to deprive a "loved one" of their individual rights using perjured testimony i.e. Bearing False Witness, commit perjury, fraud, file a false Police Report out of "love" if that isn't a load of crap I don't know what is!   

via Holistic Recovery from Schizophrenia:

an excerpt WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

Dr. Thomas Szasz, Psychiatrist Who Led Movement Against His Field, Dies at 92
By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: September 11, 2012 “For the record, I will say that I admired him, even though I think he was dead wrong about the nature of schizophrenia,” said Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center in Arlington, Va., which supports stronger laws to ensure treatment of people with severe mental disorders. “But he made a major contribution to the issue of the misuse of psychiatry. His message is important today.” read here

Edwin Fuller Torrey: 

Here's what Thomas Szasz, M.D. had to say about Edwin:
Psychiatric Fraud and Force: A Critique of E. Fuller Torrey

portions published previously as The Brain Collector 3-7-11

B4U-ACT group wants pedophilia to be renamed "minor-attraction"

Via Herald Sun :

Mental health group B4U-Act looks to remove stigma from paedophilia

A GROUP of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals say it is time to change the way society views individuals who have physical attractions to children.

The organisation, which calls itself B4U-Act, is lobbying for changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, the guideline of standards on mental health that is put together by the American Psychiatric Association, FOXNews.com said.

The group says its mission is to help paedophiles before they create a crisis, and to do so by offering a less critical view of the disorder.

"Stigmatising and stereotyping minor-attracted people inflames the fears of minor-attracted people, mental health professionals and the public, without contributing to an understanding of minor-attracted people or the issue of child sexual abuse," reads the organisation's website.

B4U-Act said that 38 individuals attended a symposium in Baltimore last week, including researchers from Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University and the universities of Illinois and Louisville. According to the group, which was said to not endorse every point of view expressed, the speakers in attendance concluded that "minor-attracted" individuals are largely misunderstood and should not be criminalised even as their actions should be discouraged.

Speakers also argued that people who are sexually attracted to children should have input into the decision about how paedophilia is defined in the DSM, which they said is supposed to be a guide to promote "mental health vs social control". (emphasis mine)

The American Psychiatric Association did not participate in the conference, and evidently does not condone the group's message. read here.

Let's be clear here: whatever the hell goes on in someone's mind, is one thing; ACTING on the impulse or "desire" to have a sexual relationship, or any type of overt or covert sexual contact with a minor is sexual exploitation and sexual abuse; it is wrong, period.  This group's attempt to "de-stigmatize" pedophilia is driven by the mistaken notion the stigmatization of pedophilia is unwarranted, and a source of discrimination.  It is not an issue of discrimination; it is an issue of aberrant sexual conditioning and impulses that if acted upon are  criminal acts.  To redefine this perversion as being, "minor-attracted" is an attempt to make something aberrant and truly harmful to victims, acceptable.  Pedophilia is stigmatized because it is not acceptable behavior. (regardless of the reasons or excuses used by the perpetrators to justify the pedophile behavior)  The fact that pedophilia is illegal is not in itself a deterrent.  The fact is, there is a stigma attached to pedophilia  because most people know it to be wrong and criminal---and I for one, do not believe psychiatry has done any of us any favors by classifying it as a "mental disease."  Undesirable behavior regardless of who exhibits it, is simply behavior; when the behavior is against the law, it is criminal behavior.  Period.


This is where the wisdom of Thomas Szasz is needed: 

via reason.com

Sins of the Fathers

Is child molestation a sickness or a crime?

a few excerpts:

"Crimes are acts we commit. Diseases are biological processes that happen to our bodies. Mixing these two concepts by defining behaviors we disapprove of as diseases is a bottomless source of confusion and corruption."


"Conversely, psychiatric diagnoses affect moral judgments. Fred Berlin, founder of the Johns Hopkins Sexual Disorders Clinic and a professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, declares: "Some research suggests that some genetic and hormonal abnormalities may play a role [in pedophilia]....We now recognize that it's not just a moral issue, and that nobody chooses to be sexually attracted to young people." Yet an action that affects other people is always, by definition, a moral issue, regardless of whether the actor chooses the proclivity to engage in it."


"Berlin misleadingly talks about the involuntariness of being "sexually attracted to young people." The issue is not sexual attraction; it is sexual action. A healthy 20-year-old male with heterosexual interests is likely to be powerfully attracted to every halfway pretty woman he sees. This does not mean that he has, or attempts to have, sexual congress with these women, especially against their will. The entire psychiatric literature on what used to be called "sexual perversions" is permeated by the unfounded idea -- always implied, sometimes asserted -- that "abnormal" sexual impulses are harder to resist than "normal" ones."

"The acceptance of this notion helps explain the widespread belief that sex offenders are more likely than other criminals to commit new crimes, an assumption that is not supported by the evidence. Tracking a sample of state prisoners who were released in 1983, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that 52 percent of rapists and 48 percent of other sex offenders were arrested for a new crime within three years, compared to 60 percent of all violent offenders. The recidivism rates for nonviolent crimes were even higher: 70 percent for burglary and 78 percent for car theft, for example." read here.

After HHS says children are 'sexual beings', psychologists push to decriminalize pedophilia

Liberty, Responsibility and Psychiatry

WE as a Nation need to do better by our Veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq! The Mental Health field is in a freaking mess. Children, the elderly and military troops and veterans are especially vulnerable to being harmed and killed by mental health professionals using "standard practices." Prescribing psychotropic drugs with serious risks, but without evidence that supports the need or the utility for the prescription; little to no proof that the drug/s prescribed will actually help the patient. There is however ample evidence that prescribing psychotropic drugs in this manner will cause a significant percentage of patients iatrogenic injuries and diseases; and may cause a life-threatening adverse reaction like akasthisia which can compel a person to commit suicide, and or homicide. It is not at all a medically sound or an ethical decision to indescriminately drug physically healthy people in distress knowing that doing so may cause them metabolic, cognitive, neurological, and cardio-vascular diseases; knowing there is a risk that doing so can cause them to become suicidal, and maybe homicidal.  These are not the type of risks one can determine  are "acceptable risks" for another person without both being aware of the potential risks and hoped for benefits; nor can a prescriber ethically determine that the negative effects a patient experiences are "tolerable" to the patient.

Research fraud, illegal marketing, hidden trial data, Medicaid, Medicare and TriCare fraud, and good old fashioned greed this is what fuels the widespread use of psychotropic drugs for every symptom of distress,  discomfort, and behavioral issue---whether it is the patient who is wanting treatment or it is someone else who believes the problem resides within the patient. The reality is, regardless of what the cause/s ultimately are, how we treat one another is, in my mind, the single most important environmental factor that we can change, adapt, to positively influence our individual and collective wellbeing. That's why it always matters. In my experience, it matters very much more to people who have a psychiatric diagnosis because of the sensitivity to all of our energy, attitude and actions. One thing absolutely clear to me is that humans in distress know when they are disrespected, misled, coerced, manipulated and lied to...Humans are meant to survive, and coercing and misleading and lying to a person who may be perceived by others as being out of it or in another world, or just not seem to be aware of the same reality as anyone else in the room; I know that in that state, we know whether we are treated with respect or callous disregard, with acceptance and positive regard or with fear and dirision. How we treat one another really, really matters. All the time.

Under the guise of "practicing medicine," psychiatry has been using the same tactics that it has always used---coercion, manipulation, and misinformation; what is utterly horrifying is despite the lack of evidence which complies with the Rules of Evidence for Standard civil and criminal court hearings, (which is why the legal  standards had be lowered for civil commitments) psychiatry has Police Powers to detain, diagnose and treat people Under Color of Law. The ethically bankrupt "doctors" have taught families and firends to be their accomplices coercing, emotionally manipulating and effectively stimatizing people with a psychiatric diagnosis whom they have legally stripped of their individual rights by passing laws which in effect allow people with a psychiatric diagnosis to be treated as if they are less that fully human and not worthy of having their basic human rights respected. It is unconscionable how can anyone reasonably believe that stripping people in distress of their human dignity, their political power and their fundamental human rights, and using  different (lower) standards, to legally force them to comply with psychiatric diagnosis and treatment is "for their own good"? what kind of shit is that!? How could it be ethically, medically or legally justified? It is contradictory to ethical, medical and legal standards.

Based on carefully crafted misinformation and innuendo used to incite fear and feed innate biases, the stima of mental illness has come to be a justification for shameless bigotry that is basically accepted as "necessary" to be of benevolent assistance to "the seriously mentally ill?!"  This is now the societal norm in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave that by incessantly repeating misinformation, etc.; i.e. use of propagnada, most states have passed unconstitutional laws which violate individual Constitutional Rights to Substantive and Procedural Due Process of Law of people to ensure they get special treatment that is known to be minimally effective for a minority of people the laws are meant to be applicable to; yet have grave risks including fatality for all who take them. In "Mad In America," Robert Whitaker reported that 1 out of every 145 people in the drug trials for Zyprexa, Risperdal, Seroquel, and Serdolect died.  That's a lot---and the adverse effects are more profound for kids and adolescents.  1 out 116 or 119 (depending on who the lead author is on the "peer-reviewed" article) in the TEOSS trial died.

The current forced treatment laws are the brain child of Edwin Fuller, Torrey Director of the Treatment Advocacy Center, the "research" organization for NAMI, either that or being the fromt man is also one of his roles...TAC's forced treatment agenda has been marched across the nation by NAMI. NAMI trains "advocates" to lobby state legislatures. Involuntary Treatment legislation has been passed in 46 States, thanks to NAMI's special interest lobbyists funded and "educated" by pig pharma.

By using propaganda to fuel fear, ignorance and bigotry this effort uses advocacy groups and massive amounts of cash to spread a distorted message about psychiatric diagnoses and the people who have been labeled as "mentally ill." Torrey believes cat feces cause schizophrenia and he also collects human brains--- sometimes by using less than ethical, honorable, or legal  means... The Brain Collector, since becoming a beneficiary of the Stanley Family's generosity, was gifted with a faculty position at the The Uniformed Services Medical Sciences University; has founded the Treatment Advocacy Center; and "founded" the  Stanley Medical Research Institute. These latter two endeavors have received over $300 million from the Stanley Family Foundation in 21 years.....that's a pretty generous marketing budget for a propaganda campaign for a social and political control system for those who are "in need of treatment." Diagnosis by psychiatry has led to thousands being prescribed drugs without being adequately informed about what the risks of taking the drugs are.

Those on Medicare, Medicaid, and TriCare are targeted because these Government programs cover the cost--it is the source of a significant percentage of the billions of dollars of fraud over the last 10+ years and the fraudulent payment for non covered prescriptions, is still unabated...Medicaid paid fraudulent claims for my son's "off-label" prescriptions every time, without question.  It is an enormous betrayal of trust. I was never told even half of what I shold have been from the beginning---I didn't realize how very badly I had been betrayed and start researching until it was  too late. Every single social system  regulatory, medical, mental health, or social services failed to comply with the Law the ethical guidelines of their chosen professions and some treated us as if we were not worthy of any respect or even civility. I am appalled at the amount of money defrauded from my neighbors and my family members, to pay for what was done to my son.

Thanks to the lack of accountability and the deceit that permeates meant health services due to the use of coercion, etc. so called professionals know that forgery, perjury, and psychiatric assault are not ever investigated, so they too, can be standard practices... A "Designated Mental Health Professional," has the state's authority to "detain" a person for "treatment." The DMHP does not have to be a psychiatrist, and does not need to know anything at all about the person they are evaluating. The Courts and the Police now function as mental health treatment aides or medical tools enforcing the mental health treatment protocols without an evidence base which suppports the protocols from being "standards" at all. . How is this any different from what was done in Germany by the Third Reich?  It's not a bit different.

Direct to consumer marketing of drugs; drug industry funded "consumer advocacy and education" campaigns, biased research is conducted by psychiatrists who lack medical ethics, drugs approved by this process are then illegally marketed; it's "standard practice."   The regulatory system failure and propaganda campaigns with false claims about the safety and effectiveness of the drugs being illegally marketed; while presenting hypotheses as medical certainties and validated scientific findings, which serves to fuel society's ignorance and fear; which results in a dysfunctional, inhumane response to people who have a psychiatric diagnosis.

"New statistics from the VA show that veterans make up 20 percent of the 30,000 suicides in the United States each year. An average of 18 veterans commit suicide every day and five of those 18 are already getting treatment at the VA. "Veteran's Suicide: Problems in the VA"


Do Veterans Receive Care and Protection Needed?

Although we may not know it, we have, in our day,

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, 

from the: The Thomas S.Szasz Cybercenter for Liberty and Responsibility