Robert Whitaker, Thursday., Dec. 8, Framingham, MA

[Barbarannamated]

Just an FYI to those in Boston area...Robert Whitaker speaking to Advocates Group in Framingham,

Thurs., Dec. 8, 2-4pm

 

http://www.advocatesinc.org/site/event/robert_whitaker/

 

(Interesting that mention of this was posted on NAMI's LinkedIn discussion page)

 

Mad In America Up to Now - A discussion with Robert Whitaker, award-winning journalist and author

We are thrilled to welcome Robert Whitaker, award-winning journalist and author of Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, And The Enduring Mistreatment Of The Mentally Ill.

In Mad in America, Whitaker shines a light on the various treatments for severe mental illness in the United States from colonial times until the present and uncovers the often harmful effects of many treatments, including antipsychotic drugs widely used today. Please join us for a discussion on this eye-opening work and the developments in contemporary mental health since his book was released a decade ago.

 

When: Thursday, December 8th from 2-4 p.m.

Where: 1881 Worcester Rd. Framingham

 

ASL interpreters are confirmed.

 

Registration is required.

 

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.

 

Mad In America was named by Discover Magazine as one of the best science books of 2002; the American Library Association named it one of the best history books of that year.

 

Anatomy of an Epidemic won the 2010 Investigative Reporters and Editors award for best investigative journalism (books category.)

 

 

 

[myself]

Oh! I would love to hear him speak. Too bad, I have a final that night. Sigh.

[alexjuice]

I had the good fortune to speak with the doctor from Advocates. This was maybe like 8 months ago. He was very nice and, for a psychiatrist, reasonably conservative and susupicious of meds. However, he seemed unaware entirely of prolonged withdrawal.

 

Not that this reflects on Whitaker or even Advocates. But there are a lot of well-meaning and well-informed folks, people in the Whitaker camp, who are woefully undersped on the realities of prolonged d/c syndrome; they need to get up to speed b/c this is a major weapon (w/d generally) that bolsters their case regarding the dubious quality of psych drug study data -- so get it together, guys!

 

In cases like mine, involving many drugs and d/c's over many years, it seems to never, ever occur to the doctors I talk to, even when I give them every cause to find that conclusion. (Yes, I prefer to plant the seed that allows the doctor to discover my problem for me. The effectiveness of this method (letting your doctor tell you what's wrong with you when you already know whats wrong with you and could just tell the doc and save the grief/time) greatly exceeds the effectiveness of the converse, im my experience.

 

Anyway, I have family in MA, my sister and her husband. She is actually a counselor. However, they, being caught up in their own healthy lives, would not want to attend, too bad.

 

Thanks for posting Barb. I'd love to meet Whitaker. He'd probably provoke my social anxiety, but I don't care.

 

Alex

[Barbarannamated]

Alex,

You have mastered the art of conversing w docs! Thank you for another GREAT laugh!! It is 100% on the mark. Kind of fun when they come around to the concept believing it to be their own idea!

Barb

[Barbarannamated]

Alex, he's very easy to converse with. Hearing him speak with greater knowledge of the (pseudo)science than any MD i know was incredibly validating and immediately translated into a 'maybe Im not crazy afterall' uptick in confidence, negating- or at least offsetting- the years of being dismissed and talked down to by psychiatrists and MDs.

And throw in Alto's name.

[Altostrata]

Bob Whitaker is aware of prolonged withdrawal syndrome and this site.

 

Alex, we just have to keep on presenting the information. Very few doctors even know prolonged withdrawal syndrome exists. The ones who already get the importance of very gradual tapering seem to have some understanding of how severe withdrawal can be, but still don't necessarily know it can last for years.

[Barbarannamated]

You just touched on question in another thread. Thnx.