Based in Eugene, Oregon, advocacy group MindFreedom International unites an estimated 10,000 people in the struggle for human rights and alternatives in mental health. We spoke to founder David W. Oaks about the mental health system, the governor’s role, whether psychiatric institutions use practices similar to some employed at Guantanamo - and when he’ll be returning to Portland.
#1 Obstacle to Change: “Mild Reform”
Portland Mental Health Examiner: What are the obstacles to improving care of people in psychiatric hospitals? Is it a question of money?
David W. Oaks: “Mild reform itself is, I feel, the top obstacle to truly improving care for people inside what I prefer to call psychiatric institutions.
“For two hundred years, history shows that elected officials, government agencies, newspapers, authors, etc. have exposed horrible scandals, abuse, neglect inside psychiatric institutions. To this day, if one asks leaders of the mental health system about their psychiatric institutions, they tend to lament that the system is broken, in disarray.
“And always for 200 years the solution has been a mantra of ‘more money, more money, more money, more money.’
“In other words, the broken system swallows up scandals and grows into an even larger broken system.”
Beyond Reform to Revolution
“This is why we call for more than reform. We call for a nonviolent revolution throughout the mental health system. It is time for democracy to truly get hands-on with mental and emotional well-being care for all its citizens. Then we would see that, while obviously funding is crucial, far more important are the details on exactly how that funding is spent. Since mental health gets some of the biggest chunks of money from Oregon taxpayers, it's time to have a say on exactly how that money is spent.
“A first step is to truly involve the voice of mental health consumers, psychiatric survivors, and allies who are questioning the 'bully model' that has tended to run mental health care these past two centuries. By 'bully,' I am referring to a very narrow medical model enforced by a small percentage of staff, primarily physicians, in the mental health system. I must emphasize we are pro-choice, and many of our members utilize the medical model, and prescription medications. The issue is not a civil war about psychiatric drugs, the issue is a nonviolent revolution about choice.
“One choice is no choice.”
Part 2: Oregon governor turns his back
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