Where Heart Shift Happens. Teaching the Science of Sustainable Health. What works for 7 future generations? "Do not go where the freeway may lead - Go instead where there is no path and build - A Green Road"
The Marketing of Madness is the definitive documentary on the psychiatric drugging industry. Here is the real story of the high income partnership between psychiatry and drug companies that has created an $80 billion psychotropic drug profit center.
But appearances are deceiving. How valid are psychiatrists' diagnoses-and how safe are their drugs? Digging deep beneath the corporate veneer, this documentary exposes the truth behind the slick marketing schemes and scientific deceit that conceal dangerous and often deadly sales campaigns.
In this film you'll discover that... Many of the drugs side effects may actually make your 'mental illness' worse. Psychiatric drugs can induce aggression or depression. Some psychotropic drugs prescribed to children are more addictive than cocaine. Psychiatric diagnoses appears to be based on dubious science. Of the 297 mental disorders contained with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, none can be objectively measured by pathological tests.
Mental illness symptoms within this manual are arbitrarily assigned by a subjective voting system in a psychiatric panel. It is estimated that 100 million people globally use psychotropic drugs.
The Marketing of Madness exposes the real insanity in our psychiatric 'health care' system: profit-driven drug marketing at the expense of human rights.
This film plunges into an industry corrupted by corporate greed and delivers a shocking warning from courageous experts who value public health over dollar.
In a new study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Colonel Charles Hoge of Walter Reed Army Medical Center reports that up to a third of Iraq War veterans have sought mental health care treatment since their return from Iraq.
Unfortunately, even as we learn of even more devastating consequences of war, on ongoing assault against veterans continues, with some columnists and analysts arguing that many of those claiming post-traumatic stress disorder are simply gaming the system in order to secure financial compensation.
Last year, the VA began an aggressive review of PTSD claims, reopening the claims of 72,000 veterans with the most serious PTSD. Rules were changed to require additional approval for PTSD claims. The review of the 72,000 claims ended only when at least one of those veterans received a letter from the VA and blew his brains out. The subsequent outcry drowned out the most important finding of the VA's investigation -- of the 1,000 reviews they completed before halting the program, not one constituted fraud.
The bottom line is that combat experience can be devastating. The experience of killing in combat, of seeing a friend, or civilians killed, is extremely difficult to deal with and the normal reaction is, as I often put it, to go a little bit crazy. Across America, police departments recognize that fact, by making counseling mandatory for any officer who fires his weapon on duty.
For soldiers, we make no such claim. Often, the only readjustment counseling a military veteran receives on the end of a year-long combat tour is a fifteen minute chat, in a group, with a chaplain.
We know the seriousness of the issue. Untreated combat trauma often results in difficulty readjusting to civilian life. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates than one third of the homeless in America are Vietnam veterans. Too many Iraq war veterans are joining them.
In a democracy, we share responsibility not only for the actions of the service members we send to fight, but also for their future. It is not enough to accuse a few veterans of cheating to get compensation, thus tarnishing the service of hundreds of thousands of others.
The young men and women serving in the military today commit their lives to protect the rest of us. When they come home, it's our turn to help them.
Coming Changes at Veterans for Common Sense
In recognition of the enormous challenges faced by returning veterans, and in response to feedback we received from you in our annual membership survey, big changes are planned for VCS in the coming months. With a tighter focus and increased resources, we'll be working to make a big difference for returning veterans. Over the course of the next few weeks, as those changes are implemented, I'll continue to write and keep you up to date.
In the meantime, thank you for your continued support for VCS.
Resource Guide Update
As many of our members know, last year Veterans for Common Sense published the first comprehensive guide for returning veterans. Thanks to the very generous donations we received after our last call support, we'll shortly be printing thousands of the print version of the guide for distribution at a national conference on PTSD hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services. Thanks so much to all of you who gave for this effort.
Before we go to print, we want the guide to be as comprehensive as possible. That's where you come in. If you know of organizations, treatment programs or other resources available for returning veterans, we'd like you to add them to the guide.
Take a look at the current version, and if you see a resource that is missing or can be expanded on, please do so. We've opened it up so any member can post edits to the guide, in the hope that a collaborative effort can build a much more comprehensive resource than our staff can do alone. This effort depends on you.
As many of you who have been members of VCS for while know, our first major campaigns, in the fall of 2002 and the winter of 03, were letters to the President and the Senate/House leadership.
After some discussion, we've decided its time for another letter to the President, which is something we haven't done in quite a long time. We'll most likely focus on a couple of key areas: first, the treatment of the troops, especially on their return, and the heavy push coming from some think tanks (AEI in particular) to attack PTSD. We'll probably also talk about protection of civilians in Iraq and our concerns about prisoner abuse.
This time, before we draft the letter, I'd like to ask you for input. What do you think should go in it? What are the key points? If you could get into see GWB, what would you ask him?
I'd like to invite those of you in the Washington DC metro area to attend a reception Thursday, March 2, 2006 hosted by the Education for Peace in Iraq Center.
Have you ever wondered what life is really like in Iraq? Want to see and hear firsthand the experiences of Iraq War veterans? Join EPIC at a reception honoring photographer and Iraq War veteran Benjamin Busch and his new exhibit, "Occupation." Speakers will also include VCS board member Erik Gustafson and Iraq War veteran Jonathan Powers (founded of Iraq War Kids Relief).
Thursday, March 2 at 6:30 pm Marriot Inn & Conference Center (Lower Level Gallery) University of Maryland University College 3501 University Blvd East Adelphi, MD 20783 Phone: 1-800-888-UMUC
Admission is FREE, but donations are welcome.
All proceeds will benefit the artwork of Benjamin Busch and EPIC's Educational Programs.
National Gulf War Resource Center seeking executive director
The National Gulf War Resource Center, a national organization which has been advocating for Gulf War veterans health issues and the needs of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, is seeking a new executive director. Find out more at http://www.ngwrc.org
VCS Virtual Yard Sale
Do you have an old pair of skis in your attic that you don't use? What about a slightly out-of-date computer, or a box of collectibles? Now you can clear out your clutter and get a tax-deduction at the same time. Veterans for Common Sense is partnering with eBay and MissionFish to allow you to auction your old junk and find just the right buyer for it. Best of all, you can designate a percentage of your sale (from 10% to 100%) to benefit Veterans for Common Sense!
If you use Ebay (or want to get started) and want to find out how to donate part of your sale to VCS, click here:
Do you have a used car or van sitting in your driveway you need to get rid of? Did you know that you can donate used vehicles to Veterans for Common Sense, get a tax-deduction, and help support our mission at the same time?
As VCS works on its plan for 2006 and moves forward with a long-term strategic planning process, it is time to take our organization to a new level. Our objective is to double our budget and staff in 2006.
If you haven't made a gift to VCS lately, please consider supporting our work with a donation today.
Don't want to give online? You can call 202-558-4553 to give by credit card over the phone, or send a check to:
Veterans for Common Sense 1101 Pennsylvania Ave SE Suite 203 Washington, DC 20003-2229
Interested in writing for VCS?
Veterans for Common Sense is seeking interesting and hard-hitting original material for the web site. Are you a writer or interested in submitting materials? Editorial guidelines are located at:
If you have an upcoming event, memorial service, or other event that may be of interest to other VCS members, please let us know. To post your event online today, visit:
shared TED‘s album.
One Million Bones, headed
to the National Mall in
Washington, DC (3 photos)
A group carries bones to
an installation site.
Read a Q&A about the
meaning of this project:
http://wp.me/p10512-jNT
Visit t...
Description: A hairy
creeping perennial that
grows up
to 18 inches high. Has
ferny leaves and white
and
yellow flowers in the
summer that have an apple
scent.
Use: The entire plant is
used for distillation;
the
flowers are used for
essential oil...
Pan is the wild God of
Nature. The Horned One,
the Leaper in the Corn.
He is the son of Hermes.
A free spirit, he teaches
the joys of singing,
dancing and respect for
nature.
Knowing others is
intelligence;knowing
yourself is true
wisdom.Mastering others
is strength;mastering
yourself is true power.-
Lao TzuThe only questions
that really matter are
the ones you ask
yourself.- Ursula K. Le
GuinThe most difficult
phase of ...
SPRING! It's been
springing up all over the
place! Dandelions,
clover, plantain and
other valuable herbs all
over the yard, birds
singing, sweet smells in
the air, everything
turning so green and the
blossoms on the trees
coming in bloom...
Three days of travel by
Whimsical Art Bicycles
over Land, Sea and Sand.
IMHO: The best place to
see the Kinetic Sculpture
Race is at the Manila
Community Center on
Saturday at about 1 PM.
They have live music,
beverages, food,
bathrooms and Kiddee r...
Ginger. It’s hot,
it’s delicious and
it may just open new and
important frontiers in
treating that common and
dangerous ailment:
asthma. Asthma presents
itself with a tightening
of the airways due to
inflammation of
surrounding tissue, mu...
Description: Grows 6-18
inches tall, leaves are
pleated and cloak shaped.
In summer will blossom
small yellow-green
flowers.
Use: Use leaves and
flower shoots for eye
disorders and to staunch
bleeding. Also
traditionally used as an
aid in childbirt...