The First Alternative is Do No Harm Causes of Mental Symptoms No one denies that people can have difficult problems in their lives, that at times they can be mentally unstable.
Unfortunately, not only do psychiatrists not understand the cause of any mental disorder, they cannot cure them.
In effect, psychiatrists say that mental problems are incurable and that the afflicted are condemned to lifelong suffering -- on psychotropic drugs.
Psychotropic drugs, however, are unworkable and dangerous, and while they may temporarily mask some symptoms they do not treat, correct or cure any physical disease or condition.
Though psychiatry may have given up on mental healing, this is fortunately false.
Mental problems can be resolved, and thankfully so.
Imagine how it would be to believe man was destined never to overcome his personal obstacles, never to arrive at an understanding of himself and life.
A person who is mentally disturbed may be in a state of deficiency or have physical problems that prevent their recovery.
Broken bones, pinched nerves, pain -- all can affect the body and, thereby, affect the person's mental outlook.
The person is medically ill or injured, not "insane.
" He may not even be aware that he is experiencing the pain or unwanted sensation and thinks this is a "normal" way of life.
He may not be able to eat and sleep properly and his condition could worsen by exhaustion.
However, once the medical problem is addressed, he can experience resurgence and whatever else may be troubling him can then be more easily addressed.
This is not to say that mental troubles are physical.
They are not.
Psychiatrists argue that mental disorders are biologically based to justify using treatments that cause more physical stress and further overwhelm the mind.
Therefore, the correct action on a seriously mentally disturbed person is a full searching clinical examination by a competent medical doctor.
The Second Alternative is Find and Fix The Cause Things That May Cause Mental Symptoms All of these various things may seriously affect an individual's mental state and behavior.
For example, Dr.
Paul Fink, past president of the American Psychiatric Association, has acknowledged that every psychiatric disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) can be caused by Lyme Disease.
Psychiatry ignores the weight of scientific evidence and limits practice to pharmaceutical and other treatments that have done nothing but damage the brain and the individual.
This is not an exhaustive list: Adrenal Over- or Under-activity Alcohol or Alcohol Withdrawal Altzheimer's Disease Amphetamines Antidepressant Drugs Antipsychotic Drugs Brain Tumors Broken Bones Caffeine or Caffeine Withdrawal Calcium Imbalance Cancer Candida Chlamydia Cocaine Copper Poisoning Diabetes Diphtheria Drug Withdrawal Ecstasy Encephalitis Epilepsy Heart Disease Heroin Herpes HIV Hypoglycemia Insecticide Poisoning Kidney Disease Lead Poisoning Legionnaires Disease Liver Disease LSD Lupus Lyme Disease Malaria Marijuana Meningitis Menopausal Symptoms Mercury Poisoning Metabolic Abnormalities Methamphetamines Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) Multiple Sclerosis Nicotine or Nicotine Withdrawal Nutritional Imbalances Overdose of Over-the-Counter Drugs Parasites Pellagra (Vitamin B3-Niacin Deficiency) Pinched Nerves Pneumonia Porphyria Rheumatic Fever Sepsis Sleep Apnea Sodium Imbalance Steroids Streptococcal Infections Strokes Synthetic Food Coloring Syphilis Thyroid Over- or Under-activity Tranquilizers Typhoid Fever Urinary Tract Infections Vitamin B1 Deficiency Vitamin B12 Deficiency Vitamin B9-Folic Acid Deficiency Wheat-gluten Sensitivity Zinc Deficiency Why some people say that drugs "work" A temporary relief of mental symptoms may have a person thinking he is better but the relief is not evidence that a psychiatric disorder exists.
Ask an illicit drug user whether he feels better when snorting cocaine or smoking dope and he'll believe that he is, even while the drugs are potentially damaging him.
Some drugs that are prescribed to treat depression, for example, can have a "damping down" effect.
They suppress the physical feelings associated with "depression" but they are not alleviating the condition or targeting what is causing it.
The drugs break into, in most cases, the routine rhythmic flows and activities of the nervous system.
Given a tranquilizer, the nerves and other body systems are forced to do things they normally would not do.
The human body, however, is unmatched in its ability to withstand and respond to such disruptions.
The various systems fight back, trying to process the chemical, and work diligently to counterbalance its effect on the body.
But the body can only take so much.
Quickly or slowly, the systems break down.
Human physiology was not designed for the continuous manufacture of euphoric, tranquilizing, or antidepressant sensations.
yet it is forced into this enterprise by psychiatric drugs.
Tissue damage may occur.
Nerves stop functioning normally.
Organs and hormonal systems go awry.
This can be temporary, but it can also be long lasting, even permanent.
Like a car run on rocket fuel, you may be able to get it to run a thousand miles an hour, but the tires, the internal parts, were never meant for this.
The machine flies apart.
Bizarre things happen: Addiction, exhaustion, diminished sexual desire, trembling, nightmares, hallucinations, and psychosis.
Side effects are, in fact, the body's natural response to having a chemical disrupt its normal functioning.
Once the drug has worn off, the original problem remains.
As a solution or cure to life's problems, psychotropic drugs do not work.
What you can do Download, print and distribute to your family, friends and colleagues this White Paper, "Mental Health Care: What is the Alternative to Psychotropic Drugs?" which can be found on the Citizens Commission on Human Rights of St.
Louis resource site.