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Are People Being Thrown In Psychiatric Wards For Their Political Views?
Many psychologists and psychiatrists are good people, who are only trying to help their patients.
But the Nazi government substantially supported psychologists … many of whom, in turn, espoused extermination of the people they considered to be “racially and cognitively compromised”.
Soviet psychiatrists famously aided Stalin in applying fake insanity diagnoses to political dissenters. The official explanation was that no sane person would declaim the Soviet government and Communism.
American psychologists created the American program of torture which was specially-crafted to produce false confessions to justify U.S. military policy. And see this.
And authoritarian American psychologists are eager to label anyone “taking a cynical stance toward politics, mistrusting authority, endorsing democratic practices, … and displaying an inquisitive, imaginative outlook” as worthy of a trip to the insane asylum. (Those traits may also get one labeled as a potential terrorist.)
As prominent forensic psychiatrist James Knoll - psychiatry professor at SUNY-Syracuse and director of a forensic fellowship program - writes in the Psychiatric Times:
When psychiatric science becomes co-opted by a political agenda, an unhealthy alliance may be created. It is science that will always be the host organism, to be taken over by political viruses…. [P]sychiatry may come to resemble a new organism entirely -- one that serves the ends of the criminal justice system.
Even psychologists with good intentions can erroneously label people delusional simply because they themselves make bad assumptions.
There is even a label for this – the “Martha Mitchell Effect” – defined as:
The process by which a psychiatrist, psychologist, or other mental health clinician mistakes the patient’s perception of real events as delusional and misdiagnoses accordingly.
The authors of a paper on this phenomenon (Bell, V., Halligan, P.W., Ellis, H.D. (2003) Beliefs About Delusions. The Psychologist, 6 (8), 418-422) conclude:
Sometimes, improbable reports are erroneously assumed to be symptoms of mental illness [due to a] failure or inability to verify whether the events have actually taken place, no matter how improbable intuitively they might appear to the busy clinician.
In other words, psychologists who haven’t taken the time to examine for themselves the claims of their patients will tend to label as delusional anything which they “intuitively” feel is improbable. As such, psychologists and psychiatrists are just as prone to acting out their irrational prejudices as anyone else … unless they take the time to investigate and educate themselves.
Governments Indefinitely Detaining Citizens In Psychiatric Wards Without Due Process of Law
As such, detention in psych wards on mere “suspicion” of posing a danger – without due process of law – is troubling.
For example, former marine Brandon Raub was just carted off and locked in a psychiatric ward for his allegedly “anti-government” Facebook posts.
AP reports today:
Police – acting under a state law that allows emergency, temporary psychiatric commitments upon the recommendation of a mental health professional – took Raub to the John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell. He was not charged with any crime.
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Col. Thierry Dupuis, the county police chief, said Raub was taken into custody upon the recommendation of mental health crisis intervention workers. He said the action was taken under the state’s emergency custody statute, which allows a magistrate to order the civil detention and psychiatric evaluation of a person who is considered potentially dangerous.
New York Police officer Adrian Schoolcraft was involuntarily hospitalizated in a psychiatric ward after he recorded videotapes of his fellow police officers engaging in corruption.
Claire Swinney of New Zealand was also held in a psychiatric ward and called “delusional” for criticizing the government. Susan Lindauer was held under the Patriot Act for a year at Carswell Air Force Base - where psychiatric drugs were pushed on her - after she alleged government corruption.
The Daily Mail notes:
The [British] Government has established a shadowy new national anti-terrorist unit to protect VIPs, with the power to detain suspects indefinitely using mental health laws.
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The team’s psychiatrists and psychologists then have the power to order treatment – including forcibly detaining suspects in secure psychiatric units.
Using these powers, the unit can legally detain people for an indefinite period without trial, criminal charges or even evidence of a crime being committed and with very limited rights of appeal.
Until now it has been the exclusive decision of doctors and mental health professionals to determine if someone should be forcibly detained.
But the new unit uses the police to identify suspects – increasing fears the line is being blurred between criminal investigation and doctors’ clinical decisions.
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Scotland Yard, which runs the shadowy unit, refuses to discuss how many suspects have been forcibly hospitalised by the team because of “patient confidentiality”.
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The purpose of the centre is “to evaluate and manage the risk posed to prominent people by…those who engage in inappropriate or threatening communications or behaviours in the context of abnormally intense preoccupations, many [Many? That means that some are not] of which arise from psychotic illness.”
Who gets to decide what “inappropriate” or “threatening” means? What if a whistleblower has information that a member of parliament has engaged in bribes? Would trying to reveal such information constitute “inappropriate or threatening communications or behaviours” in the context of “abnormally intense preoccupations” with that MP’s illegal actions?
Indeed, a study published in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry found a high rate of false positives in the British identification of dangerous persons.
The Mail continues:
So-called ‘sectioning’ allows a patient to be held for up to six months before a further psychological assessment. Patients are then reviewed every year to determine if they can be released.
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Human rights activists fear the team, whose existence has never been publicised, may be being used as a way to detain suspected terrorists without having to put evidence before the courts.
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Last night human rights group Liberty said the secret unit represented a new threat to civil liberties.
Policy director Gareth Crossman said: “There is a grave danger of this being used to deal with people where there is insufficient evidence for a criminal prosecution.
“This blurs the line between medical decisions and police actions. If you are going to allow doctors to take people’s liberty away, they have to be independent. That credibility is undermined when the doctors are part of the same team as the police.
“This raises serious concerns. First that you have a unit that allows police investigation to lead directly to people being sectioned without any kind of criminal proceedings.
“Secondly, it is being done under the umbrella of anti-terrorism at a time when the Government is looking at ways to detain terrorists without putting them on trial.”
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The team examined thousands of cases and liaised with the FBI, the US Secret Service, the Capitol Hill Police, which protects Congressmen and Senators, and the Swedish and Norwegian secret services.
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Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “The Government is trying to bring in a wider definition of mental disorder and is resisting exclusions which ensure that people cannot be treated as mentally disordered on the grounds of their cultural, political or religious beliefs.
“When you hear they are also setting up something like this police unit, it raises questions about quite what their intentions are.
“The use of mental health powers of detention should be confined to the purposes of treatment. But the Government wants to be able to detain someone who is mentally disordered even when the treatment would have no benefit.
“Combined with the idea that someone could be classed as mentally ill on the grounds of their religious beliefs, it is a very worrying scenario.”
Indeed, the whole “indefinite detention” process (which Americans living on American soil are subject to) can be based on circular reasoning:
The government’s indefinite detention policy – stripped of it’s spin – is literally insane, and based on circular reasoning. Stripped of p.r., this is the actual policy:
- If you are an enemy combatant or a threat to national security, we will detain you indefinitely until the war is over
- It is a perpetual war, which will never be over
- Neither you or your lawyers have a right to see the evidence against you, nor to face your accusers
- But trust us, we know you are an enemy combatant and a threat to national security
- We may torture you (and try to cover up the fact that you were tortured), because you are an enemy combatant, and so basic rights of a prisoner guaranteed by the Geneva Convention don’t apply to you
- Since you admitted that you’re a bad guy (while trying to tell us whatever you think we want to hear to make the torture stop), it proves that we should hold you in indefinite detention
See how that works?
This is an analogy. We are not accusing psych wards of using torture. However, they do often use powerful psychiatric drugs on patients … which can elicit false confessions.
Are we going to slide into Soviet levels of psychiatric detention of political dissidents? Unless the spread of psychiatric detention without due process of law is checked, the mere belief that the government is interfering with your liberty may become grounds for locking you away.
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I'm not saying Brandon doesn't have a right to free speech.. I'm all for bringing the government to account.. But.. i've seen a video with his posts.. the guy was a loose cannon.. He basically asked to be targeted.. And with the current events of people shooting places up, well.. come on..
Freedom of speech is not up for rationalizing by anyone in this country because it is in the US constitution and it is every man or women's right. There used to be bounds for detaining someone without charge and the fact that the NDAA is now law is quite scary or at least should be for anyone who has a sense of world history.
All I've heard about are his FB posts which all look like protected speech to me. Did he threaten anybody in the video? Is there a link to this video?
Even if this is psy-ops as somebody mentioned, no need to let them move the goal posts. And as I've said the family looked real and sincere to me. I wish him the best.
I wish him the best as well.. And I actually feel like we are on the same team.. I just can't help seeing that the guy was crying for help.. As a father, brother, son, friend, the signs he was showing to me was that of desparation.. I think people are fooling themselves if they see his actual posts and do not feel the guy needs someone to talk to. His display was that of someone at risk.. I wouldn't doubt if a friend reported his rantings thinking they were helping him out.
C'mon, this opinion is nonsense in light of his indefinite detention in a psychiatric ward after being arrested without charge. Government thugs don't get to violate your basic rights just because you seem "off."
troll
Fuck you.. I think the trolls are people like you that propagate this bullshit idea that we need to fight the government with force and threaten people with fema camps in order for them to see what we are saying.. It's fucking moronic.. The first thing we need to do is fight this false left/right paradigm with everything we have. We will NEVER come together as a force against the paid whores in DC as long as we can't even agree on what is obviously the boot on our throat.. The people are getting the government they want.. they vote for.. they sit on their lazy asses and okay all the fucking bull shit that is going on.. And you think some guy inches away from going postal is our ticket to fighting this country.. All you fuckers that gave me the down arrow are bunch of fucking morons and probably didn't even see his actual posts.. The dude needed a time out.. I'm glad he got it..
Max - I'm surprised at your posts. I'm missing the part where the FB posts in question say fight the government with force.
Who's doing left/right on this? This is a Liberty, First Amendment issue as far as I can see that every American, of what ever political persuation, real or imagined should be greatly concerned about.
As far as I can see, based on the FB posts, Brandon could have been any one of us. Maybe some of his posts, like quoting violent rap lyrics were not a good idea, but then let's see a general crack down on violent rap lyrics. Instead we get propigation of violent rap lyrics. Who owns the MSM?
If you know something else, you can share it ... can't you? Maybe you can not. Is everyone now a criminal in Amerika, waiting to get picked up?
Too bad you can not be more specific.
Go to youtube and find the user "truthnevertold" He has a great video explaining the guy's posts. He has been in contact with him since the guy headed up the local freedom group. I don't remember specifically but he became obsessed with peopl acting.. ACTING NOW.. the government is coming for you shit.. All of you that think my comment is against Freedom of Speach should take a more objective view of this. What if he did shoot a place up? People would have said "well, they were watching his Facebook and didn't do anything".. I'm tired of hearing about this guy.. He's not helping our cause.. There could be some Freedom of Speach violation going on.. but I also heard him on a phone interview and he's being treated well.. Like I said before.. I wouldn't doubt it if it was a family member or close friend that got whiff of even more disturbing shit he said that called in people to help him..
Thanks I'll check it out.
About - What if he did shoot a place up?
Sorry but my tin foil 1st amendment protected speech hat says there's a lot of oddities in the one I looked into a bit - Aurora.
"Shoot a place up?"
His younger brother said, "he doesn't even own a gun".
BTW I would like to see more Americans get off their asses and away from the TV set, and get out in the streets and parks and make some noise about the ass rape this country is taking. Not OWS, not TEA party rallies, but some marching, signs, voting, etc....
key bounce
FedBuster - that to me is the point. To shut everyone up. Two type of posters have been supportive of this illegal detention 1- the paid shills and 2- people with no balls, wetting thier pants, trying to make some distance so they're not next.
People gotta grow some backbone.
Hang together or hang seperately.
VICTORY: Circuit Court Orders Brandon Raub Released, Dismisses Case Against Marine Arrested, Detained in Veterans Admin. Psych Ward over Political Views, Song Lyrics Posted on Facebook https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/on_the_front_lines/vic...
My guess is that they setup a brain-dead system, and that brain-dead enforcers used it.
A few more:
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/08/welcome-to-united-soviet-st...
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/08/hot-statement-from-brandon-...
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/rosenberg-p7.1.1.html
http://dont-tread-on.me/?p=21770
30 minute video which includes individual stories of oppressive tactics. Chilling to say the least.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=oyAD3ELd9ZI
The focus on unions is somewhat out of place and distracting but it does show the abuse of the benefits given to the law enforcement members who are now putting us under their thumb.
Edited to put in correct video - There are hundreds of them!
What an absolute disgrace this is. Has it even been mentioned in MSM yet?
Yeah, AP and Fox posted versions...
And, predictably, they quoted the worst possible thing - the lyric - without saying it was a lyric - and make their sacred enforcers look pristine.
So did ABC, but I am no surprised. The MSM usually gets the story wrong, then they start to change and retract things. Most likely they will wait as long as the can to see if this story has "legs", then they will jump on board giving it some anti-terrorism spin.
Well, at least US vets now know where the first HMS bus stop is, a VA psych ward near you (until they ship you to one further away).
http://www.theagapecenter.com/Hospitals/Psychiatric.htm
They've even been so helpful as to publish a guide.
http://www.mirecc.va.gov/VISN16/docs/Guide_to_VA_Mental_Health_Srvcs_FIN...
In Soviet America, the country serves you!
Wait 'til the Feds read this: http://thespiritoftruth.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-west-nile-mystery-saddams-legacy.html
Oooops....no one was supposed to say that!
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/on_the_front_lines/vic...