»MindFreedom International is a Cult«
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I spent five minutes on MindFreedom's website and I can already tell it's a cult. I may be opinionated and insulting, but at least I'm not brainwashed like these people. I would be much more likely to agree with their central idea, that psychiatry as it is currently constituted is harmful rather than helpful (really not that radical a notion), if they didn't act in such a cultish manner, as demonstrated by the brainwashing techniques the new user Francesca Allan (and friends) attempted on me today through this forum. One of the most important apsects of cult psychology is insularity, through which the cult attempts to shield itself and its inner workings from scrutiny, and another is autonomy, which means a primary requirement for members will be the severance of certain previous ties to life before the cult. In the case of MindFreedom this means the severance of previous ties to life in the mental health system. The MindFreedom webpage is one long propaganda sheet against psychiatry, and members are portrayed as "survivors of human rights violations in the mental health system." If you go to MindFreedom's Wikipedia webpage, you will find very little information on the organization, such as who founded it, who runs it, what kind of structure exists within the organization, and so forth. They seem to be intent on turning their Wikipedia article into an advertisement for the cult, and I guess nobody really knows enough about the inner workings of the MindFreedom cult to write up a decent article. Here is the first paragraph of the Wiki article. MindFreedom International is a coalition of over 100 grassroots groups and thousands of individual members in 14 nations committed to winning and protecting the human rights of people labeled with psychiatric disorders. "A majority of MindFreedom members identify themselves as survivors of human rights violations in the mental health system, but membership is ... open to everyone who supports human rights, including mental health professionals, advocates, activists [and] family members." Sounds pretty zealous and laudatory if you ask me! And here is MindFreedom's own description of their organization: MindFreedom International unites 100 grassroots groups and thousands of members to win campaigns for human rights of people diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities. MindFreedom International is where mutual support meets human rights activism... and where democracy meets the mental health system.
A majority of MindFreedom members identify themselves as survivors of human rights violations in the mental health system, but membership is wide open to everyone who supports human rights including concerned mental health professionals, advocates, activists, family members and quite possibly you! As a non-profit organization under IRS 501(c)(3) your donations are tax-deductible Basically, the two blocks of text are the same, just slightly altered. Anyway, check out the website and make up your own mind. Just don't drink the kool-aid while you're there!  
posted by holy_of_holies |
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| in-my-opinion.orgPoliticsPsychiatry and Anti-PsychiatryMindFreedom International is a Cult |
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holy_of_holies: I spent five minutes on MindFreedom's website and I can already tell it's a cult. I may be opinionated and insulting, but at least I'm not brainwashed like these people. I would be much more likely to agree with their central idea, that psychiatry as it is currently constituted is harmful rather than helpful (really not that radical a notion), if they didn't act in such a cultish manner, as demonstrated by the brainwashing techniques the new user Francesca Allan (and friends) attempted on me today through this forum. Seems Holy has had his little nap and is back at it. Now you're committing libel against a charitable organization. Care to expand on your definition of "cultish manner"? And perhaps refresh my memory, Sir. How did I attempt to brainwash you earlier today? And despite your garbage spouted above, in fact, many members of MindFreedom International are "mental health consumers." And the fact that so many others of us turned our back on psychiatry indicates our dissatisfaction with that branch of medicine. It has nothing do with "insularity" or being a cult. Once again, you're unable to understand things so you sneer at them instead. You are as ill-informed and stupid as you are offensive, Holy. I'm expecting to hear back from your ISP anytime so enjoy it while it lasts. posted by Francesca Allan |
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 holy_of_holies: I spent five minutes on MindFreedom's website and I can already tell it's a cult. Do you really want to know what a cult is? Psychiatry. Because they don't like others to know what horror is going on inside an asylum. posted by knn |
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holy_of_holies: I spent five minutes on MindFreedom's website and I can already tell it's a cult. I may be opinionated and insulting, but at least I'm not brainwashed like these people.
... Anyway, check out the website and make up your own mind. Just don't drink the kool-aid while you're there! I can't see anything that would make me go
It's a good site and I don't see anything cultish posted by knn |
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Francesca Allan: How did I attempt to brainwash you earlier today? Well it goes like this:
You see, holy is living in an inverted universe. In fact his rants against you are probably the best sign, that he completely agrees with you, but simply...cannot...say...it. posted by knn |
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knn: Francesca Allan: How did I attempt to brainwash you earlier today? Well it goes like this:
You see, holy is living in an inverted universe. In fact his rants against you are probably the best sign, that he completely agrees with you, but simply...cannot...say...it. Well, if he's truly suffering from schizoaffective disorder then I feel bad because he's probably got a lot going on in his head. I went and read a completely unrelated post of his and I can see that he's not always a bad guy. It's often true that people lash out when they're confronted with the truth. And maybe that's what happened here. posted by Francesca Allan |
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Francesca Allan: And perhaps refresh my memory, Sir. lol that's right you bipolar cunt francesca allan call me sir at least someone around here knows how to address their superior officer now get on your knees and suck on this massive schlong while i administer an iv antipsychotic into your bipolar ass courtesy of MindSlavery Brand Psychiatry (TM) now have a nice day and enjoy your trip down the hall to the electroshock room after which procedure you'll drool in the corner with the rest of the canadian sled-dogs while i enjoy my first amendment right to defame you for the rest of my life no matter what you do in the united states of america 
posted by MindSlavery Florida |
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Hi "In My Opinion" folks, A member of MindFreedom International mentioned to me that an anonymous individual posted an allegation on "In My Opinion" that our nonprofit organization is a "cult." This observation was apparently based on what the individual said was "five minutes" exploring our web site. It's not really worth giving a lot of attention to anonymous negative statements like that, based on no evidence. However, what's more important to me is the people for whom we work: Individuals who have personally been on the receiving end of mental health care, often abusively. I direct MindFreedom International, and I'm not anonymous. I'm David W. Oaks, and folks are welcome to visit our office if you are ever in Eugene, Oregon. This is my 32nd year as a human rights activist in this field. My recruiting room? It wasn't a cult. My recruiting room was a solitary confinement cell in a psychiatric institution. You see, I was a college student on scholarship, going through rough times, and I asked for help. What I got was a psychiatric ward, solitary confinement, and forced psychiatric drugging. That was my recruitment room, because I vowed when I got out to work on behalf of the "have nots" who are on the "sharp end of the needle." I'm proud I've been doing that work ever since. For those who care about this issue, and have more than five minutes to check out the facts, we have plenty of information on our MindFreedom web site, just google MindFreedom International. You'll see that in 1986 we began the project that became MindFreedom International. We're a totally independent nonprofit human rights organization. What's really funny, is that most groups in the mental health field tend to get some kind of funding from some source like the government, mental health system, etc. Often, it's a necessity, because our people tend to be poor. But MindFreedom International has a policy like Amnesty International: Total 100 percent independence. This is not to necessarily criticize groups that get funding from the mental health industry or government. Just a statement that it's important to have some groups in the mental health field that are totally independent. So our funding is from members, book sales, and a few foundations. Unfortunately, over the decades one of the main counter-attacks by defenders of the mental health industry is to claim that ALL major critics of the mental health system must be part of some cult. We actually address this on our FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS. As you'll see, at great sacrifice, we're totally independent. Our attorney David Atkin has a letter there stating that if anyone purposely defames an individual with intent to harm about that matter, he would need to look into the matter. So we work on issues like speaking out about the huge power of the psychiatric drug industry... promoting more choices in mental health care... celebrating psychiatric survivors through cultural events like "Mad Pride"... and much more. Thanks again for the chance to brag about the great work MindFreedom is doing. But most importantly, we're part of a social change movement that is helping one of the ultimate 'have nots' -- people labeled with psychiatric labels -- to get together, and develop a voice of, by and for mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors. Before anyone dismisses that... remember that just about EVERY family at one point or another will have someone who is using the mental health system, and then you may really need to turn to an organization to find out what the alternatives are, and what your human rights are. Thanks again. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, David David W. Oaks, Executive Director MindFreedom International 454 Willamette, Suite 216 - POB 11284 Eugene, OR 97440-3484 USA web:  email: oaks@mindfreedom.org office phone: (541) 345-9106 fax: (480) 287-8833 member services toll free in USA: 1-877-MAD-PRID[e] or 1-877-623-7743 United Independent Activism for Human Rights in Mental Health! MindFreedom International is an non-profit coalition with a vision of a non-violent revolution in mental health. Accredited by the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with Consultative Roster Status. Join now!  "Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted." - Martin Luther King, Jr. posted by david-oaks |
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I have heard that same slander about the anti-psych movement. A certain newspaper column advice giver who I will not name here because I am not sure which of the now-deceased identical twin sisters it was repeated the "there's-no-opposition-to-psychiatry-except from-a-certain-religious-cult" libel more than once in the 1980's. My own expereince with Scientology more than 30 years ago was not good and since then I have avoided them like the plague, but I have to give them my begrudging respect for telling the truth about p$ychiatry. The antip$ychiatric books I have seen from them did not proselytize in any way and so far as I can see they tell the Truth about the "mental health" racket. My only complaint is that- with the millions of dollars they allegedly rake in from their celebrity clients, they ought to spend a lot MORE of it fighting the brain devouring Beast! Good to hear from you David, and I look forward to hearing you on the radio this weekend! (If it's OK I will post the particulars here so others on this board can listen if they haven't already heard about your appearance.) posted by psychsaboteur |
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Yeah! Go Mindfreedom!  posted by pandora |
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The time now is 4 February 2012, 12:07 php B.B. |