Treatment Advocacy Center President E. Fuller Torrey announced the appointment of Dr. Alan Stone, Touroff-Glueck professor of law and psychiatry at Harvard University School of Law and former head of the American Psychiatric Association, to the Treatment Advocacy Center advisory board. The Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illnesses. TAC promotes laws, policies and practices for the delivery of psychiatric care and supports the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. “We are pleased to welcome Dr. Stone as a steward for this unique advocacy organization,” said Torrey. “I have known Dr. Stone for more than 35 years. He has been a leader in all aspects of law and psychiatry and has been one of the few psychiatrists who have spoken out for the rights of patients to be treated. ... “The Treatment Advocacy Center is taking a forceful stand to help people with severe mental illnesses in a way no other organization will do,” said Dr. Stone. “For too long, society has chosen to ignore the severely mentally ill in the name of civil rights. I am proud to be part of an organization that is stepping up to advocate for real, long-term treatment for this underserved population.” full press release

Just how close is the relationship between the American Psychiatric Association and the Treatment Advocacy Center? Giving each other awards and now swapping leadership. It's unseemly at best, but I have a suspicion it's not at best. Their message seems clear at least: civil rights are annoying anyway, it'd be silly to let something so petty get in the way of forcibly drugging people.

After seeing the MWMF boards, it is pretty clear that the Camp Trans press release was inaccurate insofar as stating that there has been any change in the policies of the MWMF.

I share the view others who have expressed: even if the policy did change why would I want to be stuck for a week at a festival with such a tone of fear and hatred. And while the have just as much right as everyone else to single a group out for hatred and scapegoating, I don't really see how that would be in any way enjoyable or fulfilling for me to join in.

ganked from daffidoll:

http://www.camp-trans.org/ Michigan Women’s Music Festival ends policy of discrimination against Trans women After 15 years of controversy, supporters welcome trans women to ‘the land’ HART, MICHIGAN — The Michigan Women’s Music Festival began admitting openly trans (transgender/transsexual) women last week, bringing success to a longstanding struggle by trans activists both inside and outside the festival. “Seeing trans women inside the festival for the first time brought me to tears,” said Sue Ashman, who attends the festival every year. “It’s restored my faith in women’s communities.” Ashman said ”I have friends who have already committed to bringing themselves and others for the first time next year.” Organizers of Camp Trans, the annual protest across the road from the festival, say that every year at least one trans woman at Camp Trans walks to the festival gate with a group of supporters, explains that she is trans, and tries to buy a ticket. In past years, the festival box office has produced a printed copy of the policy and refused. “This time, the response was, ‘cash or credit?’” said Jessica Snodgrass, a Camp Trans organizer and festival attendee who spent the week reaching out to supporters inside the fest. “They said the festival has no policy barring any woman from attending.” The woman purchased her ticket on Wednesday and joined supporters inside the festival. Another trans woman, Camp Trans organizer Emilia Lombardi, joined on Friday to facilitate a scheduled workshop discussion on the recently-retired policy. “This kind of discussion has happened before inside the fest,” said Lombardi. “But for the first time in years, trans women were part of the conversation. Over 50 women shared their thoughts about what the inclusion of trans women means for the Festival and how we can move forward.” “We didn’t expect to change anyone’s minds in the workshop – but in the end we didn’t need to. The support we found was overwhelming.” Both trans women say they were moved by how friendly and supportive other festival attendees were. “We spent all day inside the festival, talking with other women about how Michigan has grown to embrace the diversity of women’s experience,” Lombardi said. “The attitudes of festival goers have definitely shifted since the early 90’s.” With their original mission accomplished, organizers say Camp Trans will continue to be a place for trans people and allies to build community, share ideas, and develop strategies for change. And they will keep working together with festival workers and attendees to make sure trans women who attend the fest next year have support and resources. Camp Trans will partner with a group of supporters inside the fest next year to establish an anti-transphobia area within the festival. Representatives from Camp Trans and A group of festival workers and attendees, organizing under the name "The Yellow Armbands," plan to educate people on trans issues and provide support to trans and differently gendered women. Festival attendees have worn yellow armbands for the past three years as a symbol of pro-trans inclusion solidarity. Both Camp Trans and supporters at the fest say they are excited to be working together to welcome trans women and support a trans-inclusive, women-only space. “This is not about winning,” said Snodgrass. “It’s about making our communities whole again. The policy divided people against each other who could be fighting on the same side. We want to be part of the healing process.” Camp Trans (camp-trans.org) is an effort to end discrimination against trans women within women’s communities. For 14 years, Camp Trans has been a site for trans people and allies to protest the policy, build community, and develop strategies for change. BACKGROUND The festival’s policy against trans women was first enforced in 1991, when festival security ejected Nancy Burkholder from the grounds of the festival. As the largest women-only festival of its kind, and as one of the few remaining women’s events to openly discriminate against trans women, the festival was well known for its policy, drawing criticism from trans activists and festival attendees. Two years ago, a group of attendees deployed a 25-foot banner opposing the policy during the headline act.</a>

Understanding the meaning behind a person's posture or body movement comes easily to many people and helps guide how we react to others socially. But people with schizophrenia, even those who have mild to moderate symptoms and take medications, are not fluent in understanding body language, according to a University of Iowa-led study that included investigators Nirav Bigelow, Ph.D., Sergio Paradiso, M.D., Ph.D., and Nancy C. Andreasen M.D., Ph.D. The results appear in the April 2006 issue of Schizophrenia Research. Previous studies conducted by Paradiso and Andreasen showed that patients with schizophrenia have trouble deciphering emotion from human facial expressions. However, it was not well understood whether this perception problem extended to other socially relevant clues, said Sergio Paradiso, the study's corresponding author and assistant professor of psychiatry in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. "As we interact with people, we make judgments that we're not consciously aware of," Paradiso said. "If we see a coworker hunched over and don't see his face, we may approach him cautiously because we think something might be wrong and perhaps we can help. We don't see the face, but we glean information from the body language. People with schizophrenia are not as good at extracting this kind of information to guide their social interactions." The study included 14 people without schizophrenia and 20 people with schizophrenia who were taking medication and had mild to moderate symptoms. "Unfortunately, standard treatment for schizophrenia does not appear to be capable of improving perception that helps in being social with others," Paradiso said. The inability to perceive body language also appears unrelated to a person's level of intelligence. "Many people with schizophrenia, including those who are very bright, remain awkward in social situations," Paradiso added. full article

I don't see how they can come to their conclusions from their data. All the schizophrenic patients in the study were on medication. All of them. Antipsychotic medication is well known to cause cognitive impairments, and without studying non-medicated patients it is not impossible to tell if the cognitive problems described are caused by schizophrenia or if they are caused by the medication.

However, the psychopharmaceutical industrial complex strongly discourages studies involving unmedicated individuals that might call into question antipsychotic medications, calling such studies are "unethical". This makes it unlikely there will be true scientific studies on this subject until the current system is replaced.

The Treatment Advocacy Center has won the American Psychiatric Association's Presidential Commendation for "sustained extraordinary advocacy on behalf of the most vulnerable mentally ill patients who lack the insight to seek and continue effective care and benefit from assisted outpatient treatment." full press release

If there was ever any doubt that the American Psychiatric Association is completely in bed with TAC and its agenda of forced psychiatric "treatments" and drugging, it should be gone now.