Virginia Tech: Mindfreedom's stand

Seung-Hui Cho may have been on prescribed antidepressant psychiatric drugs.

Latest information related to investigating mental health issues involving
this campus tragedy.



Tuesday, 24 April 2007: MindFreedom director David Oaks will discuss his own
experiences with forced psychiatric drugging on the National Public Radio
show Talk of the Nation at 2 pm ET. After the personal stories, there will
be an open-call-in show. For information see http://www.npr.org



Media, Mind and Seung-Hui Cho: Selected media stories regarding emerging
news about the interaction of the mental health system with Seung-Hui Cho.


MindFreedom Blog: "I was a college 'mental patient,'" by David Oaks,
personal reflections about youth, the psychiatric system, and the Virginia
Tech tragedy.




17 April 2007

MindFreedom Statement on Virginia Tech Massacre
At this time, there are only sketchy and unconfirmed media reports about the
interaction of the mental health system with Seung-Hui Cho, the apparent
shooter in the Virginia Tech Massacre.

MindFreedom is calling for an immediate and complete investigation, from the
start, of all aspects of the involvement of the mental health system with
this overwhelming tragedy, especially about how this impacts young people.


Some of the questions that need to be answered:
a.. What psychiatric drugs were prescribed, and when was Seung-Hui Cho on
these prescribed drugs, and at what levels? In the past, horrible tragedies
have taken place caused by someone who was on prescribed psychiatric drugs,
without a thorough disclosure of the relevant facts to the public.

b.. What role if any did prescribed psychiatric drugs play in this
tragedy? Early Associated Press reports (see related content link at bottom)
state that Seung-Hui Cho was prescribed antidepressants, which are
well-known to potentially lead to "disinhibition," meaning the person is
less able to control behavior that he or she would never have done without
the drug.
c.. How effective was the care offered to Seung-Hui Cho? What was he and
his family told about the effectiveness and hazards of this care? Unbiased
studies that have been done indicating that, for relieving someone's
unhappiness, some antidepressants are barely more effective than a sugar
pill.

d.. What else could have been done, such as non-drug alternatives? When
Seung-Hui Cho came to the attention of mental health care professionals
because of his past troubled behavior, what opportunities were lost? Was he
offered a full range of humane alternatives because of an emphasis on
psychiatric drugs? What was the opportunity cost here?
e.. If any survivors of this trauma develop extreme and overwhelming
mental and emotional problems, will they be spared re-traumatization that is
often experienced in the current mental health system (such as psychiatric
labeling, over-drugging, electroshock, and more)?

Whatever the results of these investigations, MindFreedom continues to call
for US Congressional and State Attorneys General investigations of abuse,
mismarketing, fraud by the psychiatric drug industry. Young people as never
before have ended up on the receiving end of this abuse.


MindFreedom is pro-choice on an individual's personal mental health care
decisions, and many of MindFreedom's members choose to take prescribed
psychiatric drugs.


Said David Oaks, Director of MindFreedom, "Our hearts go out to all those
who are impacted by this nightmare. MindFreedom is a coalition. We unite
people who willingly choose to take psychiatric drugs, with those who choose
to not take psychiatric drugs. We unite for choice, truth, freedom, and
choice. Our members on prescribed psychiatric drugs often have the most at
stake in any investigation of this tragedy. Information about the mental
health care of the apparent shooter should be open and transparent."


MindFreedom has protested the way they claim the psychiatric drug industry
has "taken over" much of mental health care today, creating countless human
rights violations, and denying people choices of non-drug approaches.
According to MindFreedom attorneys, some of this abuse by corporations are
in fact criminal human rights violations.


Said Ted Chabasinski on the MindFreedom board of directors, "How long is the
public going to let this go on? How many shootings and massacres will there
have to be? Wake up, America! Let's bring the drug companies under control."

To repeat, at this early point, whether or not Cho was on prescribed
psychiatric drugs is a mystery. MindFreedom is asking that all the facts be
released, in as clear and documented way as possible. While the Associated
Press is reporting Cho "may" have been on prescribed antidepressants,
according to ABC news:


"Some news accounts have suggested that Cho had a history of antidepressant
use, but senior federal officials tell ABC News that they can find no record
of such medication in the government's files. This does not completely rule
out prescription drug use, including samples from a physician, drugs
obtained through illegal Internet sources, or a gap in the federal database,
but the sources say theirs is a reasonably complete search."