Oprah searching for mentally ill

[shutterbug]

MindFreedom Brief Alert - 12 August 2005

http://www.MindFreedom.org

Oprah TV Show Staff Searches for People
Diagnosed with "Serious" Mental Illness,
and the People who Live with Us.
Easy Web Forms So You Can E-Mail Oprah!
MindFreedom just got a tip that Oprah's
TV show is searching for guests diagnosed
with so-called "serious" psychiatric disorders.
We've confirmed the tip is accurate,
but the search may not last for long.
Industry groups who oppose our human rights
already have a campaign to contact Oprah,
so it would be important if those who support
human rights contact her show immediately.
Oprah's show is looking for specific stories.
MindFreedom encourages those people who
have stories about the over-drugging, the
fraud, the electroshock, the domination
of the drug industry in the mental health
system to let the staff here about it!
Let specific stories from your life speak up
for a nonviolent revolution of
empowerment, self-determination and human
rights in the mental health system!
Even if you do not get on the show,
submitting your story and information
on the show's handy web form may help
Oprah's staff learn about the emergency
need for human rights and alternatives
in the mental health system.
JUST WHAT IS OPRAH SEARCHING FOR?
Here is what Oprah's show says they are looking
for. Please note we are just forwarding this
information, not necessarily endorsing their
language. Please read this carefully.
The Oprah show says they are looking for people
currently primarily diagnosed with: "schizophrenia,
dissociative disorder, delusional disorder,
delirium, or paranoid personality disorder."
They are also looking for people who live
with those of us who now have that diagnosis.
Oprah's staff is NOT looking for individuals
right now who are currently diagnosed primarily
with bipolar, depression, etc.
More info is on the easy web forms listed below.
HOW TO REACH OPRAH'S SHOW VIA THE WEB
*NOTE*: If you use the below web forms to sum
up your story for Oprah's staff, the number
of characters (counting every single letter
and every single space) *MUST* be below 2000!
Okay, here are the web site addresses!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oprah's show: "Do you have a mental illness?"
https://www.oprah.com/plugger/templa...TheShow.jhtml?
action=respond&plugId=176700002
OR USE THIS SMALLER URL:
http://tinyurl.com/agq7n
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oprah's show: "Living with someone who is mentally ill."
https://www.oprah.com/plugger/templa...TheShow.jhtml?
action=respond&plugId=176700001
OR USE THIS SMALLER URL:
http://tinyurl.com/c3mev
- end of alert -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL APPROPRIATE
FOLKS ON AND OFF INTERNET *SOON*.

[historyteach]

Just interested in why major depression and bipolar are not addressed in this list of "serious mental illness".....
Whatever...

Shalom!

[shutterbug]

HistoryTeach...I wondered that myself. I even did a brief search to see if Oprah had done a show on bipolar disorder. All I found was a show on bipolar in children, which is awsome, but what about us adults who have to deal with our shattered lives and the people that even end up homeless?

I went ahead and wrote her my story anyway and told her that I hope they can do a show on bipolar adults and how it also affects jobs and relationships.

I figure that even if she's not looking for bipolars now....maybe she might in the future and the more of us that write her about bipolar disorder...the more apt they are to really take a look at it.

[Erratic]

great another person who only wants to see the negative side of mental health people... yeah thats going to help us alot i mean digging up who has been drugged to much to all sorts..i mean whats wrong with electric shock treament its hardly used now unless its really needed.. ffs why only do programs on bad side of things.. does it sell the program more?

why is she just looking for paranoid personality disorder? most of all the personality disoders have same traits.. jesus they are being picky

dissociation happens in PTSD and BPD or most PD problems.. i dissociate ive been told so what..

sry im being in negative mood.. im being skeptic on what use and doing with this program

[shutterbug]

Erratic,

I think you and I see things in different lights, but that's OK.

I don't know of any one person besides Oprah who can make such a huge difference in helping to erratiicate social stigmas about mental illness in general. I personally don't remember ever seeing any kind of hardship story on her show where she doesn't go to the good side of things (in telling people how they can get help and how others over came their illnesses).

Yeah, I think you have to tell the bad things about mental illness, so that other people can understand and maybe have some sympathy rather than being afraid of people with mental illness. AND to help erase all the horror story pictures society has engrained in their minds from decades of movies and t.v. shows where all mentally ill people are portrayed in the absolute worst charactor types - like being violent and put in straight jackets and padded rooms, while being injected with who knows what kind of drugs that put them into zombie like states.

A large percentage of people still think depression and other illnesses are personal character flaws that people can change about themselves if they really wanted to... rather the public needs to be educated so they can understand that it is physical nature of the disease that makes it no different than cancer or heart disease. That it's caused from faulty genes that produce chemical imbalances in the brain and that should be viewed with the same kind of sympathy as cancer or heart disease.

I think the best thing, and most important thing, we can do for ourselves and other people with mental illnesses is to try to change the stigmas associated with our disease.

Oprah's general outlook and goal is to help people --not hurt them.

And I totally agree that ECT should be used more and be made more easily accessible because everything I've learned about it is that the positive affects far outweight the slight risks (like temporary memory loss).

If I had a way to do it, I would have chosen ECT many, many months ago. If I had undergone ECT during or right after my first hospital stay, I truely believe that I would not have lost my job and so much more. People like me are suffering needlessly and we need to stand up for ourselves.

I don't know why they are chosing only to concentrate on personality disorders, but being a part of the media myself, I know that there is only so much time you have in an hour and you can only cram so much information into 60 minutes, minus commercials.

I also have to wonder if their reasoning might be that....since Schizophrenia and other personality disorders are feared and looked down on even more than bipolar disorder....then maybe they look at it like this, "If we can help bring down some of the stigmas about personality disorders...then stigmas about lesser degrees of mental illness will come down as well.

These are just my personal opinions. I guess we won't know until the show airs as to what their intentions are.


Thanks for posting in and expressing your side of things. I really appreciate it.

Hugs,
Jenna

[Erratic]

thanks.. but i was being in a negative mood.. your right im sure..

im one of those people with a personality disorder