Latest Articles
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MINDFREEDOM IRELAND ANNUAL REPORT 2013.
2013 was a milestone year for MindFreedom Ireland (MFIrl) as we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our foundation in the house of Helena King in Cork in December 2003. In addition to marking the occasion with a one day conference, our other work in the more routine areas of education, activism and peer support continued apace. Peer Support. Following a brief interlude and thanks mainly to the sterling support of Susan Mendez, the Stand By Me group resumed its Wednesday meetings in Costas, Douglas with a number of new attendees. Hospital visits and telephone support was provided to a large number of people who had made contact with us. MEDIA. This contact was facilitated by the launch of...
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A Little Help From My Friends
Music is food for the heart and soul. A Little Help From My Friends is a music group the meets most Fridays at 1.PM at Rochestown, Cork. We play and sing musical songs together. We find it a very effective way to be mindful and supportive. The tin whistle is a simple, beautiful instrument to learn and some people have learned to play it for the fist time at our group.
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Be Your Own Media
Be Your Own Media By Mary Maddock “ Be the change you want to see in the world.” After 14 years of activism with freedom from psychiatric oppression, I am convinced that in order to create a revolution of creative maladjustment with other creative movements worldwide, we need more than ever to be our own media. I am reading Linda Andrea’s excellent book ‘Doctors of Deception’ once more (it is well worth reading several times). She explains how established media played a very important role in hiding the real truth about the brain damaging effects of electroshock and present it as new and improved for the last four decades in America. Here in Ireland we can see a similar attempt to distort...
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Colette Ni Dhuinneacha's Story
My first contact with the psychiatric system was at an early age — 19 in 1970. I was committed to a private hospital, Lindville, in Cork city, Ireland. I spent 6 months there, pleading to go home everyday I endured a massive amount of ECT and very heavy psychiatric drugs as the only therapy and was kept isolated. My friends used to call to see me, but I was not allowed to see them. In the end I managed to run away. I had about 5 terms in Sarsfieldscourt over the years and endured ECT and more heavy drugging, at times involuntarily. When I tried to resist the drugs, male nurses clamped me to the bed and I was injected against my will. I suffered the humiliating forced committals almost every...
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Facts About Psychiatry
Why we need a peaceful revolution! Fact: The medical model is mostly used in psychiatry. It causes brain damage and dysfunction. The brain is part of the whole body and is connected to every other parts of the body. When the brain is damaged the whole body is damaged. Fact: It is very difficult to find 'help' which is not part of the medical model for those who are not happy with it. Where such help does exist it is usually very expensive because people who provide it are working outside the status quo. Fact: People are forced to receive medical intervention they find harmful when there is little or no help they find helpful. Fact: When medical intervention is forced on someone who doesn't want...
