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teejai: Indeed it is my firm belief that the rabidness and intellectual posturing inherent on both sides of the pro and anti meds schools of thought does a great disservice to those sufferers caught up in it's crossfire.

I certainly do not agree with the clamping down on alternative view points there that are sensibly presented which may not be the same thing as necessarily agreeing with them.

If I could imagine the ideal sort of place where these kinds of discussions would unfold, it would include a place for everybody. The thing is, we all have something to contribute.

People who take medication can offer personal insight and experience to others who are doing the same and perhaps, looking for the best fit.

People who go into therapy can offer insights from their experience with various therapeutic treatments: Bach Flower Remedies, CBT, Massage Therapy, Art Therapy, Music Therapy, Spiritual Practice, Depth Psychology -- any and all of these might be helpful to an individual.

Likewise, people who are working with alternate treatments (i.e., Vitamin therapy) can share their insights and experiences.

The thing is, an absolute cause has yet to be determined: Genetics, trauma, stress, food additives, allergic reactions, drug use -- all these and more have been identified as potential causes. The most effective treatment is always the one that works for that specific individual. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to treatment or recovery.

Therefore, I also agree with you that we lose something of value when we divide ourselves into separate camps. It shouldn't be this way, at all. But I can guarantee you, I've probably been banned from more discussions because I'm different than the mainstreamer has. It's not that I don't appreciate their voice; more commonly, they don't want to hear mine... at all.

What does disturb me about the way these discussions go when they get shut down is that I keep pushing the work of John Weir Perry and Jaakko Seikkula -- both of whom had an 85% recovery rate. You would think that anyone who was suffering or whose family member was suffering would jump right on that. But they don't. As far as they're concerned, there is no such thing as recovery so anyone who produces it must be a quack.

Meantime, I sit back and I watch them run those studies into the ground, I watch as they paint me as an anti-psychiatrist, anti-science, a scientologist-wanna-be so they can ensure that whatever I might say is considered the equivalent of trash and not worthy of listening to, and when they say that they'd do absolutely anything to help themselves or their family member...

I have my doubts.

And now, I'm going to pop back over to schizophrenia.com and see if I've yet to be cast in the role of Satan or the equivalent. These things start to get pretty damned predictable after awhile.