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Also included on the site is an array of articles on topics ranging from the medical causes of schizophrenia to the effects of toxic metals on mental health.

Special AlternativeMentalHealth.com T-shirts and bumper stickers are available at our online store.

A bookstore page lists top books that cover many areas of alternative treatments with titles like Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and Other Common Mental Disorders and No More Ritalin.

AlternativeMentalHealth.com has been created to educate the public, practitioners, and government officials on the medical conditions that create "mental illness" and the many safe resources available for addressing and often curing severe mental symptoms.

It was thrilling to see so many of our readers from across the U.S. and Canada at Safe Harbor's "Non-Pharma II" conference on May 31 - June 1 in Pasadena, California. This was a high-energy gathering with a packed house and a great roster of speakers on a wide array of subjects. Safe Harbor is indebted to all the doctors, scientists, and other professionals who gave of their time and energy to share their wealth of knowledge with attendees, often with considerable flair.

A factor that made the conference a memorable experience for all is that attendees are amongst many others and professionals who, like themselves, feel there are treatable causes for mental disorders and safer and better approaches than drugs alone.

We would also like to express our thanks to the International Hyperbarics Association that helped so much in sponsoring the conference.

If you could not attend the conference this year in person, or you were there and would like a record of what was discussed, you can obtain recordings on Compact Disc, either singly for each session or altogether as a set.
 

"Thank you!" is all I can say. My son was diagnosed two years ago with ADHD - ten questions, and a prescription. I immediately began to look for alternative treatments. We began a regimen of anti-oxidants (to remove the "non-existent" metals and free radicals), essential fatty acids(to address the "non-existent" deficiencies), threw in some learning factors just for luck, added a calcium/magnesium combo, and just recently a digestive enzyme.

Of course, all the mood and behaviour changes that were initially promised with the Dexedrine mysteriously came about with the nutrients. Amazing, wonderful, there is my child! Hello, nice to meet you. Oh, and a coincidence, no more ear infections, or resulting antibiotics.

That was about two years ago. Flash forward to present day. His father (happens to own a pizzeria, makes his own dough - do I smell live yeast cultures? - and has always been "ADHD," too) decides he is against this method of management and removes my son from the regimen. Within three weeks, the troublesome behaviours and high levels of anxiety return, tenfold this time. Solution: prescription for clarithomycin. Now he can't breathe, hyperventilating, nightmares. Diagnosis: possible infection. Meanwhile pizza every day, no schedules, "sure, have another pop," etc.

This [AlternativeMentalHealth.com] has been a wonderful exploration for me. I can identify with 98% of the other possible explanations offered on these pages. I am grateful to know that I am not alone in my thinking processes. I have taken everything I gave my son, and ended so many of my own seemingly disconnected health problems that I have no doubt as to the efficacy of this regimen. I did try asking for the right to take the Dexedrine with my son, or at the least to medicate the rest of the family, instead of my son. But of course, "These are addictive, potentially dangerous drugs, ma'am."

I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring these pages, as I am facing pressure from my husband and a "child protection agency" (?) to medicate my son and stop administering these "unproven" natural-source vitamins and minerals.

It is simply good to know that sites like this exist, and that there are doctors who are willing to stand up and suggest alternative explanations to the insidious diagnosis of "ADHD."

Dr. Nancy Mullan will speak at the Safe Harbor office on "How the Common Problem of Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar) Causes a Multitude of Mental Symptoms" on Wednesday, June 11, 2003.

We will have a support group meeting from 7 PM to 8 PM and the talk and a question-and-answer period will last from 8 PM to 9 PM. The talk is free and all are invited.

The lecture will be at the Safe Harbor office at 1718 Colorado Blvd. in the Eagle Rock section of Los Angeles.

A meeting will be held in Stuttgart, Germany, on Saturday, June 14 to discuss alternative mental health principles and to lay the groundwork for creating a Safe Harbor in Germany.

Time: 6:00 PM (MET) [the Stuttgart time zone]

Where:
Family Federation on World Peace Building
Hornbergstr. 94
Stuttgart-Ost, Germany

The meeting discussion will include:

• Why Germany needs alternative doctors for treatments of mental disorders
• Medical doctors who use minimal psychiatric drugs and no shock therapy.
• What is Safe Harbor?
• What is alternative mental health?
• How you can help to create alternative mental health education in Germany.

"I'm looking specifically for the following: Self-motivated, reliable, and creative event planners and/or grant writers and researchers with at least one year of experience to help start New York office.  Two to five hours/week."

For more info, contact Dana Barnes at safeharborny@lycos.com

One of the key components to healthy recovery is a supportive living environment. Often, for people on social security income, this is harder to find than a needle in a haystack. In fact, I have found it nonexistent in my search. I think it is time, both from a personal standpoint (for my daughter with schizophrenia) and because models are needed to further promote the goals and ideas of SAFE HARBOR.

It is extremely difficult to stay on a nutritious diet in a board and care facility. At this time, I am putting out feelers to find others with a need for such a dwelling. Perhaps it could be started as a boarding house - a model program created and funding applied for from there. I know the place to start is with communication between interested people. So, if you have needed or wanted a board and care facility in the Los Angeles areas of Burbank/Glendale or the Valley - one that is based on nutrition, expressive arts and healthy activities such as gardening, group walks and bike riding - then please contact Safe Harbor

From Safe Harbor:

Here is an article we ran on head injury in one of our first newsletters:

The rate of psychiatric illness one year after a traumatic brain injury is significantly greater than that of the general population, reported the American Journal of Psychiatry, March 1999.

A sharp increase was observed in the rate of occurrence of depression. It was nearly seven times higher in the brain injury group (13.9% of the 196 adult traumatic brain injury patients studied, compared with 2.1% of the general population).

Panic disorder was more than 11 times more prevalent in the head-injury group (9.0%, compared with 0.8% of the general population).

Dr. Shoumitro Deb et al., authors of the article, stated that neurobehavioral symptoms are not uncommon after a traumatic brain injury. However, psychiatric syndromes per se have rarely been studied in patients with such injuries.

The study confirms the work of a growing number of physicians who now ask about prior head injuries as a standard procedure with any patients complaining of severe mental symptoms.


From Clancy McKenzie, M.D.:

A CT scan would show bleeding, if that hasn't been done. The hyperbaric oxygen reduces swelling very fast. Even breathing oxygen outside a pressure chamber is effective but takes longer. Ozone would be great (but not to breathe) and if you know anyone in integrative medicine in your area who knows how to administer it and is willing, that is what I would do. (In many states ozone treatment is not allowed.)

Post concussional disorder (PCD) can have lasting sequellae (after-effects of an injury), so it important to get treatment to reduce swelling as soon as possible. The bleeding causes release of iron from hemoglobin, which leads to the Fenton reaction that produces free hydroxyl radicals that attack the cell membrane and then result in 4- hydroxynonenal which is a neurotoxin. This can result in an ongoing process.

Often people do not recognize PCD as a cause of irritability, depression, absentmindedness - and they wonder what is wrong. She should be made aware of what is causing it, and also that usually it is temporary. In light of the lack of coordination I would definitely get a CT scan which would show any bleeding.


From Dr. Ted Cole, D.O., N.M.D.:

The best is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, second is Neural Therapy.
These can usually reverse the problems in 1-3 days.


From William Walsh, Ph.D.:

I have met many persons who are in prison because of behavior changes following a head injury. A prime example is Bobby Joe Long who became a different person after a motorcycle crash, and now is on Florida's death row for murdering eight persons. I've tested his chemistry, and it is quite normal. I believe that approximately 5 percent of prison residents are incarcerated because of behavioral changes after a head injury.

Many years ago, the great Carl Pfeiffer told me that head injury patients often respond well to supplements of octacosinol (2,000 to 4,000 mg daily), taken together with zinc, B-6, and Vitamin C. He said that it helped repair damage to myelin sheaths in the brain. I've used this many times over the years with apparent excellent success, based on anecdotal case histories (which of course have limited scientific value).

A few years ago, we collaborated with a doctor from the Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital which specializes in head and spinal injuries. We provided the above nutritional supplements to about a dozen persons with severe brain injuries. About 2/3 of them reported very nice improvements. One man who had been on a plateau after 2 years of Schwab's physical therapies was able to walk again after 3 months of octacosinol, etc. Another head injury client with aphasia was able to talk coherently after a few months.


From Luis F M Campos, M.D.:

Concussion, traumatic brain injury & post-traumatic caphalea (headaches) unhappily are far more common than we can imagine. I suggest:

Immediately
1 - Give a lot of green tea, vitamins C & E in megadoses (2400 UI vit E/day and 3 g/day Vit C) + Resveratrol (a natural remedy) + Lipoic Acid 600 mg/ day + Coenzyme Q 100 mg/ day (antioxidants)
2 - Corticostesteroids (betametasone 5 mg/ injectable) /day (3 days) + Vitamins B1 and B12 (injectables) in high dosages
3 - Pentoxyfiline [a medication for blood circulation] (injectable in the first 3 days)
4 - Magnesium injectable (best) or oral (orotate) 500 mg/day of elemental magnesium
4 - MRI Brain & Skull
5 - Search for a good neurologist
6 - Access sites National Neurotrauma Society http://www.edc.gsph.pitt.edu/neurotrauma


From Walter Lemmo, N.D.:

While the medical work up is being performed, don't forget about using good vitamin c. Lower plasma levels of vitamin c has been correlated with more serious brain traumas: most like related to increased oxidative stresses. At the very least, the oral use of vitamin c should be implemented, however, the intravenous application would be most ideal, very easy, and safe to perform. Short IV boosters using 2000-5000mg 2-3 times per week would most likely suffice followed by continued oral dosing.


From Kit Humphrey:

In addition to the noted vitamin C,E, fatty acids, alpha lipoic acid, magnesium, Milk thistle has been shown to have neuroprotective benefits. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12059045&dopt=Abstract


From Michael Wood, D.C.:

After ruling out haemorrhage consider having a chiro check her spine. Trauma of that nature to the cervical spine can cause persistent symptoms such as you describe.


Gary Erkfritz, D.C.:

One of the things I've found highly successful in situations such as this is using a Bach Remedy called "Rescue Remedy". You can find them at almost every health food store. Bach remedies are made from flower essences.

Another thing I've found successful is a product called "Traumeel" by the Heel Company. They are a German homeopathic company with US Distribution offices in Albuquerque. Many times you can find this product at health food stores as well.

Arnica montana (an herb and a homeopathic remedy) might be of some value, although after four days I would think not. Perhaps something for the medicine cabinet for "next time".

My experience with mental illness started in February 2003 when my 20-year-old son called me in the middle of the night saying he felt weird. He said he thought he was dreaming. He is a junior at UC Riverside and has always been very smart and made good decisions but I still had a feeling that maybe he was using drugs. I asked him, and his reply was yes, he had smoked some weed. As we ended our conversation, he said he would be fine. I spoke with him the next day and everything seemed fine.

Two days later his girlfriend called my house early in the morning and told me I needed to pick my son up. She said he had gone crazy and he would not lie down and go to sleep. I was at this point convinced that drugs were taking over. When I went to pick my son up he seemed calm, and actually acted quite like his "normal" behavior. The girlfriend was crying and appeared out of control. After talking for a while, we could see my son needed sleep. I went back into the room where my husband had been talking to my son.

My husband had noticed odd behavior in my son at this point. For example, my son thought his girlfriend was evil and had put a spell on him. He thought she had programmed the TV set to send him messages. He then tried to show my husband on the TV set, but he was flipping channels so fast we couldn't see anything. We took him to our house to rest. We decided to leave the house so it would be quiet for him to sleep. We fed him a big breakfast and as he lay down, we left for the day. When we returned we found he had not slept at all that day. He had locked the dog in the bathroom because he didn't want the dog to see what he was doing. He played CD's over and over again, saying they were describing his life. He was obsessed with rap music and kept repeating that he was going to be a rap artist. He believed big name rap artists had been sent to his workplace to scout him. He saw UPS boxes and believed that it was equipment for him to start his own rap studio. He thought his girlfriend had poisoned him.

Believing the poisoning story, I took him to the emergency room. The tests found only marijuana. The doctor wrote a diagnosis of "schizophrenia" and gave him prescriptions for Haldol and Ativan, telling us to follow up. I went to a follow up with a psychologist and a psychiatrist 2 days later. They added Resperidol and said "see you in a month."

I didn't like that, so I made a private appointment with a psychiatrist. After four-minute visit, he said exactly the same thing - "keep him on meds, see you in a month." It had now been 8 days. I never gave him the Resperidol. I continued the Haldol and Ativan. During this week there was no psychosis, but he had extreme panic attacks and was extremely moody. I fed him 3 nutritious meals a day and encouraged a regular early bedtime. (He also usually took short naps in the day). The whole eight days he begged me to reconsider the decision to give him meds. He told me he didn't like the way they made him feel. The doctors were insistent, telling me "the absolutely only way he will be able to have any type of normal life is to continue the meds."

I found NAMI Natural and Safe Harbor on the Internet. Dan responded to my email, gave me some information, and referred me to Pam from the NAMI Natural group in Chino Hills, California, which is close to me. This was very enlightening.

I then called another doctor, a psychologist who said he was willing to experiment without the drugs under his supervision. My son was seen 3 times a week by this psychologist. He'd been on Haldol eight days, then we took him directly off. He had panic attacks daily for the first three days. When these would occur, he would take an Ativan and lie down to take a nap. As the week went on, the panic attacks lessened, and his Ativan dosage was reduced. After one week he was taking no meds at all. It is now three months later and I am happy to report that my son has been back in school one month now and he will be returning to his job in one week. His visits to the doctor have been reduced from three per week to just one.

As of today the doctor has released him, saying of his prognosis, "I think he will be fine." My son lives with roommates 20 miles from me. He stayed at our house about two weeks in the beginning, then decided to move back to his place. I made sure he had groceries and was eating well and called daily or visited him to make sure he was doing OK. He now has trust in the girlfriend and she has been of great help.

Approximately two weeks after my son's incident, the same thing happened to another boy at his school. The parents have introduced themselves and have been corresponding. Their son has been admitted to the psychiatric ward over six times in the last two months. He is 19 years old. He is on several different meds, and at one time so many meds the hospital had to detox him because he had a bad reaction. In his return home last week he tried to commit suicide! IS IT THE MEDS?

I have a son who has autism. Since receiving the Master's Miracle Products, I have been giving him about an ounce of Neutralizer in his water daily and he takes a daily bath or shower in the Moisturizing Soap. The most amazing thing has occurred: he has stopped wetting the bed every night. He has not wet his diaper even once since starting on this product! He appetite has greatly increased (he hardly ate anything) and he is in a great mood. We have changed nothing else in his daily routine or diet. We are not the only ones who are noticing. People outside the family who know nothing of these products have commented on how happy and verbal he is becoming.

A British experiment reported in the Daily Telegraph, involving identical twins, has provided further evidence of the effect of food additives on children's behavior.

Michael and Christopher Parker, aged 5 and with identical IQ scores, were put on separate diets to test if additives can cause temper tantrums and hyperactivity.

Michael, the twin on the additive-free diet, was calmer and chattier than Christopher two weeks into the program and outperformed him by 15% on an IQ test. The psychologist administering the test did not know which child was on the additive-free diet.

The experiment was extended to the twins' classmates at Dingle school in Cheshire, where 39 "E numbers" (designated food additives) were removed from school meals. Parents were also asked to remove additives from their children's diet and monitor their behavior.

Elderly women who take antidepressants and other drugs that affect the nervous system may be prone to broken bones, a new study has found.

The study by U.S. researchers, as reported in the April 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that women taking mood medication were 70 percent more likely than those not on the drugs to suffer a broken hip. A smaller but significant increase in the risk of fracture accompanied taking other psychoactive drugs, like those to control seizures, and narcotics.

The connection has not been fully explained. One factor is that drugs affect some patients' balance and make them more likely to fall. This does not entirely explain the correlation, say the researchers.

"When patients are on these medications, [doctors] should be aware that they are associated with an increased risk of fractures," says Dr. Mary Whooley, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and a co-author of the study. She offered suggestions to reduce the risk, including regular exercise, quitting smoking, and using a walker or cane to prevent falls.

The latest study included more than 8,200 women age 65 and older and not living in nursing homes. Of those, 8 percent were taking tranquilizers, 6 percent were on antidepressants, 5 percent were taking narcotics, and 2 percent were using drugs to control seizures.

Over the course of the study, 1,256 women, or 15 percent of the total, suffered at least one broken bone away from the spine. Of those, 288 had a first broken hip.

The researchers were able to take into account many factors known to affect the risk of fractures, including smoking status, physical activity, and the use of estrogen. Even after considering these, however, they still saw a link between some of the drugs and broken bones.

Tranquilizers didn't seem to be associated with fractures, but mood drugs, narcotics and possibly seizure medications were, the researchers say.

Dr. Kristine Ensrud, an osteoporosis expert at the University of Minnesota and lead author of the study, says the work highlights the need to keep better track of patient care.

"With older patients, a lot of times they're getting care from multiple places. Time needs to be spent to review the list of medications they're on, and doctors need to know they're taking the right things," says Ensrud, also of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed HR 1170, the Child Medication Safety Act of 2003, by a vote of 425 to 1! The Act states that schools getting federal money cannot prohibit children from attending class because they failed to take a prescription drug.

Some schools in the country were requiring parents to medicate their
children with psychotropic drugs before class. If parents refused, the child would not be allowed to attend.

The crux of the issue is who should be the parent here - the parent or the school? Dr. William Carey, who is director of behavioral pediatrics at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, said schools have no business diagnosing students.

"There are some normal behavioral traits - stubbornness, shyness, loudness, and so on - which are annoying, but which are not abnormal and do not deserve to be treated with medication," Carey said.

There is evidence that some mothers of infants with Down's syndrome have abnormal metabolism of folate and methyl (a common chemical structure in biochemical reactions), as well as mutations in folate genes, which are features that are also seen in neural-tube defects (NTD). A team of Israeli researchers investigated whether Down's syndrome and NTD arise more often in the same family than would be expected from the incidence of each disorder considered separately.

The researchers studied two series of families using information obtained from medical records about maternal age, pregnancy outcome, congenital malformations, and karyotype (the number and visual appearance of the chromosomes in the cell nuclei) The first series consisted of 493 families from Israel who were at high risk of NTD (445 with a history of NTD and 48 with isolated hydrocephalus); the second series were 516 families from the Ukraine at high risk of Down's syndrome.

In the families at risk of NTD, there were a total of 11 pregnancies affected by Down's syndrome in 1492 at-risk pregnancies (compared with 1.87 expected on the basis of maternal age), a significant increase. In the families at risk of Down's syndrome, there were seven NTD pregnancies in 1847 at risk, compared with 1.37 expected.

On May 28, 2003, a mental health support group, individuals and families who are struggling with mental illnesses filed suit in the Canadian Federal Courts. The suit is aimed at the Federal Minister of Health, Anne McLellan, and her department, Health Canada. Truehope Nutritional Support Ltd. (a non-profit mental health support group) and its participants allege in the suit that Health Canada and the Minister have acted outside their statutory authority and jurisdiction, committed errors of law, and abused their discretion by seizing shipments of the nutritional supplement.

Over the past three years, Truehope has received much media attention over its breakthrough discovery in the treatment of bipolar disorder, a mental illness affecting millions in North America. David L. Hardy and Anthony F. Stephan, Co-Founders of Truehope, became involved in researching answers for mental illness after Stephan's wife, Debbie, who suffered with bipolar disorder, committed suicide, leaving behind 10 children, two of whom were plagued with the same disorder as their mother.

"Anne McLellan and Health Canada have ignored the overwhelming evidence that nutrients can ameliorate the symptoms of mental disorders and they are trampling on the rights of the mentally ill", says Hardy. Furthermore, Anne McLellan has personally ignored over 250 letters sent by sufferers of mental illness asking her to continue to allow access to EMPowerplus - a nutritional supplement that has literally changed their lives.

Truehope became aware that Health Canada was seizing individual shipments of EMPowerplus in April 2003.

A successful action would result in the quashing of the seizures and a declaration that several sections of the antiquated Food and Drugs Act and regulations are unconstitutional.

To date, a group of university scientists and doctors have published four medical journal articles demonstrating the very positive results of their research using the Truehope vitamin-mineral supplement, EMPowerplus. Last year, Health Canada ordered the University of Calgary to stop an EMPowerplus research study which was funded by the Alberta government. "Health Canada is standing in the way of health progress and blocking valid research," said Stephan.

In 1997, over a million consumers across Canada sent a strong message to government making it clear that they did not want to be denied health freedom, nor did they want foods designated as drugs. The government responded in November 1998 by setting up the Standing Committee on Health. This committee sought input from citizens across Canada before bringing forward 53 recommendations for change. These recommendations were tabled in the House of Commons and accepted on March 26, 1999 by the then-Minister of Health, the Honorable Allan Rock, on behalf of Parliament. The current Minister, Anne McLellan, and Health Canada, have ignored the Parliamentary Committee.

In an effort to reintroduce the most critical of the changes, MP James Lunney submitted a private members bill entitled "An act to amend the Food and Drugs Act". This bill would define dietary supplements, herbs, and other natural health products as food products. This would ensure that natural health products are not arbitrarily classified as drugs and denied to Canadians without the scientific evidence to justify it. Canadians demand to have bill C-420 enacted for our future freedom in health.

According to a major new study, the most commonly prescribed female hormone therapy doubles the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia in women who began the treatment at age 65 or older.

"No one anticipated this outcome," said Dr. Marilyn Albert, a professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins, in a statement issued by the Alzheimer's Association. Some doctors and researchers were hoping to find evidence that hormone therapy could reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's.

The new report on dementia, just published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, is the latest in a string of studies showing that purported benefits do not exist and that the hormones actually raise the risk of several serious diseases, including some they were thought to prevent.

The latest finding is based on a four-year experiment involving 4,532 women at 39 medical centers. Half took placebos, and half took Prempro, a combination of estrogen and progestin, the most widely prescribed type of hormone therapy.

In four years, there were 40 cases of dementia in the hormone group, and 21 in the placebo group. Translated to an annual rate for a larger population, the results mean that for every 10,000 women 65 and older who take hormones, there will be 45 cases of dementia a year, with 23 of them attributable to the hormones.

"The clear message is that there's no reason for older women to be taking combination hormone therapy," said Dr. Sally A. Shumaker, the director of the study and a professor of public health sciences at Wake Forest University, in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Wyeth, the company that makes Prempro, said it would add a new warning about the increased risk of dementia to the drug's labeling.

Because the women in the study were 65 or older, it is not known whether the findings apply to younger postmenopausal women. It is not known, either, whether the results apply to women who take other hormone combinations or estrogen alone. Women who take estrogen alone are being studied separately.

Estrogen alone can cause cancer of the uterus and so is prescribed only for women who have had hysterectomies. But adding progestin protects the uterus, so women who have not had hysterectomies are given combination treatment.

The same issue of the journal reported findings that women on the hormone combinations did not perform as well on cognitive tests as women on placebos, and that the combination therapy increased the risk of stroke.

About 2.7 million American women take combination hormone therapy. Prior to last July, when a large federal study of the combination therapy was halted because the drugs were found to increase in the risk of invasive breast cancer, the number was 6 million.