DR. LOREN MOSHER, LEADING CRITIC OF TIES BETWEEN PSYCHIATRY AND DRUG MAKERS, TO SPEAK NOV. 5 AT MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Dr. Loren R. Mosher, former head of the Center for Studies of Schizophrenia at the National Institute of Mental Health and a leading critic of the close ties between psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry, will speak on "Liberating Madness: Healing without Medication" on Wednesday, November 5 at 7:30 PM in the Morrison Room of the Willits-Hallowell Center at Mount Holyoke College. Mosher's talk is free and open to the public, and the Morrison Room is wheelchair accessible. A discussion will follow the lecture.

Mosher's visit is sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the College, the department of psychology and education, and the Freedom Center, a Pioneer Valley advocacy and human rights group run by and for people diagnosed with severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar, obsessive-compulsive, and borderline disorders.

Mosher, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and the author of more than 100 scientific publications, is founder of the Soteria Project - Community Alternatives for the Treatment of Schizophrenia, a non-drug, home-like, residential treatment facility for acutely psychotic persons. His research demonstrating the effectiveness of this alternative approach led to his dismissal from NIMH, and he has become a leading critic of the overly close links between psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry.

In 1998, Mosher publicly resigned from the American Psychiatric Association. In his widely circulated letter of resignation, he wrote: "This is not a group for me. At this point in history, in my view, psychiatry has been almost completely bought out by the drug companies. The APA could not continue without the pharmaceutical company support of meetings, symposia, workshops, journal advertising, grand rounds luncheons, unrestricted educational grants etc. etc. Psychiatrists have become the minions of drug company promotions. APA, of course, maintains that its independence and autonomy are not compromised in this enmeshed situation."

"We're very fortunate to have Dr. Mosher speaking here at Mount Holyoke," said Gail Hornstein, professor of psychology and education, who is teaching a seminar using writings by patients to explore madness from the perspective of those who have experienced it first-hand. "Students are bombarded with ads that claim anxiety and depression can be 'cured' with drugs. They need to hear another point of view."

Freedom Center cofounder Will Hall, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1992 and has recovered using holistic health care, said "Loren Mosher's work proved that alternative approaches help schizophrenics much better than toxic, mind-numbing medication with their devastating side effects. The local mental health system has bought psychiatric propaganda hook, line, and sinker. By sponsoring Mosher's visit, the Freedom Center is trying to break the pharmaceutical company stranglehold on available treatments and get the word out that holistic approaches are not only possible, but effective, cheaper, and urgently needed."

Mosher is Director of Soteria Associates, San Diego, and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego.