The Salesman

by Eric Wason/PNN Media Intern

I walked with a shopping cart to the Safeway entrance. There, a young boy was

starting sentences with, "Excuse me...," and "Hello...," but he wasn't given chances to

finish them. From a few feet away, I stopped to witness swarms of people look at the

ground, scan their receipts, or keep tight hold of their chatter as they strolled past the young

boy. Feeling called to stop the aloofness, I beamed an encouraging smile to him and

handed him two dollars.

The candy smelled rich and inviting as I unraveled its wrapper. The crunch of

hazelnuts with the chocolate did not take me away from reflecting on the encounter with

the young salesman and its connection to a mental health forum that I attended earlier that

day.

The open doors of Everett Middle School in the heart of San Francisco welcomed

me to the "Freedom Forum: An Alternative Mental Health Conference". The site was a

joining of Mental Health Activists and the Community for the advocation of dignity in the

Mental Health Field.

Electroshock, one of the many examples of forced medical treatment, is given to an

estimation of 110,000 Americans each year, according to the National Institute of Mental

Health. Jeff Cohon and Norman Solomon of Creators Syndicate report that "some are

pushed through legal loopholes and subjected to electroshock against their expressed will"

or "forced into bogus 'agreement' in the midst of coercion or confusion."

I sat in the school's auditorium to hear the open discussion. Having aided at-risk

youth with emotional issues, I was both alarmed and proud to see dozens of forced shock

treatment survivors raise their hands to identify themselves. I applauded their courage and

strength with the audience. At the same time, my mind imagined their past struggles

against their wills as I looked at their many faces.

The stories of the survivors point to the future challenge of our world to strive for

dignity above all things. Diane Kern, founder of the Insight Center, profoundly alluded to

how major points of world change have taken place throughout history because of

emotions labeled as symptoms for Depression in the Psychological Handbook, DSM. She

went on to say, "Where would we be if the Civil Rights Activists of the 1960's like Martin

Luther King took anti-depressants?" All of the survivors were present to make change and

positivity out of the failure of doctors to be sensitive to their unique life histories and

wishes.

Drug companies are also failing to see the dignity involved in emotions and their

uniqueness in each human. Their plan to globalize drugs is steered by their perspective of

reducing humans down to our chemical make-up for the purpose of higher profits. This

view is being shown in the industry's drug tests, which has been cited by the FDA with the

drug Resperadol, for example. According to Robert Whitaker, author of Mad in America:

Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill, an FDA

test result for the drug Resperadol concluded in multiple deaths to subjects after it was

falsely touted by its drug company as having no side effects. He went on to say that the

praise for the drug was even backed by company-payed doctors whose work was quoted in

leading scientific literature. Besides the health dangers, these false hopes are keeping

people from the value of love, support, friendship, healthy food, proper rest, and human

connections in healing. When I think about the many people on our streets who

are suffering mentally, homeless or not, that are either forced or led to believe that a pill

will answer their hopes, I fight harder to believe in the importance of respect, sensitivity,

and engaging others. The Forum has helped me see that the world is in not only in a

struggle for dignity, but also in a struggle to appropriately honor our emotional gifts. I

wonder how a society targets pills as cures for our emotional pains rather than the authentic

feelings that stand waiting on the other side of ourselves to comfort our uncontrollable

weaknesses.

They say that chocolate is an anti-depressant. From the Safeway check-stands, I look

at the young salesman again and the spools of disengagement that roll past him. I wish that

there is something inside the people that will help them acknowledge him. I hesitate to

manufacture their responses out of decency for their feelings. If I had the resources, I would

hire the young salesman and others to stand in front of drug companies to sell something truly

valuable. This time their boxes would be empty of chocolate, with true engagement serving as

the only product.