Strange Loops, ad Infinitum

23rd April 2013

Link reblogged from Bag of Ideas with 556 notes

Stop threatening the HIPAA rights of people with psychiatric disabilities →

allacharade:

crown-of-weeds:

Imagine the federal government holding conversations about your privacy - except yours is the only voice not at the table. This is what people with psychiatric disabilities are facing as the House Energy & Commerce Oversight Subcommittee takes up the issue of mental health and privacy rights under HIPAA.

Rep. Tim Murphy, Chair of the House Energy & Commerce Oversight Subcommittee, is holding a hearing this Friday to try and argue that the HIPAA protections that protect the privacy of people seeking mental health services are unnecessary and a threat to public safety. Regrettably, Chairman Murphy has a  history of threatening the rights of Americans with psychiatric disabilities. This Friday’s hearing is a continuation of a roundtable Rep. Murphy organized last month to try and showcase the inaccurate idea that people with psychiatric disabilities are more likely to commit violent crimes. Although empirical evidence shows no such link between psychiatric disabilities and violence, the roundtable made no acknowledgement of this simple fact. Furthermore, of all of the many witnesses called to testify, not a single person with a psychiatric disability was invited to share their perspective.

When a caller on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal program asked Rep. Murphy to explain his rationale for excluding the voices of people with psychiatric disabilities from the witness panel, he dismissed the need for the voices of people with disabilities themselves, claiming they would be incapable of testifying and that the most important conversation is one about parents and families’ experiences!

There is a time and a place for discussing improvements to the availability and quality of mental health services. A conversation about violent crime is not that time nor that place. It is inexcusable for public officials to use public safety as justification for an attack on the civil rights of an already marginalized and stigmatized population. Tell Chairman Murphy and Ranking Member DeGette of the House Energy & Commerce Oversight Subcommittee that the disability rights principle of “Nothing About Us, Without Us!” apply in mental health policy too. Don’t let our voices be forgotten.

Sign the petition and shut this shit DOWN.

Fuck shit. I knew this was going to happen in just a matter of time. I knew it. Well, that’s just what my anxiety needed.

Seriously, anyone who follows me, please, please sign this. I don’t know what good it will do, but this is absolutely the worst thing.

Law makers are not doctors, and not all doctors and perfect, and there is NO CLEAR WAY OF KNOWING WHO WILL BE VIOLENT. Like no one has figured out how to tell. Any guesses produce almost all false positives and people still slip by.

In addition, all this will do is keep people who need it from getting treatment.

DID I MENTION MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CRIME THAN THE PERPETRATORS?

AND THE MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE ARE LESS LIKELY THAN THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO COMMIT VIOLENT CRIMES?

because it is true.

Tagged: ableismsig boostmental illnessmental healthdo something

Source: crown-of-weeds