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Electroshock redux raises alarm

January 27th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Electroshock redux raises alarm)

Anti-psychiatry activists respond to reports that use of ECT therapy is increasing

U.S. regulators are meeting this week, considering whether to “downgrade the risk classification of electroshock devices, reinforcing what many psychiatrists consider a deepening acceptance of electroshock in modern therapy.”  Anti-shock advocates and survivors are speaking at the hearings of the FDA, providing their personal stories and experiences.

The Canadian Psychiatric Association last year issued its first position paper on electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) since 1992, saying that ECT “should remain readily available as a treatment option.” (more…)

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Now, more than ever

January 20th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Now, more than ever)

Treatment as prevention is a new—but underutilized— approach to preventing HIV/AIDS in B.C.

Leading international HIV/AIDS expert and researcher Dr. Julio Montaner will be in Nanaimo next week to speak about the “Treatment as Prevention” approach to HIV. Remarkable advances in HIV treatment have been achieved in B.C. over the past two decades, but uptake of those treatments remains suboptimal—particularly among hard to reach individuals with challenges related to drug dependency, mental illness, limited education and unstable housing. (more…)

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Homeless shelter gets a rethink

January 20th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Homeless shelter gets a rethink)

Nanaimo’s Unitarian Fellowship considers opening its extreme weather shelter every night to end of winter

The extreme weather shelter for homeless people in Nanaimo may be open every night for the rest of the winter, after city council approved a grant to pay for operating costs. The shelter had been opening intermittently, depending upon weather conditions such as the temperature or the amount of rainfall predicted for the city—while advocates had been lobbying for an every-night opening. The Unitarian Fellowship, which operates the shelter on Townsite Road, will consult its neighbours and assess whether an every night of the week opening will be possible. (more…)

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On best intentions, quitting quitting, and how-tos for quitting smoking

December 16th, 2010 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on On best intentions, quitting quitting, and how-tos for quitting smoking)

picture 269Quitting smoking is among the top ten in most lists of new year’s resolutions, but nicotine, the drug in cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, is one of the most addictive substances known. It is considered to be as addictive as cocaine or heroin.

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AVI 25 years and counting

December 2nd, 2010 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on AVI 25 years and counting)

Vancouver Island’s regional AIDS organization continues its work amid change and challenge

On September 17, 1985, five men sat around a kitchen table and decided it was time to meet the challenge posed by the AIDS epidemic on Vancouver Island. That evening saw the birth of AIDS Vancouver Island (AVI), with the founders forming the first board of directors. Now, 25 years later, AVI serves the communities of Greater Victoria, Nanaimo, the Comox Valley, and Campbell River, and also offers services in the Port Hardy area. (more…)

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On the psychiatric experience

September 30th, 2010 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on On the psychiatric experience)

A roundtable discussion with three people who have experienced the system, first-hand

Anti-psychiatry and mad pride movements have been questioning and assessing the role of psychiatry in health care and society—from the “patient’s” perspective—for decades now, but recent concerns about what appears to be a resurgence in the use of electroconvulsive therapy and questions about the growing use of psychiatric medications has added impetus to the debate. (more…)

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