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Youth hold first LGBTQ pride parade in ‘Bible belt’ city

May 30th, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Youth hold first LGBTQ pride parade in ‘Bible belt’ city)

More than 500 people, including newly elected MLA Darryl Plecas and Abbotsford Mayor Bruce Banman, show support for an expanded “Walk Away From Homophobia” event

picture 479More than 500 people took part in the Fraser Valley’s first Pride parade on May 25, 2013 — a turnout that its Abbotsford organizers celebrated as larger than expected.  “We did not anticipate this big of a turnout!” co-organizer Cherese Reemaul told Xtra before taking the stage to address participants. “I’m a little bit overwhelmed.” (more…)

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LGBTQ youth face significant challenges

May 30th, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on LGBTQ youth face significant challenges)

LGBTQ youth experience health inequities, mostly attributable to societal stigma and marginalization and its related risks of rejection and violence, as well as lower social supports

picture 480Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Two-Spirit, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) youth have well-documented health inequities, mostly attributable to societal stigma and marginalization and its related risks of rejection and violence, as well as lower social support. These health inequities include higher rates of mental health problems, including suicidality, sexual health issues, including STIs and teen pregnancy involvement, problem substance use, injuries, and foregone health care. They are more likely to become homeless, and face discrimination in education, employment, and housing. (source: Elizabeth Saewyc, PhD , RN, FSAHM) (more…)

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Psychiatry, the DSM, and human rights

May 23rd, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Psychiatry, the DSM, and human rights)

Law Project for Psychiatric Rights is one of several activist groups charging that the American Psychiatric Association is committing serious human rights abuses

picture 477The 2013 annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) was held in San Francisco from May 17 to 22. While delegates gathered inside the Moscone Center for what the APA called “the psychiatry event of the year” a small group of protesters gathered outside. SF Weekly reports that the group coalesced under the banner “Occupy Psychiatry”—or “Occupy the APA”. This year’s APA annual meeting has attracted significant attention due to the release, at the meeting, of the 5th edition of the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (called the DSM for short, and sometimes referred to as the “bible” of psychiatry). (more…)

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Subjected to shock therapy as a child, survivor went on to champion human rights

May 23rd, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Subjected to shock therapy as a child, survivor went on to champion human rights)

“It made me want to die … I remember that they would stick a rag in my mouth so I wouldn’t bite through my tongue and that it took three attendants to hold me down”

picture 478Ted Chabasinski is an American psychiatric survivor, human rights activist and attorney who lives in Berkeley, California. At the age of six he was taken from his foster family’s home and committed to a New York psychiatric facility. Diagnosed with childhood schizophrenia he underwent intensive electroshock therapy (now termed electroconvulsive therapy or ECT) and remained an inmate in a state psychiatric hospital until the age of seventeen. He subsequently trained as a lawyer and became active in the psychiatric survivors movement. In 1982 he led a successful campaign seeking to ban the use of electroshock in Berkeley, California. (source: Wikipedia) (more…)

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The Salvation Army marks a major milestone

May 16th, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on The Salvation Army marks a major milestone)

The ‘Sally Ann’ has been serving and working in Nanaimo, and Vancouver Island, for 125 years

picture 476The Salvation Army is the largest provider of social services across Canada, outside of government. But for many ordinary Canadians, the closest they come to recognizing the “Sally Ann” is during the organization’s annual fundraising campaign during the Christmas season. That campaign, with its iconic cash pots and ringing bells, has raised funds for many years to support local Salvation Army programs. (more…)

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Wi-Fi exiles signal a coming plague

May 9th, 2013 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Wi-Fi exiles signal a coming plague)

Where do you go when an invisible matrix spanning the globe is making you sick?

picture 473Author Kim Goldberg has been awarded a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to write a book about people who are physically sickened by their exposure to wireless technology. “I was thrilled to learn that this project will be supported,” says Goldberg, who holds a degree in biology and has no wireless devices in her own home. “It will require a huge amount of time and work because the problem is literally global in scope.” (more…)

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