Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > The Troubled Teen Industry

Alex Asch's Story

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Deborah:
Mind Freedom and Support Coalition International join the effort against the Industry, specifically Stillwater Turnabout in Utah.
Forgive this rather long post, but it is a story worth telling.
Deborah

ACTION: Your Mind & Human Rights - 10 August 2003
http://www.MindFreedom.org - *** please forward !!! ***

FREE ALEX ASCH!
GUILTY: OF BEING A YOUNG ANARCHIST ACTIVIST

TODAY IS ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF LOCK-UP
OF ALEX ASCH IN A PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTION,
WHEN HE WAS 16 YEARS OLD

ACTION: ALEX WANTS **YOU** TO BREAK THE SILENCE, AND TELL AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE ABOUT "PSYCHOLOGICAL FASICSM"

One year ago today, Alex Asch was 16 years old. He was proud to be an anarchist activist specializing in animal rights.
Alex was attending the summer session of the Institute for Social Ecology in Vermont to advance his activism. His friends, other students and teachers said he was doing well.
But parents of youth today have nearly absolute power in the USA  to lock their children away in psychiatric facilities.
And so one year ago today, private security guards arrived and took Alex to a Utah psychiatric facility, where he remains.
Alex's main request: To break the silence about this "psychological fascism" that can happen to any youth, to any one, any where.
This psychiatric kidnapping is happening to thousands of youth.
This time it happened to an activist youth who was plugged into a number of social change movements. It can happen to you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACTION FOR ALEX: Please forward this information to your friends, colleagues, alternative media, activist organizations,and other people and groups who support freedom!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ON THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE PSYCHIATRIC KIDNAPPING OF ALEX ASCH
From: Ben Grosscup

In the Summer of 2002, I got to know Alex by
studying with him as a fellow classmate at the
Institute for Social Ecology (ISE), a progressive
educational institution that encourages students
to think for themselves and to think critically
about the world.
I saw him grow tremendously in his thinking
during the short time that I was studying with
him. I have seen Alex both in class and amongst
friends grappling with complex and important
questions of how to be good in society. From
these observations, I believe that Alex has shown
himself capable of thinking critically for himself
and making decent ethical judgments.
I find it totally tragic that Alex's parents and
Turnabout Stillwater, the Psychiatric Institution
that is now holding him, would cut short the sort
of critical inquiry that I saw Alex exploring at
ISE, only to place him in an authoritarian
institution that demands that he change his
character against his own will.
On this one year anniversary of his capture, I
look back on the year that has passed feeling sad
that I have not known personally how to
intelligently and effectively help to end Alex's
current imprisonment. I'm glad that people in the
psychiatric survivor community -- particularly
MindFreedom -- are taking Alex's case seriously,
thereby continuing their work to educate others
about problems in how this society, particularly
the psychiatric industry deals with people it
considers mentally ill.
I encourage people concerned about freedom and
human rights to consider Alex's case and to work
towards a new society in which we wouldn't
stigmatize or oppress anyone for being regarded
as rebellious, different, or even "crazy," and in
which we could support all people in becoming more
mentally healthy.
Eros and Revolution,
Ben
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: "Diane" http://www.wiretapmag.org/story.html?StoryID=16151
or from the article I wrote:
http://www.phillyimc.org/article.pl?sid ... ode=thread

You may also use a quote or anything you find
useful from WBAI's radio broadcast:
http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=7283
-Diane
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PAST ALERT ABOUT ALEX WITH BACKGROUND STORY, WRITING BY ALEX, AND HOW TO WRITE TO HIM:
PLEASE FORWARD TO AS MANY INTERESTED PEOPLE
AS POSSIBLE!

NEWS: Your Mind & Human Rights - 8 July 2003
http://www.MindFreedom.org - * please forward *

"PSYCHOLOGICAL FASCISM":
ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY APPROACHES FOR LOCK UP OF ALEX ASCH, 17 YEARS OLD,IN A PSYCHIATRIC FACILITY

YOUTH ACTIVIST PULLED NEARLY ONE YEAR AGO FROM
VERMONT SOCIAL CHANGE SCHOOL, 10 AUGUST 2002

NEEDED: INFO ON "TURNABOUT STILLWATER,"
WHERE ALEX IS BEING HELD IN SLC, UTAH, USA

Alex Asch is an activist. He's articulate. He's 17. He's an anarchist who focuses on animal rights.
And he has also been locked up for nearly a year in a psychiatric institution in Utah by his parents.
Alex calls what is happening "psychological fascism."
He's not alone -- youth are being locked up
in USA psychiatric facilities as never before.

NABBED AT SOCIAL CHANGE SUMMER SCHOOL
Alex was a 16-year-old attending a well-known Vermont social change activist school last year. According to reports he was going well in the summer classes. His parents sent private security officers to scoop him up, and he has remained locked up in a Utah psychiatric facility for a year, this August 10, 2003. In the USA, youth have few rights to resist psychiatric institutionalization by parents.

At the plenary of the MindFreedom counter-conference protesting the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, activist Katherine
Hodges passionately called upon psychiatric rights activists everywhere to urgently provide stronger support for the case of ALEX ASCH.

Since then, several movement activists have been looking into Alex's situation, and have connected up concerned activists.

Ben Grosscup is a friend of Alex who recently networked with MindFreedom - Support Coalition. Ben said, "It's kind of weird that this came out a year ago and we are only just making contact with the psychiatric survivors movement. I am not the only one of Alex's friends who are concerned about Alex. There are a number of us."

The psychiatric survivors movement is now 33 years old. While MindFreedom is open to the public, a survey shows a majority say they personally experienced human rights violations in the mental health system, often as youth.

Ben said that Alex has specifically asked that the public  be told about what is happening to him.

MindFreedom director David Oaks said, "I was locked up myself at about the age Alex is now. Several of our members have called for action about Alex, and we'll be bringing this to our board of directors. We've talked to Ben, and want to support Alex's friends trying to find out more information about this Utah facility in
particular, and the youth psychiatric industry in general."

Tens of thousands of youth are now locked up in
psychiatric facilities. The rate has skyrocketed the past few decades. Alex said he could stay locked up until his 18th birthday next year, June, 28, 2004.

Ben has one initial ACTION that he wants people to take:
"We need a lot more research on the facility where
Alex has been locked up -- Turnabout Stillwater in SaltLake City, Utah, USA. Please help."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACTION YOU CAN TAKE -- GATHER INFO ON FACILITY,
AND YOUTH PSYCHIATRIC INDUSTRY:
If you can help research this facility, and the youth psychiatric lock-up industry please forward
any information you find to these two e-mail addresses --mention MindFreedom sent you.

* Ben Grosscup at .
and
* MindFreedom at


[ This Message was edited by: Deborah on 2003-11-12 19:31 ]

Deborah:
~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: "Deicide"
To: "Oaks - MindFreedom.org"

I am Darren Kramer, a friend of Alex's that has helped initiate the campaign to bring attention to his case. I am the co-founder of Ever Reviled Records Workers' Collective and one of his co-workers from the collective.

Ever Reviled Records started the campaign to bring attention to Alex's case not only to make people aware of Alex, but also to help bring into
the spectrum of debate the thousands of other children that are being coercively thrown into mental institutions. The case has made me more
intimately aware of an entire aspect of the system of domination that exists in our country that I had not thought much about: the insidious use of psychiatry to overextend parental control over children. These institutions must be examined and subject to criticism if their
application is being so loosely used as to jail against his will such an amazing spirit as Alex Asch.

EVER REVILED RECORDS
Building the counter-culture one chord at a time.

http://www.everreviledrecords.com

Deborah:
Alex freed from Turnabout Stillwater. I don't expect him to be quiet about the ordeal.


http://www.mindfreedom.org/mindfreedom/alexasch.shtml

NEWS: Your Mind & Freedom - 12 Nov. 2003
ALEX ASCH IS OUT!

Youth psychiatric inmate says "joy is overwhelming... passion pumps in my heart."

How you can e-mail Alex a congratulations.

The MindFreedom office was informed today by a key supporter of the campaign to free Alex Asch that Alex is out of the institution where he has been held for 15 months. More details are not yet available.

Ben Grosscup said, "I'll try to send more info about this tremendous news once I have it myself. I'm just learning about this now. Hooray!!!"

Alex wrote to a friend yesterday, "LIBERATION FROM THE FACE OF ENDLESS AND COMPLETE INDOCTRINATION! NOW I CAN ATTACK HEAD ON."

Alex also said, "The joy is overwhelming and the inevitable excitement and passion pumps in my heart about the fact I'm back."

ACTION: You may e-mail congratulations to Alex at his e-mail address: stokingthefires@riseup.net.

Alex Asch was 16 when security guards (escorts) under orders from his parents took him against his will from an activist training event at the Institute for Social Ecology in Vermont on August 10 2002, and placed in Turnabout Stillwater, a Utah psychiatric facility. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Froderik:
Jeez you think that post is long enough? Sorry to harp on something that may seem to be of trivial nature, but damn, this/that page is a big one!  :eek:

Deborah:
Yeh, I know it was long, but a story worth telling. I couldn't find a link that contained it all. I found it very interesting the first time through and thought others might enjoy it as well. Pretty much the same with some unique twists.
Anyway, I decided that I'd edit it. It's been whittled. You might try again... or scan.... or not.

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