Page 14 - Spring 2019 Journal

family members whose lives are richer for having known him.
Andrew struggled with opioid addiction for many years. His family supported him, and celebrated with him when he reached a milestone of five years of being opioid-free in May of 2018. Unfortunately, our legal system was not helpful or supportive of Andrew’s needs. In 2013, he was prosecuted for being a drug addict, and saddled with a felony conviction for possession of a very small amount of heroin. The collateral consequences of this conviction robbed him of his future. County prosecutors argued against expunging his record, meaning that serving time for the offense was not enough—rather, he was to serve a life sentence that included forever denials of educational, housing and occupational opportunities. He was understandably despondent regarding his circumstances.
Following a breakdown in May 2017, Andrew was diagnosed with a serious mental illness. At that point, he entered the broken mental health care and mental health legal system in Wisconsin. At the time of his break- down, he was tased and nearly killed; rejected admission at three psychiatric hospitals; and ultimately thrown into an isolation cell at the Sheboygan County Detention Center—treatment known to have lifetime detrimental effects for the mentally ill. He spent time in the Win- nebago Mental Health facility, where he reported he was subjected to inhumane treatment and unlawful restraints.
While incarcerated at the jail and the mental health institution, Andrew was fed a diet high in sugar, with vir-
12
Letters
tually all protein coming from soy. He was raised eating traditional foods on his family’s farm, and ate a Weston A. Price diet when not confined. Andrew’s objections to eating soy and drinking fluoridated water were introduced at his involuntary commitment hearing by a psychiatrist as evidence of his ir- rationality and delusional thinking.
Following his release, he was as- signed to a county-appointed doctor who spent only a few minutes with him each month. He was involuntarily and heavily medicated with psychotropic drugs that were not monitored and which were adjusted only once in a one-and-one-half year period. Just a few weeks before his death, his family asked that they be allowed to select his doctor and monitor his treatment, telling the court that the family, not the county and its taxpayers, should be responsible for this. That request was denied. Andrew was beaten down, hopeless and depressed as a result of this infringement on his civil liberties.
We can and must do better than this. It is our hope that Andrew’s tragic passing will serve to raise awareness of the significant defects in how the United States handles criminal cases involv- ing drug addicts and the mentally ill, as well as how involuntary civil com- mitments are handled. It is, literally, a matter of life and death.
Donations can be made to the An- drew Rich Memorial Fund; this money will be used to advocate reform of the mental health laws and mental health treatments (including institutional diets) that are failing so many people like Andrew. To donate and follow our progress visit: andrewsvoice.org (Vic-
tory Over Involuntary Commitment
Excesses).
Elizabeth Rich President, Andrew’s V.O.I.C.E. Plymouth, Wisconsin
FATS HAVE SAVED MY LIFE
A year ago, when WAPF came to Perú–just when my health was collaps- ing after being a vegetarian for years—I started eating a more nourishing diet, which immediately made me feel stronger. But still, depression seemed unstoppable. After several months, I gave up and went to a psychiatrist. He gave me pills and said that, given my condition, I needed to take them for at least two or three years before I might need to readjust the prescription or
perhaps I could drop them.
I took them for only two days and
then listened to the Wise Traditions podcast episode that I knew existed about mental health, for I was now feel- ing literally crazy under the effect of those pills. Listening to it gave me the strength to keep trying without the pills, but I decided not to follow the recom- mendation of the doctor interviewed to stop the dairy, for there are some strong testimonials of how it can be a healing food; instead, I actually increased the amount of good dairy in my diet.
What I have seen so far is that even the knowledgeable doctors who understand the WAPF message are recommending we should stop dairy when there are neurological issues, but I believe that including raw dairy was the only way I could let my gastrointestinal system rest and recover while nourish- ing–and literally reconstructing–my whole body, including my nervous
Wise Traditions
SPRING 2019