Freeing Your Mind

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'The most complex thing on earth is the human mind, and we're using monkey wrenches and throwing switches to see what happens,' he says. 'All of these newer techniques, which are really extensions of the old psychosurgery, are based on an inaccurate view of the mind, a mechanistic, reductionist paradigm. They reduce the brain to a machine -- and that ain't how it works.'

Oaks, who was diagnosed as psychotic and forced to take medication in the 1970s, contends that a more holistic model encompassing mind, body, spirit, and environment can lead to better treatment results and even full recovery for psychiatric patients. 'Major change is often what's needed, and you can't buy and sell that stuff,' he says.

In the United States, discussion of the ethical aspects of brain science has largely been relegated to groups like MindFreedom and the occasional academic or professional conference. But Europe is having a broader dialogue. Last year 126 citizens from nine countries were tapped to participate in a series of conversations, dubbed 'Meeting of the Minds,' that studied the issue with the help of researchers, ethicists, stakeholders, and policy makers. It was considered to be the largest public consultation on science, and the first such Europe-wide effort.

The panel, which was coordinated by the Belgium-based King Baudouin Foundation, presented its recommendations to the European parliament in January. Many of them focused on the potential misuses of brain science innovations and encouraged safeguards against rights abuses.

Oaks hopes the United States has a similarly wide-ranging public discussion, and that it includes those who have been harmed by the mental health system. 'That's whose voice is often not at the table, and we need to get it out there,' he says.

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