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MEDIA ADVISORY
Treatment Advocacy Center
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2002 |
CONTACT: |
Alicia Aebersold 703 294 6008 or [email protected]
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Noted Psychiatrist E. Fuller
Torrey Available for Interviews and Information Related to Incident with Schoolbus Driver
and Consequences of Untreated Severe Mental Illness
On Thursday, Jan. 24, Otto Nuss, 63, kidnapped a school bus
of children, taking them on a six-hour trip from Pennsylvania to Maryland. Mr. Nuss had a
loaded rifle on the bus but apparently never overtly threatened the children. According to
the Associated Press, "A friend said Nuss had been treated for psychiatric problems
and recently went off his medication." Fortunately, none of the students were
physically harmed.
An estimated 4.5 million Americans today suffer from the
severest forms of mental illness, schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness. The National
Advisory Mental Health Council estimates that 40 percent of these individuals, or 1.8
million people, are not receiving treatment on any given day. Most who refuse treatment do
so because they do not believe they are sick, a medical condition known as anosognosia.
People with severe mental illnesses who are in treatment are no more dangerous than the
general population - but when they are off their treatment, they are more dangerous.
"These are treatable illnesses that our society -
through its laws, policies, and apathy - allows to go untreated," says E. Fuller
Torrey, M.D. " Consequences of lack of treatment include homelessness, violence,
suicide, and incarceration. Court-ordered treatment is often an appropriate and proven
method of helping stabilize a significant number of these individuals who are lost to
their illnesses. In this case tragedy was luckily averted. In many other instances, it is
not."
WHAT: E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., is available
for media interviews
WHO: Dr. Torrey is a research psychiatrist
specializing in schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness.
Described in The Washington Post as "The most famous
psychiatrist in America," Dr. Torrey is president of the Treatment Advocacy Center
(www.psychlaws.org), a national nonprofit organization working to eliminate barriers to
treatment of severe mental illness, and executive director of the Stanley Foundation
Research Programs on Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder, which supports more research on
schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness than any other private entity.
Dr. Torrey has appeared on national radio and television
(such as NPR, 20/20, 60 Minutes, Dateline); his writings have appeared in many of the
nation's newspapers. He is the author of 20 books and more than 200 lay and professional
papers.
WHEN/HOW: To schedule an interview call
(703) 298-6008 or send an email to [email protected].
### END ###
The Treatment Advocacy Center (www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illnesses. TAC promotes laws, policies, and practices for the delivery of psychiatric care and supports the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
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