Catalyst Information and Archive Page

“It’s clear, specific, in plain English, a primer for obtaining action on behalf of a mentally ill family member.”-Catalyst Subscriber and Donor

About TAC's newsletter, Catalyst

"The Treatment Advocacy Center has been the catalyst for many positive changes in our laws and a shift in our perception of the importance of intervention. Their unique advocacy is restoring the important balance between individual freedom and caring coercion." - APA President Steve Sharfstein, M.D.

Catalyst is a free periodic newsletter for those who care about restoring this balance.

To subscribe to Catalyst, fill out a network form. Please note that Catalyst is a hard-copy newsletter and will come to you through regular mail.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT PDF FILES: Full Catalyst issues are archived in PDF format with selected articles available in HTML. PDF files are somewhat large (over 1MB) and might take a few minutes to download, especially with a dial-up connection. You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files - download a free copy of this software by clicking on the link to the right.

Download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader:

Spring/Summer 2006 (in PDF)
TAC WINS 2006 APA PRESIDENTIAL COMMENDATION: American Psychiatric Association president commends TAC for “extraordinary advocacy”
Psychiatry’s Heroes, by E. Fuller Torrey, MD
Recovery and Coercion: Reconciling two hotbutton terms
Treatment Advocacy Center honors three extraordinary community psychiatrists
A New York psychiatrist on the realities of Kendra’s Law
A statement of madness: The new guidelines for treating mental illness need help
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

Spring/Summer 2005 (in PDF)
Hope for overwhelmed family caregivers: Assisted outpatient treatment significantly reduces caregiver strain
Getting care for those in crisis, hospitalized, or incarcerated because of a severe mental illness
Preparing for crisis
Fighting for treatment
TAC announces national advocacy award winners: Efforts of unlikely team result in new treatment law in Florida
Life in one of the eight states of despair: With no option for AOT, New Jersey families are fighting for a better law
Help and hope for families, providers, consumers: After 5 years of AOT, New Yorkers see vast improvements for the sickest
Understanding and navigating the HIPAA privacy rule: Releasing health information to families of people with severe mental illnesses
Kendra’s Law families and participants laud program: Report shows sharp reductions in hospitalizations, incarcerations, homelessness
“Out of the Shadow”: A new film about a family’s struggle
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

Summer 2004 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Now we can save lives: TAC president E. Fuller Torrey reminds us that getting the law used is the next critical step
New help, new hope in Florida: Landmark legislation makes Florida the 42nd state to authorize assisted outpatient treatment
Waging the battle for Florida: Stepping stones on the road to reform.
Voices on reform: Rep. David Simmons, bill sponser, on why Florida law desperately needed an overhaul
Voices on reform: Personal tragedy far from only catalyst for Sheriff Donald F. Eslinger.
Voices on reform: Florida stakeholders on the benefit of Baker Act reform.
Implementing reform: Frequently asked questions about Florida's Baker Act reform.
In memoriam: In July 1998 in Sanford, Florida, Alan Singletary and Deputy Eugene Gregory both died in a 13-hour standoff between Singletary, Seminole sheriff's deputies, and SWAT team members.
Assisted outpatient treatment: A briefing paper
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

Winter 2003/Spring 2004 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Truth and courage
Kendra's Law: A mother's thanks
The benefits of Kendra's Law
Coerced care vs. no care
Courts reaffirm assisted treatment constitutional
States can't afford not to use AOT. Don't buy the lie that AOT costs are prohibitive. Nontreatment breaks the bank.
NIMH fails to research severe mental illnesses: Treatment Advocacy Center report card keeps pressure on
In memory of a noble man: Howard Telson, M.D., expert, advocate, friend
Forty years of neglect: The federal role in caring for the severely mentally ill
Impaired awareness of illness: Anosognosia (TAC fact sheet)
Charles "Chuck" Sosebee: Courageous advocate wins 2004 Torrey Advocacy Commendation award
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

Summer/Fall 2003 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Why TAC exists: Looking back five years, by E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.
Changes in treatment legislation, last five years
A scholar and psychiatrist: Things I have learned in changing civil commitment laws, by Darold Treffert, M.D.
A mother and first-time advocate: What I learned when we took on the legislature - and won, by Sheree Spears
A legislator with a personal stake: Lessons learned in reforming Minnesota law, by Mindy Greiling
An advocate: What worked in New York in passing Kendra's Law, by D.J. Jaffe
A grieving mother: Passion, persistence, and pals helped turn tragedy into activism, by Pat Webdale
A court perspective: How we changed our law in West Virginia, by Tom Rodd
A national leader and advocate: Tenacity prevails: Never give up, by Carla Jacobs
Five years with hope: Thirty years of despair, by Mary T. Zdanowicz
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

Spring 2003 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Kendra's Law a Huge Success
Why TAC Exists -- To Save Lives, by E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.
Sharra Hurd -- a Dedicated Advocate Lost to Cancer
Missing Persons: Brad's Catch 22 Odyssey; What We Learned Might Help Your Family
State Updates
Testimony Makes a Difference:
My Daughter Trapped in the System; Assisted Treatment Saved My Life; Law Failed Our Son
Did You Know? -- TAC Resources
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

Winter 2002 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Victory in California The history of the CA victory - page 3
Why TAC exists, by E. Fuller Torrey, M.D. - page 3
Media voices make a difference - page 5
TAC award nominees - page 7
Uncivil liberties - page 8
Treating people who lack insight - page 10
Anosognosia - page 10
Memorials/honorarium - page 11
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

Summer/Fall 2002 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Why TAC Exists: To reduce victimization, by E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.
State Updates: Victory: Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously upholds need-for-treatment standard
Anosognosia causes treatment refusal
Dr. Torrey speaks at NAMI 2002 Convention
The Invisible Plague
Suicide annually claims 5,000 untreated
National Hopeline Network
"Act of God" people
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

Spring 2002 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Why TAC Exists: Watchguards of a Broken System by E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.
State Updates Florida and Maryland
Dying with Their Rights On, by Darold A. Treffert, M.D.
Letters to the Editor — BE HEARD [Tips on writing letters to the editor]
Tribute to Fred Frese: "Recovery: Myths, Mountains, and Miracles," by Betsy Brown
Testimony before the Florida Senate Committee on Children and Families, February 20, 2002; by Mary T. Zdanowicz, JD
Testimony before the Maryland House Environ-mental Matters Committee, March 5, 2002; by Rosanna Esposito, JD
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

Winter 2001 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Torrey Advocacy Commendation Award: Dr. Morton Birnbaum, First Recipient
Tribute to Dr. Birnbaum
Refusing to take your medicine (article written by Dr. Torrey in 1980; still relevant today)
New study evaluates impact of intensive case management on violence
Personal story about mental illness
Victims of laws that were made to save them
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

September/October 2001 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
The Florida Baker Act - Where are we now?
New study sheds light on medication compliance and violence
Treatment Advocacy Center at the 2001 NAMI Convention
Kevin's law supports intervention before violence
Your voice will make a difference - reader feedback
State updates
Anosognosia keeps patients from realizing they're ill
Committing a loved one can be the best medicine
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

July/August 2001 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
The case for caring coercion
Attorney education about mental illnesses
First person account: schizophrenia, medication and outpatient commitment
Surviving Schizophrenia, 4th edition
Minnesota's victory, Note from Mindy Greiling
Book review: A Street Is Not a Home
Legislative contacts 101
Your voice will make a difference - reader feedback
Data shows adverse impact of a restrictive mental illness treatment law
Where can you turn for legal advice?; Attorney directory application form
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

May/June 2001 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Idealism gone awry
West Virginia has improved mental health process
We should know how many people with mental illnesses are killed by police, by Mary Zdanowicz
It's not either or ...
Welcome new board member Judge James Cayce
TAC at NAMI 2001
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

March/April 2001 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
In honor of the unsung heroes - turning grief to good, by Mary Zdanowicz
Bazelon Center is wrong, Weston and Goldstein refused treatment and services, by E. Fuller Torrey, MD
Mandate treatment for the mentally il, by Cindy Soto, founder of Sierra's Light Foundation, a group dedicated to making preschools safer for children
Recollections of Kendra and a look at Kendra's law, by Pat Webdale, Kendra's mother
What do consumers really think about assisted outpatient treatment? by J. Nelson Kull, III
Your voice will make a difference - reader feedback
Out the Center's window, by Jonathan Stanley
Kendra's Law working, by Jonathan Stanley
States continue to gain interest in outpatient commitment, by Rosanna Esposito
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

January/February 2001 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
PC, MD: How political correctness is corrupting medicine, by Sally Satel, MD
A lesson from Minnesota and California, by E. Fuller Torrey, MD
Survey of commitment process
New board members: Thomas N. Faust, executive director, National Sheriffs' Association; Kenneth Kress, JD, Ph.D., Professor, University of Iowa College of Law
TAC publishes new edition of Madness in the Streets: How Psychiatry and the Law Abandoned the Mentally Ill (order a copy here)
Canadian mental health law and policy
Court rules Kendra's Law constitutional, by Jonathan Stanley
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

September/October 2000 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Refusing to settle for pigeon research: NIMH continues to fund as many research grants for the study of pigeons as it funds to study the clinical or treatment aspects of manic-depressive illness
What to do if a loved one threatens suicide, by Sam Bloom
A temporary setback in California, by Jonathan Stanley
State updates
How to access information on NIMH-funded research grants
Letter from Delaware Gov. Thomas R. Carper
Your voice will make a difference - reader feedback
The end game, by Scott J. Mahoney
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

July/August 2000 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Reversing a dangerous precedent - making the case for a model law, by E. Fuller Torrey and Mary Zdanowicz
Why all the interest in workshop 3B at the NAMI 2000 convention? "What is it like to be sick and not know it?"
Your voice will make a difference - reader feedback
Treatment Advocacy Center releases model law at national convention, by Rosanna Esposito
Important aspects of the model law, by Jonathan Stanley
A supreme decision from South Dakota, by Edith Barry
TAC booth a huge success, by Anna-Lisa Johanson
And from Ontario ... the passage of Brian's Law, a progressive law for assisted treatment
Wade, by JoLynn Woodland - "I love [my brother] Wade and I am not ashamed of him ... I am going to do everything that I can to help him ..."
Other state updates - California, Connecticut
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

May/June 2000 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Study shows that long-term assisted treatment reduces violence and hospital utilization, by E. Fuller Torrey and Mary T. Zdanowicz
For whom the whistle blows, by Scott Jerome Mahoney - "I would like to begin by saying that although I have paranoid schizophrenia ... I do not blame anyone."
State updates - California, Iowa, Connecticut, Delaware, Minnesota, Wisconsin
TAC will offer two workshops at NAMI 2000 convention
American Psychiatric Association subcommitee strongly endorses assisted outpatient treatment, by DJ Jaffe
Wonderland - We hardly knew you, by Brandon Fitch
Wonderland - The end doesn not justify the means, by Claire Griffin-Francell
Professor Kenneth Kress joins TAC's honorary advisory committee
Your voice will make a difference - reader feedback
Bringing some sense to civil commitment hearings, by Joanmarie I. Davoli, director, George Mason University School of Law, Law and Mental Illness Clinic
Changes in mental illness law
New book release: I Am Not Sick, I Don't Need Help: Helping the Seriously Mentally Ill Accept Treatment (order a copy here)
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

March/April 2000 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
True parity means eliminating Medicaid's IMD exclusion, by Bruce Rheinstein, JD
The courage to effect change, by Mary Zdanowicz
Donnie's story: Commitment to recovery, by Donnie Buchanan
Testimony of Dick Taylor, Wilmington, Delaware, on his experience with his son's mental illness
State updates - West Virginia, Conecticut, Minnesota, South Dakota, Utah
TAC's new board member Ray Coleman
Crisis Intervention Training (CIT): A catalyst for consumers and cops, by Donald G. Turnbaugh, chair, NAMI Florida Decriminalization Committee
Your voice will make a difference - reader feedback
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

January/February 2000 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
A note of thanks from Dr. Torrey
Nine states identify outpatient civil commitment as one of year 2000 priorities
Treatment Advocacy Center forms new honorary advisory committee
Estimated 1,000 homicides per year in US are committed by individuals with severe mental illnesses
Tips for family members about the criminal justice system, by Taylor P. Andrews
Major media interest - TV and radio stations, national newspapers, internet - taking an interest in issues of major importance to the Treatment Advocacy Center mission
California's campaign to provide care, by Jonathan Stanley
A challenge to Vermont's assisted treatment reform
Congressional record - Senate
Your voice will make a difference - reader feedback
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

November/December 1999 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
Kendra's Law passed in New York
State updates - Wyoming, Nevada, South Dakota
Kendra's Law: The culmination of a 10 year battle for assisted outpatient treatment in New York
Half a million liberated from institutions to community settings without provision for long-term care, by Curtis Flory, MBA, and Rose Amrie Friedrich, RN, MA
Your voice will make a difference - reader feedback
A case for involuntary commitment, by Darryl Burton, Nebraska
The story behind Kendra's Law
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

September/October 1999 (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
The Center launches new web site
In memory of Kenneth Scott Hardman
Meet president E. Fuller Torrey, MD
Origins of the Treatment Advocacy Center, by E. Fuller Torrey, MD
Meet executive director Mary T. Zdanowicz, Esq.
A catalyst to stop forced suffering from the consequences of nontreatment, by Mary Zdanowicz
Treatment Advocacy Center live on the internet
The time for talk has passed
Click here to read selected articles in HTML format

SPECIAL EDITION: Welcome Issue (in PDF) [get more information on PDF files]
TAC gets a lot of requests for a general issue of the newsletter that can be printed out and shared with others. This welcome issue includes a broad cross-section of articles from other issues of Catalyst and is a good introduction to TAC. Having trouble printing? Contact us (via email or phone, at 703 294 6001) and request a copy by regular mail.

Origins of the Treatment Advocacy Center
Meet president E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.
A catalyst to stop forced suffering from the consequences of nontreatment
Kendra's law -- The culmination of a 10-year battle for assisted outpatient treatment in New York (also available in HTML)
Refusing to settle for pigeon research
The Duke studies
Model law for assisted treatment
American Psychiatric Association resource document on mandatory outpatient treatment summary of conclusions and recommendations
Mandate treatment for mentally ill
What do consumers really think about assisted outpatient treatment?
Your voice will make a difference - reader feedback
States continue to gain interest in outpatient commitment
Idealism gone awry

CATALYST