This post will be a little different. I feel the personal and ethical obligation to recommend to readers a spokesperson, advocate and blogger for mental health reform who is one of the most creditable “experts” that i have run across in in now 14 years of first monitoring reform and restructuring of mental health care delivery systems in Michigan  (where I started my direction toward psychiatry in medical school), then Massachusetts and North Carolina where I have predominantly practiced.

This gentleman is one of the most articulate spokespersons and writers on this mental health reform monitoring scene. His name is D. J. Jaffe. On Pete Early’s blog I recently discovered one of Mr. Jaffe’s more recent essays written actually in the spring of this year, so I must confess I had “discovered” him somewhat ‘late.’ But am I glad I did. And I wish to do my part to try to make more well known his efforts by this brief mention, description and linking the reader to Mr. Jaffe’s work.

He heads up the advocacy group called “Mental Illness Policy Org” which is the ‘real deal,’ honest,  forthright and giving voice to what he sees as needed. There are many such sites and writers on all this mess called “mental health reform,” on the Net. But Mr. Jaffe is one of the most articulate and compelling writers I have encountered.

To quickly “meet” this man and his writings, please go to his article: “Against the Grain: D. J. Jaffe’s 8 Myths About Mental Illness,” at http://bit.ly/13M7NI6.

Read, savor, and give thought to his ideas backed up by good data where possible.

His article was hosted on Pete Early’s website, which is also worth following: http://www.peteearly.com, or the URL: http://bit.ly/13M9ipt.