Full Text of HR0898 97th General Assembly
HR0898 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Mental illness is a critical underlying concept in | 3 | | various areas of our law affecting mitigation of criminal | 4 | | responsibility and fundamental rights to property, individual | 5 | | liberty, and personal privacy; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, For at least 2 generations, mental illness has | 7 | | been presumed to be brain disease which is best confronted as a | 8 | | treatable medical problem; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Vast amounts of State resources and tax monies, | 10 | | not to mention the creative energies and work of our citizens | 11 | | and civil servants, are continuously expended in accordance | 12 | | with Illinois laws and regulations dependent upon derived | 13 | | psychiatric definitions, formulations, and diagnostic criteria | 14 | | for mental disorders, in particular upon those definitions, | 15 | | formulations, and criteria which are found in the American | 16 | | Psychiatric Association's nearly 20-year-old Diagnostic and | 17 | | Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition | 18 | | (DSM-IV); and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The head of the task force which developed DSM-IV | 20 | | recently admitted that since it was published in 1993, that | 21 | | manual has resulted in at least 3 false epidemics causing | 22 | | countless persons to be prescribed expensive, unnecessary, |
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| 1 | | potentially dangerous psychotropic drugs; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, A professor of psychiatry and author of a leading | 3 | | reference book on psychopharmacology recently called the | 4 | | entire chemical imbalance theory of mental disorders an urban | 5 | | legend; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Experts in the field of mental health are | 7 | | currently in major and substantial disagreement about the | 8 | | general validity of psychiatric diagnosis itself; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Despite explicit admonitions in DSM-IV against | 10 | | the use of psychiatric diagnosis for such legal purposes as | 11 | | establishing competence, criminal responsibility or | 12 | | disability, Illinois courts and agencies have nonetheless | 13 | | habitually relied upon the formulations and criteria in the DSM | 14 | | for the precise expertise which the text itself disclaims; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, A new edition of the American Psychiatric | 16 | | Association's manual, DSM-5, is scheduled for publication in | 17 | | May of 2013, but proposed changes for this upcoming DSM are | 18 | | provoking intense criticism from a diverse range of mental | 19 | | health experts, more than 12,000 of whom have signed a petition | 20 | | protesting the secretive and unscientific character of the | 21 | | APA's proposals to expand concepts of mental disorder to a | 22 | | point where normal human emotions and coping behaviors will be |
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| 1 | | falsely pathologized as illness; therefore, be it
| 2 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 3 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 4 | | the Task Force on Mental Diagnosis and Illinois Law be created | 5 | | within the Office of the Governor, and jointly supervised by | 6 | | the Comptroller and the Attorney General, to | 7 | | (1) thoroughly survey the Illinois Compiled Statutes and | 8 | | Administrative Code to identify all instances where our | 9 | | laws and government functions depend upon purported | 10 | | understanding of mental illness or disorder, mental | 11 | | capacity, mental health, behavior or psychology, which may | 12 | | be recently discredited, or reasonably considered | 13 | | incorrect or arbitrary in light of the current confusion | 14 | | among mental health experts over the possible absence of | 15 | | scientific validity in psychiatric diagnosis; | 16 | | (2) forward initial recommendations of urgent legislative | 17 | | actions which may be needed to avoid gross injustice or | 18 | | waste of public resources to the General Assembly as soon | 19 | | as possible; and | 20 | | (3) produce a final report summarizing the task force's | 21 | | findings and detailing recommended statutory or | 22 | | constitutional strategies to correct negative impacts of | 23 | | concepts and nomenclature now discredited or inconsistent | 24 | | with current medical science, and to avoid future | 25 | | immoderate scientism in our laws and public policy; and be |
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| 1 | | it further
| 2 | | RESOLVED, That the task force shall consist of the | 3 | | following members: 3 members appointed by the Speaker of the | 4 | | House of Representatives, one of whom shall be appointed | 5 | | co-chairperson; 3 members appointed by the minority leader of | 6 | | the House of Representatives, one of whom shall be appointed | 7 | | co-chairperson, one member appointed by the Comptroller; and | 8 | | one member appointed by the Attorney General; and be it further | 9 | | RESOLVED, That in appointing members of the task force, the | 10 | | Speaker and minority leader shall consider that professional | 11 | | experience in diverse mental health-related fields may be a | 12 | | positive qualification; and be it further | 13 | | RESOLVED, That the task force shall take voluntary | 14 | | assistance and testimony from individuals and professional | 15 | | organizations and institutions; and be it further | 16 | | RESOLVED, That the members of the task force shall serve | 17 | | without compensation but may be reimbursed for actual expenses | 18 | | while serving on the task force from funds appropriated to the | 19 | | Office of the Governor for that purpose; and be it further | 20 | | RESOLVED, That the task force shall submit its final report | 21 | | to the Governor and the General Assembly no later than December |
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| 1 | | 31, 2013.
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