Meat Street vs. Psychiatry, Round II: Neal Fox's Blog-turned-book Now Available at Lulu.com

In 2001, Neal Fox's musical, Meat Street, took on the mental health profession in a dark comedy featuring psychiatrist Richard Frick, and a little orange pill called NoZone. Fox strikes again in his blog-turned-book (blook), News from Meat Street--Life on a Planet That's Lost its Soul, available now at lulu.com.

Boca Raton, FL (PRWEB) May 9, 2007 -- News from Meat Street--Life on a Planet That's Lost its Soul is composer/playwright Neal Fox's insightful comments, observations, and collected quotes about psychiatry and its negative impact on everyday life.

With programs like TeenScreen (where teens are offered incentives like movie tickets and pizza to fill out online "screening" surveys) and the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, sooner or later everyone will be evaluated and diagnosed.

But psychiatry has image issues. The APA recently posted the results of an annual Gallup poll on their web site. Most respondents rated psychiatrists' honesty and ethical standards from average to very low. Yet they're still touted as experts who have all the answers.

Fox was first alerted to the problems in the mental health field in the early eighties when he saw this headline in a San Diego paper: Psychiatric Rape Reaches Epidemic Proportions.

In the years that followed, he kept track of psychiatry's failures, abuses, and ties to drug companies--resulting in millions of kids on Ritalin and Prozac. "They've turned life into a mental disease and all of its ills can be cured with a pill."

The public knows something is wrong; they just don't have the details. This blook fills in the blanks. It goes behind the Wizard's screen, showing the smoke and mirrors. Fox said, "Most of the material came from the psychs. They hung themselves with their own words. I just strung it all together."

While the blook covers salient points in the history of psychiatry, it also pokes fun at our planet, in general. Fox's wry humor, art, anecdotes--and even off-topic poems to lighten the load--make News From Meat Street an unusual read. Author Anne Rogers, a former mental health worker, said she likes, "the humour injected into this very serious subject...it is an eye opener and I guarantee it will shock you."

Some of the topics covered are: How mental illnesses are "discovered;" Why there is an epidemic of mental illness; and, Why disobeying your doctor is a mental disease. The final chapters contain recommended reading, lists of organizations and resources, and, for people who want to get involved, themselves, suggested ways to help.

News from Meat Street--Life on a Planet That's Lost its Soul can be purchased in paperback ($9.91) or e-Book ($3.75) at http://www.lulu.com/nealfox. (A large free preview is also available.)

For more information about Neal Fox, his music, plays and other projects, please visit his web site, Wire Duck Records at http://www.wireduck.com.

# # #