With the approach of World Suicide Prevention Day this Saturday, it’s time to address a contributing factor to suicide that’s been taboo far too long—especially since a small group of ideologues is fighting to suppress discussion and worsen the problem. Most of us know that stigmatizing people for something they
Today in Baltimore, Maryland, B4U-ACT brought together a range of clinicians, researchers, academics, and minor-attracted persons to discuss key issues regarding the entry for pedophilia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association. The purpose of the meeting was to promote a more
July 25, 2011 — B4U-ACT has sent an open letter to the Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) notifying the organization of the inaccuracies and misleading information contained in the current draft of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), currently under revision. The letter
B4U-ACT sent the e-mail letter below to all members of the DSM Paraphilias Subworkgroup and leading officials of the DSM Task Force, inviting them to come and speak at its upcoming symposium. B4U-ACT suggested this as a way to restart the conversation begun the previous summer with a conference call
B4U-ACT joined with seven mental health professionals to object to an article recently published in the Harvard Mental Health Letter. The open letter sent in response follows: April 25, 2011 The Editor Harvard Mental Health Letter Harvard University Cambridge, MA Dear Editor: We wish to respond to the article “Pessimism
A letter to the editor written by Richard Kramer, Director of Operations of B4U-ACT, has been published in the scientific journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. The letter “describes how the proposed DSM-5 criteria for pedohebephilia have been developed without following four key guidelines specified by the American Psychiatric Association (APA)
With great sadness, B4U-ACT announces the death of Michael F. Melsheimer, co-founder of the organization in 2003. Mike died peacefully on July 15 after battling emphysema for several years. He was born August 21, 1942 in Jacksonville, FL the son of the late Richard L. and Nancy R. Ison Melsheimer.
Six people from B4U-ACT who are attracted to minors participated in a conference call Friday morning, June 11, with seven people who are involved in revising the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). These seven included the four members of the Paraphilias Subworkgroup, responsible for the DSM entry
Three representatives of B4U-ACT recently returned from attending the Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in New Orleans. The APA recognized B4U-ACT as a patient advocacy group at the meeting. There were about 11,000 attendees at the conference, of whom about 8000 were psychiatrists (the rest were students, psychiatric
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is currently revising its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), the authoritative handbook used by mental health professionals to diagnose mental disorders. The DSM influences the beliefs and practices of mental health professionals, the criminal justice system, the media, and the public. Therefore, it has an
