Alternatives Beyond Psychiatry

Peter Stastny was born in Vienna, Austria, where he graduated from medical school in 1976. Since 1978, he has been working and residing in New York City. Taught at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx until 2009 and has conducted several publically funded research projects in the area of vocational rehabilitation, social support and self-help, in collaboration with individuals who had survived personal crises and psychiatric interventions. Currently, Dr. Stastny is working on the development of alternative services that obviate psychiatric intervention and offer autonomous paths towards recovery and full integration. These activities have engendered a close collaboration with the user-survivor movement, as manifested by joint research projects, publications, service demonstrations, and community work. He is a founding member of the International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery (INTAR).Peter Lehmann. Born in Calw, Black Forest (Germany). Education in social pedagogy. Living in Berlin. Author and editor since 1986, then foundation of Peter Lehmann Publishing and Mail-order Bookstore. 1989 co-founder of the Association for Protection against Psychiatric Violence (running the Runaway-house Berlin). In 1991, co-founder of the European Network of (ex-) Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (ENUSP); from 1997-99, Chair of ENUSP; until 2010, board member. From 1997-2000, member of the Executive Committee of Mental Health Europe, the European section of the World Federation for Mental Health. Since 2004, member of INTAR (International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery). In 2010, awarded with an Honorary Doctorate in acknowledgement of exceptional scientific and humanitarian contribution to the rights of the people with psychiatric experience by the School of Psychology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, Faculty of Philosophy. In July 2011, awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the President of Germany. English publications include, Coming off Psychiatric Drugs: Successful Withdrawal from Neuroleptics, Antidepressants, Mood Stabilizers, Ritalin and Tranquilizers, ebook, edited in 2013.