CURESZ FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
CURESZ envisions a future where schizophrenia and related psychoses are widely accepted as neurobiological brain conditions, and can be prevented, treated or cured, with restoration of wellness and full functional recovery. CURESZ has several major goals: 1 To support a multifaceted educational campaign to correct the misperceptions about schizophrenia among the general public, using multiple media platforms 2 To pursue a relentless campaign to eliminate the stigma of serious psychiatric brain disorders like psychosis and to equate them with other neuropsychiatric disorders like Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease or stroke 3 To raise charitable contributions to support biopsychosocial research that will accelerate the prospects of prevention or a cure for schizophrenia and related psychoses 4 To inspire hope among patients and their families about the increasing prospects of remission and recovery through new treatments that parallel the momentous advances in understanding the neurobiology of psychotic disorders 5 To start a dialog among psychiatrists and other mental health professionals about shedding the term “schizophrenia” and to replace it with a scientifically more accurate name, not associated with decades of misleading notions and stigma 6 To vigorously address the grave injustice of criminalizing medically ill patients who have brain disorders with behavioral pathology, incarcerating them in jails and prisons instead of treating them in a hospital.
About This Cause
Many members of the public live in a world of fear of those struggling with mental illness. Mass shootings make us wonder what could be done, and what we have to change. Fortunately, few mass shooting incidents have been perpetrated by individuals with severe mental illness. These incidents are especially tragic, because with effective treatment, the incident might not have occurred and the victims’ lives would not have been lost. The vast majority of persons with psychiatric brain disorders are not dangerous, and in fact are more likely to be victims rather than perpetrators of crime. But what does it take to get people who need medical care into treatment, and to help them remain in treatment? The CURESZ Foundation believes that the key is to get the highest quality care to the most people in order to receive effective treatment to help them work or volunteer and enjoy a meaningful life. Once they have found the right treatment plan and can experience the ability to start a new life, we hope they will adhere to treatment in the long-term. Unfortunately, some physicians still use old antipsychotic medications introduced decades ago in the 1970s which may have intolerable and serious adverse reactions. Unable to tolerate the side effects, many patients go off medication. Afraid to try other medications, they worry that all medications will have similar side effects. Some may resolve to never take medication again. In other cases, treatment may enable a person to improve enough to leave the hospital, but the individual remains functionally disabled. Nonetheless, when they leave the hospital ward, their doctors consider the job done. Severely mentally ill persons discharged from hospitals often remain in a state of incomplete recovery for years. They cannot work, volunteer or enjoy a meaningful life because they are not well enough. Often times, some effective but underutilized medications that can help them recover completely are not used or even offered as an option to the patient. The CURESZ Foundation provides education about underutilized and cutting-edge medications and treatments for schizophrenia. This includes information about the unique medication clozapine, which is the only FDA-approved medication for cases of treatment resistance. It also includes long-acting injectable medications (LAIs) which are convenient for persons with schizophrenia and effective at preventing relapse and rehospitalization. CURESZ has assembled a Clozapine in Schizophrenia Expert Panel (CLOSZE). Persons with schizophrenia who are interested in trying clozapine can log on to our website and find the clinician on the Panel who lives closest to them, for another opinion. The CURESZ Foundation has also created a Tardive Dyskinesia Expert Panel. Persons with schizophrenia who are experiencing tardive dyskinesia can use the Panel to find a clinician who lives closest, and obtain a second opinion about one of the FDA-approved tardive dyskinesia medications, which both came to market in 2017. The CURESZ Foundation features stories of schizophrenia survivors who are not just recovered, but thriving despite a past diagnosis of schizophrenia. Through our Survivors' stories, we demonstrate that full recovery from schizophrenia is possible today. The CURESZ Foundation also seeks to correct many misconceptions about schizophrenia, and to find practical and creative ways to eliminate the stigma attached to it. CURESZ educates students, mental health professionals, patients, families, and the general public through various media platforms. CURESZ is particularly interested in educating teenagers and college-age young adults about the early warning signs of schizophrenia, which often do not start until adolescence or the early 20’s, as well as other mental illnesses. We reassure students that serious mental illness is a medical disorder like hypertension or diabetes and that there should be no reluctance in taking a medication for any illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression. The CURESZ Board of Trustees includes well-known psychiatrists, lawyers, parents of mentally ill persons, and other professionals from around the country. Bethany Yeiser, BS, serves as President of the CURESZ Foundation, and Henry Nasrallah, MD, as Executive Vice President and Scientific Director. The Foundation Officers also include a Secretary and a Treasurer.