Nation IN BRIEF : PENNSYLVANIA : March Protests Bias Against Mentally Ill

Hundreds of current and former asylum patients from across the nation marched and sang in Pittsburgh, Pa., to protest discrimination against the mentally ill and inhumane treatment methods. “We’re declaring that we will not take abuse any longer--forced drugging, shock treatments that rob you of your power,” said Caroline Hailer, 25, of Charleston, W. Va. “We’re just as good as anybody else.” Organizers declared it National Mental Patients’ Rights Day. The march marked the end of a five-day convention on psychiatric treatment that was attended by about 1,000 current and former mental patients and their advocates, whose goals include erasing a perceived stigma associated with psychiatric treatment and advancing a nationwide civil rights movement for mental patients.