Well Patrick McGorry and the EPPIC DeLorean Club haven’t come back re Voodoo Science & Snake Oil yet…but they have been on the site.

No! Risperidone in small doses is safe. Are you 100% sure Patrick?

This is an update of information provided by Medicalskeptic @medskep on Twitter (many thanks).

Risperidone (Risperdal) caused a significant increase in prolactin in over 90% of patients in the study

Antipsychotics and Prolactin “In a study that looked at the rates of prolactin elevation, it was noted that the older medications, like haloperidol (Haldol) were more likely to increase prolactin. The exception was risperidone (Risperdal) that caused a significant increase in prolactin in over 90% of patients in the study. However, this study did not comment on whether people had symptoms (such as amenorrhea or others mentioned above) as a result of the increase; it merely reported that in the lab, prolactin levels were increased in the patient’s blood. It should also be noted that this study was funded in part by Eli Lilly which makes a competitor of the drug, risperidone“.

AND…

Prevalence of hyperprolactinemia in schizophrenia: association with typical and atypical antipsychotic treatment.
Montgomery J, Winterbottom E, Jessani M, Kohegyi E, Fulmer J, Seamonds B, Josiassen RC.

Source
Arthur P. Noyes Research Foundation, Norristown, PA 19401, USA.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate the prevalence and severity of hyperprolactinemia among a large sample of patients with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders treated with typical and atypical antipsychotic medications.

METHOD:
Three electronic databases (general medical, psychiatric, and pharmacologic) containing the census data from November 2002 through March 2003 for a state-funded, inpatient hospital serving the chronically mentally ill were merged (N = 470). This database was purged of patient names, while the unique hospital identification number and demographic variables in each record were retained. These records were then screened to exclude patients with medications (except neuroleptics) or medical conditions known to elevate or suppress prolactin, leaving an overall sample (N = 422) in which to evaluate the prevalence of hyperprolactinemia. The sample was composed of patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia (N = 213), other related psychotic disorders (N = 131), mood disorders (N = 44), and other disorders (N = 34).

RESULTS:

These are not pecks they are Man Boobs!

For the overall sample (N = 422), which combined men and women, the mean serum prolactin level was 41.5 ng/mL; 290 of 422 patients were above the normal range. For women (N = 133), the mean serum prolactin level was 57.9 ng/mL, and 67% had levels above normal. For men (N = 289), the mean level was 33.9 ng/mL, with a 70% prevalence of hyperprolactinemia. While age did not influence the prevalence of elevated prolactin among men, age (reflecting reproductive status) was a significant variable in women; older age was associated with lower prolactin levels. For the study sample, a highly significant correlation was observed between neuroleptic dose (chlorpromazine equivalent) and serum prolactin level; however, this relationship was not determined on a medication-by-medication basis. Medications known to elevate prolactin were associated with higher prevalence rates of hyperprolactinemia, and “prolactin-sparing” medications had lower prevalence rates. However, when they were used in combination, the prolactin-elevating medication overwhelmed the effects of prolactin-sparing medication.

CONCLUSIONS:
This study suggested that neuroleptic treatment of schizophrenia is strongly associated with hyperprolactinemia and showed important differences between prolactin-sparing and prolactin-elevating medications.

AND…

“RISPERDAL ® and similar medications can raise the blood levels of a hormone known as prolactin, causing a condition known as hyperprolactinemia. Blood levels of prolactin remain elevated with continued use. Some side effects seen with these medications include the absence of a menstrual period; breasts producing milk; the development of breasts by males; and the inability to achieve an erection. The connection between prolactin levels and side effects is unknown”.

High blood sugar and diabetes have been reported with RISPERDAL ® and similar medications. If the person being treated has diabetes or risk factors such as being overweight or a family history of diabetes, blood sugar testing should be performed at the beginning and throughout treatment. Complications of diabetes can be serious and even life threatening. If signs of high blood sugar or diabetes develop, such as being thirsty all the time, going to the bathroom a lot, or feeling weak or hungry, contact your doctor”.

will this be an EPPIC Man Boob failure? I hope not.

Tell me again…what is the oath ALL doctors take?

Oh Yes, “TO DO NO HARM”.

Need I say more?

Voodoo Science & Snake Oil begins with the first of several drugs Patrick McGorry will be using in his newest pet project EPPIC

Man Boobs...brought to you by Risperidone

so listen up guys…here’s the kicker to the EPPIC DeLorean Club aka Patrick McGorry & Co.

Boys and men using the anti-psychotic drug Risperidone (Risperdal)  this is what you may have to look forward to…abnormal breast growth i.e. enlargement of the breasts called gynecomastia.

Yes! They are called Man Boobs!

Gynecomastia (gy-neco-mas-tia) refers to excessive development or persistent enlargement of the male breast. Or in other words, benign enlargement of the glandular tissue of the breast and accumulation of fibro-fatty tissue and YOU don’t have to be overweight for it to happen to YOU, it can strike any adolescent male [or adult man] taking Risperidone and it’s devastating.

Risperdal has been found to increase a hormone called prolactin which stimulates breast growth. The full description of this side effect is not mentioned on the package insert or on the FDA site or product manufacturer’s site. Prolactin is a hormone released by the pituitary gland.

Have you ever seen guys with prominent nipples and or abnormal fullness in the breast area. This is not the body builder look, these are just like FEMALE BREASTS!!!

What will that do for a male child or young adolescents confidence or self esteem? For all of you EPPIC or Patrick McGorry fans…you can thank Patrick for this little surprise EPPIC is delivering. Imagine developing full breasts can that persisted into adulthood! This is NOT BABY FAT!

This condition can be created in the body by effecting the hormone imbalances and is caused by high blood levels of prolactin and low levels of testosterone in the body.

Infertility is one of the symptoms of hormonal imbalance and this is the mother of all imbalances. High blood levels of prolactin have been traced to prescription drugs like Risperidone. Prolactin secretion in the pituitary is normally suppressed by the brain chemical dopamine. Drugs that block the effects of dopamine at the pituitary or deplete dopamine stores in the brain may cause the pituitary to secrete prolactin. Antipsychotic drugs like Risperidone are well known to cause Man Boobs and even the secretion of breast milk in men.

Ouch!!! Those are some Man Boobs!!!

This has to be one of the most embarrassing conditions an adolescent male can develop. The psychological scars are frighting. Any child or adolescent male with this condition will more than likely have serious body image problems and secondary behavior disturbances, such as withdrawing from their peers, avoiding important group social or sports activities and…oh yes…depression. And just at a time when adolescent males are most concerned with their overall image – zap – Man Boobs can strike.

Because this is such a touchy subject there hasn’t been a lot of research done and so it seems like the stats are low but don’t let that fool you.  Some parents will not even notice the condition because they never see their sons without layers of baggy tee-shirts on or they will assume that he’s just gained a bit of weight.

DON’T assume anything because the news about Risperidone and it’s ability to affect hormonal imbalance just keeps getting worse. How? Infertility may be a symptom of hormonal imbalance.That’s right, no prodigy, no children, No grandchildren! No getting it up.

As most of us have heard the World Health Organization wants the worlds population to decrease and governments want more [work] productivity, so with Risperidone EPPIC should be able to produce an entire generation of sexually dysfunctional and sterile individuals that will be programed to work but never be able to have sex and never reproduce.

Man Boobs are not easy to get rid of because you can’t diet them away. Very expensive surgery may be the only answer to get your body back to normal…well if you don’t count the scaring. You think that’s farfetched? Well let’s just wait ten years and see what happens!

Risperidone has many other side effects that have been recorded in many clinical studies. To sum it up, the research indicates that Risperidone’s most common side effects included: drowsiness in up to 67% of people taking this drug, increased appetite in up to 49%, upper respiratory infections in up to 34%, fatigue in up to 30%, agitation in up to 26%, insomnia in up to 26%, increased salivation in up to 22%, anxiety in up to 20%, dizziness in up to 16%, nausea in up to 16%, and headaches can occur in up to 14% of individuals who take this drug.

And on top of all that other side effects include dry mouth, constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, heartburn, vomiting, runny or irritated nose, sore throat, difficulty controlling bladder, vision changes, back pain, joint pain, chest pain, muscle pain, toothaches, sinus infections, coughing, fever, dry skin, decreased concentration, confusion, sexual problems, and acne have been found to occur in up to 13% of individuals who take this medication. OMG I’ve counted 37 side effects already!

Is this really a small price to pay to have our next generation saved from Patrick McGorry’s threat of ‘possible psychosis’?

Let’s take this into consideration. The most shocking thing about these statistic is that these recorded percentages are at the lower end of the scale because more that 60% of side effect suffers don’t report their side effects and if they do tell their GP many are told the side effects will go away in a few days and to keep taking the drugs.

By the way that’s not the end of this list of potentially harmful side effects! Some side effects of Risperidone are very serious and should receive immediate medical attention, these side effects include: signs of diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), tachycardia (rapid heart rate), extreme hunger, rapid or extreme weight gain, suicidal thoughts, depression, uncontrollable muscle contractions, and any abnormal muscle movements as these abnormal movements may become permanent if use of this medication is not stopped immediately. I’ll bet you didn’t know about the last one.

There’s always the hope that your doctor or pharmacist may already be aware of any possible drug interactions and may be monitoring for them…OR NOT. Some people who take this medication may find it ineffective and become physically dependent on it or experience serious withdrawal symptoms if the drug is discontinued.

I have one last thing to say. Nice one Patrick! let’s get them hooked on a psychotropic drug designed for debilitating schizophrenia just in case they might be the 1 out of 9 kids that really needs help and when they show serious signs of potentially harmful side effects…take the drugs away and hope for the best…hopefully their parents won’t sue that pants off you.

NOTE: I have purposely use general references instead of scientific ones so that the information can be easily read and understood by anyone.

{EAV_BLOG_VER:7719450fc4090ae4} Are our children really AT RISK or is Patrick McGorry selling us Voodoo Science & Snake Oil?

Should we trust our children's lives to Patrick McGorry?

Do we want our children to be labelled with Psychosis Risk Syndrome? The Federal Government has handed $400 million dollars to Patrick McGorry for a national program to create early psychosis prevention and intervention centers.

MARTIN WHITELY, WA LABOR MP

In the insightful article by Martin Whitley, A Stitch in Time Or A Step Too Far? Patrick McGorry is recognized as, ‘a leading international advocate for the inclusion of Psychosis Risk Syndrome. Patrick McGorry acknowledges that, ‘the false positive rate may exceed 50-60%’ nonetheless has justified the use of pre-psychosis drugs by arguing ‘all those identified are by definition seeking help and need some form of care’.

In his article Whitley continues with this…”Former Australian of the Year, Professor Patrick McGorry, and to a lesser extent his close colleague Professor Ian Hickie, have dominated the long overdue debate about the future of mental health service delivery in Australia. Their claims of massive unmet need and proven 21st century solutions are being accepted almost without question by the Gillard Government, the Abbott Opposition, the independents, the media and the public”.

Well Patrick! Your first research in this area appears to have been an abysmal failure and your second, in 2000, has still not been published yet the Australian Government is so enamored of you it has thrown millions of our tax dollars your way to pre-drug our children…we have to ask, why?

In Speed Up & Sit Still, the Story of ADHD in Australia, Martin Whitley asks, “Is Patrick McGorry’s blueprint for Australian mental health a prescription for  more ‘psychiatric disorders’, ‘off label’ prescribing and youth suicide or the way forward”?

Whitley makes this bold statement as well “No sensible person would argue against [the former] Australian of the Year, psychiatrist Patrick McGorry’s call for early intervention to prevent psychosis; unless of course you know the detail of what Professor McGorry has advocated as early intervention. Put bluntly, Professor McGorry has advocated the use of anti-psychotics, with a host of serious potential adverse side effects, on the hunch that adolescents may later become psychotic”.

Martin Whitley has the ability to get right to the heart of the matter, and as I concur with his concerns, I have included them here (just encase you do not get to read his article).

Mr Whitley outline his concerns in relation to the blueprint including the:

• proposal to increase funding to Headspace by $226 million given the advocacy by Professor McGorry and Headspace of ‘off label’ prescribing of SSRI antidepressants to young people. This is despite clinical studies and FDA and TGA advice that the use of SSRI’s increases the risk of suicidal behavior by young people.
• proposal to increase funding to EPPIC by $910 million given Professor McGorry advocacy of the recognition of Psychosis Risk Syndrome as a diagnosable psychiatric disorder. This is despite the concerns of numerous high profile psychiatrists including his close colleague Professor Alison Yung who questions; ‘ Is the agenda really to use anti-psychotics?…the risk is that instead of getting maybe supportive therapy, they get anti-psychotics and they will be diagnosed with the risk syndrome.
• lack of publicly accessible evidence of patient outcomes and the cost effectiveness of the mental health ‘best buys’ identified in the blueprint.
• alarmist claim by Professor McGorry that in 2011 four million Australian’s including 1 million young people will have a mental disorder requiring treatment.

Mr Whitley’s articles are well written and certainly well researched, and his insight into his subject is without question the best I’ve come across, both are well worth a through read.

So, is early intervention in the major of psychiatric disorders justified?

Well Patrick McGorry says yes. But Anthony Pelosi is unconvinced that current evidence of benefit is enough to balance the potential harm, and he said, “ Who can blame policy makers for diverting resources to such services when nobody explains to them that such differences in outcome can only be due to patterns of referral”?

Thomas McGlashan a professor of psychiatry at Yale University is just one of hundreds of Psychiatrists that have written reports indicating that anti-psychotic drugs can produce not only weight gain and  metabolic problems including diabetes, but there is also evidence to suggest that the anti-psychotic drugs Patrick McGorry proposes to prescribe to children as young as 12 years old, could negatively impact the developing adolescent brain.

Coincidentally a number of these anti-psychotic drugs are manufactured by Janssen- Cilag, Eli Lilly, Bristol Myer Squibb, Astra-Zeneca, Pfizer, and Novartis pharmaceutical companies who provided unrestricted research grants to Patrick McGorry. And to add oil on the flames, Patrick McGorry has been paid as a consultant and speaker by several of these companies.

If you took a closer look at just who’s funding the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention programs you would find that both Patrick McGorry and several of the  organisations he runs have received sizable amounts of funding from the big pharmaceutical industries. And even more disturbing is this…Patrick McGorry is the Treasurer [and former President] of the pharmaceutical industry funded ‘International Early Psychosis Association’.

Are we talking ‘CONFLICT OF INTEREST’? It’s certainly not a conflict of interest for Patrick or for his best mate Ian Hickie who is the executive director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute at the University of Sydney. Yes, the University of Sydney, the same university that owns all of those ECT (Electro Convulsion Treatment) machines. It’s a small, small world after all…

One has to ask, WHY?

Why did these Pharmaceutical companies invest so much money? Why did the Australian government give  Patrick McGorry so much money even though his clinical results indicated that his Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention program was a failure?

Mr Whitley tells us that “These potential conflicts of interest may have been known by the politicians controlling funding, however, it is apparent the media were either ignorant of, or disinterested in them and happily portray McGorry and Hickie as independent advocates”.

Let’s just count up the numbers.

Patrick McGorry told the ABC’s Lateline, that “4 million Australians have mental health problems in any given year. Only one third of them get access to treatment… there are 1 million young Australians aged 12 to 25 with a mental disorder in any given year. It’s the peak period across a lifespan when mental disorders appear. And 750,000 of them have no access to mental health care currently”.

These are certainly alarming claims, but what I see is a man that has a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power and an obsession with grandiose actions regardless of the detrimental long-term outcomes. It makes one think that the next award he’s going for is the Nobel Peace Prize.

OK, so he looks good, speaks softly and has lots of friends in high places…is that a reason to let him pre-drug our children with pharmaceutical medications that have well documented evidence of dangerous side effects?

Seriously…I just have to say this…Psychiatry in not a Science. I’ve stood up in front of 150 people with one third consisting of Psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, mental health professionals and social workers and said, “Psychiatry in not a Science” and not one of them disputed the fact, but I did get a rousing round of applause from many others in the room.

So what are some of the medications Patrick McGorry is using? One of the main drugs McGorry is using in combination with Ritalin (and we all know what that does), is a drug called Risperidone.

If medications can harm adults, what do you think it will do to a child?

Risperidone has been associated not only with weight gain, but with, insomnia, sexual dysfunction, low blood pressure, high blood pressure, muscle stiffness, muscle pain, and tremors.

In addition, Risperidone treatment can cause photo-sensitivity – an added caution to young people in a country with a high rate of deaths from melanoma.  Other skin conditions have also been reported, including rashes, excessive dry skin, acne vulgaris, and even hair loss.

May I add that many anti-psychotics are well known to cause hyperprolactinemia which may trigger production and spontaneous flow of breast milk and disruptions in the normal menstrual period, infertility and sexual /erectile dysfunction and may lead to hypogonadism-induced osteoporosis, and male breast development.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way…think…can you imagine how a 12 to 25 year old will handle any one of those side effects?

Let’s take stock of the worst case scenario. Our children and young people that undertake the EPPIC program may experience disruption in brain development and or an inability to reproduce…I know that’s a strong statement, but the possibility is frightening. We all know that governments around the world are seeking to reduce the population, but this is the wrong way to go about it.

Patrick McGorry is going to be relying on state governments to also kick in some of the money for these projects. And later this year Patrick will have an opportunity to speak to COAG (Council of Australian Governments) about just how much funding he wants them to cough up. McGorry said, “I believe we’ll… but it is vital the state governments now step up to the plate and begin to match the Federal Government’s investment”.

That’s our Tax dollars you’re talking about Patrick…money that could be spent on REAL SCIENCE  by supporting and promoting effective biochemical (blood and urine) assessment to detect any early warning signs of inadequate or depleted essential nutriments, minerals and emzines. Then  administrating complementary advanced biochemical treatments of more natural compounds to address mental health and behavioral issues.

But no, sadly Patrick, like most Psychiatrists reach for the psychotropic medications to manage these conditions instead of investigating and treating the cause.

It is well know in science that all of us have innate biochemical factors influencing our personalities, our behaviors, and our mental health, in addition our biochemistry regulates our immune system…the list goes on.

The possible number of genetic combinations in a child with the same parents is in excess of 42 million. Can anyone tell how McGorry can detect biochemical imbalances without conducting both a blood and urine sample to determine if a child or young person has high or low histamine, hi or low copper level that acts as a natural poison to both the body and brain in large quantities, low zinc, or any other biochemical imbalances that can lead to any number of mental or physical disorders?

My final conclusion is this, Patrick McGorry has had political rather than clinical or scientific success based on his own meager attempts at research, and the financial backing of multinational pharmaceutical companies. It is also evident that our government, even in the face of opposition by the world-wide scientific community, will attempt to shove this unholy pseudo-science down the throats of children and young adults via their families through the use of financial [tax] blackmail and the soon to be released e-Health records, while continuing to accept McGorry’s unverified statements that it is imperative to pre-drug our next generation.

God help us…God help us all.

{EAV_BLOG_VER:7719450fc4090ae4}

Please note: Despite what you may hear or read Katherine McCormick is not, nor has she ever been a Scientologist and has never been a member of any organization associated with any religion, she respects the right of individuals to their own religious beliefs.

After a tight budget the Federal Government allocated several billion dollars for mental health services, millions will go to Patrick McGorry to fund 30 more  Headspace mental health

Is this the face of a Brave New World? Or a part of the DeLorean Club lining their pockets?

services for young people. State Governments will have to cough up 50 per cent to help Patrick McGorry cover the cost of establishing 12 extra early psychosis prevention and intervention centres.

On the ABC AM program, Budget Provides Mental Health Relief with Peter Cave, Patrick McGorry made this comment, “Well Headspace is being very steadily scaled up across the country and now for the first time it is being backed up by EPPIC (Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre) programs, early psychosis programs”.

So now dear Australians, we have a government committing millions of dollars to create an extra 30 Headspace and EPPIC centres that will be focusing on our young people.

So, why do I have this sinking feeling that that’s not such a good thing?

On  11th May 2001 ABC’s Online with Tony Jones talking to Mark Butler, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mr Butler said during the interview that, “Two-thirds of all mental illnesses present before age 21 and early intervention is vital”.

Tony Jones was full of praise for Patrick McGorry saying, “Yes, we’ve spoken to Patrick McGorry in the past about the critical need for early intervention to catch and treat psychosis in young people and adolescents, but as you’ve just pointed out, you’re also talking about catching and treating disorders in very young children”.

Mark Butler’s reply sent a chill down my spine, he said, “There is. I mean, the evidence is emerging. It’s at a younger stage – forgive the pun – at a younger stage than the evidence around teenagers and early 20-year-olds. But, our advisory group presented very clear evidence that the nought to 12 age is a very important age. As young as three, we know that infants can present signs of emerging behavioural disorders, which if they’re not caught in time, they’re not treated, can become a very serious problem in primary school and develop into quite serious mental illness in adolescence”.

Tony Jones then asked, “Have I understood you correctly that as part of the new program, all Australian children will be checked at the age of three for signs of mental illness”?

Mark Butler’s answer had, in my opinion, a sinister ring to it, he said, “Well, the Commonwealth – our government introduced a healthy kids check at four years old. It obviously is a voluntary check. It is tied in many ways to the family tax benefit part A, but it obviously is a voluntary check. At the moment, it takes place at four and it tends to check things like hearing, vision, physical health, but the very clear advice to us was twofold: firstly, the check should be brought back to three years old, and secondly we should broaden the check to incorporate social and emotional well-being and development”.

Imagine that! The Government is tying the voluntary health check for every four (soon to be three) year old in the country into the family tax benefit’s to facilitate compliance!

Is this now the age of ‘Voluntary Compliance’ that hard working young families will have to undertake in order to just survive?

Is this the Governments way of coercing young parents into cooperating in the new 2012 e-Health Records?

Is this how our government will ensure that every person (in the future) will be listed on the e-Health Records and if deemed ‘At Risk‘ will be labelled with ‘Psychosis Risk Syndrome ‘ and required to under go Patrick McGorry’s Anti-Psychotic Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention program?

Well you have to hand it to them [the Government], they have woven a very nice web, one that will ensure that all of us that want or need any type of health services for our children will have to voluntarily comply by giving them all of our private health information. All information will be logged in the Government’s (expensive but unsecured) database that can be viewed by anyone involved in a health research study, including the pharmaceutical companies that fund the studies and the EPPIC.

Bravo! No fuss. No arguments. Let’s all get our kids on the [legal] drugs.

The method government has chosen ensures the little sheep of Australia will do as they’re told, because if they don’t, they’ll lose their tax benefits and have to stick their hand down (very deep) into their pockets to pay for services they want or desperately need.

Mark Butler went on to say when asked by Tony Jones on this enlightening ABC program, “So what happens if you find an emerging disorder in a three-year-old child?” Butler replied at the end of a rambling sentence, ”We’ve got models…” yet there was no elaboration on just what ‘models’ the Government was proposing.

So who will be monitoring these services? Any guesses? Well it’s the mother of ‘Big Brother‘. All family mental health support services will be run under FaHCSIA. This is the department that has it’s fingers in every pie, so if parents don’t ‘Voluntarily Comply’ they may be seen to be neglecting their child’s health care needs and  FaHCSIA will then alert  DoCS who are obliged to make an assessment regarding the parents unwillingness to ‘Voluntarily Comply‘.

The child and family may be visited by a DoCS worker because the information provided by FaHCSIA will indicate that the child is in immediate danger – by law, Community Services must investigate where a child or young person is or may be at risk of significant harm from abuse or neglect. DoCS has the power to remove any child or young person it deems ‘at risk’.

Since the Government now considers ALL children and young people ‘At Risk’…parents won’t have a leg to stand on. It will be a case of ‘Voluntarily Compliance’ or risk lose your child.

Sound like a nightmare? Well it gets worse…in the next blof we will get back to Patrick McGorry. There are several disturbing elements in Patrick McGorry’s research and I’m not the only one to question his motives or methodologies. We’ll take a closer look in the next blog.

The Utopia Research Institute and the Callan Park Mental Health Festival website was down for a total of six days…but we are live now and we’ll keep on working to make the site better!

Unfortunately our Market Vintage Mall is not up yet and it’s a shame because our wonderful vendors worked so hard on their mall stores…but we should have it back on line in a few days.

Our Callan Park Team is hard at work on plans for our big event, the Callan Park Mental Health Festival. They are planning a new site to show case the event. I just can’t wait and I’m counting down the days to 1st May 2010!

Once again, thanks for all of your support, the emails just kept pouring in…so many kind words of encouragement.

On a personal note, I learned a lot from this exsperence. The first thing I learned is that there are many caring and supportive individuals willing to help. The second was harder… to rise above any catastrophe while racing the clock. The third lesson was to forgive the most heinous of web crimes, sabotage and blackmail. The fourth – that I never give up trying to reach my goals – no matter what. And fifth…I will never, never, never let someone else have control of the servers!

Kindest regards to all,
Katherine McCormick, CEO

I’m a Social Entrepreneur. Now you may be asking yourself just what that means – what is a social entrepreneur?

Well, social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change. Social entrepreneurs look for what’s not working and solve the problem, spread the solution and persuading others to take up new challenges that will benefit everyone.

Most social entrepreneurs have a strong desire to be of service to humanity. They want win-win solutions than make changes in the lives of people that may otherwise never have an opportunity to actively participate in society or to reach their full potential.

Why did I become a social entrepreneur? Because I believe that one person can make a difference – especially if they can inspire others to assist in addressing the needs of vulnerable people who might otherwise slip through the cracks.

In order to fulfil my mission as a social entrepreneur I needed to find a nonprofit that had the same vision I did. Well, after looking for quite some time I realised that I would have to put myself on the line. Social entrepreneurs aren’t cowards but the job before me was daunting. As luck would have it I met a few people that believed in the same vision. Long story short…the Utopia Research Institute was created.

Entrepreneurial non-profit organisations like the Utopia Research Institute are born to generate sustainable change for the better. People are attracted to it because they know that the Utopia Research Institute is innovative, community oriented and dedicated enough to fill the gaps by tackling the root cause…call it social accountability.

This ‘social accountability’ includes ‘social return on investment’. That’s the estimate of the total social and economic value and community impact generated by the Utopia Research Institute. And yes, it’s measurable.

Changes in society and in communities are often referred to as the causal processes through which change comes about as a result of a program’s strategies and action. In a non-profit context it relates to how we believe individual, group or social changes happen and how, specifically, our actions will produce positive social results both in humans and as a financial outcome for the whole of society.

It takes hard work, commitment and loads of passion for a social entrepreneur to reach their goal and they never do it all by themselves.  So, if you’re interested in making a difference during your lifetime…drop me a line.