Trending...
- Tampa-Based Digital Marketing Agency Launches New Website to Help Local Businesses Grow Online - 114
- California: Governor Newsom announces new tax credits that will generate $2.1 billion investment in world's 4th largest economy
- New PSA Campaign to Address Black Maternal and Infant Mortality in Los Angeles County
Reflecting on the progress made against coercive psychiatric practices and obtaining child protections in 2024, CCHR commits itself in 2025 to reinforcing the need to end psychiatric abuse.
LOS ANGELES - Californer -- The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) recapped key events in 2024, spotlighting its own efforts and those of other groups to investigate and expose psychiatric human rights violations in the U.S. and worldwide. The organization also reaffirmed its commitment to eliminating coercive psychiatric practices in the year ahead. In September, Amalia Gamio, an expert consultant to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, emphasized the significance of a recent CCHR court victory in Spain, stating it had "set an international precedent in disseminating the abuses that occur in psychiatry to the world…."[1]
The very next month the international group, Human Rights Watch, wrote of the need to "confront a troubling reality: the mental health landscape is shifting in harmful ways in parts of Canada and the United States with the prospect of more coercive measures such as involuntary treatment and the elimination of vital support services." The group further noted, "These coercive measures would violate rights to liberty and nondiscrimination and infringe on people's autonomy."[2]
Those worsening outcomes are particularly evident in for-profit residential psychiatric hospitals, "troubled teen" behavioral facilities, and wilderness treatment camps. Senator Ron Wyden, who led a Senate Finance Committee investigation into the warehousing of youths in such facilities, wrote to the Department of Justice last year, urging an investigation into four of the nation's largest operators of youth residential treatment facilities for civil rights violations and fraud.[3]
In June 2024, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) under the Department of Health and Human Services issued a damning report on the inadequate protection of foster care children in residential behavioral treatment centers. The report said, "Policymakers, news media, and advocacy groups have raised concerns about the effectiveness of oversight efforts to protect children in these settings."[4] The American Bar Association notes: "Every day, thousands of children in foster care are administered powerful psychotropic medications," pointing to the lack of oversight of psychotropic drugs that harm children.[5]
More on The Californer
CCHR has consistently exposed the harm to youths treated in behavioral facilities, including psychotropic drug use and potentially lethal restraints. The closure of 10 "wilderness therapy camps" for youths between 2023 and 2024 marks a promising and necessary trend. One such camp in North Carolina came to national attention when, on February 3, 2024, a 12-year-old was fatally restrained. This prompted swift government action: all children were removed from the facility, admissions were halted, and by May 17, the camp's license was revoked, leading to its closure.
In December, Psychiatric Times published the article, "The Horror of Unjust Psychiatric Hospitalization" commenting on a hard-hitting series by two New York Times reporters in 2024 that exposed abuses and fraud at residential psychiatric facilities. The psychiatrist writing in Psychiatric Times conceded that "Keeping a well person locked in a hospital and taking away their privacy and autonomy" is something to which "we psychiatrists ought to stand up and demand better…." It is the duty of all psychiatrists to demand accountability, he said but there has been little if any, outrage shown within the ranks of psychiatry: "I wonder: How will psychiatrists… respond? More fundamentally, will psychiatrists respond at all?"[6]
CCHR and other external advocates have consistently demanded stronger patient protections. Last year, UN agencies reiterated their condemnation of mandated psychiatric treatments, including electroshock and involuntary detainment in mental hospitals. Electroshock without anesthesia, forcibly administered to children in New Zealand, was officially recognized as "torture," leading to apologies in November from seven government agencies and the country's Prime Minister to the survivors.[7] The recognition follows a 40-year battle led by CCHR, other advocacy groups, and the survivors themselves.
Building on these important victories, CCHR says some psychiatrists are now recognizing a decline in the use of electroshock treatment is imminent. CCHR is reinforcing its campaign to ban the procedure due to its long-term adverse effects and lack of clinical trials that have proven its safety and efficacy.
This growing momentum against electroshock is further supported by recent governmental scrutiny. Senator Rand Paul's 2024 Festivus Waste Report criticized nearly $11 million in Department of Defense spending on electroshock experiments, portraying it as a prime example of government waste and questioning the ethics and necessity of such expenditures.[8]
More on The Californer
CCHR concurs with Human Rights Watch, which said better solutions are needed "that are consent-based, trauma-informed, and focused on human rights."
UN advisers proclaimed the importance of CCHR's impact with the Spanish Supreme Court determining "The debate on certain psychiatric practices and, in particular, on involuntary institutionalization, use of psychotropic drugs, especially when the patients are children or adolescents, or surgical or electroconvulsive treatments, is of particular importance in today's society."[9]
CCHR was co-founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry, Thomas Szasz who stated: "I have never [involuntarily] committed anyone. I have never given electric shock. I have never, ever, given drugs to a mental patient." It is a legacy that the mental health system today needs to be reminded of, which CCHR is committed to doing throughout the new year.
Sources:
[1] Letter to CCHR from Amalia Gamio, Independent Expert in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 27 Sept. 2024
[2] Samer Mascati, "Championing Support Over Coercion on World Mental Health Day," Human Rights Watch, 10 Oct. 2024, www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/10/championing-support-over-coercion-world-mental-health-day
[3] Tyler Kingkade, "Senator urges DOJ to investigate youth treatment centers after probe uncovers 'rampant abuse," NBC News, 9 Oct. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/senator-urges-doj-investigate-youth-treatment-centers-rcna174340
[4] "Many States Lack Information To Monitor Maltreatment in Residential Facilities for Children in Foster Care," June 2024, oig.hhs.gov/documents/evaluation/9920/OEI-07-22-00530.pdf
[5] Elizabeth Pitman Gretter, "Too Much, Too Many, Too Young," American Bar Association, 12 October 2021, www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/empowering-youth-at-risk/too-much-too-many-too-young/
[6] "The Horror of Unjust Psychiatric Hospitalization," Psychiatric Times, 5, Dec. 2024, www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/the-horror-of-unjust-psychiatric-hospitalization
[7] Adam Pearse, "$150k redress payments for Lake Alice survivors unveiled," NewstalkZB, 18 Dec. 2024, www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/redress-payment-scheme-for-lake-alice-torture-survivors-revealed-by-govt/
[8] "Senator Rand Paul Unveils 2024 Festivus Waste Report," The Pinnacle Gazette, 25 Dec. 2024, evrimagaci.org/tpg/senator-rand-paul-unveils-2024-festivus-waste-report-112471
[9] www.cchrint.org/2024/07/19/spanish-court-upholds-cchrs-campaigns-as-vital/
The very next month the international group, Human Rights Watch, wrote of the need to "confront a troubling reality: the mental health landscape is shifting in harmful ways in parts of Canada and the United States with the prospect of more coercive measures such as involuntary treatment and the elimination of vital support services." The group further noted, "These coercive measures would violate rights to liberty and nondiscrimination and infringe on people's autonomy."[2]
Those worsening outcomes are particularly evident in for-profit residential psychiatric hospitals, "troubled teen" behavioral facilities, and wilderness treatment camps. Senator Ron Wyden, who led a Senate Finance Committee investigation into the warehousing of youths in such facilities, wrote to the Department of Justice last year, urging an investigation into four of the nation's largest operators of youth residential treatment facilities for civil rights violations and fraud.[3]
In June 2024, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) under the Department of Health and Human Services issued a damning report on the inadequate protection of foster care children in residential behavioral treatment centers. The report said, "Policymakers, news media, and advocacy groups have raised concerns about the effectiveness of oversight efforts to protect children in these settings."[4] The American Bar Association notes: "Every day, thousands of children in foster care are administered powerful psychotropic medications," pointing to the lack of oversight of psychotropic drugs that harm children.[5]
More on The Californer
- Terra Divine Skincare Earns Coveted Spot on Organically Becca's Clean Brand Master List
- NBA Champion Lamar Odom Launches Anti-Addiction Meme Coin, Ushering in a Disruptive Innovation in Web3
- Emmetra Partners with Renesas to Advance Agentic AI-Powered Imaging Solutions
- Gravity to Bring 5-Minute EV Charging to 8 Sites Across Greater LA
- California: Governor Newsom issues statement on Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope
CCHR has consistently exposed the harm to youths treated in behavioral facilities, including psychotropic drug use and potentially lethal restraints. The closure of 10 "wilderness therapy camps" for youths between 2023 and 2024 marks a promising and necessary trend. One such camp in North Carolina came to national attention when, on February 3, 2024, a 12-year-old was fatally restrained. This prompted swift government action: all children were removed from the facility, admissions were halted, and by May 17, the camp's license was revoked, leading to its closure.
In December, Psychiatric Times published the article, "The Horror of Unjust Psychiatric Hospitalization" commenting on a hard-hitting series by two New York Times reporters in 2024 that exposed abuses and fraud at residential psychiatric facilities. The psychiatrist writing in Psychiatric Times conceded that "Keeping a well person locked in a hospital and taking away their privacy and autonomy" is something to which "we psychiatrists ought to stand up and demand better…." It is the duty of all psychiatrists to demand accountability, he said but there has been little if any, outrage shown within the ranks of psychiatry: "I wonder: How will psychiatrists… respond? More fundamentally, will psychiatrists respond at all?"[6]
CCHR and other external advocates have consistently demanded stronger patient protections. Last year, UN agencies reiterated their condemnation of mandated psychiatric treatments, including electroshock and involuntary detainment in mental hospitals. Electroshock without anesthesia, forcibly administered to children in New Zealand, was officially recognized as "torture," leading to apologies in November from seven government agencies and the country's Prime Minister to the survivors.[7] The recognition follows a 40-year battle led by CCHR, other advocacy groups, and the survivors themselves.
Building on these important victories, CCHR says some psychiatrists are now recognizing a decline in the use of electroshock treatment is imminent. CCHR is reinforcing its campaign to ban the procedure due to its long-term adverse effects and lack of clinical trials that have proven its safety and efficacy.
This growing momentum against electroshock is further supported by recent governmental scrutiny. Senator Rand Paul's 2024 Festivus Waste Report criticized nearly $11 million in Department of Defense spending on electroshock experiments, portraying it as a prime example of government waste and questioning the ethics and necessity of such expenditures.[8]
More on The Californer
- New poll shows high rates of employee burnout amid concerns over politics and personal finances
- Tessellations Appoints Luthern Williams as Head of School
- Aureli Construction Sets the Standard for Seamless Home Additions in Greater Boston
- Psychological Thriller "Killing Off Connor" To Open 34th IFS Film Fest After 12-years In Post
- Harvest Properties Acquires Two San Francisco Bay Area Self Storage Facilities for $44.2 Million
CCHR concurs with Human Rights Watch, which said better solutions are needed "that are consent-based, trauma-informed, and focused on human rights."
UN advisers proclaimed the importance of CCHR's impact with the Spanish Supreme Court determining "The debate on certain psychiatric practices and, in particular, on involuntary institutionalization, use of psychotropic drugs, especially when the patients are children or adolescents, or surgical or electroconvulsive treatments, is of particular importance in today's society."[9]
CCHR was co-founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry, Thomas Szasz who stated: "I have never [involuntarily] committed anyone. I have never given electric shock. I have never, ever, given drugs to a mental patient." It is a legacy that the mental health system today needs to be reminded of, which CCHR is committed to doing throughout the new year.
Sources:
[1] Letter to CCHR from Amalia Gamio, Independent Expert in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 27 Sept. 2024
[2] Samer Mascati, "Championing Support Over Coercion on World Mental Health Day," Human Rights Watch, 10 Oct. 2024, www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/10/championing-support-over-coercion-world-mental-health-day
[3] Tyler Kingkade, "Senator urges DOJ to investigate youth treatment centers after probe uncovers 'rampant abuse," NBC News, 9 Oct. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/senator-urges-doj-investigate-youth-treatment-centers-rcna174340
[4] "Many States Lack Information To Monitor Maltreatment in Residential Facilities for Children in Foster Care," June 2024, oig.hhs.gov/documents/evaluation/9920/OEI-07-22-00530.pdf
[5] Elizabeth Pitman Gretter, "Too Much, Too Many, Too Young," American Bar Association, 12 October 2021, www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/empowering-youth-at-risk/too-much-too-many-too-young/
[6] "The Horror of Unjust Psychiatric Hospitalization," Psychiatric Times, 5, Dec. 2024, www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/the-horror-of-unjust-psychiatric-hospitalization
[7] Adam Pearse, "$150k redress payments for Lake Alice survivors unveiled," NewstalkZB, 18 Dec. 2024, www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/redress-payment-scheme-for-lake-alice-torture-survivors-revealed-by-govt/
[8] "Senator Rand Paul Unveils 2024 Festivus Waste Report," The Pinnacle Gazette, 25 Dec. 2024, evrimagaci.org/tpg/senator-rand-paul-unveils-2024-festivus-waste-report-112471
[9] www.cchrint.org/2024/07/19/spanish-court-upholds-cchrs-campaigns-as-vital/
Source: Citizens Commission on Human Rights
Filed Under: Medical, Health, Government, Non-profit, Science, Citizens Commission On Human Rights, CCHR International
0 Comments
Latest on The Californer
- Long Beach to Commemorate its Naval History with Commemorative Community Event
- Long Beach: City Celebrates Inaugural National Home Improvement Month: Love Where You Live
- California sues Trump administration for illegally withholding billions in bipartisan infrastructure funds: 'Another Trump gift to China'
- Tale of two trains: California high-speed rail leaves Texas in the dust
- California: State invests nearly $33 billion in cap-and-trade dollars to make communities cleaner and healthier
- Where AI Falls Short, Real Connections Rise—Media Outreach with Heart
- Cybersecurity is Protecting Your Personal Information and Your Portfolio
- EY US unveils Puneet Nanda of GuruNanda as an Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2025 Award Finalist
- California: Governor Newsom proclaims Children's Mental Health Awareness Week 2025
- VC Mastermind Launches: A Private Global Network and Podcast for Top-Tier Venture Capital Leaders
- L2 Aviation Celebrates Grand Opening of New Facility at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
- Actor and Writer Ernie Rivera Launches Groundbreaking Indie Superhero Thriller, Citadel Lost, with Full Campaign and Industry Buzz
- Managing Summer Staffing Surges with Confidence: Why Name Badges Are a Must for Seasonal Success
- Visa Named Title Sponsor of Ascending Athletes' Business Owners Summits for NFL Entrepreneurs
- The Paris Court of International Arbitration Elects Dr. John J. Maalouf as its New President
- ViroMissile Unveils IDOV™ Platform: A Potential One-Shot Cure for Cancer
- $56.7 Million Announced in Q1 2025 with Revenue Growth and Progress Toward NASDAQ Uplisting for AI Marketing Company: IQSTEL, Inc. Stock Symbol: IQSTD
- SAVVY MINING raised $500 million and launched BTC.XRP.DOGE cloud mining, increasing investors' returns by 30%
- New National Nonprofit Launches to Capture Firsthand Accounts of Adoption Stories
- The Tide Project Opens at Biennale Architettura 2025 in Venice Amplifying Youth Voices