The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International and its Bay Area chapters gathered outside the American Psychiatric Association’s annual convention at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on May 16, calling for an end to coercive mental health interventions such as electroshock treatment and psychotropic drugs. The group highlighted concerns about ongoing use of these treatments, which they say are linked to harmful side effects and potential violence.
The issue is significant because, according to CCHR, recent support by psychiatric associations for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on children and its use without consent raises ethical questions. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture has classified non-consensual electroshock as a form of torture, while the World Health Organization states there are no indications for ECT use in minors and recommends prohibition.
CCHR President Jan Eastgate said: “The American psychiatric system has failed spectacularly. After decades of mass drugging and electroshocking vulnerable individuals and prescribing drugs with the potential of triggering violence, we face billions wasted on worsening mental health outcomes. It’s time to end the abuse and coercion.” The organization pointed out that it helped secure early bans on ECT for children in California (1976), Texas (1993), and Western Australia (2014), where violations can result in criminal penalties.
A new CCHR report examines 145 cases involving violence linked to individuals taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs, resulting in 720 deaths and over 1,600 injuries. One cited case involved a ten-year-old California boy who fatally stabbed his friend while on antidepressants; another described a six-year-old Virginia boy who shot his teacher after taking ADHD medication. Prominent trial attorney Brent Wisner addressed attendees at CCHR’s “Psychiatry: An Industry of Death” exhibit opening, saying: “We cannot ignore this issue anymore. People do not normally commit mass murder. It is inhuman.” Wisner also warned that “long-term use of antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs allows dehumanization. It allows dark thoughts to take over, and violence can ensue.” His firm previously won a verdict holding an antidepressant largely responsible for a family tragedy after just two days’ usage.
CCHR reviewed promotional materials from more than fifty facilities offering ECT treatment, finding many minimized risks associated with delivering high-voltage electricity through the brain. None disclosed all adverse effects recommended by federal regulators or fully informed patients about risks like permanent memory loss or cognitive changes before treatment sessions.
Despite $139.6 billion spent nationally on mental health services in 2021—a rise of over twofold since 2000—outcomes remain poor according to recent Congressional discussions referenced by CCHR. The organization describes itself as a nonprofit watchdog founded by the Church of Scientology along with psychiatry professor Thomas Szasz in 1969.