CCHR Protests at Psychiatric Convention, Condemning Coercive Psychiatric Treatment and Electroshock

Posted on June 8, 2026 by cchrstl

Protesters called on psychiatrists to eliminate electroshock and coercive psychiatric practices that include restraints, seclusion, and forced administration of psychiatric drugs, which have been linked to violence.

by  CCHR National Affairs Office

Advocates of human rights in the mental health system joined Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) to protest against electroshock and coercive psychiatric practices at the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) annual convention in San Francisco on May 16.  Protesters also carried signs naming mass shooters and the psychiatric drugs they were prescribed, to draw attention to the link between psychiatric drugs and violence.

CCHR has long called on the APA to take formal positions on ending involuntary psychiatric practices, including involuntary psychiatric hospitalization, forced administration of psychiatric drugs, restraints and seclusion, and nonconsensual electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).  During the protest, CCHR delivered an open letter to the APA, repeating this demand.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken a similar position against involuntary treatment,  stating: “People subjected to coercive practices report feelings of dehumanization, disempowerment and being disrespected.  Many experience it as a form of trauma or re-traumatization leading to a worsening of their condition.”  In recent years, WHO has called on nations to pass laws and policies that ban coercive treatment and replace it with informed consent and human rights-based mental health practices, now the international mental health standard.

CCHR also drew attention to psychiatrists’ practice of the potentially memory-erasing, physically damaging, even fatal procedure of ECT, or electroshock.  Among the risks the procedure carries are permanent memory loss, irregular heartbeat, heart attack, stroke, mania, prolonged seizures, and death.  WHO has called for a ban on ECT for children and non-consenting adults,  stating: “ECT without consent violates the right to physical and mental integrity and may constitute torture.”

CCHR played a pivotal role in passing laws banning ECT for children in California in 1976, Texas in 1993, and Western Australia in 2014.

CCHR’s protest called attention to the mounting evidence linking mind-altering psychiatric drugs with violence from some individuals.  In addition to its recently released  documentary, CCHR has issued a new  report  detailing 145 instances of senseless violence in which the perpetrator was either using or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs. 

CCHR brought its acclaimed, globally traveling exhibit to the City by the Bay, focusing on the history to present day of psychiatric practices.  On hand to open the exhibit was California trial attorney Brent Wisner, who called for mandatory toxicology testing for perpetrators of mass violence, so that researchers can investigate the link between psychiatric drugs and violence suggested by currently available evidence.  Wisner’s firm helped secure a verdict in a 2001 trial, in which the jury found an antidepressant 80% responsible for a man murdering his wife.

Despite $140 billion in funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment in 2021, which represents a 241% increase since 2000, Americans report worse mental health today than in previous generations, according to remarks in a recent congressional roundtable.

Jan Eastgate, president of CCHR International summed up the protest’s message this way: “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 content on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for personal medical advice given by a physician or other qualified healthcare provider.

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Family and Friends Confirm Electroshock Recipients’ Reports of Memory Loss and Other Harmful Results

Posted on May 25, 2026 by cchrstl

A new study analyzing results of an online survey on electroconvulsive therapy finds that the memory loss and worsened quality of life reported by a large majority of recipients of the procedure were observed by family and friends of recipients as well.

by  CCHR National Affairs Office

An international survey on the outcomes of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT, or electroshock) finds that a majority of family and friends of ECT recipients report the procedure worsened the quality of life and resulted in memory loss for two out of three recipients, according to a new study published in  Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice.  The responses of family and friends are consistent with responses of the recipients themselves, which backs up the accuracy of the recipients’ responses, the authors of the study report.

The research  paper  is the latest in a series of studies based on data collected from 1,144 individuals – 858 ECT recipients and 286 family and friends – from 44 countries, who responded to an online survey about their experience with electroshock.  The survey was conducted to address the  lack of any recent, high-quality clinical studies on ECT that meet modern research standards. 

Earlier studies  in the series revealed that a majority (55%-71%) of ECT recipients responded that the procedure had no benefit or a negative impact on each of five measures of effectiveness, with half (49%) reporting that ECT made their quality of life either “much worse” or “very much worse.” 

A large majority of recipients also reported suffering from long-term memory problems.  Nearly three out of four (71%) ECT recipients reported they are less able to remember new information (anterograde amnesia), while four out of five (80%) reported they lost memories of events that occurred before receiving electroshock (retrograde amnesia).  A large majority of these recipients (65% with anterograde amnesia, 81% with retrograde amnesia) reported their memory loss had lasted three years or more.

The new  study  indicates that the survey responses from 216 family and 70 friends are “broadly similar” to the responses from ECT recipients, “which tends to support the accuracy of the recipients’ responses,” the researchers write.

More than half (55%) of family and friends reported electroshock made the problem it was prescribed for worse or had no effect, with one in three (34%) responding it made the recipient’s problem “much worse” or “very much worse.” 

On the recipient’s overall quality of life, two out of three (68%) family and friends reported ECT had no effect or made it worse, with half (51%) responding ECT made it “much worse” or “very much worse.”

When asked how harmful electroshock was for the recipient, four out of five (82%) family and friends responded that it was harmful to some extent, with over half (53%) reporting it was “very harmful.”

Among those reporting harmful effects of ECT, two out of three (68%) referred to memory loss or memory problems, while other adverse effects were reported even more often:

  • Difficulty concentrating (79%)
  • Fatigue (73%)
  • Emotional blunting (73%)
  • Losing train of thought (72%)
  • Loss of independence (72%)
  • Relationship problems (70%)

Because ECT machines were in use before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was granted authority by Congress in 1976 to regulate medical devices, the machines have never been required to prove safety or efficacy. 

Electroconvulsive therapy involves shooting as much as 400 volts of electricity through brain tissue to produce an epilepsy-type seizure.  After 85 years of performing electroshock, psychiatrists still cannot explain how this procedure is supposed to work to treat depression or other mental health conditions, how much voltage to use, and how often and how many sessions of ECT to administer.  It is trial and error with human lives.

Nobody knows how many Americans get electroshocked each year.  A widely used, but outdated estimate of 100,000 appears to come from a 1995 study. 

Psychiatrists performing electroshock can greatly increase their income.  It has been estimated that a psychiatrist spending just a few hours a week to do 20 ECT procedures can bring in an additional $300,000 per year. 

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) advocates a total ban on ECT and continues to raise public awareness about the harm it can cause.  CCHR’s documentary, Therapy or Torture: The Truth About Electroshock, which can be  viewed online, warns consumers about the serious risks of ECT. 

To date, more than 141,000 people have signed CCHR’s online petition to ban ECT.

The content on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for personal medical advice given by a licensed physician.

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HHS Actions Aim to Curb Use of Psychiatric Drugs for Mental Health Treatment

Posted on May 11, 2026 by cchrstl

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced its intention to shift the standard of care toward prevention and a more holistic approach to mental health.

by  CCHR National Affairs Office

In a landmark shift in mental health priorities, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) yesterday launched an action plan designed to de-emphasize the prescribing of psychiatric drugs, ensure fully informed consent, support patients’ tapering off the drugs, and promote evidenced-based nondrug approaches to mental health.

In announcing HHS’s new direction, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,  said: “Today, we take clear and decisive action to confront our nation’s mental health crisis by addressing the overuse of psychiatric medications—especially among children.  We will support patient autonomy, require informed consent and shared decision-making, and shift the standard of care toward prevention, transparency, and a more holistic approach to mental health.”

A stated aim is to curb the prescribing of psychiatric drugs.  “Through a multipronged approach including education and outreach, program and policy actions, and research-to-practice efforts, HHS is working to prevent the unnecessary initiation of psychiatric medications and support the tapering and discontinuation for patients not experiencing clinical benefit,” HHS announced.

HHS intends to bring more scrutiny to the harms of psychiatric drugs and the benefits of alternative mental health treatments.  “HHS agencies are bringing together their collective expertise and aligning to evaluate prescription patterns for psychiatric medications, their benefits and potential harms, and elevate the role of nonmedication treatments and scalable, evidence-based solutions to improve mental health.”

In a so-called “Dear Colleague Letter” published yesterday to notify mental health providers of this seismic shift in orientation towards mental health treatment, HHS  wrote  that it was “emphasiz[ing] the importance of ensuring that treatment planning for mental health conditions includes meaningful access to evidence-based non-pharmacological interventions.”

“Medication should not be understood as the only treatment option,” the letter admonishes.

Among the letter’s list of evidence-based, nondrug strategies are social connections, lifestyle and behavioral changes, physical activity, and proper sleep and diet.  The letter helpfully provides the billing codes already available for delivery of such holistic treatment.

Additionally, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance for physicians and other prescribers on assisting patients in tapering off psychiatric drugs, pointing to “deprescribing” guidelines from professional societies, peer-reviewed protocols, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Over the next several months, HHS plans a series of education and outreach activities to increase awareness of the harms of psychiatric drugs, approaches for tapering off, and nondrug treatments.

Researchers over the past few years have questioned the efficacy and safety of many psychiatric drugs.  Antidepressants, used by more than 45 million Americans, were found in one recent  study  to be no more effective than placebo (dummy pills) for 6 out of 7 people (85%) taking them, while other  research  has found that any apparent benefit of the drug over placebo is not clinically meaningful.

While getting little, if any, real benefit from antidepressants, users are exposed to the risks of many serious harms:   stroke and heart disease,  heat stroke,  sudden cardiac death,  osteoporosis and bone fractures,   risks to pregnant women  and  newborns,  sexual dysfunction  that can be permanent,  worse socioeconomic outcomes,  increased risk of suicidal behavior, and  withdrawal symptoms  that can be severe and long-lasting. 

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights’ (CCHR) most recent documentary,  Prescription for Violence,  details the dangerous link between psychiatric drugs and violence.

“For nearly six decades, CCHR has investigated and exposed the harms of psychiatric drugs and practices and called for government reforms,“ said Anne Goedeke, president of the CCHR National Affairs Office.  “These actions by HHS are an extremely important step forward in correcting the nearly sole reliance on psychiatric drugs as mental health treatment – drugs which the latest scientific research finds do more harm than good – and advancing awareness and the ‘prescribing’ of effective nondrug approaches to improving mental health.”

The content on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for personal medical advice given by a physician or other qualified healthcare provider.

Anyone wishing to discontinue or change the dose of an antidepressant or other psychiatric drug is cautioned to do so only under the supervision of a physician because of potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms or other complications.

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Psychiatry: An Industry of Death

Posted on May 2, 2026 by cchrstl

Traveling Exhibit in Kansas City

Ribbon Cutting Monday May 4 2026 2:00 PM

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Three Former Employees of the Psychiatric Institute of Washington Criminally Charged in Patient’s Death

Posted on April 27, 2026 by cchrstl

Allegations of fraud, neglect and abuse at psychiatric facilities continue, despite costly lawsuits against companies operating the facilities. Citizens Commission on Human Rights advocates reforms to ensure human rights-based mental health treatment.

by  CCHR National Affairs Office

Three former employees of the Psychiatric Institute of Washington (PIW) have been indicted on charges of criminal negligence stemming from a patient death at the facility in 2020, according to an  announcement  by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.  Two of those charged were employed by PIW as psychiatric counselors and the third as a registered nurse. 

The indictment alleges that when the three discovered that a 58-year-old male patient had stopped breathing and was unresponsive, they “failed to timely and properly assess [him], failed to perform CPR, and failed to provide any potentially lifesaving measures.” 

The patient did not receive any lifesaving measures for at least 21 minutes, after which he could not be resuscitated, the government alleges.   

During a press conference to announce the indictment, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro  said  that the incident was recorded on video.

“It’s as though the patient on the floor who was suffering from labored breathing is not even there,” she said.  “He was left to die.  They stood over him without offering help.”

All three have pleaded not guilty, according to Pirro.

PIW, where both voluntary and the majority of Washington’s involuntarily committed patients are treated, has long been the subject of reports alleging abuse, neglect, and other unsafe conditions at the facility.  

Disability Rights DC (DRDC), designated as the protection and advocacy agency for Washington under federal legislation, has issued three alarming reports on PIW: “A Disturbing Death  in 2021, detailing the incident that led to the present indictments;  Do No Harm: Multiple Incidents of Abuse and Neglect  in 2022; and  Unsafe and Unprotected  in 2024.

The  Washingtonian  published exposés of PIW in  September 2025  and  February 2026, based on former employees’ allegations of violence, staff misconduct, and substandard care at the facility.  A former health aide is quoted as saying, “I mean, this place is actually trauma-inducing.”

The parent company of PIW is Universal Health Services (UHS).  In 2020, UHS paid $117 million to settle U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) allegations that a number of its psychiatric hospitals and behavioral health facilities across the U.S. knowingly submitted false claims for payment from federal health insurance programs, including Medicaid and Medicare.  UHS is one of the largest operators of behavioral health facilities in the U.S.

DOJ  alleged  that between January 2006 and December 2018, UHS facilities admitted individuals whose conditions did not require inpatient care; failed to properly discharge patients who no longer required inpatient care; billed for services not rendered and for improper and excessive lengths of stay; failed to provide adequate staffing, training, and/or supervision of staff; and improperly used physical and chemical restraints and seclusion. 

The government acknowledged the essential assistance provided by whistleblowers, who received a portion of the UHS financial settlement under the federal False Claims Act.   The DOJ notes the settlement resolved allegations but did not determine liability.

“The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) for decades has received complaints from individuals who have been wrongfully admitted, forcibly drugged, and indefinitely detained in psychiatric facilities,” said Anne Goedeke, president of the CCHR National Affairs Office.  “This is nothing less than human rights abuse.  Facilities that engage in these practices must be shut down.  Laws must be enacted to stop this abuse so that human rights and dignity can be restored to the field of mental health.”

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New Study Finds Heightened Risk of Suicide Linked to Involuntary Psychiatric Hospitalization

Posted on April 6, 2026 by cchrstl

Researchers find that on average, one suicide occurred for every 64 discharges from forced psychiatric hospitalization, with the suicide rate highest for 25- to 29-year olds and males. The study adds new urgency to eliminating coercive psychiatric practices.

by  CCHR National Affairs Office

A new study from Sweden adds to the growing evidence of a much increased risk of suicide for patients given inpatient psychiatric treatment against their will.  The study’s findings add new urgency for replacing coercive psychiatric practices with mental health treatment based on informed consent and respect for human rights.

Analyzing medical records from over 72,000 Swedish patients who received involuntary psychiatric inpatient treatment over the last decade, researchers  found  that nearly 3 in 100 (2.9%) of these patients committed suicide during or after their hospitalization. On average, patients were hospitalized for approximately four weeks before being discharged.

Male involuntarily committed patients had on average a 35% higher risk of suicide after discharge compared to female involuntary inpatients.  The suicide rate was highest among 25- to 29-year olds for both males and females.

With each additional involuntary commitment for a patient, their risk of suicide increased.  Taking into account multiple involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations by some patients, the researchers reported that, “on average, one suicide was recorded for every 64 discharges following IPC [involuntary psychiatric care].”

Higher suicide and psychiatric drug rates

The suicide risk for patients involuntarily admitted to psychiatric facilities was compared to patients voluntarily admitted, patients receiving outpatient psychiatric treatment, and the general public, in follow-up periods of one month, three months, one year, and five years.

  • Compared to patients voluntarily admitted, the involuntarily admitted patients had a higher relative suicide rate that continued to rise over all follow-up periods except the one-month period, when the rate was the same.  Risk was 57% greater over the five-year period.
  • Compared to patients receiving outpatient psychiatric treatment, the involuntary inpatients had what the researchers characterized as a “significantly elevated” suicide rate – more than 3 times higher – over all follow-up periods after discharge.
  • Compared to the general population not receiving psychiatric treatment, the involuntary psychiatric inpatients had a “markedly higher” suicide rate – 198 times higher in the first month after discharge, declining to 56 times higher over five years.

It should be noted that treatment during involuntary psychiatric hospitalization can include additional coercive practices, such as forced drugging, seclusion, restraint, and electroshock without consent, which can be contributing factors to subsequent suicides.

The study also revealed that involuntary psychiatric inpatients who committed suicide were administered psychiatric drugs at high rates in the year prior to their involuntary admission – and at higher rates than involuntary psychiatric inpatients who did not commit suicide, with the exception of antipsychotic drugs:

  • sedatives – prescribed to 71% of those who died by suicide vs. 58% of those who did not
  • antidepressants – 66% vs. 53%
  • antipsychotics – 60% vs. 64%
  • anti-anxiety drugs –56% vs. 44%
  • antiepileptic drugs (often prescribed as mood stabilizers) – 21% vs. 18%
  • psychostimulants (often prescribed for ADHD) –12% vs. 7%

Psychiatric drugs are known to increase the risk of many abnormal physical and psychological conditions, among them depression, suicidal thoughts and actions, and violence.  Drugs administered before, during, and after psychiatric hospitalization can be suspected as contributing factors in suicides.

Other recent research also finds increased suicide risk

Increased rates of suicide have been found in other recent research into involuntary commitment to a psychiatric facility.  A 2025 study  found  involuntary psychiatric hospitalization nearly doubles the probability of dying by suicide or overdose and also nearly doubles the probability of being charged with a violent crime.

The researchers in this study point out that disruptions to income, employment, and housing due to the psychiatric detention contribute to increased risks of mortality and crime.

Patients who perceived coercion during their admission into psychiatric hospitalization were more likely to attempt suicide after their discharge than those who did not feel coerced, according to a 2019  study.

A 2023 study of patients receiving involuntary substance abuse treatment found that in the year following release, all patients relapsed to substance use and had at least one emergency hospital visit.  The researchers  reported  that their study “adds to a growing medical literature recognizing the harms of involuntary commitment for substance use disorder.”

Calls for eliminating coercive psychiatric practices

Despite the mounting research showing the harm associated with involuntary psychiatric commitment, the practice has become far more  prevalent  in recent years.  In 22 states with available civil commitment data for the five-year period ending in 2016, the states’ average yearly involuntary detention rate increased at three times the rate of their average population growth.

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) has long been a global leader in the fight against the use of involuntary psychiatric commitment, seclusion and restraint, forced psychiatric drugging, and electroshock, as violations of human rights.  CCHR has been instrumental in obtaining hundreds of laws against psychiatric abuse and violations of human rights worldwide since its founding in 1969 and continues to advocate for reforms in the field of mental health.

CCHR’s co-founder, the late psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry Thomas Szasz, M.D., recognized by many academics as present-day psychiatry’s most authoritative critic, stated unequivocally that “involuntary psychiatric interventions are methods of social control.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken the  position  that involuntary psychiatric treatment is “harmful to people’s mental, emotional and physical health, sometimes leading to death” and that “many experience it as a form of trauma or re-traumatization leading to a worsening of their condition.”  The WHO is calling on United Nations member nations to enact laws to replace coercive psychiatric practices with person-centered, human rights-based mental health treatment.

The U.N.’s  Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities  includes the right to freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.  This right prohibits psychiatric detention and treatment without informed consent.

CCHR continues to expose the harm of coercive psychiatric practices and to push for replacing them with mental health treatment based on informed consent, thus restoring human rights and dignity to the field of mental health.

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New Research Finds Increased Cardiovascular Risks from Taking Even a Single Dose of Someone Else’s Prescription Stimulant

Posted on March 30, 2026 by cchrstl

New study addresses the increasing number of students taking stimulant drugs without a prescription, hoping for enhanced cognitive performance, though recent research has not found improvement in cognitive ability or academic performance from using stimulants.

by  CCHR National Affairs Office

In response to the increasing misuse and diversion of stimulants prescribed for so-called attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a new study reports that a single dose of Adderall consumed for occasional or recreational use can have acute cardiovascular effects. 

“An increasing number of high school and college students are taking Adderall without prescription, abusing these drugs for both cognitive enhancement and recreational use to enhance performance in tests and sports, respectively,”  wrote  researcher Anna Svatikova, M.D., Ph.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  “There are a myriad of adverse effects from Adderall consumption….  Sudden cardiac death, cardiomyopathy, stroke, and myocardial infarction due to Adderall consumption have been documented in individual case reports.”

The new  study  was designed to replicate the conditions of college students who use Adderall without a prescription.  It assessed the results of giving 29 healthy young adults who were not stimulant users either a single 25 mg Adderall pill – less than half of the average 60 mg dose given to adult patients for “ADHD” but more than the typical 10 mg starting dose – or a placebo on the first day.  Roughly 10 days later, they were given the other pill.  Blood pressure and heart rate were measured before and three hours after administration of the drug or placebo.

The results three hours later were significant increases in blood pressure and heart rate in the participants given Adderall.  Resting systolic blood pressure rose from 116 to 126, diastolic blood pressure from 72 to 78, and heart rate from 60 to 70 beats per minute – outcomes characterized by the researchers as “striking results” in participants at rest three hours later.  No such increases occurred when participants were given placebos.

The higher measures could potentially increase the risk of more serious cardiovascular outcomes, as well as point to an explanation for the increased emergency room visits associated with the misuse of Adderall, the study suggests.  The cardiovascular results could be even worse if energy drinks are consumed at the same time as Adderall to stay awake.  The  study  was recently published in  Mayo Clinic Proceedings, along with an editorial drawing attention to the study results.

The number of American children and adults given a diagnosis of so-called attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has soared over the six decades since psychologist Keith Connors, “the father of ADHD,” first coined the term for inattentive, impulsive or restless behavior.  Since there is no exact scientific basis for a “diagnosis” of ADHD, determinations of this “psychiatric disorder” became rampant, leading Connors ultimately to  declare  that the overdiagnosis of ADHD was “an epidemic of tragic proportions.”

Currently, 1 in 9 American children (11.4%) under the age of 18 has received a “diagnosis” of ADHD, according to 2022 data from a national survey of parents.  That translates to an estimated 7 million school-age children.

Rising right alongside the widespread “diagnosis” of ADHD is the steadily increasing number of prescriptions for drugs as treatment. Currently, 90% of prescriptions for ADHD treatment are for stimulants.  Prescription stimulants include Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta, and Dexedrine.

The overdiagnosis of ADHD and surge in prescriptions of stimulants is the result of sophisticated, multi-decade marketing by drug manufacturers, which broadened the perception of ADHD to include relatively normal behavior like carelessness or impatience, according to a 2013 investigation  by the  New York Times.

“The rise of ADHD diagnoses and prescriptions for stimulants over the years coincided with a remarkably successful two-decade campaign by pharmaceutical companies to publicize the syndrome and promote the pills to doctors, educators and parents,”  Times  reporter Alan Schwarz wrote.

Stimulants prescriptions continue to rise.  From 2012 to 2023, the total number of Americans prescribed stimulants increased by 48%, from 11.1 million to 16.5 million, with the largest yearly increase (18%) in 2022-23, according to a report prepared for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).  For the first time, nurse practitioners were the top prescribers, followed by psychiatrists.

The DEA report reveals that adults are now the fastest-growing segment of stimulant prescriptions, as “diagnosis” of “adult ADHD” becomes more prevalent. 

“From 2012 to 2023, stimulant prescriptions for patients aged 31-40 increased by 240%; at over 18 million, they are now the largest single age group for stimulants prescriptions,” the DEA’s report discloses.  Prescriptions also increased by 164% for patients aged 41-50, by 161% for ages 61-70, and by 516% for ages 71-80.  The only decline was a 19% decrease in stimulant prescriptions for children aged 0-10.

Stimulants are classified as Schedule II controlled substances, in the same category as cocaine, methamphetamine (meth), oxycodone (OxyContin), and fentanyl because of their high potential for misuse, abuse, physical and psychological dependence, addiction, overdose, and diversion.  

The illegal diversion of prescribed stimulant drugs from patients to others, particularly among children and young adults, is a pressing problem.   Studies  have found that a range of 16% to 29% of students from grade school through college were asked to give or sell their prescribed stimulants. 

Whether taking a stimulant really leads to any cognitive advantage is questionable.  Recent studies have found  no improvement in cognitive ability or academic performance and no convincing evidence of any long-term benefit to children from taking stimulant drugs. 

In response to the misuse and overdose problems with prescription stimulants, the FDA awarded a grant to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in 2023 to research and reconsider the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD.  The research is expected to be used in developing alternatives to prescription stimulants as treatment.

The content on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for personal medical advice given by a physician or other qualified healthcare provider.

Anyone wishing to discontinue or change the dose of a prescription stimulant or other psychiatric drug is cautioned to do so only under the supervision of a physician because of potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms or other complications.

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Take Action – Missouri Legislature

Posted on March 23, 2026 by cchrstl

Psychiatry’s Continued Attacks on Missouri Citizens

This session of the Missouri Legislature has several bills demonstrating the psychiatric industry’s continued attempts to defraud and abuse citizens.

There seems to be a concerted effort in several states this year to pass laws allowing court-ordered “Assisted Outpatient Treatment”, also known as involuntary outpatient treatment.

Such bills are ongoing in Oklahoma, Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Iowa as well as in Missouri. They lower the standard for involuntary treatment from a person being dangerous to just being “in need of treatment,” or euphemistically “clinical deterioration,” a completely subjective evaluation.

This is a concerning push for coercive psychiatric treatment which the Council of Europe, the United Nations and the World Health Organization have each called for stopping.

Guidance issued jointly in 2023 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) lays out steps towards ending coercive practices and “establishing mental health services that are respectful of human dignity and comply with international human rights norms and standards.”

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has not yet come into alignment with this international standard, evidenced by this concerted effort to make it much easier to psychiatrically treat someone against their will.

Read more about involuntary commitment here:

https://cchrstl.org/invcommit.shtml

Very Very Bad Bills

SB 1015, Sponsor: Maggie Nurrenbern, Creates provisions for involuntary outpatient treatment

HB 2088, Sponsor: Aaron Crossley, Creates provisions relating to court-ordered involuntary outpatient treatment for persons with mental disorders

HB 2512, Sponsor: Tricia Byrnes, Creates provisions relating to humane access to emergency psychiatric treatment. This is called the “Care Before Predictable Harm Act”.

HB 3313, Sponsor: Carolyn Caton, Creates provisions relating to court-ordered involuntary outpatient treatment for persons with mental disorders

If passed into law these would require a licensed physician’s testimony and a written treatment plan to force court-ordered outpatient psychiatric treatment on someone. Such “treatment” could be, for example, the administration of psychotropic drugs (such as long-acting injectable antipsychotic drugs); monitoring the individual’s daily life and reporting compliance with treatment; individual or group therapy sessions; mandatory drug testing and enrollment in sobriety programs. The court could also mandate that the individual accept assistance with housing, employment, or other community resources. They could also spell out Crisis intervention services in case of a mental health emergency.

If the person does not comply with the treatment plan, the court could order their involuntary commitment to a psychiatric facility without a hearing.

What can we say about this? “Psychiatry does not commit human rights abuse. It is a human rights abuse.” – Thomas Szasz

Just take a look at one or more of the CCHR web sites to start to understand how very bad these bills are

https://www.cchrstl.org

https://www.cchr.org

https://www.cchrint.org

The Missouri Legislature

The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Missouri and is composed of two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The General Assembly is responsible for creating laws for governing the State of Missouri. The Revised Statutes of Missouri (RSMo) are electronically available on this site:  https://revisor.mo.gov/main/Home.aspx.

You can find your Representative and Senator, and their contact information, by entering your 9-digit zip code here.

The current Session this year (103rd General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session) convened on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, and will end on Friday, May 15, 2026. You can see all of the House Bills (HB) by clicking here; and the Senate Bills (SB) are listed here.

If you are not a voting resident of Missouri, you can find out about legislation in your own state and write your own state legislators; also, we are looking for volunteers to monitor legislation in Missouri and the states surrounding Missouri — let us know if you’d like to help out.

You can also help out by sending CCHR STL a tax-deductible monetary donation so that we can continue to alert you to these issues.

Check out our handy discussion about How to write to a legislator.

We Urge You To Contact Your Legislators To Express Your Own Viewpoints.

Please write, call or visit to express your viewpoint as an individual or professional, and not as a representative of any organization.Let us know the details and any responses you get. The full text of each bill can be found on the House and Senate Joint Bill Tracking site. Just put the bill number into the search box (e.g. SB123 or HB123).

While this list is not all the bad bills, and does not include any of the good bills, we’ve chosen the worst of the bad’uns to get you going on contacting your legislators!

Decide for yourself and take action.

Summary

Instead of these failed psychiatric approaches, the emphasis must be on workable mental healing methods that improve and strengthen individuals and thereby society by restoring people to personal strength, ability, competence, confidence, stability, responsibility and spiritual well-being. Psychiatric drugs and psychiatric treatments are not workable.

Read the text of these bills to see how they encourage psychiatric fraud and abuse, and urge your Missouri state legislators to reject pro-psych bills in their current form.

The real problem is that psychiatrists fraudulently diagnose life’s problems as an “illness”, and stigmatize unwanted behavior as “diseases.” Psychiatry’s stigmatizing labels, programs and treatments are harmful junk science; their diagnoses of “mental disorders” are a hoax – unscientific, fraudulent and harmful. All psychiatric treatments, not just psychiatric drugs, are dangerous.

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Missouri Psychiatrist Shazia Malik Pleads Guilty to False Claims; Pays $360K Civil Settlement

Posted on March 16, 2026 by cchrstl

On December 11, 2025, St. Louis psychiatrist Shazia Malik pleaded guilty in federal court to making false statements related to health care billing after admitting she submitted claims for services that were not eligible for reimbursement while she was outside the United States.

Malik entered a guilty plea in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri to two counts of Making False Statements in Connection with Health Care Matters. According to a plea agreement filed in the case, Malik admitted knowingly submitting or causing false claims to be submitted to Medicare, Medicaid and private health insurers.

Prosecutors said Malik, who practiced with organizations including Psych Care Consultants LLC and Serenity Health LLC, traveled to Pakistan on Dec. 25, 2019, and remained there until Feb. 24, 2020. During that time, she caused claims to be submitted that represented she had performed reimbursable psychiatric services even though she was outside the United States.

Federal health programs and many private insurers do not reimburse claims for services performed outside the country. Malik admitted the claims falsely indicated that she had provided services that complied with those reimbursement rules.

One example cited in the plea agreement involved a claim submitted to Medicare on Dec. 8, 2020, stating that Malik conducted an office visit and psychotherapy session with a patient on Jan. 27, 2020. In reality, she was in Pakistan that day and the services were therefore not reimbursable.

Authorities said the fraudulent claims resulted in a total loss of $3,110.85 to Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers, including United Healthcare, Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna and Humana.

Under the plea agreement, prosecutors and the defense jointly recommended a sentence of one year of probation. Malik also agreed to surrender her Drug Enforcement Administration registration and to pay restitution totaling $3,110.85. Each count carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, though the parties’ recommended sentence is significantly lower.

Separately, The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri and Malik reached a $360,000 civil settlement to resolve allegations that she submitted false claims to Medicare and Missouri Medicaid between Jan. 1, 2019, and May 31, 2024.

According to federal officials, the settlement resolved claims that Malik billed federal health programs for psychotherapy sessions she claimed to have personally conducted, including instances when she was out of town or when the services were provided by other practitioners.

The settlement requires Malik to pay $155,000 in restitution to Medicare and $25,000 to Missouri Medicaid, amounts that were doubled under the False Claims Act to reach the $360,000 total. The civil agreement does not include an admission of liability.

Sources:  “Psychiatrist Reaches Civil Settlement of $360,000 to Resolve Allegations of False Claims to Federal Health Care Programs,” U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri, March 9, 2026; Guilty Plea Agreement, United States of America v. Shazia Malik, M.D., Case no. 4:25-wi-00025 ZMB, US District Court – Eastern District of Missouri, December 11, 2025; and  “Missouri psychiatrist pays $360K in Medicare fraud settlement,” KTTN News, March 10, 2026.

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New Study Details Abuse of Patients by Staff at Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities

Posted on March 2, 2026 by cchrstl

Patients report physical, psychological, and sexual abuse, neglect, and human rights violations that leave them feeling lonely, humiliated, and powerless.

by  CCHR National Affairs Office

A new study has brought needed attention to the abuse of psychiatric patients by staff in mental health settings, including in the U.S. mental health system.  The researchers call for stronger legal protections for mental health patients and reforms to mental health systems to ensure services are patient-centered, delivered without coercion, and uphold human rights. 

Noting that studies on patient safety rarely directly address the violence and abuse perpetrated by healthcare professionals, researchers from Kansai Medical University and Japan Centre for Evidence-Based Practice conducted a  review  of existing medical literature to establish, among various objectives, the nature and rate of occurrence of abuse perpetrated by staff in mental health service settings.

Among 61 published studies and reviews focusing on this abuse, 12 studies reported on the prevalence, though four used the same underlying dataset.  The studies involved data collected from 622 patients, 208 healthcare staff, and public records.  All the studies concerned abuse by staff in inpatient psychiatric facilities.

Participants in the studies “described feelings of physical and psychological threat, dehumanization, being ignored, having their care requests neglected and receiving coercive treatment that was perceived as unethical,” according to the review.  “They also described emotional responses such as loneliness, humiliation, powerlessness and loss of trust in healthcare professionals.”

The researchers grouped the acts of abuse into six categories.  Rather than calculating a single figure for the prevalence of each category of abuse, the researchers presented the range for each category that encompassed the ranges from all included studies.

  • Physical abuse, which included excessive physical force and assault, was reported by a range of 5%-65% of participants in the studies. 
  • Psychological abuse, including verbal insults and threats, was reported by 0%-79%. 
  • Sexual abuse, reported by 0%-21%, included unwanted sexual contact or advances. 
  • Economic abuse, such as theft or unauthorized use of patients’ property by staff, was reported by 15%-36%. 
  • Neglect, meaning lack of access to basic care, such as meals, was reported by 0%-79%. 
  • Human rights violations from dehumanizing treatment, such as being subjected to hours in restraints or seclusion, or being forced to undress in view of others, were reported by 5%-61% of participants.

“Our findings suggest that preventing abuse in psychiatric settings requires both attention to individual attitudes and behaviors, and structural and cultural changes within healthcare institutions,” the researchers concluded.  Their review was published in  BMJ Open.

They also noted that a trend of increased attention to the issue of abuse by psychiatric facility staff “may reflect growing professional and societal concern about coercive practices in psychiatric care.”

Coercive psychiatric practices include involuntary hospitalization, forced psychiatric drugging, involuntary electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), seclusion, and physical, chemical and mechanical restraint.

Since 1969, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) has been a global leader in the fight to eliminate coercive and abusive psychiatric practices and expose the harm and fraud in involuntary psychiatric detention and treatment. 

International human rights standards now call for ending coercive psychiatric practices and replacing them with human rights-based approaches to mental health.  This position is backed up by research, such as a 2023 study indicating  no benefit to patients’ mental health condition and no reduction in their risk of suicide after receiving nonconsensual mental health treatment. 

The issue of coercive practices was prominently  addressed  in 2021 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and in 2023 in  guidance  published jointly by WHO and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, calling on governments to adopt “zero coercion” policies. 

“People subjected to coercive practices report feelings of dehumanization, disempowerment, being disrespected and disengaged from decisions on issues affecting them,” according to the  WHO.  “Many experience it as a form of trauma or re-traumatization leading to a worsening of their condition and increased experiences of distress.”

In 2022, Europe’s leading human rights assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,  urged  the Council’s 46 member states to take action against forced institutionalization.  The Council underscored this commitment last month by  rejecting  a draft protocol for mental health settings that would have expanded involuntary psychiatric detention and treatment across Europe, making it “more difficult to abolish coercive practices in mental health services,” according to the Council.

Although the European Psychiatric Association  indicated  in 2024 that a reduction of coercive practices in psychiatry was a priority, it instead supported the draft protocol that would have further entrenched involuntary psychiatric detention and treatment, which the Council of Europe rejected.

The World Psychiatric Association (WPA), while not renouncing coercive practices, ratified a position  statement  in 2023 that called for implementing alternatives to coercion in psychiatric practices.  The WPA admitted, “There is widespread agreement that coercive practices are over-used” in psychiatry.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has thus far refused to issue a position statement aligned with international human rights standards.  In its most recent (2020) “Position Statement on Voluntary and Involuntary Hospitalization of Adults with Mental Illness,” the APA continues to  support  the use of coercive practices.

The content on this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for personal medical advice given by a physician or other healthcare provider.

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