Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing; to “walk in their shoes” so to speak.
[Derived from Ancient Greek ???????? (empatheia, “physical affection or passion”).]
We notice a huge amount of social media commentary about this concept, including a surfeit of pithy quotes. Wikipedia, for one example, discusses empathy extensively. We’re not going to go into it in such extraordinary depth, but we hope to add some useful observations.
One observation is that whenever there is so much back and forth discussion about a concept, there tends to also be major misunderstandings about it. We’d like to add our two cents.
Besides the obvious usefulness of empathy in the general social contexts of communication and understanding with others, there is also a practical application in marketing and public relations. For example, a product or service gets empathy by tying it in to one’s public using their local environment. This makes it more acceptable and improves its reach. As a local example, many products and services in the St. Louis metropolitan area are tied in name or picture with the Gateway Arch.
Some confuse empathy with compassion or sympathy. These are closely related but definitely different. Consult any good dictionary to understand the differences. (I recommend https://onelook.com/ to look up words online.)
One of the abiding concerns of commentary on empathy is how to teach it, how to develop it in a person when it is lacking. It is really a function of a living being’s awareness.
A large part of awareness training would be learning how to confront others and situations, while being open to all perceptions and remaining unrestimulated by noise and confusion. In this context, confront means to face without flinching.
People are not naturally aware of other people; they have to be drilled on observing others in order to bring about awareness. In many cases this normally occurs during one’s upbringing; in other cases this ability to observe may be lacking to greater or lesser degree and requires training. A century of psychological “know-best” that people are animals, not spiritual beings, has blunted this ability to observe in many unfortunate cases. Thus we get so much conversation on social media about how to develop empathy for others, which basically depends upon observing and being aware of others.
At the bottom of the scale of awareness there is delusion, in which a person sees one thing but thinks it is something else. This is more prevalent than one might suspect. Observational drills may not be enough to repair this failing.
Ways to Bring About a Heightened Sense of Empathy
A sensitivity to Human Rights is one way to cultivate empathy. Some notice that teaching about Human Rights brings about changes in attitude and behavior leading to more empathy toward others.
Another way to approach this is to recognize ways in which one’s awareness is turned to unawareness, and remedy those. A prime example of creating unawareness is psychiatric drugs.
These drugs create many of their effects by modifying the expression of neurotransmitters in the brain, which we call “playing Russian Roulette with your brain.”
Common and well-documented side effects of many psychiatric drugs include hallucinations, delusions, emotional disturbance, emotional numbing, confusion, akathisia (restlessness), brain damage, forgetfulness, memory lapses, hostility, aggressive behavior, and vision problems.
One can easily see that such side effects may contribute to one’s unawareness of what is going on around them, thus bringing about a destruction of empathy. The obvious remedy is to wean off taking these drugs and find non-drug alternatives for one’s troubles.
We hope these few observations have contributed to your understanding of empathy, and lead to a resurgence of your awareness of others.
A New York Times article (12/27/2022) proclaimed, “Families of children with mental health needs increasingly rely on the emergency department (ED) for care.”
The article goes on to say that, “Pediatric mental health ED visits are commonly repeat visits, and most revisits occur within 6 months of initial presentation.”
The article cites a research study published December 27, 2022 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, which analyzed 308,264 pediatric (ages 3 to 17) mental health ED visits at 38 hospitals between 2015 and 2020.
Such pediatric mental health ED visits made up 4.0% of all ED visits.
The NYTimes further said that, “The patients most likely to reappear in emergency rooms were not patients who harmed themselves, but rather those whose agitation and aggressive behavior proved too much for their caregivers to manage. In many cases, repeat visitors had previously received sedatives or other drugs to restrain them when their behavior became disruptive. … Patients who required medications to subdue them were 22 percent more likely to revisit than patients who did not.”
“Families come in with their children who have severe behavioral problems, and the families really just are at their wit’s end, you know,” said Dr. Anna M. Cushing, a pediatric emergency room physician at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and one of the authors of the study.
“The JAMA study found that overall visits to pediatric emergency rooms for mental health crises increased 43 percent from 2015 to 2020, rising by 8 percent per year on average, with an increase in emergency visits for every category of mental illness. By comparison, emergency room visits for all medical causes rose by 1.5 percent annually.”
The sad conclusion: “Emergency room treatment is comforting to caregivers but offers little long-term benefit.”
We see several serious issues with the situation here.
1. Mental health behavior problems for children appear to be increasing. 2. Parents and other caregivers generally do not know how to cope with this. 3. Psychiatric drugs used as chemical restraints, and other psychiatric treatments, are not helping. 4. Emergency rooms are not a solution.
Why is this happening and what can be done about it?
1. Drugging children in America has reached epidemic proportions. More than 8 million children and teenagers are prescribed harmful and addictive psychiatric drugs: antidepressants, stimulants and antipsychotics. And the targets are getting younger. Children five years old and younger are the fastest growing segment of the non-adult population using antidepressants in the United States today. Many health professionals question this rampant use of pharmaceuticals on children.
The truth is, in MANY cases children acting disruptive is not a symptom of psychological or chemical disorder but … A SYMPTOM OF CHILDHOOD!
Regardless of any social, economic, political, or other considerations, these psychiatric drugs are known to cause harmful side effects including behavior problems, violence and suicide. Small wonder that mental health behavior problems for children appear to be increasing.
2. When it comes to raising children, parents must always be the first defense and have the final word. Yet witness the social upheavals currently occurring as local, state and federal governments battle among parents, school boards, psychiatrists, pharmaceutical companies, and other “know-best” vested interests, about how children should be raised and educated. No wonder parents and caregivers are confused about who is lying and who is telling the truth!
In Missouri, legislators have to fight to pass laws giving parents the right to raise their children, a right which they should already have, but are consistently denied. This makes it exceedingly difficult to provide the sane education parents need to decide what is best for their children.
3. Not only are psychiatric drugs not helping, they are actively hurting. The trouble is that psychiatric propaganda has thoroughly duped well-meaning parents, teachers and politicians alike, that normal childhood behavior is a “mental illness”, and that only by continuous, heavy drugging from an early age can children make it through life’s worst.
Seventeen million schoolchildren worldwide have now been diagnosed with so-called mental disorders and prescribed cocaine-like stimulants and powerful antidepressants as “treatment.” Biological psychiatry has yet to validate a single psychiatric diagnosis as anything neurological, biological, chemically imbalanced or genetic. The rise in gratuitous and murderous violence amongst youth is linked to the introduction of and increases in these violence-inducing drugs.
4. If emergency rooms are obviously not a solution, then what is? Well, there isn’t a single magic wand, but there are multiple recommendations; pick those you can do, and do them.
a. Contact your local, state and federal officials, and your parents’ groups and school boards, and tell them what you think; and that coercive and unworkable psychiatric methods should not be funded by the State. b. You have the right to refuse permission for your child to be subjected to psychiatric drugs or other psychiatric treatments or interference. c. If your child has been subjected to psychiatric treatment without your consent, consult a lawyer to determine your right to prosecute criminally and civilly. d. Support legislative measures that will protect children from psychiatric interference. e. Educate yourself on sane and effective alternatives to coercive and harmful psychiatric treatments.
At one time you may have expressed interest in the mission of CCHR St. Louis, or you may have expressed interest in volunteering with CCHR St. Louis.
To remind you of our Mission:
Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) is a nonprofit charitable mental health watchdog organization dedicated to eradicating psychiatric abuses and ensuring patient protections.
Volunteers Needed One Day
Missouri State Capitol Building Jefferson City, Missouri
3rd Floor Rotunda, House Side
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Help inform our legislators about CCHR Issues.
Distribute documentary DVD’s and other CCHR properties to legislative offices and man our table passing out CCHR materials.
Our state legislators and their aides are generally receptive to citizen’s concerns.
Hatting is included. Help out and participate in our civic mission.
Please reply to CCHRSTL@CCHRSTL.ORG with your contact information and availability.
Periodically we let you know the progress of various proposed legislation making its way through the Missouri General Assembly and suggest ways for you to contribute your viewpoint to your state Representative and state Senator.
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: http://revisor.mo.gov/.
The 2023 Regular Session (102nd General Assembly, 1st Regular Session) convenes on Wednesday, January 4, 2023, and will end on Friday, May 12, 2023. So far there are 474 proposed House Bills prefiled for the session. You can see these HBs by clicking here; and so far there are 373 proposed Senate Bills prefiled for the session, 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.
We Urge You To Contact Your Legislators To Express Your Own Viewpoints
We’d like to describe some bills about which we’d particularly like you to contact your legislators. 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).
Very Very Bad Bills
HB146 (Sponsor: Representative Jo Doll, Democrat, District 91 – St. Louis)
This bill requires health care professionals that provide maternity health care services to screen for mental disorders and mental illnesses in all pregnant women as early as possible at the onset of prenatal care and throughout the pregnancy. Any pregnant woman found to have a mental disorder or mental illness shall be referred for treatment.
This bill would expand harmful psychiatric services to vulnerable women. Mental health screening based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) not only is the means by which psychiatrists drum up new business, but also is a major threat to the civil liberties and freedoms of all those in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Mental health screening aims to get whole populations on drugs and thus under control. Patients with actual physical conditions (such as pregnancy) are routinely misdiagnosed with psychiatric disorders, then drugged or institutionalized. Numerous studies show that untreated physical problems can cause behavioral and emotional problems, not to mention the many problems caused by adverse reactions (side effects) to psychiatric drugs.
This bill directs the Department of Mental Health to establish a grant program for nonprofits to set up behavioral crisis centers to deliver mental health treatment in an emergency; where “behavioral crisis” means any instance in which a person’s behavior makes the person a danger to himself or herself or others or prevents the person from functioning effectively in the community.
By their own admission psychiatrists cannot predict a person’s dangerousness or violence. The popular refrain that psychiatry can determine if a person is a danger to self or others is a complete fraud.
No one denies that people can have difficult problems in their lives, that at times they can be mentally unstable, subject to unreasonable depression, anxiety or panic. Mental health care is therefore both valid and necessary. However, 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.
SB122 (Sponsor: Senator Karla May, Democrat, District 4 – St. Louis)
This bill provides that a child may be excused from attendance at school if the child is unable to attend school due to mental or behavioral health concerns, provided that the school receives documentation from a mental health professional.
This is a bald attempt to funnel vulnerable children into the mental health system, where they can be drugged with violence-causing psychotropic drugs.
Claiming that even normal childhood behavior is a mental disorder and that drugs are the solution, psychiatrists and psychologists have insinuated themselves into positions of authority over children. Through a virtual coup d’etat in our schools, our once strong and effective scholastic-based schools have turned into explosive test tubes.
Psychiatrists and psychologists have invaded our once successful education systems and converted them into behavioral laboratories. The entirety of psychological and psychiatric programs for children are founded on the tacit assumptions that mental health “experts” know all about the mind and mental phenomena, know a better way of life, a better value system and how to improve the lives of children beyond the understanding and capability of not only parents, but everyone else in society.
The reality is that all child mental health programs are designed to control the lives of children towards specific ideological objectives at the expense of not only the children’s sanity and well-being, but also that of their parents and of society itself.
The antidote to a child’s “behavioral health concerns” is academics and literacy, not removing them from school on the condition they are in psychiatric treatment.
Very Good Bills
SB158(Sponsor: Senator Nick Schroer, Republican, District 2 – St. Charles County)
This bill establishes “The Parents’ Bill of Rights for Student Well-Being” which lists rights for parents relating to education, health care, and mental health. The act prohibits public schools and school districts from infringing on the rights of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, health care, or mental health of such parent’s minor child without first demonstrating that the infringement is narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling state interest and such interest cannot be otherwise served by a less restrictive means.
No one but their parents should be determining the mental health care for a child.
SJR29(Senate Joint Resolution 29, Sponsor: Senator Jill Carter, Republican, District 32 – Jasper and Newton counties)
This proposed constitutional amendment would provide that every parent has a fundamental right to exercise exclusive control over all aspects of their minor children’s lives without governmental interference, including, but not limited to, decisions regarding their minor children’s custody, upbringing, education, religious instruction, discipline, physical and mental health care, and place of habitation. Read the bill summary for the full list of rights.
No one but their parents should be determining the mental health care for a child.
Periodically we let you know the progress of various proposed legislation making its way through the Missouri General Assembly and suggest ways for you to contribute your viewpoint to your state Representative and state Senator.
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: http://revisor.mo.gov/.
The 2022 Regular Session (101st General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session) convened on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, and will end on Friday, May 13, 2022.
This time we’d like to further discuss two bills about which we’d like you to contact your legislators. Please write, call or visit to express from 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).
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.
This bill provides for children to seek mental health counseling and treatmentwithout parental consent, and all records and referrals are confidential from parents and guardians. The provider must immediately determine if the child is a danger to self or others.
By their own admission psychiatrists cannot predict a person’s dangerousness or violence. The popular refrain that psychiatry can determine if a person is a danger to self or others is a complete fraud.
This bill would expand harmful psychiatric services to vulnerable children. This is the gateway to sending a child to a psychiatric hospital without any parental knowledge or consent. Psychiatrists, school counselors and other mental health practitioners have a terrible track record of accurately determining if a child is a danger to self or others, and this is the criteria for determining such things as involuntary commitment.
First, this bill violates US Constitutional Rights. Amendment IX to the U.S. Constitution grant parents a constitutional right to be parents for their children. The courts have repeatedly affirmed those rights[i].
Second, it could also be argued that this bill violates the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which requires that parents be given notice and an opportunity to be heard prior to any deprivation of parental rights, even if they are temporary deprivations[ii].
[i] “[T]he interest of parents in the care, custody, and control of their children… is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by [the United States Supreme] Court.” Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 65, 120 S.Ct. 2054, 147 L.Ed.2d 49 (2000) (plurality opinion) (citing Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158, 166, 64 S.Ct. 438, 88 L.Ed. 645 (1944); Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510, 534-35, 45 S.Ct. 571, 69 L.Ed. 1070 (1925); Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390, 399, 401, 43 S.Ct. 625, 67 L.Ed. 1042 (1923)). Parents have a fundamental right “to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children.” Troxel, 530 U.S. at 66, 120 S.Ct. 2054 (citing Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702, 720, 117 S.Ct. 2258, 138 L.Ed.2d 772 (1997); Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 753, 102 S.Ct. 1388, 71 L.Ed.2d 599 (1982); Parham v. J.R., 442 U.S. 584, 602, 99 S.Ct. 2493, 61 L.Ed.2d 101 (1979); Quilloin v. Walcott, 434 U.S. 246, 255, 98 S.Ct. 549, 54 L.Ed.2d 511 (1978); Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 232, 92 S.Ct. 1526, 32 L.Ed.2d 15 (1972); Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 651, 92 S.Ct. 1208, 31 L.Ed.2d 551 (1972)).
[ii] [T]he Supreme Court made clear that termination of parental rights impinges upon a liberty interest of which a citizen may not be deprived without due process of law. This circuit has applied Santosky’s holding … to the temporary seizures of children and has held that notice and a hearing are required before a child is removed “`except for extraordinary situations where some valid governmental interest is at stake that justifies postponing the hearing until after the event.'” “Valid governmental interests” include “emergency circumstances which pose an immediate threat to the safety of a child.” As the Second Circuit has noted, the “mere possibility” of danger is not enough to justify a removal without appropriate process. (emphasis added)
Roska ex rel. Roska v. Peterson, 328 F. 3d 1230, 1245 (10th Cir. 2003) (emphasis added). Since this proposed statute allows for removal based solely on the “belief” of “substantial danger”, it is authorizing removal based on the “mere possibility” of danger and “is not enough to justify a removal without appropriate process.” Id. In other words, a parent needs the ability to appear in court prior to any deprivation of parental rights or custody.
Very Good Bill
HB1755 – Establishes Parents’ Bill of Rights (Sponsor: Representative Chuck Basye, Republican, District 47 – Boone, Randolph, Howard, Cooper counties)
This bill prohibits the state, any of its political subdivisions, any other governmental entity, or any other institution from infringing on fundamental rights of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of their children.
This bill also requires school boards to implement policies that will allow parents to have more involvement in the public school system including having a voice as to what materials the children will be instructed on as well as the ability to withdraw their child from any portion of the school district’s comprehensive health education that relates to instruction in sexually transmitted diseases or any instruction regarding human sexuality if they do not want their child to participate. The school board must also implement procedures that allow parents to learn their parental responsibilities and rights.
No one but their parents should be determining the mental health care for a child.
CCHR suggests the inclusion of this simple statement in any Parents’ Bill of Rights:
“Infringement of parental rights. — The state, any of its political subdivisions, any other governmental entity, or any other institution may not infringe on the fundamental rights of a parent to direct the upbringing, education, health care, and mental health of his or her minor child without demonstrating that such action is reasonable and necessary to achieve a compelling state interest and that such action is narrowly tailored and is not otherwise served by a less restrictive means.”
This one paragraph does two things 1) mental health is specifically included and 2) it requires that any potential infringement on parental rights is reviewed using strict scrutiny. Strict scrutiny is a form of judicial review that courts use to determine the constitutionality of certain laws. This is basically the highest form of review that exists and the greatest protection.
Periodically we let you know the progress of various proposed legislation making its way through the Missouri General Assembly and suggest ways for you to contribute your viewpoint to your state Representative and state Senator.
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: http://revisor.mo.gov/.
The 2022 Regular Session (101st General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session) convened on Wednesday, January 5, 2022, and will end on Friday, May 13, 2022.
This time we’d like to discuss new bills about which we’d like you to contact your legislators. Please write, call or visit to express from 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).
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.
Very Bad Bills
These are bills that further psychiatric abuses of human rights, and are moving swiftly toward becoming law. Please express your opposition and opinions about this to your legislators and copy the bill sponsor.
This bill provides for children to seek mental health counseling and treatment without parental consent, and all records and referrals are confidential from parents and guardians. The provider must immediately determine if the child is a danger to self or others.
By their own admission psychiatrists cannot predict a person’s dangerousness or violence. The popular refrain that psychiatry can determine if a person is a danger to self or others is a complete fraud.
This bill would expand harmful psychiatric services to vulnerable children. This is the gateway to sending a child to a psychiatric hospital without any parental knowledge or consent. Psychiatrists, school counselors and other mental health practitioners have a terrible track record of accurately determining if a child is a danger to self or others, and this is the criteria for determining such things as involuntary commitment.
Under current federal law, a person who is in an institution for mental disease cannot receive Medicaid coverage. This bill requires the Department of Social Services (DSS) to apply for a waiver from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in order to give MO HealthNet coverage for mental health services provided in residential programs in psychiatric facilities.
This bill would expand harmful psychiatric services (and consequent budget) to a new and vulnerable patient population.
This bill provides financial supplements, subject to appropriation, for public schools to employ school nurses and mental health professionals. A school district must apply to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and specify the schools that will hire these positions. The amount of the supplement is capped at $40,000 per school per position. The bill creates the “School Nurse Financial Supplement Fund” and the “School Mental Health Professional Financial Supplement Fund” in the State Treasury, and requires DESE to create rules ensuring that positions funded with supplement money only perform duties associated with the job title, and preference be given to schools that demonstrate the greatest need.
This bill would expand harmful psychiatric services (and consequent budget) to vulnerable school children.
This bill provides for the Department of Mental Health to help non profits set up behavioral crisis centers for those who are danger to self and others. It’s a psychiatric hospital under another name.
By their own admission psychiatrists cannot predict a person’s dangerousness or violence. The popular refrain that psychiatry can determine if a person is a danger to self or others is a complete fraud.
This bill would expand harmful psychiatric services (and consequent budget) to a new and vulnerable patient population.
Relatively Good Bills
These are bills that inhibit psychiatric abuses of human rights, and are moving swiftly toward becoming law. Please express your support and opinions about this to your legislators and copy the bill sponsor.
SB810 (Sponsor: Senator Andrew Koenig, Republican, District 15 – Part of St. Louis County) and Related Bills (SB776, SB653, HB1474, HB1755, HB1858, HB1995, HB2008, HB2068, HB2132, HB2189, HB2195, HB2294, HJR110)
SB810 establishes “The Parents’ Bill of Rights for Student Well-Being” and modifies other provisions of elementary and secondary education.
Similar to others about parental ability to object to curriculum and withdraw student from sex education and “certain classroom materials”. While this bill is Anti-Psych in part, it is somewhat concerning in other parts. It is the most measured and complex of this series of bills. They will probably be combined as the session progresses.
Good part: Under this act, no governmental entity, school district, or other public institution shall infringe on the fundamental rights, as provided in the act, of a natural parent, adoptive parent, or legal guardian of such parent’s minor child without demonstrating that the infringement is reasonable, narrowly tailored to a compelling state interest, and that such interest could not be served by less restrictive means.
Potentially problematic: We are entirely in favor of parental rights. But most of these bills contain excessive and arbitrary burdens on the schools regarding curriculum and children’s mental health care. We would recommend completely separating parental rights from matters of curriculum and mental health.
Upon voter approval, this proposed Constitutional amendment (House Joint Resolution) removes a Constitutional voting prohibition on all persons who are subject to a guardianship of their estate or person, or all persons who are confined in a mental institution.
We think this is a fine human rights proposal.
SJR47 (Sponsor: Senator Mike Moon, Republican, District 29 – Barry, Lawrence, McDonald, Stone, and Taney counties)
Prohibits laws or public policies infringing on the right of individuals to refuse medical procedures or treatments
This constitutional amendment, if adopted by the voters, prohibits the passage or implementation of any law, order, ordinance, regulation or public policy of the state or any political subdivision of the state, including schools and institutions of higher education that receive public funds, that infringes upon the unquestionable right of individuals to refuse any medical procedure or treatment, including, but not limited to, injections, vaccines, or prophylactics. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged to any person in this state because of the exercise of this right. Nothing in this amendment shall be interpreted to infringe upon a parent’s right to exercise control over their minor, unemancipated child’s physical and mental care.
CCHR also recommends that concerned individuals execute a Living Will which lets you specify decisions about your health care treatment in advance. Should you be in a position where you are to be subject to unwanted psychiatric hospitalization and/or mental or medical treatment, this Letter of Protection from Psychiatric Incarceration and/or Treatment directs that such incarceration, hospitalization, treatment or procedures not be imposed, committed or used on you.
The FDA only approves antipsychotics for people who have serious mental diagnoses, such as so-called schizophrenia. The danger of these drugs to older adults can be profound. They come with black box warnings from the FDA, saying they can increase the risk of death in older people, especially those with dementia.
“The high rate of antipsychotics use across our nation’s nursing homes shows that many facilities continue to resort to the use of these potentially dangerous drugs as a chemical restraint — in lieu of proper staffing — which has the potential to harm hundreds of thousands of patients.”
The extensive off-label use of antipsychotics in nursing homes was found in one study to be associated with a 50% increased risk of experiencing a serious fall-related bone fracture.
Some evidence suggests that some nursing homes may be falsifying psychosis diagnoses to avoid citations for inappropriate antipsychotic prescriptions. In 2018 in Missouri, data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show there were 108 citations for unnecessary use of antipsychotics in skilled nursing facilities (SNF). This involved 20% of all SNFs in Missouri which received at least one citation; and this had been increasing for at least four years.
“It is reasonable to conclude that the overuse and misuse of antipsychotics is pervasive and continues to occur at unacceptably high rates.”
Such extensive abuse of the elderly is not the result of medical incompetence. The abuse is the result of psychiatry maneuvering itself into an authoritative position over aged care. From there, psychiatry has broadly perpetrated the tragic but lucrative hoax that aging is a mental disorder requiring extensive and expensive psychiatric services.
Recommendation
Insist that any nursing home where an elderly person is to be admitted has a policy of respecting the resident’s wishes not to undergo any form of psychiatric treatment, including psychoactive drugs. Sign a “Psychiatric Living Will” to prepare for this and give a copy to the nursing home staff.
Missouri Medical Board Revokes License of Psychiatrist Gerald Slonka Based on Controlled Substance Violations
On April 26, 2021, the Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts ordered that the medical license of Parkville [Kansas City Metropolitan Area] psychiatrist Gerald F. Slonka be revoked. Prior to the revocation, suspensions of his license had been ordered in 2016, 2017, and 2018 for failure to file or pay state taxes.
The current revocation order was based on Slonka’s violation of various drug laws and regulations.
He unlawfully possessed controlled substances not prescribed to him; failed to use an appropriate form or sign a digital order when taking possession of and distributing schedule II controlled substances; and failed to maintain proper records, receipt and/or inventory of the controlled substances he possessed and distributed.
In addition, he did not maintain a controlled substance administration and dispensing log separate from patients’ charts, and failed to provide adequate controls to detect and prevent the diversion of controlled substances into unauthorized channels.
The Board found the discipline imposed necessary to protect the public.
[Source: Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order of Revocation in Default, Case No. 2018-003364, Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts v. Gerald F. Slonka, M.D., April 26, 2021.]
Crime and Fraud in the Mental Health Industry
A prison term or revoked license has not always stopped a psychiatrist from later attempting to acquire a license elsewhere or even to take up unlicensed practice or practice in a sector of the healing arts that is not regulated.
For this reason, Citizens Commission on Human Rights exposes people in the mental health industry who have been criminally charged, convicted and/or sentenced as well as those who have been investigated and charged by state health care licensing boards.
The St. Louis Metro region continues to be the epicenter of the drug overdose epidemic in Missouri and accounted for approximately 55% of all drug overdose deaths in Missouri in 2019 and 2020.
While the majority of these drug-involved deaths involved opioids in St. Louis City and County in 2020, we observe that illegal stimulants were also a major contributor. Unfortunately, legal stimulants, depressants and other prescribed psychotropic drugs can also share in the shame, as violence, suicide and heart attacks are known potential side effects of antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs.
Recreational use of prescription drugs is a serious problem with teens and young adults. National studies show that a teen is more likely to have abused a prescription drug than an illegal street drug. Depressants, opioids and antidepressants are responsible for more overdose deaths (45%) than cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and amphetamines (39%) combined.
To promote drug education, October 2021 has been proclaimed “Drug-Smart St. Louis Month in St. Louis County, Missouri“:
[L-to-R Stephen Forney, Ellen Maher-Forney, Dr. Sam Page, Moritz Farbstein]
“I, Sam Page, St. Louis County Executive, do hereby proclaim the month of October 2021, as Drug-Smart St. Louis Month in St. Louis County, Missouri, and do hereby recognize the Foundation for a Drug-Free World – St. Louis Chapter, volunteers and St. Louis drug educators and encourage the citizens of St. Louis County to participate in drug education activities.”
The fact missed by most is that psychiatric, mind-altering drugs have been found to be the common factor in an overwhelming number of acts of random senseless violence and suicide. On the surface, the idea of psychiatric treatment, tranquilizers or antidepressants creating hostility and violence may not make sense. After all, they are supposed to make people better, calm and quiet. But the reality is that they can and do create such adverse effects. This is called “Drug Induced Psychosis.”
It could be dangerous to immediately cease taking psychiatric drugs because of potential significant withdrawal side effects. No one should stop taking any psychiatric drug without the advice and assistance of a competent medical doctor.
Psychiatric treatments such as drugs, electric shock and involuntary commitment are supposed to assist people who need help, not kill them. Too often, delinquency, suicide and violence have been falsely attributed to someone’s “mental illness,” when in fact the very psychiatric methods used to “treat” such “illness” are the cause of the problem. In addressing the rise in drug overdoses, senseless violence and suicide in society, the role of psychiatric drugs must be investigated.
Periodically we let you know the progress of various proposed legislation making its way through the Missouri General Assembly and suggest ways for you to contribute your viewpoint to your state Representative and state Senator.
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: http://revisor.mo.gov/.
The 101st General Assembly Regular Session convened on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, and will end on Friday, May 14, 2021.
This time we’d like to discuss a bill about which we’d like you to contact your legislators. Please write, call or visit to express from 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. SB551).
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.
Very Bad Bill
This is a bill that furthers psychiatric abuses of human rights, and is moving swiftly toward becoming law. Please express your opposition and opinions about this to your legislators and copy the sponsor.
SB551 – Senate Bill 551 – sponsored by Senator Karla May (Democrat, District 04 – Parts of St. Louis City & St. Louis County). Related to SB26.
“This act establishes the “Critical Incident Stress Management Program” within the Department of Public Safety. The program shall provide services for peace officers to assist in coping with stress and potential psychological trauma resulting from a response to a critical incident or emotionally difficult event.
“This act provides that all peace officers shall be required to meet with a program service provider once every three to five years for a mental health check-in. The program service provider shall send a notification to the peace officer’s commanding officer that he or she completed such check-in.
“This act creates the “988 Public Safety Fund” within the state treasury and shall be used by the Department of Public Safety for the purposes of providing services for peace officers to assist in coping with stress and potential psychological trauma resulting from a response to a critical incident or emotionally difficult event. Such services may include consultation, risk assessment, education, intervention, and other crisis intervention services.”
This act is substantially similar to provisions in SB 26.
Why is this bill bad?
This bill coerces police officers into the psychiatric mental health system, where they can be prescribed harmful and addictive psychotropic drugs which have known side effects of violence and suicide.
The estimated net financial effect is to cost the State of Missouri $7,243,500 over the next four years for servicing roughly 24,145 police officers. This does not include the costs for full-time personnel to implement the program, nor does it include the additional costs for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
When we speak of “coercive psychiatry” we mean that psychiatry is used as a means of social control against which one has no recourse and cannot fight back. This bill is a prime example of enforced treatment.
Disguising social control as medical treatment is a deceit which conceals an abuse. This is a de facto abuse of power, as it seeks to limit and control the individual instead of helping the individual to get better and improve their conditions in life.
Coercive psychiatry is not intended to cure anything. On the contrary, psychiatry is the science of control and entrapment, and having power over distressed and vulnerable individuals. Wherever men have advocated and advanced totalitarianism, they have used psychiatric principles to control society, to put limits on individual freedom, to suppress and punish dissent, and to trap people into worsening conditions. It is actually a mis-use of power, since its intentions are to make less of a person’s self-determinism and give more power to others and the state.
Download and read the full CCHR report “Community Ruin — Psychiatry’s Coercive ‘Care’ — Report and recommendations on the failure of community mental health and other coercive psychiatric programs.“
