Mental health watchdog says new study on electroshock and increased suicide risks reinforces calls for a nationwide ban. A recent study published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica found that after receiving electroshock, also known as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), patients were 44 times more likely to die by suicide than people in the general population.[1] The mental health industry watchdog, … Read more
CCHR calls on Massachusetts legislators to ban the use of electroshock for behavioral punishment, and not wait for the FDA to prohibit the shock device, under new Congressional law. We cannot wait until the FDA acts given its history of delays, while today children are still being tortured in the name of “therapy.” For more … Read more
RANZCP’s Trite “Apology” to the Lake Alice Survivors A “weak, pathetic waste of words,” one victim called it In June 2022, New Zealand police confirmed they had identified 136 former patients of the now-closed psychiatric facility, Lake Alice hospital, who had received electroshock (electroconvulsive therapy or ECT) without anesthetic as punishment. This was the third … Read more
In another psychiatric treatment failure, a new study shows electroshock fails to prevent suicide, with over 800 deaths within a year in those receiving it. As with patients prescribed antidepressants, those receiving electroshock have been misled that electroshock corrects imbalanced brain chemicals. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry reinforces that electroshock treatment … Read more
CCHR NZ spoke before a government inquiry about exposing decades of abuse where patients were electroshocked and drugged in the mental health system; psychiatric experimental treatment, and a litany of deaths. The Royal Commission heard of “children being raped, patients being over-medicated and a level of dehumanization akin to concentration camps.” Citizens Commission on Human … Read more
Company dismisses ECT dangers and, instead, blames ECT critics and lawsuits for its financial demise; CCHR accuses MECTA of ignoring damaging adverse effects of shock treatment. MECTA Corp., one of the USA’s two manufacturers of electroshock machines, filed for bankruptcy following lawsuits related to the company’s SpECTrum device. MECTA (Monitored Electro-Convulsive Therapy Apparatus) cited lawsuits, … Read more
Over 14,800 ECT patients were 16 times more likely to try to commit suicide than a control group of 58,369; antidepressants can also induce suicidal feelings and frightening long-term withdrawal effects. A new study published in Psychological Medicine questions the two principle physical treatments recommended for depression: antidepressants and electroshock therapy (ECT) and raises the … Read more
Watchdog says electroshock must be banned, but until this occurs, hospitals are being notified that omitting patient information of how electroshock treatment causes brain-damage and memory loss may constitute consumer fraud. CCHR is responding to consumers reporting severe and permanent memory loss from undergoing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). CCHR is writing to the more than 400 … Read more
In light of a recent media investigation and Medicare statistics, a mental health watchdog says increased government oversight of antipsychotic use and electroshocking of nursing home residents is imperative to protect and save lives. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International, a mental health industry watchdog, said Medicare statistics reveal thousands of the country’s elderly … Read more
Watchdog says, “conversion therapy,” which uses electroshock, is torture, recognized by the United Nations. Whether used for behavior modification, internet addiction or any psychiatric condition, electroshock is not conducive to achieving mental health. All shock devices require banning. While electroshock use as part of “conversion therapy” is being banned—most recently by Minnesota Governor James Walz—the … Read more