CCHR Supports Call for Ban on Electroshock Treatment by UK Legislators

Mental health watchdog says a recent UK recognition that electroshock treatment should be banned is needed in the U.S., where 100,000 Americans, including children as young as 5, are electroshocked each year. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International, a 54-year mental health industry watchdog based in Los Angeles, has welcomed the United Kingdom government … Read more

U.S. Congress Gives Legal Right to Ban Electroshock Treatment Torture Device

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

New Study Shows Suicides After Electroshock

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 Praised for 47 Years of Exposing Psychiatric Abuses in New Zealand

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

MECTA Electroshock Device Manufacturer Files for Bankruptcy as its Shock Box Loses Liability Insurance

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

New Study Tells Consumers the Truth of Potential Lethal Electroshock and Antidepressant Risks

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

U.S. States Still Electroshocking 0–5-year-olds—A Total ECT Ban is More Vital Than Ever in Light of New Statistics

Forced to obtain electroshock statistics through FOIA, CCHR finds states electroshocking those 0–5 and up to age 12. UN defines any ECT without consent as an act of torture—yet this increasingly occurs throughout the U.S. Statistics on electroshock treatment (ECT) usage in the U.S. for 2019 reveals at least four of 27 states reporting ECT … Read more

CCHR Notifies Electroshock Hospitals on the Failure to Inform Patients of Risks

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

CCHR Urges Greater Govt. Oversight of Elderly Chemically Restrained and Shocked

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

CCHR Wants Ban on Electroshock “Conversion Therapy” Extended to All ECT

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