CLEARWATER, Fla., Oct. 06, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a non-profit mental health watchdog organization co-founded by the Church of Scientology in 1967 and dedicated to the eradication of abuses committed under the guise of mental health, is hosting a month long open house at their center located at 109 N. Fort Harrison Ave. in downtown Clearwater. The purpose of the open house is to educate the public on the dangerous side effects of psychiatric drugs in honor of Depression and Mental Health Screening Month.
According to information from IMS Health, a company that provides information, services and technology for the healthcare industry, there are over 78 million people taking psychiatric drugs. This alarming fact spurred the Florida chapter for CCHR to host a month long open house for National Depression and Mental Health Screening Month which is observed annually in October. The public are invited to come to the center for a tour of the Psychiatry: An Industry of Death museum – tours are free and the center is open from 10am until 10pm seven days a week.
There has been a substantial increase in the number of Americans on psychiatric drugs with more than one‐in‐five adults on at least one psychiatric drug in 2010, an increase of 22 percent from the year 2000. Additionally, more than a quarter of the adult female population is taking at least one psychiatric drug in the United States.
“We are living in a drugged society that is blindly taking dangerous drugs such as antidepressants without fully understanding the risks,” said Diane Stein, President of CCHR Florida. “It is known that antidepressants can lead to suicide and yet with suicide rates continuing to climb these drugs are still being prescribed in ever increasing numbers.”
Compared to other developed countries, Americans use more medicines overall and rank first in the use of antipsychotics. In the South Atlantic area of the country, which includes Florida, almost 18% of the population is on at least one psychiatric drug and a report released in 2011 from a two-year long investigation found that foster children in Florida were prescribed psychotropic drugs at rates 2.7 to 4.5 times higher than other children in Medicaid in 2008.
“It is one thing for an adult to decide to take a psychiatric drug after learning the risks involved, but the drugging of children in such a vulnerable situation is unconscionable,” said Diane Stein.
The CCHR National Depression and Mental Health Screening Month Open House begins October 1st and runs for the entire month. Individuals are invited to the center to learn more about the dangers associated with psychiatric drugs as well as alternatives to medication. To learn more, please call 727-442-8820 or visit www.cchrflorida.org .
About CCHR:
Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHR’s mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections.
It was L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, who brought the terror of psychiatric imprisonment to the notice of the world. In March 1969, he said, “Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the ‘free world’ tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of ‘mental health.’”
After discovering that 55 percent of foster children in Florida had been prescribed powerful mind-altering psychotropic drugs, CCHR documented the abuse to the health department, which initiated changes that led to a 75 percent reduction in prescriptions for children under six.
Considered a potentially abusive, marketing tool for psychiatrists, CCHR Florida led the charge that got “Teen Screen”, mental health screening of school children, banned from Pinellas County schools in 2005. For more information visit, www.cchrflorida.org
Contact Info: Name: Diane Stein Email: publicaffairs@cchrflorida.org Organization: Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida Address: 109 N. Fort Harrison Ave Phone: (727) 442-8820
