2018 Year in Review – Citizens Commission on Human Rights, Nashville Chapter

2018 saw the expansion of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, Nashville Chapter, carrying out the work of the international organization in the Southeast United States.

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) Nashville Chapter began the year by participating at the annual MLK Day convocation at Tennessee State University’s Gentry Center. They distributed materials on human rights related to mental health and side effects of psychiatric drugs and treatments.

Next up in January, CCHR Nashville had a special event held in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day where chapter members discussed the cause of racism and how it can be eradicated. A video was played to attendees which revealed how the pseudoscience Eugenics contributed to the Holocaust, and exactly who propagated these ideas.

Next, CCHR members took their message to nurses at the National Student Nurses Association convention where they were able to get their materials out to thousands.

In May, Nashville CCHR chapter members joined with others from across the country in New York where the American Psychiatric Association was having its annual convention. Human rights activists protested the use of electroshock treatment (ECT)—up to 460 volts of electricity sent through the brain—especially on children, some younger than five years old.

CCHR Nashville then took its message of human rights for those being abused in the field of mental illness to a community event in the Edgehill neighborhood and to events for parents and educators. Volunteers distributed fliers and spoke to people who have been victims of abuse in psychiatric hands.

In October, to observe World Mental Health Day, CCHR held a special “Lunch and Learn” with a health and wellness doctor. During the seminar, he revealed five tips for a stress free life, all of which are drug-free.

A Board Member of CCHR Nashville said, “CCHR volunteers are excited about all of the activity in 2018, but there is much more work to be done. People are getting hurt every day at the hands of psychiatrists. They must be brought to account for their actions.”

CCHR is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious mental health industry watchdog whose mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health. It works to ensure patient and consumer protections are enacted and upheld as there is rampant abuse in the field of mental health. In this role, CCHR has helped to enact more than 150 laws protecting individuals from abusive or coercive mental health practices since it was formed five decades ago. For more information on CCHR, visit cchrnashville.org.