Mental Health Watchdog Calling for Alternative Treatment Options for Veterans

With 286 drug regulatory warnings, 278 studies, and over 400,000 adverse-reaction reports on psychiatric drugs, veterans need to be properly informed about the documented risks of the drugs they are so freely prescribed.

Clearwater, United States - April 11, 2018 /PressCable/ —

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) of Florida, a non-profit mental health watchdog that exposes psychiatric abuses and is dedicated to the restoration of rights and dignity in the mental health industry, is calling for lawmakers to pass legislation in the coming year, that would give veterans safer mental health treatment options outside the scope of psychiatry.

According to a report from the Department of Veterans Affairs, veterans account for 18% of all suicides in the United States, with 20 veterans each day committing suicide.[1] Moreover, 1 in 6 American service members takes at least one psychiatric drug, while many veterans are prescribed dangerous combinations of up to 28 different psychiatric medications — culminating in addiction — such as one Navy veteran woman who committed suicide as a direct result.[2]

Over the last 10 years, the U.S. government has spent more than $4.5 billion dollars solely on medicating soldiers and veterans.[3] Yet, over 27 international drug-regulatory agency warnings state that psychiatric drugs cause a myriad of alarming behavioral side effects — such as violent behavior, mania, psychosis, and homicidal thoughts — and 49 warnings point straight to suicidal thoughts.

“We came to the realization that integrative treatment is the treatment of choice for people who have been in combat. The medications that they’ve been giving our troops, both at the VA and in combat, are ineffective and cause what the black box warning states.” — Dr. Bart Billings, retired Army psychologist and Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army.[4]

Currently, Florida veterans have zero VA-funded mental health treatment options, other than resorting to dangerous psychiatric drugs, which have been shown to exacerbate their traumas and challenges. Veterans deserve better, alternative mental health care options — which is why CCHR Florida is calling for lawmakers to introduce and pass legislation that will provide Florida veterans with safer and more effective options outside of psychiatry to assist their traumas, thereby helping them avoid becoming addicted to lethal drugs — which have no documented success but plenty of suicide reports.

“Our military and valued veterans deserve access to alternative treatments and to be properly informed about the documented risks of the drugs they are so freely prescribed,” said Diane Stein, President of CCHR Florida.

There are 286 drug regulatory warnings, 278 studies, and over 400,000 adverse-reaction reports on psychiatric drugs filed with the U.S. FDA. Full information about the risks of psychiatric drugs can be found at CCHR’s Psychiatric Drug Side Effects Search Engine.

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.’” For more information visit, www.cchrflorida.org

Sources:

1. https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2016/07/07/new-va-study-finds-20-veterans-commit-suicide-each-day/

2. https://www.cchrint.org/2013/07/03/navy-veteran-kelli-grese-a-victim-of-deadly-military-drugging/

3. https://www.cchrint.org/issues/the-hidden-enemy/

4. https://www.cchrint.org/issues/the-hidden-enemy/veteransandmilitarydeservesupportnotdrugs/

Contact Info:
Name: Diane Stein
Email: [email protected]
Organization: Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida
Address: 109 North Fort Harrison Avenue, Clearwater, Florida 33755, United States
Phone: +1-727-442-8820

For more information, please visit http://www.cchrflorida.org/

Source: PressCable

Release ID: 328626