CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA, August 1, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Citizens Commission on Human Rights 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 hosting a seminar on August 10th on the mental health rights accorded to veterans at their center located in downtown Clearwater. Led by a military veteran, the seminar will cover PTSD, depression and suicide in addition to alternative solutions to traditional treatment.



The most recent report from the Department of Veterans Affairs revealed that veterans account for 18% of all suicides in the United States, with 20 veterans committing suicide every day. Additionally, over the last 10 years, the U.S. government has spent more than $4.5 billion dollars solely on medicating soldiers and veterans despite the fact that there are 27 international drug-regulatory agency warnings stating that psychiatric drugs cause a myriad of alarming behavioral side effects including suicidal thoughts. [1][2]



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. [3]



80% of veterans labeled with PTSD receive psychotropic drugs, many so dangerous they are labeled with the strictest warnings issued by the FDA. Additionally, the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration collectively spend $9 billion a year on their mental health budgets. [4]



Former US Army Sergeant Joel Kort said of the PTSD-type treatment he received as a soldier, “I didn’t see the emergence of psychiatry in the Army until I suffered my own injury, and then it was like a flood. It was a flood of doctors and it was a flood of meds…. I know that I’ve been on Ambien, Seroquel, Paxil—that was one of the big ones. A very dangerous drug…called Abilify. It kind of puts whatever meds you’re on, on steroids.” [5]



“Our veterans deserve to be properly informed about the documented risks of the drugs they are so freely prescribed,” said Diane Stein, President of CCHR Florida. “Veterans should be given alternative solutions to dangerous psychiatric drugs.”



These alarming statistics prompted the Florida chapter of CCHR to host a seminar on this issue as well as veteran’s rights. In addition to hearing from a veteran how PTSD affected him and his family, those in attendance will be shown excerpts from the award winning documentary “The Hidden Enemy.” The complimentary seminar is open to the general public. For more information or to reserve a seat please call 727-442-8820.



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. L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, first brought psychiatric imprisonment to wide public notice: “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,’” he wrote in March 1969. For more information visit www.cchrflorida.org



[1] https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2016/07/07/new-va-study-finds-20-veterans-commit-suicide-each-day/
[2] https://www.cchrint.org/issues/the-hidden-enemy/
[3] https://www.cchrint.org/2013/07/03/navy-veteran-kelli-grese-a-victim-of-deadly-military-drugging/

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

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

Sam Guillard
Citizens Commission on Human Rights Florida
+1 727-442-8820
email us here