As Americans celebrated Independence Day weekend, the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) brought its award-winning Traveling Exhibit to Old Sacramento, encouraging visitors to reflect on the importance of protecting human rights within mental health. The exhibit, presented during the holiday, highlighted principles of individual liberty, informed consent, and the protection of fundamental human rights in healthcare. Through historical documentation and educational displays, it examined controversial psychiatric practices and raised questions about coercive treatment and involuntary commitment.
According to CCHR research, an individual is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility somewhere in the world approximately every 30 seconds. In the United States, David Cohen, Professor of Social Welfare at the Luskin School of Public Affairs, reported that involuntary psychiatric detentions have increased at a rate about three times faster than population growth in recent years. A study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, using 2014 data, found that involuntary hospitalizations accounted for 54 percent of admissions to psychiatric inpatient facilities. CCHR maintains that once committed, individuals may be subjected to treatment without meaningful recourse.
"Independence Day reminds us that freedom should never be taken for granted," said a local CCHR representative. "Our goal is to educate the public about safeguarding personal rights and ensuring that no individual is deprived of dignity, informed consent, or due process."
The grand opening event was emceed by Patricia Schreiter, a former U.S. Army officer. Featured keynote speakers included Eric Eisenhammer, CEO of Dauntless Communications, and Stacy Anderson, Executive Board Member of the National African American Civil Rights Organization. Drawing from his own experiences, Eisenhammer expressed appreciation for CCHR's work, saying, "Thank you, CCHR, for the incredible work you do every day—educating, intervening, and giving people their lives back." Anderson focused on informed consent, referencing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech: "I have a dream for mental health justice. I carry a dream where mental health care does not open one up to harm, does not silence, and does not stigmatize."
Founded in 1969 by psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz and the Church of Scientology, CCHR is an international mental health watchdog dedicated to investigating and exposing human rights abuses. Its commissioners include physicians, psychiatrists, attorneys, and civil rights advocates. For more information, visit the CCHR website or watch documentaries on the work of CCHR volunteers and the film Psychiatry: An Industry of Death on the Scientology Network.
