Memorial
Day honors the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. It
also recognizes the shocking number of veterans and service members that have
taken their own lives. Despite highly touted efforts to curb the suicide rate
among these dedicated groups, suicides remain high and the mental health
industry watchdog group Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) is calling
on Congress to increase efforts to investigate this. CCHR’s Nashville chapter
is sharing resources and virtual messages this Memorial Day to shed light on
this subject.  CCHR
wants the military and Veteran Affairs (VA) to disclose whether psychiatric
drugs were tested for and present in suicide autopsies.  Suicide—not
combat—is the leading killer of U.S. troops deployed to the Middle East to
fight Islamic State militants, Pentagon statistics show. While an average of
4,200 veterans die by firearm suicide every year, it’s unknown how many of them
were taking a psychiatric drug or withdrawing from one or cocktails of them—a
vital correlation for families and governments to know. Potentially,
psychotropic drugs induce the “mental trigger” that drives service members and
vets to take their own lives. International
drug regulatory agency reports warn these drugs can cause suicide, violence,
mania, psychosis, aggression, hallucinations, death and much more. Between 2005
and 2011, the military increased its prescriptions of psychoactive drugs
(antipsychotics, sedatives, stimulants and mood stabilizers) by almost 700%
according to a New York Times article by Richard Friedman titled “Wars on
Drugs,” in April, 2013. Hundreds
of veterans are also given brain-damaging electroshock and this does not
include those given it in private or non-contracting VA institutions. In 2015,
140 of the VA’s healthcare facilities—approximately 49%—delivered electroshock.
The VA has spent more than $1 million on electroshock devices and related
parts, despite the device manufacturers having never provided clinical trials
proving safety and efficacy. CCHR’s online petition to ban ECT shows more than
120,000 people who would agree ECT should not be used on our vets and service
members. Memorial
Day is this nation’s opportunity to remember those who have courageously served
on the front lines and made profound sacrifices to ensure the freedoms we
continue to enjoy. They deserve the very best services, which doesn’t include
treatment that harms or kills in the name of mental health care. 























CCHR
is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious mental health watchdog. Its
mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and
enact patient and consumer protections. CCHR receives reports about abuses in
the field of mental health and is especially interested in situations where persons
experienced abuse or damage due to a false diagnosis or unwanted and harmful
psychiatric treatments, such as psychiatric drugs, electroshock (ECT) and
electronic or magnetic brain stimulation (TMS). CCHR is often able to assist
with filing complaints, and can work with a person’s attorney to further
investigate the case. To contact CCHR Nashville for more information, visit
cchrnashville.org.