Citizens Commission on Human Rights

I am very proud of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights.

As I've been saying in my blog for the past few years I am a Scientologist and I (like Tom Cruise) have always hated psychiatry.

Actually, that's not entirely true.

As long as I've know anything about psychiatry I've hated psychiatry.

It started in 1968 when I was 20 years old. I was in college, and I went home on vacation. When I got back I found the husband of my best friend had had her committed to a (very luxurious, expensive, only-the-best-for-her) psych hospital and had signed her up for shock treatment. 15 of them to be exact.

Two weeks later when I got back she didn't even remember who I was.

She got (some of) her memory back, but she never got back her life.

After 3 years of trying to help her (including trying to talk her into coming off the meds that had made her a vegetable) I finally gave up.

I had to face the fact that as long as she was under the "care" of a psychiatrist they would be making her worse at a far greater rate than I would be able to help her.

This was a good year before I found out about Scientology.

And I didn't even realize that Citizens Commission on Human Rights was formed in the late 60's. I think it was 1968 or 1969. So it was really new when this all happened to me (or to my best friend to be exact).

It wasn't until 1976 that I heard about CCHR. And that was 3 years after I'd moved to LA, and had completely lost contact with her.

If Citizens Commission on Human Rights had been there (or I'd known about them) in the fall of 1968, maybe I could have saved my friend's life (because after the shock treatments and the meds, Jane would do nothing but sleep all day. She wouldn't talk. She didn't pay any attention to her 4 kids. Nothing. No life.)

That's why I think it's so important that people know how to get hold of CCHR and contact them if they are in a position like I was.

Their 800 number is (800) 869-2247.

And their web site is http://www.cchr.org