{"id":119321,"date":"2024-06-25T05:00:11","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T09:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/?p=119321"},"modified":"2024-06-24T19:07:44","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T23:07:44","slug":"citizens-commission-on-human-rights-demands-the-royal-college-of-psychiatrists-end-the-use-of-ect-and-all-coercive-psychiatric-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/citizens-commission-on-human-rights-demands-the-royal-college-of-psychiatrists-end-the-use-of-ect-and-all-coercive-psychiatric-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizens Commission on Human Rights Demands the Royal College of Psychiatrists End the Use of ECT and All Coercive Psychiatric Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDINBURGH, Scotland, and LOS ANGELES, Calif., June 25, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The UN and World Health Organization issued mental health guidance<\/a> in October 2023, but the Royal College of Psychiatry (RCPsych) has still failed to direct members to comply. They have not directed members to cease using ECT (electroconvulsive treatment) and have not demanded an end to involuntary commitment. Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) staged a march through Edinburgh and a protest at the RCPsych annual International Congress, demanding the organization immediately act to protect the human rights and health of the people of the UK.<\/p>\n

\"Citizens
Photo caption: Citizens Commission on Human Rights took to the streets to demand that the Royal College of Psychiatrists direct the ban of ECT immediately.<\/em><\/p>\n

The UN guidance<\/a> states: \u201cCoercive practices in mental health care violate the right to be protected from torture<\/a> or cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.\u201d It calls for informed consent before any use of ECT, stating individuals who are \u201coffered ECT should also be made aware of all its risks and potential short- and long-term harmful effects, such as memory loss and brain damage.\u201d And it states ECT on children \u201cshould be prohibited through legislation.\u201d The UK must act now to protect the human rights of those caught in the mental health system, says CCHR.<\/p>\n

According to the UK National Health Service 2022-23 report, there were 51,312 cases of involuntary commitment in the UK<\/a> that year alone. What\u2019s more, the National Health Service paid for 1,989 acute courses of ECT to 1,835 individual patients<\/a> in 2021. (An acute course of ECT<\/a> is 6 to 12 treatments.) In 2019, more than a third<\/a> of the ECTs administered were carried out without<\/em> patient consent, 18 percent of which were even carried out without the second opinion required by the National Health Service.<\/p>\n

To raise awareness of the need for immediate action to end these and other harmful practices, CCHR brought its Psychiatry: An Industry of Death Traveling Exhibit <\/em>to Edinburgh to coincide with the Royal College of Psychiatrists 2024 International Congress. That visitors to the exhibit at the Edinburgh Training and Conference Venue at 16 St Mary\u2019s St. in Edinburgh were shocked to learn the facts and the history of ECT and other inhumane psychiatric practices is clear from feedback of those who toured:<\/p>\n