CCHR Florida on Advanced Mental Health Directive Workshop in Campaign to Protect the Elderly

CLEARWATER, Fla., May 31, 2017 -- The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a non-profit mental health watchdog group established by the Church of Scientology and Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, is hosting a workshop on Advanced Mental Health Directives in honor of World Elder Abuse Awareness month at 6:30pm on June 14th at their center located at 109 N. Fort Harrison Ave in downtown Clearwater. The free workshop is free and will be delivered by attorney Mrs. Carmen Miller who held the position of Assistant Public Defender in the Thirteenth Circuit for many years in Tampa, and is now in the private sector specializing in cases of those who are involuntarily committed under the Baker Act.

– It is estimated that as many as 5 million elders are abused each year and that only 1 in 14 cases of abuse are reported.[i] An Advanced Mental Health Directive (AMHD) is a little known resource that can be used by individuals to protect their rights if they become incompetent to make decisions.[ii] Known as a “Declaration”, Florida law allows a person to write instructions on what if any mental health care they wish to receive including hospitalization, psychiatric drugs, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and experimental procedures.

According to Federal Medicare records, over 20,000 Americans received electroshock in 2014 under Medicare, which Americans are eligible for when they reach 65 years of age.[iii] Of interest is that the percentage of elderly receiving ECT jumps dramatically for those who are eligible for Medicare from 3.4% of those under the age of 65 years receiving ECT to 15.6% for those 65 years of age and older.[iv]

“CCHR is bringing attention to the subject of elder abuse under the mental health law, especially the unnecessary involuntary psychiatric examination of seniors as well as the use of ECT on vulnerable adults,” stated Diane Stein, President of CCHR Florida.  “This workshop will educate people on their rights and how a declaration can protect them from unwanted and even dangerous psychiatric drugs and procedures like ECT.”

For more information on the workshop or the protection of elder rights under the mental health law please call 727-442-8820 or visit www.cchrflorida.org.

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.  It was L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, who brought the terror of psychiatric imprisonment to the notice of the world.  In March 1969, he said, “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.’” For more information visit, www.cchrflorida.org

[i] How many older Americans are abused? https://www.ncoa.org/public-policy-action/elder-justice/elder-abuse-facts/
[ii] Psychiatric Advanced Directives in Florida http://www.nrc-pad.org/states/florida-faq
[iii] Petition to Ban ECT Device use on Elderly https://www.change.org/p/ban-electroshock-ect-device-being-used-on-children-the-elderly-and-vulnerable-patients
[iv] Variation in ECT use in the United States https://www.researchgate.net/publication/15444308_Variation_in_ECT_use_in_the_United_States

Media Contact:
Diane Stein
President, CCHR Florida
727-442-8820
[email protected]
www.cchrflorida.org