The Netherlands – February 18, 2025 – There Netherlands Committee for Human Rights Foundation (NCRM)in collaboration with the Citizen Commission for Human Rights (CCDH)successfully welcomed the traveling exhibition “Psychiatry: a death industry” to the Zuiderkerk from Amsterdam. This striking event, which was held February 15highlighted the historical and contemporary violations of human rights in the field of psychiatry. Exposure, made possible thanks to the dedicated efforts of scientologists and militants of the rights ofMan was a revealing experience for hundreds of visitors.
L’Three -day exhibition took place in the heart of Amsterdam, contrasting strongly with the European Congress of Neurology and Neuropsychiatry which was held at the same time in an isolated industrial area outside the city. This strategic investment of the exhibition made it possible to ensure maximum visibility and accessibility to the public, reflecting the transparency and the public commitment defended by the CCDH.
A revealing journey through the history of psychiatry
Visitors to the exhibition were guided through interactive screens, multimedia presentations and stories historicals which detailed the disturbed past of psychiatry, first psychiatric institutions and programsEugenics to concerns current such as overmedication and internment strength. Visuals and striking testimonies have found an echo with the hundreds of visitors Present, ensuring that critical discussions on psychiatric practices remain in the public domain.
The Zuiderkerk, a historic site which once served as a cemetery, added a symbolic weight to the event. THE entrance porchmarked with a skullstriking the suffering endured by victims of psychiatric violence. Volunteers have ensured that the CCDH message is visible everywheresince a Ark of balloons in the colors of the CCDH until Information panels and leaflets distributed on site.
Denounce psychiatric practices and their consequences
The exhibition coincided with the Congress of Psychiatry, whose program included sessions on brain stimulation techniquesin particular electroshock, electromagnetic induction and deep brain stimulation by implanted electrodes. THE NCRM volunteers pointed out that if certain neurotechnological treatments can help patients suffering from nerve lesions, the emphasis historically put by psychiatry on biochemical imbalances and interventions cerebrals led to an alarming increase in prescriptions of psychiatric drugswhich today affect near three million people in the Netherlands.
One of the key questions highlighted was the high increase in ADHD diagnostics and the use of Ritalin, which has quadruple after a 2005 processing directive strongly influenced by psychiatrists with links with the pharmaceutical industry. Today, near 4 % of Dutch young people are treated for ADHD, although experts designate social and environmental factors – such as the school pressure, poverty and exposure to screens – like the main factors contributing to behavioral disorders.
Stories of strength and survival
A particularly moving moment was when a survivor of the psychiatric institution courageously shared her experience. She told how she had been Hard -off removed from her housedeprived of his children and placed in psychiatric imprisonmentwhere each attempt to assert their rights ended in an increase in drugs and control. She revealed that the The only way to escape was pretend to comply – A feeling shared by another visitor who had experienced similar difficulties.
L’official opening of the exhibition was marked by the poignant testimony of a Expert by experiencewho described his forced internment and the emotional consequences he had on her. His account profoundly moved the public, many of which admitted that they were not aware of the magnitude of these abuses in psychiatry.
Electroshock therapy and the call to reform
There electroshock therapy (ect)which is still practiced on 1,000 patients per year In the Netherlands, was a crucial subject of the exhibition. Despite more and more evidence of its risks of permanent memory loss and its lack of efficiency proven, the psychiatric establishments continue to use it. A controversial study on the ECT in 2020 led to the following conclusion: “ Given the high risk of permanent memory loss and the low risk of mortality, this long -standing failure to determine whether the ECT works or not means that its use must be immediately suspended until a series of studies Well designed, randomized and controlled by placebo have examined if there are really significant advantages compared to which the significant risks proven can be put in balance ”. Apparently, “criticism does not manage to reach the psychiatric caste,” said Ivan Arjona de Scientologie Europe, which has been involved for years in the UN to denounce the serious violations of human rights. THE United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture even said that forced psychiatric interventions could be akin to torture When imposed without real informed consent.
NCRM volunteers in a hurryDutch psychiatry association to react, but it has defended its membership in laws and regulations existing rather than reconsidering your position. This highlights the institutional resistance persistent to the reform, despite the growing world plea of theWHO and UN in favor of abandonment of Biomedical model of mental health.
The role of the media in the amplification of the message
The impact of the exhibition was reinforced by media coverage, which played a key role in raising awareness of the general public. Reports were published in “De Andere Krant”a Dutch alternative newspaper taken to 12,000 copiesas well as in Amsterdam Dailyensuring that the questions raised reach a wider audience. In addition, the Open letter addressed to the organizers of the psychiatry congress had tangible effects. In response to the CCDH defenseCongress has Deleted two key sessions on brain stimulation techniques and pharmacological treatmentsa significant victory in the fight against coercive psychiatric interventions.
Mr. OgéCCDH volunteer, also stressed the importance of implementing WHO and UN directives who promote ethical mental health practices, by highlighting the continuous role of the CCDH in the development of policies that protect them human rights.
A permanent fight for mental health rights
Since its foundation in 1969 by members of the church of Scientologyinspired by the work of Ron Hubbard and the psychiatrist Thomas SzaszTHE CCDH remained a leading spokesperson to denounce the abuses psychiatric and plead in favor of reforms. By exhibitions public, legal actions and efforts to lobbying, the CCDH continues to challenge theinfluence of the pharmaceutical industryto prevent coercive treatments And to defend the rights of people affected by psychiatry.
The success of theAmsterdam exhibition testifies to the unfailing dedication of Scientologists and CCDH activists to bring Truth and responsibility in the field of mental health. While the battle for human rights In psychiatry continues, the work of the CCDH is a Lighthouse of Hope and Justice For people and families affected by psychiatric abuses.
