Traveling Exhibit Exposes Psychiatric Abuses, Opens in Austin

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) has opened a traveling exhibit in Austin, Texas, exposing historical and ongoing human rights abuses in psychiatry. The exhibit features graphic panels and video excerpts from the documentary Psychiatry: An Industry of Death, detailing the field's history from pseudoscientific theories to brutal treatments like lobotomies and electroconvulsive therapy, and the modern overmedication with psychotropic drugs.

Lee Spiller, Director of CCHR's Texas chapter, emphasized the importance of learning from history. "Knowing history is supposed to be the best protection against history repeating itself," Spiller said. "Ironically, and in spite of global efforts to reduce force and coercion in psychiatric treatment, psychiatry seems bent on repeating such history."

Nelson Linder, President of the Austin NAACP, underscored the urgency of protecting human rights. "There has never been a more important time to promote human rights," Linder said. "Working together, we can and should protect the rights of those accused of being mentally ill." He added, "There is absolutely no reason that someone should lose basic human rights because of a label."

Spiller highlighted the collaboration with groups like the NAACP over decades. He recalled protesting alongside the NAACP less than 30 years ago against a psychiatrist who claimed that foster children—disproportionately Black and Brown—were heavily drugged due to "bad gene pools." "Psychiatry should have dispensed with these ideas centuries ago," Spiller said.

Other speakers addressed parental rights in school mental health and the importance of rights education. One attendee described how CCHR's resources helped his family navigate an emergency psychiatric detention. "The information we received from CCHR helped us to get through this and come out the other side," he said. "I'm not happy about it, but the information from CCHR, and their calming influence made it bearable."

The exhibit travels through major cities in the Western United States, warning parents and community members about the dangers of psychiatric treatments. Fourteen identical exhibits operate worldwide. For more information, visit the CCHR website, watch documentaries on CCHR volunteers around the world, or see the film Psychiatry: An Industry of Death on the Scientology Network.