166 Comments

1. I sent this email

   Dear Mr. Hanratty,
   Everyone has a right to personal legal counsel, no matter their medical state.
   Please let Mr. Russel have his own attorney?
   This can only serve to help Mr Russel’s self confidence and sense of safety which is crucial to good mental health.
   If he really does need ECT letting this happen after the presentation of all the facts.
   Isn’t that what we all ultimately want—what’s best for Mr Russel?
   Thank you for your attention

   Reply

2. Dear Dr. Morgan and Mr. Hanratty:

   I am writing as a MindFreedom International volunteer on behalf of David Russell to ask you to honor Jim Gottstein’s requests to sign a release/s of information and disclose the origin of the petition to forcibly use electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on Mr. Russell. I also implore you to abandon the effort to impose this on him. As a former psychiatric pharmacist as well as someone who has personally experienced ECT and other psychiatric interventions, I believe that this course of action is very likely to produce more harm than good and I want to encourage you to consider alternatives in collaboration with the patient.

   Most people diagnosed with mental disorders have experienced significant trauma in their lives and a large component of trauma is a feeling of powerlessness. Inflicting unwanted treatment on such people only reinforces that sense of powerlessness and exacerbates their trauma and mental distress. The 2018 Report on Mental Health and Human Rights of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says that such forced treatment should be “recognize[d]…as constituting torture.” Please see page 14, paragraph 46:
   https://psychrights.org/Countries/UN/180724UNMentalHealthAndRightsReport.pdf

   I underwent ECT voluntarily and I would still certainly consider it torture. The body pain and headache following the first application were incredible, and while I did not personally have significant memory loss, I did experience a very frightening “switching” phenomenon, requiring re-hospitalization for mania. I have no knowledge of Mr. Russell’s personal diagnoses or symptoms, but I do believe that ECT should probably be retired as a treatment option—or only used as a last resort— especially with there being TMS and other non-pharmacologic alternatives available. I definitely believe that it should NEVER be used without the informed consent of the patient.

   Thank you for considering my requests and honoring Mr. Gottstein’s.
   Sincerely,
   Eddy Zuber

   Reply

3. I sent this

   Dear Dr. Morgan:
   I am writing to urge you to withdraw the petition to administer electroconvulsive therapy to Mr. .Robert Russell.
   Mr.Russell strongly objects to this controversial and dangerous procedure. He has requested the assistance of
   Mr .James Gottstein,Esq of the Legal Project for Psychiatric Rights to assert his objection.
   Dr. Peter Breggin ,MD a well known psychiatrist who has supervised electroconvulsant therapy has found its
   questionable benefits to be outweighed by the serious risks his affidavit is fund below:

   https://psychrights.org/Research/Digest/Electroshock/210413PBregginRieraExpertReport.pdf

   The serious adverse consequences can make Mr. Russell unable to continue his career as a software engineer
   who must be able to keep up with technical developments in computer technology.

   More recent reports have not changed the riisk profile of this procedure.
   Please withdraw the petition.
   Sincerely,
   Arnold Gore

   Reply

4. Mike Hanratty

   Dear Michael

   Mr Hanratty

   I am writing as matter of urgency

   I’m not on a high horse I’m appealing to your best nature if I can at all despite everything

   As guardian contactable as a matter of fact at all times for Mr David Russell as matter of urgency fully knowing what is at stake here by proof of prior reply..please listen.

   If making self uncontactable on any reason then surely by law and duty of care legal and moral and ethical and by common sense and decency there is someone accountable to respond urgently to the multiple requests as below demanding actually what is required of you as someone respecting David Russell’s life liberty mind body and heart in his own best interests.

   Any collaborative intent of the organisation to dismiss ignore or deflect argument that is entrenched as don’t ask don’t tell culture of educated indifference is not accepted or acceptable as a “corporate” response as your apparent personal guardianship and responsibility is required to stand up. This guardianship which is bogus in the first place but hae been undertaken by Catholic Charities at a very vulnerable time in David Russell”s life implies responsibility to protect David from harm which should be enabling those that do stand up for his right to say no to a profiteering clinics decisions that are endeavouring to destroy his brain health, joy decision making and livelihood effectively placing more assets in the hands of the Catholic” Church” posing as charity. Please respond as duty if nothing else in time to prevent the harm of the ECT petition you have not even moved to prevent or seem to care about being made on this young man. Is Dr Morgan also Catholic and is this just a big boys club like the Masons ? Why are you not separating you own social professional and religious interests from what David actually needs .his self agency and life back ? His dare anybody take this from him ? A guardian should be doing everything possible to reinstate his freedom.

   A true guardian should be vehemently opposing as guardian a petition to Electrocute his God given brain.

   Would you be prepared yourself to stand in his place and take the things being inflicted in his life by your non intervention.

   David Russell’s interests are not for his property or for the organisations conflict of interest or indifference to just be ignored . His wishes must be respected.

   I could try to say till the cows come home what is right here but all of you will live with the consequences of inaction or pretending you don’t know what you are doing feigning ignorance or passing the buck. Literally

   David Russell has himself signed a release of information with consent to provide James B. Gottstein, Esq., of the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (Psych rights) however in typical collusion for the Mayo clinics own research and financial interests to keep people powerless and under forced drugging and incarceration they are not honouring this man’s best interests to provide the informed consent of release of information to David’s legal services.

   Jim Gottstein has emailed you directly to send him the Electroshock Petition and sign an Authorisation for Release of Information to communicate with Jim.

   I demand along with others respectfully that you immediately as your duty send Mr Gottstein the Electroshock Petition and sign an Authorization for Release of Information so at least Jim Gottstein can support David’s wishes please.

   Anything less is surely i ask you a matter of negligence not due diligence and care?

   Your job should be to support David in his decision making and not in place of him as he is a grown adult with capacity you are condoning impairment of with allowing pharmaceutical company backed facility to lock him up give him chemicals that are effecting his brain by depleting already it’s capacity and making him put on weight and as part of this escalating everything towards poor quality of life and statistically a terrible earthly existence by further assault on his personality and personhood..allowing others to decide he cannot grieve and be able to be supported by a non religious non psychiatric pert support and legal assistance to get back to his life and functional capacity pre this entire unnecessary and stupid incarceration enabled to continue by you.”Catholic Charities”…really?

   Bureaucratic systems also set up blockades to justice and mercy so I send this also to Bridget and again reiterate that if either hae taken a long weekend to avoid response that it is legally still a guardian who should me responding being Michael Hanratty yo my knowledge.

   Respectfully as can be

   Sincerely

   Sorry for any actual offence but I’m really offended when people take others lives and property into their own hands under coercion of powers that seem to be in the name of being a guardian or just don’t seem to care about the big picture of incremental bureaucracy,psychiatric abuse and torture.

   I hope I am incorrect and this is not a collusive act of arrogance to just table tennis with indignance by delay to obstruct justice, save face and based in pride. This bungle? can be at least attempted to be rectified from this point with the immediate provision of what Jim Gottstein Esq. has requested of you because David has signed an Authorisation for Release of Information and the Mayo clinic is illegally ignoring his legal right to do so. Therefore please provide this immediately as they require this according to them so Jim Gottstein with PsychRights can do his job to see the Petition to Electroshock that you also would have to send him with the Authorisation for Release of Information so he can act for David Russell with all of us that want to see ECT stopped and de-escalate this appalling situation.

   I stand with Mind Freedom International in seeking to free David Russell from drugging and electroshock and freedom from enforced torture, imprisonment and disregard of his rights and humanity by the state or whoever allows it to happen by neglect.

   In a personal capacity I also stand up for psychiatric rights anyway as a person of faith and with knowing myself that this other label by man of “neurodiverse” is that people feel deeply and can shut down especially in personal circumstances of loss and reset but in any case I know what’s right is that often this is incorrectly assumed illness when it’s just not, it’s a transition to adjust to the changes life demands and drugging is not the answer nor ECT not lockup . Trust understanding and space with kind people away from clinical trials and lies. .the opportunity to work ,live life on own terns. I believe that living a life worthy of saying I believe in Jesus Christ means saying no to injustice and yes to both mercy and righteousness of Jesus and to be oneself..all unique people. Mercy triumphs over Judgement.

   Kind regards

   I’ve not cc’d Bridget in the end but will hope heard

   Claire Gaudry

   Reply

5. I have emailed Mr. Hanratty and Dr. Morgan and left a voicemail message for Mr. Hanratty.

   Reply

6. Dear Dr. Morgan,

   My name is Nancy Rubenstein, and electroshock destroyed my family’s life. When a mother loses years of memories of her children’s lives,

   when she loses her career as a composer, can’t remember the songs she has written (I was a Fellow For The Arts in NH, winner of a grant

   from The National endowment for The Arts), can’t even remember how to play the piano, the consequences on a family are extremely dire.

   The children’s trauma affects their ability to form long term relationships. Unfortunately, I could go on and on.

   I can only imagine what Mr. Russell is going through, how you can justify terrorizing another human being I cannot imagine.

   What I can imagine is that you truly believe in what you are doing, and frankly, that is even more terrifying.

   One of the many things survivors of Electroshock go through, after they come to terms with the ways we have been harmed, is that we find

   information. We connect to sources of independently verified information, and we learn we were extensively lied to.

   I did a Canadian TV appearance with the late Professor Bonnie Burstow in Toronto, who took students through the research used to justify

   Electroshock. The research has more holes than Swiss cheese, it is truly shocking. The betrayal so many of us feel, colors our regard

   for medical professionals for the rest of our lives.

   I have to believe that you mean well, after all you sought to be a member of a helping profession, but coercion is not treatment,

   it is Trauma. Both you and Mr. Russell will be in my prayers. I pray that Mr. Russell’s preferences for his treatment are respected,

   and that your medical legacy is not one of doing more harm than good.

   Sincerely,

   Nancy Rubenstein

   Reply

7. From Caitlin

   I tried calling (507) 255-5555 and asking to speak to Dr. Rob Morgan. They said that the guardian needs to sign a release of information in order for me to speak to the doctor. I asked if I could just pass a message a long to Dr. Rob. They said they need the ROI for that and “They take HIPAA very seriously” I calmly explained that I’m not asking to look at any Protected Health Information I just want to pass along the message. We basically were going in circles. I called two different staff people and got the same experience.

   Would tying up their phonelines be effective? Or would it have the opposite effect?

   Reply

8. For the love of God if you are trying to send electric shocks into someone’s brain take away their assets their right to freedom and all their will to live you are actually nothing more than advocates for the devil in my view.
   Catholic charities..how on earth or in heaven is this a charitable act towards a fellow human being in God’s name ..this is actual heresy as far as I am concerbed purportedly acting in the actual Good Name of God…how can you justify
   Love and wisdom and anything about goodness in taking away a man’s right to life liberty and freedom to think for himself?

   What profit is doing to “the Church” and in the guise of “charities ” in this day and age taking over people’s assets and gaining hefty guardianship fees along with with profitability in collaboration with big pharmaceutical companies, is wrong …institutions with cross purposes and ultimately systemic corruption of power and abusive systems of mankind that are destroying people’s lives.

   STOP torturing David Russell and I pray in the powerful Name of Jesus Christ for his immediate release and an end to the lies surrounding him perpetrated by others. I pray for the Armour of God and all the angels of Heaven to cease and quench all fiery darts by the Shield of Faith and that David Russell will be delivered from further persecution at the hands of the law and those that are falsifying reports to have him incarcerated as a psychiatric prisoner. I pray for sound minds and protection over all involved towards real wisdom and kindness without prejudice against anyone who is not able to express themselves at this time that the Spirit of Truth will preserve David’s sanity and save him from the terror he is already enduring because his life and brain and body are under threat. Please protect him! People before profit.

   David Russel is terrified. He is currently a psychiatric prisoner at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and there is a court hearing scheduled for this coming Monday, May 6th, where they are on track to get a court order through a sham legal process to electroshock him against his will.
   ELECTRIC SHOCK UNDER HUMAN RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL IS ACTUALLY CONSIDERED TORTURE…WOULD A LOVING GOD CONDONE THIS? CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE SPANISH INQUISITION AS THE WORK OF A LOVING GOD OR A MANMADE TORTURE MACHINE?
   David is terrified because he saw another patient who was electroshocked who now can’t even talk.

   HOW CAN THIS BE JUSTIFIED?

   PSYCHIATRY IS A MAN MADE INVENTION SINCE NAZI AND WORLD WAR ONE ISNT IT… ANOTHER ATROCITY…WAR?

   Anyway despite the rant and rave this may be perceived as I am just going to end on please reconsider the implications of what this means for David if he is placed in an ongoing traumatizing situation where he hasn’t got choices on his healthcare at the very least . Make a stand for preserving his human rights

   I may not put this all into nice legalistic terminology for you but you know what ..Legalism is not what loving one another is about.
   Just ask Jesus!
   Kind regards
   Claire G in Australia

   Reply

9. Email to Brittany and Mike at Catholic Charities

   Hello,As a member of Mindfreedom I urge you as guardians of David Russell to take action to prevent the upcoming court hearing that would leave him vulnerable to forced electroshock treatment. You claim that your organization would never support someone undergoing electroshock therapy as a treatment. I ask you to stand by those words and withdraw the petition that is allowing this court . If it was not you who initiated this petition we ask that you authorize a release of information to allow David Russell to view said petition. Mayo Clinic is not allowing David himself to authorize the release of information and it requires the signature of a guardian. Mindfreedom is a community of survivors of abuse at the hands of psychiatry. We are currently trying to honor David’s wishes to stop his forced treatment of ECT. Without knowledge of who it was who initiated this petition it is difficult. We need your help in protecting David and we need you to sign an authorization for release of information. 
   We need your organization to honor the words on the homepage of your website 
   “Create a community and a world that honors the dignity of every human being”
   Sincerely
   Caitlin

   Reply

10. Dear Mr. Hanratty,

    The Roman Catholic Church teaches that a person may be required to refuse a medical intervention, including psychiatric treatment, if his or her informed conscience comes to this sure judgment. While the Catholic Church itself does not specifically prohibit the use of electroshock, the Church generally encourages the use of safe and effective treatment as a way of safeguarding personal and public health, and the body of evidence showing the extreme, capricious and irreversible adverse effects of electroshock should place this intervention outside those parameters. The following authoritative Church teachings demonstrate the principled religious basis on which a Catholic may determine that he or she ought to refuse certain somatic psychiatric treatment protocols:

    • Allopathic psychiatric somatic interventions are not morally obligatory in principle and so must be voluntary.

    • A person’s informed judgments about the proportionality of medical interventions are to be respected unless they contradict authoritative Catholic moral teachings.

    • A person is morally required to obey his or her sure conscience. A person may judge it wrong to receive certain treatments for a variety of reasons consistent with these teachings, and there is no authoritative Church teaching universally obliging anyone to receive any medical treatment. An individual may invoke Church teaching to refuse a medical intervention based on the Church’s teachings concerning therapeutic proportionality. Therapeutic proportionality is an assessment of whether the benefits of a medical intervention outweigh the undesirable side-effects and burdens in light of the integral good of the person, including spiritual, psychological, and bodily goods. It can also extend to the good of others and the common good, which likewise entail spiritual and moral dimensions and are not reducible to public health and safety. The judgment of therapeutic proportionality must be made by the person who is the potential recipient of the intervention in the concrete circumstances, not by medical professionals, courts of law, public health authorities or by other individuals who might judge differently in their own situations.

    At the core of the Church’s teaching are the first and last points listed above: allopathic psychiatric treatment interventions are not a universal obligation and a person must obey the judgment of his or her own informed and certain conscience. In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church instructs that following one’s conscience is following Christ Himself: In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right. It is by the judgment of his conscience that man perceives and recognizes the prescriptions of the divine law: “Conscience is a law of the mind; yet [Christians] would not grant that it is nothing more; . . . [Conscience] is a messenger of him, who, both in nature and in grace, speaks to us behind a veil, and teaches and rules us by his representatives. Conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ.” Therefore, if a Catholic comes to an informed and sure judgment in conscience that he or she should not receive a vaccine, then the Catholic Church requires that the person follow this certain judgment of conscience and refuse the vaccine. The Catechism is clear: “Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. ‘He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters.’”

    Based on these teachings of the Catholic Church, please support David Russell’s wishes to deny electroshock treatment.

    Thank you,

    Amy Smith

    Olney Springs, Colorado

    NOTES

    Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), “Note on the Morality of Using Some Anti-COVID-19 Vaccines,” December 17, 2020, n. 5: “At the same time, practical reason makes evident that vaccination is not, as a rule, a moral obligation and that, therefore, it must be voluntary.”

    See United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, 6th ed. (Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing, 2018), n. 28. Hereafter “ERDs.”

    “A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself. Yet it can happen that moral conscience remains in ignorance and makes erroneous judgments about acts to be performed or already committed.” Catechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1993), http://www.vatican.va, n. 1790. Hereafter “CCC.” 5See ERDs, nn. 32-33; nn. 56-57; Part Three, Introduction, para. 2; Part Five, Introduction, para. 3. 6See ERDs, nn. 56-57. Both of these directives state that the proportionality of medical interventions is established “in the patient’s judgment.” 7 CCC, n. 1777, citing John Henry Cardinal Newman, “Letter to the Duke of Norfolk,” V, in Certain Difficulties felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching II (London: Longmans Green, 1885), 248. 8CCC, n. 1782, citing Second Vatican Council, Dignitatis humanae, December 7, 1965, n. 3.

    Reply

11. From: Jim Gottstein [mailto:jim.gottstein@psychrights.org]
    Sent: Thursday, May 2, 2024 7:11 AM
    To: MHanratty@ccsomn.org
    Cc: jim.gottstein@psychrights.org; David Russell; Morgan.Robert@mayo.edu
    Subject: David Russell Electroshock Petition

    Dear Mr. Hanratty,

    Yesterday David signed an Authorization for Release of Information to provide me with information but Medical Records won’t honor it, saying only the guardian can authorize release of his records. Please sign an Authorization for Release of Information in favor of James B. Gottstein, Esq., for all documents and authorize personnel to provide me with information. Urgently, though, I need to see the Electroshock Petition, which I can’t imagine isn’t in your possession. Please immediately e-mail it back to me or fax it to (xxx) xxx-xxxx.

    Sadly, we have not yet been able to interest the media in David’s plight, but him being put in the same sort of trap that Britney Spears was may be enough to get them interested.

    Sincerely,

    James B. (Jim) Gottstein, Esq.
    President/CEO

    Law Project for Psychiatric Rights
    406 G Street, Suite 206
    Anchorage, Alaska 99501 USA
    (907) 274-7686
    https://psychrights.org

    The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights is a public interest law firm whose mission is to mount a strategic litigation campaign against forced psychiatric drugging and electroshock. We are further dedicated to exposing the truth about these drugs and the courts being misled into ordering people to be drugged and subjected to other brain and body damaging interventions against their will. Due to the massive psychiatric drugging of children and youth, PsychRights has made attacking this problem a priority. Children are virtually always forced to take these drugs because it is the adults in their lives who are making the decision. This is a national tragedy of immense proportions. PsychRights is seeking sufficient funding to increase its impact. See, Getting to the Next Level.

    Reply

12. Dear Dr. Morgan,

    Please do not force David Russsell to undergo ECT.

    I am the director of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse, and I work to provide accurate information to people with mental health conditions.

    ECT is an extremely controversial procedure that has caused life-changing harm to many. It involves serious risks. In fact, many people believe that it has destroyed their lives.

    The risks—permanent amnesia and permanent deficits in cognitive abilities—have been confirmed by researchers such as Dr. Harold Sackeim, a well-known proponent of ECT, whose 2006 study in Neuropsychopharmacology (www.nature.com/npp/journal/v32/n1/full/1301180a.html) concludes: “This study provides the first evidence in a large, prospective sample that adverse cognitive effects can persist for an extended period, and that they characterize routine treatment with ECT in community settings.”

    Psychiatrist Daniel B. Fisher, MD, PhD, testified before the FDA when the agency was contemplating moving ECT equipment from Class III to Class II; this reclassification subsequently took place. Here is a link to Dr. Fisher’s testimony: https://power2u.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/OralRemarksToFDA-1.27.11.pdf

    There is an abundance of information about the dangers involved in ECT at this link: https://psychrights.org/Research/Digest/Electroshock/electroshock.htm

    The World Health Organization and the United Nations are in agreement on this important point: “International human rights standards clarify that ECT without consent violates the right to physical and mental integrity and may constitute torture and ill-treatment. People being offered 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.” This quote appears on numbered page 58 of the document at the link below:
    https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240080737

    David Russell is already aware of the harmful effects of ECT. By eliminating the electroshock petition, you would be doing him a great service!

    Reply

13. TO Mr. Rob Morgan, nobody deserves to be electric Shocked, for what? His Parent Died, That right there is debilitating , He has Grief , Please let the Young Man go, Release him, Grieving the loss of a Parent or a Wife has nothing to do with mental Illness, Its grief, We loved our Wife for so many Years, and then they got sick, organs didn’t work, and they passed, we are left with a empty spot to deal with, a Void that is nothingless, until we do figure out how to deal with this Heavy Loss. Please All Of Humanity is asking you to Release this Young Man, for he did Nothing Wrong. Thank you,

    Reply

14. Sending an email to Dr. Morgan this morning:

    Hi Dr. Morgan
    I am writing to you as a concerned community member urging you to immediately withdraw the electroshock petition submitted for your patient David Russell. David Russell deserves the basic human respect of consenting or not consenting to what medical procedures he undergoes — especially when it is a procedure that the UN considers to be torture in some circumstances.

    I urge you to work in collaboration with David to find a treatment plan that he consents to and which does not involve barbaric and torturous measures.

    Best,
    Annie Singer

    Reply

15. Dear Dr. Morgan,

    Please do not force David Russsell to undergo ECT.

    I am the director of the National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse, and I work to provide accurate information to people with mental health conditions.

    ECT is an extremely controversial procedure that has caused life-changing harm to many. It involves serious risks. In fact, many people believe that it has destroyed their lives.

    The risks—permanent amnesia and permanent deficits in cognitive abilities—have been confirmed by researchers such as Dr. Harold Sackeim, a well-known proponent of ECT, whose 2006 study in Neuropsychopharmacology (www.nature.com/npp/journal/v32/n1/full/1301180a.html) concludes: “This study provides the first evidence in a large, prospective sample that adverse cognitive effects can persist for an extended period, and that they characterize routine treatment with ECT in community settings.”

    Psychiatrist Daniel B. Fisher, MD, PhD, testified before the FDA when the agency was contemplating moving ECT equipment from Class III to Class II; this reclassification subsequently took place. Here is a link to Dr. Fisher’s testimony: https://power2u.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/OralRemarksToFDA-1.27.11.pdf

    There is an abundance of information about the dangers involved in ECT at this link: https://psychrights.org/Research/Digest/Electroshock/electroshock.htm

    The World Health Organization and the United Nations are in agreement on this important point: “International human rights standards clarify that ECT without consent violates the right to physical and mental integrity and may constitute torture and ill-treatment. People being offered 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.” This quote appears on numbered page 58 of the document at the link below:
    https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240080737

    David Russell is already aware of the harmful effects of ECT. By eliminating the electroshock petition, you would be doing him a great service!

    If you would like to discuss this further, please email me at susan.rogers.advocacy@gmail.com.

    Thank you for your consideration.

    Susan Rogers, Director
    National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse
    https://www.mhselfhelp.org/

    Reply

16. Dr. Morgan:

    As a fellow mental health professional and a concerned citizen, I implore you to stop any and all efforts to subject David Russell to electroshock. This controversial “therapy” must never, under any circumstances, be given to a unwilling patient. To do otherwise is to participate in a Soviet-style form of oppression.

    Haven’t we advanced beyond that in our pursuit of civil rights?

    In my 42 years of psychological practice, I have seen the damage inflicted by ECT. In the name of God, please come to your senses.

    Dr. Danco
    Green Brook, NJ

    Reply

    • rom: martin savage
      Sent: 17 June 2024 06:26
      To: Farrugia.gianrico@mayo.rdu ; zorn.christina@may.org ; tim.walz@state.mn.us ; MindFreedom International
      Subject: Please stop this inhumane, brain damaging treatment of David Getting, i beg you, please show him mercy

      Dear all,

      Please read below,

      I beg you all to reconsider and show this poor tormented soul some mercy.

      All your Ancestors faced difficult lives, struggles ward and starvation so you could breath this air and walk on Gods earth, please show them respect and David and stop this, i beg you! “What you do unto others will be done to you in the next life!”
      Please see below –
      Dear Doctor,

      My name is Martin Savage and i am member of the British Neuroscience community. I am hoping to publish my article following on from the work of Paul Donald Maclean covering many aspects of Psychiatric care and Psychology later this year. Once peer reviewed, i hope this will be published in “Sage” which is a magazine circulated globally in the world of Neuroscience. I will also ne making it available on the Amazon platform for all to read.

      Quite frankly i am appalled that this antiquated so called “treatment” is being used under the guise of the patients “best Interests”

      I have been studying the brain for over a decade and electrocuting a patient to the point of causing a seizure is inhumane and serves no purpose other than to “Subdue” the patient. This procedure does not heal, it destroys brain cells.

      This is in clear Violation of the “Hippocratic oath” and if your conscious believes this to be of any benefit to the patient, this is seriously troubling.

      I beg you to reconsider this approach and consider other options.

      With kind regards
      Martin Savage

    • It is David Russell, not David Getting. The e-mail was confusing on that, I guess.

17. Please STOP 🛑 your petition to inflict ECT on Mr David Russell

    Dear Rob

    G’day I cannot with respect say Dr because anyone who is thinking to petition to electrically shock another in the brain in my view has not really been taking the Hippocratic oath of First Do No Harm seriously in practice so does not have a title of Doctor which to me equates with someone who heals,with Consent to do so like any other medical treatment where consent is given.

    ECT does not fix a perfectly good brain that in neuro diversity is likely coming across in some cases as more intelligent to some ..a threat and different. Why?

    There is an I.T. engineer a person you will effectively be petitioning to ruin their cognition, employment , enjoyed quality of life and try to lower their expressed or obviously demonstrated intelligence and energy , why? so they are less threatening to your communication as you don’t understand the apparent difference in any social communication, their passion or supply that psychiatrists need to feel that someone is compliant to your theories? Please stop.

    I am sorry if this is seen as disrespectful to you and would prejudice you reading my view.

    So I will start again for the sake of perhaps you may read

    Dear Dr Morgan

    I am really hurt that you think it is ok to hurt others .
    Please STOP if you have a conscience and stop the narcissist attitude of superiority that psychiatry carries as none of you have the right to think you have in administration of the forced ECT and drugging of other human beings.

    Please see sense and do not electro shock a person’s brain.

    This is psychiatry gone mad with inflated opinions of self appointed medicos own egos and self appointed expertise on another , particularly in regard to not understanding other people.

    I speak from a lived experience of both supporting others through difficult times and neurodiversity and something every single person including psychiatrists struggle with maintaining: mental health..like any aspect of health.

    We all have it.. mental health, physical health, spiritual health, emotional health,social health, occupational health..or do we?

    ECT is classified as torture under the international convention in Geneva on human rights..it is barbaric, archaic non consented to and in some powerplay called “psychiatry” is done purely to labotomise essentially inhumane and disgusting without permission.

    Psychiatry one day will be seen as perhaps a made up pseudoscience created by overzealous pharmacy students of twentieth century post war experiments at best and perhaps for a minority with choice ,a benefit to some, by Choice. However in any case where force is used in the name of medicine it is no longer medicine. If based on applying crude chemistry to delicate individually unique brains and lives serving interests of large pharmaceutical company interests and overinflated salaries and abusive systems based on power and control of others…is medicine than that kind of psychiatry is insane.

    Warning : trigger warning : mention of suicidal ideation with psychiatrists

    Psychiatrists in fact sadly have had themselves a high mental health problem. I am sorry if this is any of Mayo clinic people if so I ask you to seek psychological help, or counselling and a caring community outside your profession if this applies as I am quite sure none of you would consent to being electrically shocked yourselves under any circumstances.

    Once I read a suicide “rate” in the profession, much as butchers do reportedly also some other medical and veterinary professionals. I only mention this because there must be something in any profession that deals regularly up close and personal with destructive practices, death of sentient beings and use of surgical, chemical or electrical trauma without consent and with sadness that affects the human conscience in those that practice in these areas. If you are feeling you need help please check into your local hospital or call a crisis line.

    It is not the patients that make people sick in the professions. Nor the patients that need direction of their thoughts by chemistry it is the actual medical ecosystem harming people by including the forced drugging institutionalising, imprisoning and abusing , name calling ( labels..concocted “diagnoses”) carrying over from the previous centuries along with the archaic ECT repackaging in different words…

    Electric shocking someone’s cerebral tissue without consent is part of this dated idea of “fixing”…and other forced treatments that instinctively as a human being anyone would know is beyond their,your natural authority. There is no right whatsoever to inflict harm on another’s freedom ,brain or body with no permission or consent. You know this..first do not harm.

    When it is not consented something in the most misguided person must be the God part says:
    this is wrong.
    The still small voice I believe some call a conscience is denied and that is why you all become so bitter and angry at your patients and resentful at those that oppose the practise of forced drugging and ECT. I am calling it out.
    It’s mind rape ,it’s abuse.

    Please do not inflict torture on any more people.
    ECT is WRONG.

    Please consider that co designing any healing places that are genuinely looking to help people rather than experiment on them or shut people down would include collaboration in decision making, a stop to all court ordered power plays to control others lives and harm their brains and further traumatize people. The peer support, with informed clients you call patients would be supported in their own decision making process that would always include any patient on any of their own medical or issues where counselling , housing and social work may better assist the needs and meet the issues for the person as being the patients decision to consent. This would also include acknowledgement of people of neurodiverse views and minds that fit and think inside Boxes like psychiatry seems to want to do , repeatedly.

    “Control” based in fear
    ( psychiatry)needs to give way to “Understanding” rainforest minds ( psychology, nurture,love)
    If there is a meeting in the middle it does not include forced practices of harm touted falsely under the guise of “treatment”.

    I pray hope and wish that you will withdraw the petition to electrically shock anyone and in this plea I hold you accountable for the harm …in petitioning for any electric shock of people against their will to please reconsider the damage that can easily be prevented please.
    Only a completely indifferent person or worse could petition this.

    May God bless you with the wisdom to do Good

    With grave concern
    Kind regards
    Inclusively with neurodiversity
    Claire Gaudry

    Reply

18. my email is as follows:
    withdraw or dismiss the Electroshock Petition for david
    1 message
    nayan savla Thu, May 2, 2024 at 11:31 AM
    To: Morgan.Robert@mayo.edu, mhanratty@ccsomn.org
    I am writing in regards to David Russell who is being forcibly held in the psychiatric unit at
    Mayo Clinic. Ideally, David should be set free. However, my main objective in reaching out
    to you today is to demand that his hearing on Monday be cancelled and that you will no
    longer pursue giving David ECT’s against his will.
    David is a bright man. He has a college education and has been employed as a white
    collar professional in software engineering. These accomplishments alone indicate that
    David is more than capable of deciding what he needs to ease his emotional distress and
    he says it is not ECT.
    David is rightfully concerned about the effects ECT will have on his brain. According to the
    UK National Association of Mental Health (mind.org/UK) research is unclear on how ECT
    affects the brain – including how it affects your mental health. Professionals cannot even
    come to an agreement as to whether ECT is even beneficial — a fact I find to be
    alarming. ECT often ends in memory loss. As if memory loss wasn’t enough ECT may
    result in a person’s inability to remember new information. Not being able to learn new
    information would impede a person’s ability to pursue future employment, a career or to
    pursue further education. Does any human being have the right to do this to another? Do
    we have the right to play God with another person’s brain? Do we have the right to
    incapacitate a person to the point that they can no longer pursue a career? Being able to
    remember new information is exactly what is required to find gainful employment and to
    live a fulfilling life from day to day.
    ECT causes electroporation leading to cell membrane damage leading to cell death. Due
    to the high voltages involved in ECT there is only limited cell repair. Even contact with
    minor voltage pulses can lead to deep tissue injuries. Do we have the right to injure
    someone’s brain? Do we have the right to determine the trajectory of his future by
    damaging his brain? Where is David’s right to self determination as a US citizen under the
    US Constitution?

    Being psychiatrically incarcerated is challenging enough but to force David to undergo
    ECT’s is a serious escalation of his situation. Psychiatric survivors who have been
    subjected to forced ECT describe it as a terrifying form of torture. There is a tremendous
    amount of evidence about this on the Electroshock Page at the Law Project for
    Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights) and you might want to particularly refer to PsychRights
    and Committee for Truth in Psychiatry submission to FDA opposing reclassification of
    electroshock machines, dated March 25, 2016.
    Similarly, if the hearing goes forward, I have no doubt untruthful testimony in support of
    the Electroshock Petition will be presented.
    Therefore, this is also to restate and reiterate my request that you withdraw or dismiss the
    Electroshock Petition

    Reply

19. Due to the urgency of this matter, Mayo Clinic must reassess their decision to involuntarily administer electroconvulsive therapy to David Russell. As stated in an email to Dr. Morgan, extensive scientific research exposes these types of treatments as extremely barbaric and archaic. Given the incremental insight provided from many academic disciplines concerning neurological disorders and mental disturbances, institutional psychiatry and all its constituents now bear a great responsibility in making ethical decisions concerning treatment options.
    * Respect for Autonomy (self-determination),
    * Beneficence (do good),
    * Non-maleficence (do no harm),
    * Justice (fairness),
    * Fidelity (keep promises), and
    * Veracity (tell the truth).

    Dr. Peter Breggin, Dr. Thomas Szasz, Dr. Martin Harrow, and so many other psychiatrists have dedicated years to debunking the efficacy of psychiatric drugs, lobotomies, electroconvulsive therapies, and other invasive treatments that only damage brain tissue. Standing before the great precipice of a developing anomie, Mayo Clinic must reweigh their therapy protocol given the longstanding availability of alternative holistic treatments proven by Orthomolecular Psychiatry since the 1950s. Knowledge makes people accountable for their actions/decisions. Again, ignorance is no excuse.

    Reply

20. From: Jim Gottstein [mailto:jim.gottstein@psychrights.org] 
    Sent: Wednesday, May 1, 2024 2:51 PM
    To: Morgan.Robert@mayo.edu
    Subject: David Russell 

    Dear Dr. Morgan

    This is to memorialize and follow-up on our telephone conversation earlier today about your patient David Russell.  I have been informed by Mr. Russell that he signed an Authorization for Release of Information today to provide me with information, presumably to answer my questions and provide documentation.  I understand documents go through the records department, but since the hearing on the Electroshock Petition is Monday morning time is of the essence.  I am therefore requesting (demanding) you provide me with the Electroshock Petition.   This can include directing Records to immediately get it to me.  I understand you might not want to e-mail it for privacy reasons and can (hopefully) fax it.

    While, I have not yet been provided a copy to review, I would be extremely surprised if it contains accurate information about the damage caused by Electroshock or its supposed benefit.  There is a tremendous amount of evidence about this on the Electroshock Page at the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights) and you might want to particularly refer to PsychRights and Committee for Truth in Psychiatry submission to FDA opposing reclassification of electroshock machines, dated March 25, 2016.   

    Similarly, if the hearing goes forward, I have no doubt untruthful testimony in support of the Electroshock Petition will be presented.

    Therefore, this is also to restate and reiterate my request that you withdraw or dismiss the Electroshock Petition.  

    Sincerely,

    James B. (Jim) Gottstein, Esq.
    President/CEO

    Law Project for Psychiatric Rights
    406 G Street, Suite 206
    Anchorage, Alaska  99501  USA
    (907) 274-7686  
    https://psychrights.org 

    The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights is a public interest law firm whose mission is to mount a strategic litigation campaign against forced psychiatric drugging and electroshock.  We are further dedicated to exposing the truth about these drugs and the courts being misled into ordering people to be drugged and subjected to other brain and body damaging interventions against their will.  Due to the massive psychiatric drugging of children and youth, PsychRights has made attacking this problem a priority.  Children are virtually always forced to take these drugs because it is the adults in their lives who are making the decision.  This is a national tragedy of immense proportions.  PsychRights is seeking sufficient funding to increase its impact.  See, Getting to the Next Level.

    Reply

21. From: Andrea Barnes
    Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2024 9:36 AM
    To: Brittany Dannehy
    Subject: David Russell

    Dear Ms Dannehy,

    I am writing in regards to David Russell who is being forcibly held in the psychiatric unit at Mayo Clinic. Ideally, David should be set free. However, my main objective in reaching out to you today is to demand that his hearing on Monday be cancelled and that you will no longer pursue giving David ECT’s against his will.

    David is a bright man. He has a college education and has been employed as a white collar professional in software engineering. These accomplishments alone indicate that David is more than capable of deciding what he needs to ease his emotional distress and he says it is not ECT.

    David is rightfully concerned about the effects ECT will have on his brain. According to the UK National Association of Mental Health (mind.org/UK) research is unclear on how ECT affects the brain – including how it affects your mental health. Professionals cannot even come to an agreement as to whether ECT is even beneficial — a fact I find to be alarming. ECT often ends in memory loss. As if memory loss wasn’t enough ECT may result in a person’s inability to remember new information. Not being able to learn new information would impede a person’s ability to pursue future employment, a career or to pursue further education. Does any human being have the right to do this to another? Do we have the right to play God with another person’s brain? Do we have the right to incapacitate a person to the point that they can no longer pursue a career? Being able to remember new information is exactly what is required to find gainful employment and to live a fulfilling life from day to day.

    ECT causes electroporation leading to cell membrane damage leading to cell death. Due to the high voltages involved in ECT there is only limited cell repair. Even contact with minor voltage pulses can lead to deep tissue injuries. Do we have the right to injure someone’s brain? Do we have the right to determine the trajectory of his future by damaging his brain? Where is David’s right to self determination as a US citizen under the US Constitution?

    Being psychiatrically incarcerated is challenging enough but to force David to undergo ECT’s is a serious escalation of his situation. Psychiatric survivors who have been subjected to forced ECT describe it as a terrifying form of torture. They often describe the lack of agency and lack of power itself to be overwhelming. Sadly, I know this to be true from personal experience.

    I was subjected to forced ECT’s. The trauma of forced ECT’s haunts me to this day and will follow me to my death. Prior to the ECT’s my husband, children and I were temporarily living in Morocco. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. After experiencing a poisonous spider bite that took a year and a half to recover I broke down from the stress of it all and my doctor subjected me to forced ECT. I still have nightmares and probably always will but worse of all I lost all memories of living in Morocco. I lost all memories of my children at 4 and 6 enjoying Morocco. That was 24 years ago and I still grieve. And the older I get the more I grieve the loss of that year in Morocco with my precious family more and more. I find the closer one gets to the end of their lives, memories become far more valuable than objects and the size of one’s bank account. It’s beautiful memories of the past that can give us the strength to face the adversities of getting old. Memories are what gives our lives meaning. It is morally and ethically wrong to alter someone’s brain through ECT’s so that they forget some of the happiest moments of their lives — the very things that give life meaning. It’s an affront against God and Nature.

    My mother lost her father at the age of 16. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage during an ECT that was being administered to him against his will — leaving my grandmother with a newborn and seven other children to raise with no life insurance. The trauma of his murder by ECT continues to be passed down from one generation to the next. I never knew my grandfather but I feel the trauma of his death to this day and so do my adult children. I pray that my grandson will be spared the inner generational trauma of his great great grandfather’s death by ECT.

    Pope Francis demands all healthcare workers treat patients as individuals, not numbers or cases. He states that any medical practice or intervention be painstakingly evaluated to see if it actually respects life and human dignity. Tinkering with people’s brains is neither dignifying nor respectful of life. David Russell is a child of God after all. I see zero respect for David’s dignity and life by violently forcing him to receive ECT’s that he has a right as a child of God to oppose.

    The United Nations Commission on Mental Health and Human Rights condemns the use of forced institutionalization and treatment and noted that it may amount to torture. The commission warns of people losing their legal capacity causing them to fall below legal purview through third party (Conservatorship) giving consent to subject their client to forced ECT and institutionalization. According to the UN, a third party giving consent for his or her client to endure unwanted ECT may very well constitute torture. As a Roman Catholic I see nothing pro life nor dignifying in forcing a man to endure ECT’s that will damage his brain and possibly alter the course of his entire life. I see nothing Christian or moral about that. As a Catholic I agree with Pope Francis’ call for life affirming care and for respecting the dignity of individuals. I ask you, are you truly respecting the dignity of David’s life, as Pope Francis calls us to do by forcing him to undergo ECT.

    David may be under a conservatorship but we will not let him be forgotten nor leave him isolated and alone. We, at MindFreedom, care about David Russell.

    As an individual who has been greatly harmed by ECT and as a Catholic I expect anyone employed by Catholic Charities to adhere to the values of Pope Francis. Forcing David Russell to undergo ECT’s he doesn’t want is not honoring David as a human being. It is not honoring the UN’s conclusion that to give someone ECT against their will constitutes torture and that is not honoring the teachings of Pope Francis. Therefore I am demanding you withdraw the petition of yours for the forced ECT of David Russell.

    Sincerely,
    Andrea Barnes

    Reply

22. Do Not Force Shock Treatments on David Russell! Shock treatments and forced medication are Torture for Human Beings! It was not clear how or why he was admitted to Mayo, but I can only assume that it was Also forced on him!
    I was conned into getting shock treatments – more than 25 of them – under threat that they (Region’s Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota) would and could hold me until I succumbed to this abuse. I was a prisoner, actually behind locked doors. I did not commit any crime and was forcibly put into that hospital. I was doing no harm to myself or anyone else!
    Stop This Abuse!

    Reply

23. I wrote an email yesterday and haven’t heard back.

    Addressed To: Brittany Dannehy, Mike Hanratty, and Senator Carla Nelson of Minnesota

    Hello, I am a previous donor to Catholic Charities and today, I read about forced electroshock being done at the Minnesota Mayo Clinic after Catholic Charities filed a petition for it to be done. The person, David Rusell does not want to receive Electroshock or to be on a guardianship or to be in a mental hospital at all. He is a software engineer, like me. What did he do wrong? How long has he been locked up? What are the asserted grounds of dangerousness? Please withdraw the ECT petition or let me know who filed it. What would Jesus do? Thank you.
    more info: https://mindfreedom.org/front-page/shield-alert-david-russell/

    Reply

24. From: Jim Gottstein
    Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2024 2:00 PM
    To: MHanratty@ccsomn.org
    Cc: office@mindfreedom.org
    Subject: Re: David Russell

    Dear Mr. Hanratty,

    It was not Mr. Russell who identified Catholic Charities as the Petitioner, but I. Mr. Russell informed me that he had not been provided a copy of the Electroshock Petition and wasn’t sure who had filed it. That surprises me because it should be legally required, but I don’t know if perhaps under Minnesota law serving Catholic Charities suffices because it is David’s guardian. Mr. Russell reports his putative attorney does not provide him with information, which is consistent with my experience in other situations.

    I saw that under Minnesota Statute 524.5-313(c)(iv)(i),

    no guardian may give consent for . . . electroshock . . . unless the procedure is first approved by order of the court

    and under 524.5-313(c)(iv)(ii),

    a guardian who believes [Electroshock] to be necessary for the proper care of the person subject to guardianship, shall petition the court for an order,

    so I concluded, apparently incorrectly, that Catholic Charities filed the Electroshock Petition. The MindFreedom Shield Alert for Mr. Russell states we did not know for sure if Catholic Charities filed the Electroshock and if you didn’t you could deny it and inform us who did (“If Catholic Charities did not file the Forced Electroshock Petition they can deny it and if so, should be asked who did”). Your citation of the Alert omits this, which seems deliberate.

    Mr. Russell may have already signed an Authorization for Release of Information directing that information be provided to me and the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights).

    Please provide me with a copy of the Petition, or at least advise us who filed it.

    The larger picture is as guardian, if you did not file the Electroshock Petition, you should vehemently oppose it and request the petitioner withdraw or dismiss the Electroshock Petition.

    You should know that the United Nations has concluded Electroshock can constitute torture in violation of International Law. See, UN Human Rights Council. (19 June 2020). “Mental Health and Human Rights: Resolution 43/13 Adopted 19 June 2020.” A/HRC/RES/43/13. Geneva: United Nations; UN Human Rights Council. (20 Mar 2020). Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: Report of the Special Rapporteur. A/HRC/43/49. Geneva: United Nations; Méndez, Juan E. (4 Mar 2013). “Statement By Mr. Juan E Méndez, Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 22nd Session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.” Geneva: United Nations. See also the related Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan E. Méndez (2013), A/HRC/22/53. Geneva: United Nations.

    I have spoken with David a number of times and he is terrified of being electroshocked. His terror is warranted. Please prevent your ward from being subjected to this barbaric intervention.

    Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

    James B. (Jim) Gottstein, Esq.
    President/CEO

    Law Project for Psychiatric Rights
    406 G Street, Suite 206
    Anchorage, Alaska 99501 USA
    (907) 274-7686
    https://psychrights.org

    The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights is a public interest law firm whose mission is to mount a strategic litigation campaign against forced psychiatric drugging and electroshock. We are further dedicated to exposing the truth about these drugs and the courts being misled into ordering people to be drugged and subjected to other brain and body damaging interventions against their will. Due to the massive psychiatric drugging of children and youth, PsychRights has made attacking this problem a priority. Children are virtually always forced to take these drugs because it is the adults in their lives who are making the decision. This is a national tragedy of immense proportions. PsychRights is seeking sufficient funding to increase its impact. See, Getting to the Next Level.

    From: “Michael Hanratty”
    Sent: 4/30/24 3:03 PM
    To: “office@mindfreedom.org”
    Subject: David Russell

    An individual under our guardianship has submitted false information on your shield action page. It is cited to “call and e-mail Ms. Dannehy and Mr. Hanratty demanding that they withdraw the petition for electroshocking David against his will.” Catholic Charities did not petition and would not petition for electroconvulsive therapy. We would ask that the post for the shield alert be removed immediately. Thank you.

    Mike Hanratty, NCG
    Adult Advocacy Program Director
    Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota
    PO Box 379, Winona MN 55987
    Phone: (507) 454-2270, Ext 233
    Fax: (507) 457-3027
    mhanratty@ccsomn.org

    This email information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and contains information that is CONFIDENTIAL. Further, this information may be protected by federal law relating to confidentiality prohibiting any further disclosure. If the reader of this email is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by email at mhanratty@ccsomn.org and destroy this transmission.

    Reply

    • From: Jim Gottstein [mailto:jim.gottstein@psychrights.org]
      Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2024 10:36 PM
      To: MHanratty@ccsomn.org
      Cc: office@mindfreedom.org; jim.gottstein@psychrights.org
      Subject: RE: David Russell

      Dear Mr. Hanratty,

      In re-reading your e-mail to MindFreedom I see you stated Catholic Charities “would not” petition for electroshock and I would like to explore that with you. I am five hours behind you, but hope to speak with you tomorrow about that.

      Take care,
      Jim

    • I called and left a message for Mr. Hanratty. No response so far.

25. I am a female software engineer and it is very often this population is misjudged because it is very often that we suffer from autism spectrum and ADHD. We are often exploited for our earning potential. Please help this gentleman. I was given forced treatment for bipolar I don’t have. Please stop them from doing this. They need legal consequences for harassing this population.

    Reply

    • Dear Esther, thank you for your support of David’s human rights. You are right to draw people’s attention to the disproportionate number of neurodivergent folk who are often subjected to harmful, psychiatric interventions for behavior which others find unconventional or for beliefs which are unshared. MindFreedom International is in solidarity with any person who self identifies with or is perceived by others to have a disability (physical, intellectual, developmental, psychiatric, or psycho social) and who is subjected to an unwanted guardianship or other substitute decision making arrangement which denies the individual any say so in their own medical treatment. As Ron Bassman PhD ( former MindFreedom Executive Director and psychiatric survivor) used to say “Forced treatment is an oxymoron!”

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