A photo of a long-haired, light-skinned individual. Photos of flowers are airbrushed into the image.

Shield alert: And Steiner forced to endure assault at institution in Boston, MA, USA after reporting patient abuse and transgender discrimination

By Sarah Smith | March 21, 2024

Update: March 21st, 2024   Latest News   1. Positive developments In response to a series of emails addressed to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) and their Adult Clinical Community Services (ACCS), in which And Steiner (pronouns: it/its) and its many advocates expressed concern about DMH’s plans to forcibly and prematurely discharge And…

Shield alert: Dawn Dziuba indefinitely institutionalized against will for over 9 years in St. Louis, Missouri, USA

By Sarah Smith | September 21, 2023

Update: 10/22/2023 Latest news Dawn continues to receive monthly injections of Abilify against her will. Sean Rapp, her court-appointed guardian and the public administrator of the city of St. Louis, has made no effort to challenge this violation of her rights. Missouri’s Protection and Advocacy for People with Mental Illness (PAIMI) agency has received numerous…

Depiction of D, dark skinned man with dark glasses wearing a white short

Anonymous disabled Black man in Lahaina, Hawaii, USA asks for Shield members’ help

By Sarah Smith | September 9, 2023

“D” is a visionary, community organizer and coach, living in Lahaina, Maui. He is also a MindFreedom International member and a disabled Black trauma survivor. In 2016, he was catastrophically injured in a car accident involving an Uber driver. The accident severed his spine, and despite several reconstructive surgeries, he was left with chronic pain,…

Shield alert: Lar L. forcibly drugged and institutionalized in Southampton, UK

By Sarah Smith | July 17, 2023

Lar L. is an enrolled Shield member who is being psychiatrically incarcerated. She wants to live independently in the community without the threat of being forcibly drugged. She has had horrible traumatizing past experiences of being over-medicated and sedated. Currently, she is in a restricted psychiatric facility called Antelope House and she is being subjected…

Picture depicts a chic dark-skinned female wearing a blue jumpsuit with black straightened hair pulled into a high ponytail

Shield Alert: Defend Strawberry Hampton against abuse at Logan Correctional Center in Illinois

By Sarah Smith | March 21, 2023

Strawberry Hampton is a Black transgender woman incarcerated at Logan Correctional Center for “crimes of poverty.” She has faced severe retaliation from her jailers for filing PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) reports and standing up for both herself and other women. MFI volunteer Lily Naha has organized an emergency fundraiser to raise legal funds for…

Raise the Shield with People Power! Make a Donation Today and Help us Raise $10,000 to Sustain MFI’s Shield!

By Sarah Smith | July 12, 2022

Help Us Raise the Shield with People Power! MFI has launched a campaign to support the Shield, one of MFI’s signature programs. Our goal is to raise $10,000 to keep the Shield in operation until we can find a way of permanently endowing/sustaining it through people power. Without your help, we will not be able…

Fundraising Drive for the Shield

By Moofy | May 24, 2022

Support the MFI Shield: Stop Human Rights Abuses in Psychiatry! We are now raising funds for our Shield Campaign. MindFreedom International’s Shield advocates for people who have been deprived of their rights by the mental health system. These are rights to make the basic choices that many of us take for granted. With your help,…

Shield Alert: Update on David Italiano

By Moofy | May 18, 2022

See our latest update 6/28/2022: Still no independence for David Italiano. Update 6/12/2022: Our allies at Pennsylvania ADAPT and Roads to Freedom recently held a major demonstration this past Wednesday, June 8, at the Pennsylvania State Capitol. A recording of a livestream from one activist is available on Facebook here. Update from 18 May 2022: Update…

MindFreedom In Conjunction with Roads to Freedom Center for Independent Living Center is Turning Up the Heat for Shield of David Italiano, in Pennsylvania. Sign the Petition to Find and Free David Today!

By Sarah Smith | March 10, 2022

Updated 5/18/2022   Update for David Italiano Though it has been several months since MindFreedom International (MFI) in conjunction with Roads to Freedom Center for Independent Living (RTFCIL) issued a Shield update on behalf of David Italiano, we are not giving up – not by a long shot! See our Call To Action below. Work on…

Siddhartha Fisher

Shield Member, Siddharta Fisher to be released from Western State Hospital! Thank you for your calls, emails, letters!

By Sarah Smith | July 23, 2021

Updated January 5, 2022 Reintegrating at last!! MFI was informed that page was in need of an update! Siddhartha’s discharge and integration back into the community did not go as smoothly as we had hoped (due to discrimination against Sidd’s family members and lack of housing options for psychiatric survivors) but she is now safely…

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Shield Alert: Stop David Russell from being forcibly electroshocked

By Jim Gottstein | November 23, 2024

12/12/24:  It turns out that on October 2nd, the guardian/conservator, Brittany Dannehy of Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota filed an ex parté (without notice to David) petition to put $15,000 of David’s money in an irrevocable trust to pay for funeral expenses in order to reduce his assets below the medical assistance threshold to remain…

Shield Alert: Free Kedrick Tucker from psychiatric imprisonment

By Jim Gottstein | September 23, 2024

Update: November 9, 2024 Kedrick’s treatment team is refusing to allow him to move up a level, which would give him more privileges. They claim this is because he sleeps too much, even though extreme lethargy is a side effect of the drugs he is being forced to take. Additionally, they still have not given…

Shield Alert: Juba Mahiou Discharged, but Still Subjected to Forced Drugging

By Jim Gottstein | August 2, 2024

August 2, 2024 Update Juba Mahiou, a young immigrant to Quebec, was detained for over six months at the Centre Intégré de Santé et de Services Sociaux de Laval (CISSS Laval) after a dispute with his family. Dr. Ali Jaber recieved court approval to forcibly drug Juba there, even as the judge acknowledged in his…

Shield Alert: Stop the forced drugging of Jill Kesti in her own home

By Jim Gottstein | August 2, 2024

August 2, 2024 Update Jill Kesti, a human rights activist in northern Michigan and founder of the Coalition to Stop Forced Drugging, is likewise facing home invasions by the Copper County Community Mental Health group (CCCMH). It has been a bit difficult to get timely info out about what Jill needs – in part because, fortunately, she was…

Shield Alert: End the harmful forced drugging and 6-year-long psychiatric incarceration of Lisa Espinosa

By Jim Gottstein | July 23, 2024

Please put an end to the harmful forced drugging and 6-year-long psychiatric incarceration of Lisa Espinosa September 10, 2024. Lisa reports that at her latest hearing (last week), the judge declared that Lisa would not be eligible to have another hearing until next year. It is not known at this writing if the hearing that…

Shield Alert: Stop the Forced Drugging of Donna Jeans

By Jim Gottstein | July 11, 2024

Update:  Correction to E-mail Address July 12, 2022.  The e-mail address we sent out earlier is incorrect.  It is missing a period.  The correct address is practice3.bridlington@nhs.net.  We profusely apologize for our mistake.  If you previously sent an e-mail to the wrong address we would be grateful if you could resend it to the correct address. STOP THE…

Shield Alert: Marcela Freed!!

By Jim Gottstein | July 2, 2024

Marcela Freed!! Marcela was freed just a few hours after we started putting pressure on them!  She believes it got her freed.  Thank you to everyone who supported Marcela!! Free Marcela Musgrove from psychiatric imprisonment in South Carolina! Marcela Musgrove is being held against her will at Lighthouse Behavioral Health Hospital in Conway, South Carolina.…

William Mahler

Shield Alert: William Mahler Freed from Psychiatric Imprisonment in Massachusetts

By Jim Gottstein | April 28, 2024

We Won! May 29, 2024. It is a perhaps a stretch to say we won, but William was ordered freed after the hearing at which at least 15 MindFreedom Shield supporters of William attended by Zoom.  Unlike most lawyers in these cases, starkly demonstrated by the ones before William’s, Tamara Barney did a terrific job…

Harmful legislation alert: Oppose Idaho bill allowing 12-year-olds to be electroshocked

By Jim Gottstein | March 25, 2024

Update: Revised Bill Passes April 8, 2024.  The amended bill passed both the House and the Senate on April 3rd and the Governor signed it on April 8th.  It is set to go into effect July 1st. Update:  Not Dead Yet? March 28, 2024. There was a series of procedural moves resulting in an amendment…

Raise the Shield with People Power! Make a Donation Today and Help us Raise $10,000 to Sustain MFI’s Shield!

By Sarah Smith | July 12, 2022

Help Us Raise the Shield with People Power! MFI has launched a campaign to support the Shield, one of MFI’s signature programs. Our goal is to raise $10,000 to keep the Shield in operation until we can find a way of permanently endowing/sustaining it through people power. Without your help, we will not be able…