Reliance on Risk Assessments Questioned as Suicide Awareness Month Ends
September is nationally recognized as Suicide Awareness Month and the stated intention of this campaign is to “inform and engage health professionals and the general public about suicide prevention and warning signs of suicide”. [1] Each year one solution offered up...
Watchdog CCHR to Host a Baker Act Rights Seminar for World Mental Health Day
During a meeting of the Children’s Baker Act Task Force, it was revealed that a significant number of children sent for an involuntary psychiatric examination did not meet the criteria to be taken into custody. Unfortunately, this is not new information. The mental...
Watchdog Calls into Question Reliance on Risk Assessments During Suicide Awareness Month
Each year September is recognized as Suicide Awareness Month with September 6th through the 12th observed as National Suicide Prevention Week. The stated intention of these campaigns is to “inform and engage health professionals and the general public about suicide...
Reliance on Suicide Risk Assessments May Increase Suicide Deaths
Due to COVID-19, mental health advocates are predicting that “suicide is likely to become a more pressing concern as the pandemic spreads and has longer-term effects on the general population, the economy, and vulnerable groups”. One solution being offered up is...
The Unworkability of Suicide Risk Assessments
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death in young people in the US today and suicide risk assessment is often touted as the answer but experts in the field have repeatedly concluded that there is not any one scale that can predict who will commit suicide to any...
Debunking the Myths Surrounding Suicide Assessments and Suicide Rates
Each year an average of 44,965 people commit suicide in the United States making it the 10th leading cause of death for Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide deaths were more than double those due to homicides in 2015,...
Mental Illness…Fraud or Fact?
Interestingly, mental illness is not considered curable by those who supposedly treat it. In fact, according to the Psychiatric Bible (The DSM), there are hundreds of mental disorders. And not a single one of them has a promised cure. In medicine, there are certainly...Crocodile Tears: Florida Mental Health Begs More University Funds
In a bid to gain more taxpayer money, University System of Florida members are recommending an expansion of their mental health programs on campus. Dr. Andy King, counseling center director for the University of Florida pleaded with lawmakers. “It may not be...Are Mass Shootings on the Rise?
Recently, there has been some debate about whether mass shootings are on the rise or not. Studies have been done using different kinds of criteria thus resulting in different answers. One study includes gang killings and shootings in the home due to domestic...Statement – SB 54: Use of Substances Affecting Cognitive Function
CCHR has found that a majority of those who have committed acts of violence such as the mass murders that have occurred in recent years, were either on or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs that come with warnings of dangerous side effects. The correlation is not...
Mental Health Awareness Month Open House – Hosted by the Florida Chapter of CCHR
Held in the state headquarters located in Clearwater, the event hopes to education citizens on their mental health human rights and the reformation needed to protect those rights. Clearwater, FL, April 30, 2025 – The month of May is annually observed as “Mental...
Rampant Veteran Suicides in Florida: The Whitewashed Connection
Would you be given to believe that the exceptionally high suicide death rates amongst some of our most deserving, the veterans in Florida, are just a mere accident or more than that? According to the VA, Florida has the highest ratio of veterans to the general...
March is Self-Harm Month: The Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida Offers a Look at the Risks and Possible Solutions
Unfortunately, the natural progression laid out by the psychiatric community often leads to a prescription of psychotropic drugs with no resolution of the original problem. March is annually observed as Self-Harm Awareness Month but unless you are involved in mental...
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: BAKER ACT RIGHTS
When a person is taken into custody under the mental health law in Florida and sent for an involuntary psychiatric examination it can be very scary for them and their friends and family. Commonly referred to as a “Baker Act” the initiation of an involuntary exam, what...Contact CCHR Florida
109 N. Fort Harrison Ave.
Clearwater, Florida 33755
Tel: 1-800-782-2878
