Who We Are

Who we are

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) is a nonprofit mental health watchdog, responsible for helping to enact more than 150 laws protecting individuals from abusive or coercive practices. CCHR has long fought to restore basic inalienable human rights to the field of mental health.

CCHR was co-founded in 1969 by Professor Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus, and the Church of Scientology.  CCHR functions solely as a mental health watchdog, working alongside many medical professionals including doctors, scientists, nurses and those few psychiatrists who have taken a stance against the biological/drug model of “disease” that is continually promoted by the psychiatric/pharmaceutical industry as a way to sell drugs. It is a nonpolitical, nonreligious, nonprofit organization dedicated solely to eradicating mental health abuse and enacting patient and consumer protections. CCHR’s Board of Advisers, called Commissioners, include doctors, scientists, psychologists, lawyers, legislators, educators, business professionals, artists and civil and human rights representatives.   There are over 200 Chapters around the world.

People frequently ask if CCHR is of the opinion that no one should ever take psychiatric drugs, we are not dedicated to opinion. We are dedicated to providing information that a multibillion dollar psycho/pharmaceutical industry does not want people to see or to know. The real question therefore is this:

Do people have a right to have all the information about
(A) the known risks of the drugs and/or treatment from unbiased, non-conflicted medical review,
(B) the medical validity of the diagnosis for which drugs are being prescribed,
(C) all non-drug options (essentially informed consent) and
(D) the right to refuse any treatment they consider harmful?

As a non-profit we depend upon the generosity of its members and the public for donations and volunteer actions.  We invite you to check out our site and be sure to see our take action and support pages.