A new collaborative exhibit highlighting the complex and often troubling history of psychiatric practices will open in Kissimmee, Florida, offering visitors an extensive examination of human rights issues within mental health treatment. The exhibit, titled "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death," will be hosted by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Florida (CCHR) in partnership with Boomtown Community Partners (BCP).
The four-day event, running from March 20-23, seeks to provide comprehensive documentation and firsthand accounts of psychiatric abuses, focusing on systemic violations affecting vulnerable populations, particularly children and seniors. Through educational panels, photographs, and a documentary featuring interviews with over 160 professionals and experts, the exhibit aims to raise critical awareness about historical and ongoing mental health human rights concerns.
CCHR Florida, a nonprofit watchdog organization that has previously received 11 awards for protecting parental rights in mental health decisions, will collaborate with BCP to amplify their message. Isaac Vasquez, known as Coach Boom and co-founder of BCP, will deliver a special presentation on March 23rd, marking a significant moment in their joint effort to challenge current mental health treatment paradigms.
The exhibit confronts complex issues such as forced psychiatric commitments, controversial treatments like electroshock therapy applied to children and elderly populations, and what organizers describe as psychiatry's systemic disregard for individual human rights. By presenting a historical perspective alongside contemporary examples, the exhibit challenges viewers to critically examine mental health practices and their potential for institutional abuse.
Diane Stein, President of CCHR Florida, emphasized the importance of their new partnership and the exhibit's role in exposing systemic problems. "Hosting this exhibit as our first activity together seems fitting, given that children are often the most vulnerable victims of mental health human rights abuse," Stein stated.
The documentary and exhibit panels trace psychiatry's origins, highlighting what CCHR characterizes as profit-driven motives and social control mechanisms within mental health treatment systems. By providing extensive documentation and firsthand testimonials, the exhibit seeks to educate the public about complex historical and ongoing challenges in psychiatric care.
Visitors can explore the free exhibit at 5403 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway in Kissimmee, with daily hours from 10 am to 6 pm. The comprehensive presentation offers a critical lens through which to understand the evolution of mental health treatment and the ongoing struggle to protect individual human rights within psychiatric institutions.
