Psych Observer – Exposing Bad Psychiatry

Chris McGreal in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 28 March 2010 19.47 BST

Canadian police investigate dozens of allegations against psychiatrist nicknamed for use of electricity to ‘cure’ gay soldiers.

A leading Canadian psychiatrist who kept accusations of gross human rights abuses in apartheid-era South Africa hidden has been charged in Calgary with sexually abusing a male patient and is being investigated over dozens of other allegations.

Dr Aubrey Levin, who in South Africa was known as Dr Shock for his use of electricity to “cure” gay military conscripts, was arrested after a patient secretly filmed the psychiatrist allegedly making sexual advances. Levin, who worked at the University of Calgary’s medical school, has been suspended from practising and is free on bail of C$50,000 (£32,000) on charges of repeatedly indecently assaulting a 36-year-old man.

The police say they are investigating similar claims by nearly 30 other patients. The Alberta justice department is reviewing scores of criminal convictions in which Levin was a prosecution witness.

Levin has worked in Canada for 15 years since leaving South Africa, where he was chief psychiatrist in the apartheid-era military and became notorious for using electric shocks to “cure” gay white conscripts. He also held conscientious objectors against their will at a military hospital because they were “disturbed” and subjected them to powerful drug regimens.
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By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai
Published: 3:56PM BST 15 Jul 2009

Internet addiction has become a growing problem in China, where officials believe as many as four million people spend more than six hours a day online.

Several clinics have sprung up, offering parents the chance to “cure” their children of the uncontrollable urge to blog or play online games.

Tao Ran, from the Beijing Military General Hospital, runs a camp which gives addicts a mixture of counselling, military discipline and hypnosis.

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Ray is a 55-year-old Minnesota resident who is regularly receiving “Involuntary Outpatient Maintenance Electroshock.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fJpvNHqXm0[/youtube]

Ray sandford FAQ

Please sign the petition to help Ray from having forced shock treatment http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-shocking-ray

To contact Governor Tim Pawlenty and Lt. Governor Carol Molnau, please write, phone, fax or e-mail.

Mailing Address:

Office of the Governor
130 State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155

Telephone: (651) 296-3391
Toll Free:    (800) 657-3717
Facsimile:   (651) 296-2089
E-mail: tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us

by David Gutierrez, staff writer
(NaturalNews) A recent article published in the Melbourne, Australia paper Herald Sun has drawn attention to the ongoing psychiatric practice of using electroshock therapy on children as young as four years of age.

Electroshock therapy, also known as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), is the practice of applying electric shocks to the brain in order to induce seizures and modify behavior by damaging “problematic” portions of the brain.
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By Jennifer K. Woldt |of The Northwestern

Prosecutors say they will recommend a former psychiatrist serve time in prison for having inappropriate sexual contact with a patient he was treating.

Charles D. Morgan, 62, of Neenah pleaded no contest two counts of sexual exploitation by a therapist during a plea hearing before Winnebago County Circuit Court Judge Barbara Key Thursday. In exchange for his plea, two counts of third-degree sexual assault will be dismissed.

Morgan, who was practicing with Affinity Behavioral Health at the time of the contact, faces 25 years in prison and $25,000 in fines when he is sentenced Feb. 27. Key ordered a pre-sentence investigation be completed before sentencing.
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by Lorna Benson, Minnesota Public Radio
December 15, 2008

A Minnesota man undergoing electro-convulsive therapy goes before a judge in St. Paul on Tuesday to try to stop the court-ordered procedure. Ray Sandford says he’s losing his memory after having more than 30 treatments so far. His doctors have argued that the procedure is necessary to treat Sandford’s psychotic episodes. Minnesota, like many other states, does not track the number of forced ECTs.

St. Paul, Minn. — Ray Sandford has been getting electro-convulsive treatment, also known as electroshock and ECT, since the end of May. For Ray, the process works like this. Every week or two he is taken to a hospital, where a medical technician attaches electrodes to his head and delivers electrical current into his brain. The current causes a seizure.

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Manzoor Qadir

LAHORE: A number of patients at the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) have attempted suicide, as the executive director changed the modus operandi of treatment owing to non-availability of quality anti-depressants, allege doctors on the condition of anonymity on Sunday.
Lately, nine patients-Nadeem Mubeen, Zulqarnain Hyder, Irfan, Zaman, Tazeem, Bushra Bibi, Nazim Ali, Rahat Jabeen and Tariq Nazir- tried to end their lives.

Earlier, two patients also committed suicide but the administration instead of taking preventive measures tried to hush-up the matter.

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New York, June 26, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the abduction, torture, and forcible psychiatric hospitalization of Sazak Durdymuradov, a contributing reporter for the Turkmen Service of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), in the Western city of Bakhaden.

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By Jennifer K. Woldt
of The Northwestern

An Affinity Behavioral Health psychiatrist accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with a patient could spend time in prison if convicted of felony charges.

Charles D. Morgan, 62, of Neenah, was charged in Winnebago County Circuit Court Monday with sexual exploitation by a therapist, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 12 years, six months in prison and $25,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint, Morgan sexually assaulted a 27-year-old woman, whom he had been treating for bi-polar disorder for the past two years. The woman told Morgan she wanted a different psychiatrist after he kissed her on two occasions while she was in the hospital receiving treatment.

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By Mike Adams
(NaturalNews) It appears that the use of electroshock punishment tactics isn’t limited to the U.S. military these days: The state of Massachusetts has renewed a special education school’s authority to use electric shocks as a form of punishment, even after the school admitted to administering excessive and unfair shocks to two children after being told to do so by a prank caller.

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