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INTRODUCTION
A Message to Artists
Every very great society has its creative minds�its true artists. From Ancient
Greece and Rome, through the Renaissance to the world today, mankind has revered
men and women of exceptional artistic ability.
As renowned American writer Henry James once said, �It is art that makes
life.� His words are no less true today, for indeed, artists are the individuals
who dream our future and createthe realities of tomorrow. True, so do engineers
and businessmen and visionaries in other fields, but by and large the futures
they create revolve around our material well-being. It is the artist who lifts
the spirit, makes us laugh and cry and can even shape the spiritual future
of our culture. It is artists who make life.
This explains, then, why artists remain the most cherished of human assets
the world over.
Unfortunately, in many cases, they are assets we have lost too soon�losses
that have left us poorer. In recent decades we have all mourned the untimely
deaths of great artists who enriched our lives, yet left before their work was
done. Luminaries of literature, the screen, the theater and the concert stage,
names such as Ernest Hemingway, France�s great writer Antonin Artaud, jazz singer
Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Vivien Leigh, Kurt Cobain, Michael
Hutchence, Phil Hartman and many, many more.
Faced with even this partial list, it would be easy to form the impression
that the lives of artists are unavoidably tumultuous and that for some, the
pressures of success bring demands too great to be borne. It would also be easy
to believe that to be a successful artist you must be neurotic or some sort
of tragic figure.
None of this is true. In each of the cases above, hidden influences worked
to ensure the deadly outcome. The truth is, each of these great artists and
many of the others who have left us were offered �help.� Instead they were betrayed
and placed on a path which assured their destruction.
This betrayal came through the direct or indirect influence of psychiatrists
or psychologists, who claimed they would help but were, in effect, a destructive
influence that left these artists dreadfully damaged� or dead�after their foundations
of strength and certainty were torn away.
Today there is an added urgency that this message be heard and understood,
for the assault upon artists of every genre has only increased in both volume
and efficiency. The weapons now include an array of deadly drugs that masquerade
as therapeutic cures, just as the prefrontal lobotomy once did. In Hollywood,
the mecca of the entertainment industry, those mindaltering and addictive psychotropic
drugs are exacting too high a cost in creative lives.
Quite apart from the devastation being spread within the ranks of artists themselves,
we must not forget: Artists create the future of our culture. Is this the future
we face? One in which we will follow these leaders of public opinion into the
brave new therapeutic world of stunted creative personalities, ruined families,
wasted lives and self-destruction?
If this seems alarmist, then review the figures below�they show what the future
holds unless some drastic changes are made quickly: Currently, 17 million children
around the world are prescribed mind-altering psychiatric drugs, including antidepressants
that both United Kingdom and United States drug regulatory agencies have warned
can cause suicide and violent behavior. Indeed, the increasing incidence of
school shootings and violent crime among teens can be traced to the proliferation
of these drugs being prescribed them. Millions are also prescribed stimulants
that are more potent than cocaine.
Among these millions, consider how many potentially great artists will never
fulfill their destiny? And how will our culture suffer from their absence?
We have mourned the great artists we have lost too soon. Let�s not grieve for
more.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International prepares up-to-the-minute
information and studies that assist authors and scriptwriters with material
and facts on the subject of psychiatry. This has included the book, Shadowland,
the story of actress Frances Farmer; compelling evidence provided �60 Minutes�
in Australia, which led to national television awards for the program, and case
studies for documentaries aired on Channel 4 UK, in Germany, Italy and in other
countries. In fact, CCHR�s international headquarters is in the heart of Hollywood
on Sunset Boulevard. It also houses a state-of-the-art permanent exhibition
with documentaries on various aspects of psychiatry�ranging from its dark history
to its role in the Holocaust; from detestable ethnic cleansing and apartheid
programs and racism to the harmful and often fatal effects of its treatments
such as dangerous and addictive psychotropic drugs, electroshock, psychosurgery
and �stimulants� used for child drugging.
CCHR provides this information so that you can see for yourself how artists
have been lied to and betrayed. We urge you to act upon this knowledge to protect
those who need help and ensure that our future is not betrayed as well.
Jan Eastgate President CCHR International
Bruce Wiseman President CCHR United States
Anne Archer Actress
David Campbell Composer, recording arranger
Raven Kane Campbell Singer, composer, playwright
Nancy Cartwright Actress, author
Chick Corea Jazz composer, pianist
Isaac Hayes Composer, musician, actor
Geoffrey Lewis Actor
Juliette Lewis Actress
John Novello Composer, musician
David Pomeranz Singer, songwriter
Harriet Schock Songwriter, recording artist
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