Note: This article is based on my testimony at a public hearing on electroconvulsive “treatment ” conducted by the Mental Health Committee of the New York State Assembly in Manhattan on May 18, 2001. I was representing Support Coalition International, a human rights group headquartered in Eugene, Oregon. SCI unites 100 sponsoring organizations that oppose all forms of psychiatric oppression and support a broad variety of approaches for assisting people said to be “mentally ill. ” In 2001, the

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