Firsthand Account: Ms. Du Zuyin Force-Fed with Psychotropic Drugs at Xiaogan Mental Hospital

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Du Zuyin, a healthy and mentally competent person, was detained in the Xiaogan Mental Hospital in Hubei Province and force-fed psychotropic drugs. She was taken to the hospital by policemen He Zhongping and Liu Qiang in 2001. Through persistent demands, her family was eventually able to secure her release.

Below is Ms. Du's personal account of the persecution she suffered:

In 1989, I had depression and was sent to a mental hospital for one month. As a result of this experience, I became introverted and isolated myself after I returned home. I would get upset over little things and needed complete peace and quiet. I was on the edge of collapse. My family took care of me, hoping that I would get better in a harmonious environment. However, I became even more depressed.

When I was feeling desperate, I got the Falun Gong book Zhuan Falun, from which I understood that all pain and tribulations in life were caused by karma. When suffering, we paid off debt acquired from committing wrongdoing in the past. After stepping on the path of Falun Gong cultivation, I became peaceful and smiled every day. My life became fulfilling, and I no longer cared about personal gains and losses. I also became healthy, as all of my illnesses disappeared.

I was very grateful to Falun Gong. It helped me to gain a new life and understand the true meaning of life. It taught me to be tolerant and helped me to walk out of the shadows and start a new life. Falun Gong is good! It saved my life! I decided to practise Falun Gong regardless of any difficulties.

On July 20th, 1999, Jiang Zemin (former head of the Chinese Communist Party, CCP) initiated the persecution of millions of Falun Gong practitioners. The means of the persecution have been cruel.

In 2001, I was detained at the Yingcheng Detention Centre because I did not renounce my belief in Falun Gong. In July 2001, policemen He Zhongping and Liu Qiang claimed that they would take me home. Instead, they took me to the Xiaogan Mental Hospital. The two policemen talked with the head of the hospital secretly for more than 20 minutes and then left.

No doctors ever came to talk to me. However, 7 people surrounded me, with a nurse holding a water bottle, and forced me to take drugs that are given to people with mental illnesses.

I told them, “I am healthy, but you force me to take medication for patients with mental illness. Are you healing patients or harming good people?”

They ignored me, held me down, covered my nose and poured psychotropic drugs into my mouth. It didn't take long for the drugs to take effect. I spit up half a basin of water, my heart began to beat faster, and I had an excruciating headache. I was very scared. They [hospital staff] tortured people using different methods. I even saw them use an electric chair to torture a patient who refused to take medicine.

I was forced to take drugs twice daily. It was very painful. I told the head of the hospital that I was very healthy, and that they should not force me to take drugs and should release me. Later he told me that he felt sympathetic, but he had no say in the matter, as I could not be released until the policemen agreed.

I tried to find a way to escape but failed. One day, I remembered a Japanese movie called “Hunting.” In the movie, a healthy prosecutor was forced to take psychotropic drugs. He drank lots of water and then went to the toilet to vomit the drugs. I then drank a lot of water and went to the toilet to force myself to vomit the medicine. After more than 10 days, my family members came to see me. The hospital lessened the dose for a little bit under their pressure.

All patients were held in the same room and kept apart by partitions. The mentally ill patients yelled or screamed regardless of the time. It was such a torture for a normal person to be among them. I still can't bear to think of it today.

In order to prove that I was a normal person, I always took the initiative to clean the room and talk to the family members of other patients. I told them about what was happening to me. They were very shocked. Then, the hospital forbade visiting family members to bring in their mobile phones. Later, they also did not allow me to talk to the family members of other patients.

Once I talked with a patient who had almost recovered. I told her that the CCP was very cruel, and that my case proved it. She said, “Yes, my brother saw the soldiers shoot the students in 1989 [referring to the Tiananmen Square Massacre on June 4th, 1989]. It was terrible!”

I always helped the nurses with their cleaning. After speaking with me on many occasions, they came to understand that I was a normal person. They all felt sorry for me. One of them said, “Ask your family members to talk to the hospital. They [the authorities] will pay attention to it.” In the end, she asked me not to tell other people that she had suggested that.

Once I overhead one doctor say to another, “Did Du Zuyin take the drugs? Why is there no reaction?” I was really shocked. I would have been mentally ill if I did not take any action [to expel the drugs].

My calmness and wisdom confused the doctors. They had expected me to act disorderly.

Not long after that, I told my family, “I am very normal. I will never commit suicide. The hospital will be responsible for any after-effects from the drugs.” My family demanded that the hospital release me. Under their pressure, I was released. The headaches and tension induced from the drugs diminished after some time.

According to the hospital policy, a patient with mental illness cannot be admitted without being accompanied by family members. Could the policemen represent my family members?

Normally, the hospital would also release a patient if requested by family members. But, they did not release me until my family made repeated demands.

After I returned home, I went to talk to He Zhongping. He was very surprised to see me and threatened to send me back to the hospital.

The police had taken me to a mental hospital and wanted me to suffer a mental collapse. Instead, I became strong-willed and passed this tribulation with wisdom.

This is my real experience. I hope this article will help people distinguish good from evil.