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Scientology, since its inception and self-description as a religion, has engaged in an increasingly hateful and aggressive campaign again the mental health profession, as well as those that practice it.
Not only do they, particularly through the "Citizen's Commission for Human Rights" (CCHR) incite hate against all members of this profession, they also discourage people that need actual help from seeking it, through comments such as the following: (legal notice to avoid lawsuits: the following quotes are taken from the CCHR website and used to discuss their position. This is covered under the fair use clause)
"It is not guns that are the common denominator to these horrific events. Some occur with knives, axes and even automobiles. Nor is it clothing, age, gender or political orientation. The fact missed by most is that psychiatric, mind-altering drugs have been found to be the common factor in an overwhelming number of these acts of random senseless violence. These drugs, on an ever increasing rise in society and amongst schoolchildren, particularly over the last two decades, are actually creating acts of violence"
"It is not as if psychiatrists don't know.
The scientific research documenting the connection between violence, suicide and psychiatric drugs is overwhelming."
"These are facts that psychiatrists and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) refuse to confront. Psychiatrists for obvious reasons—they could and should be held liable for crimes committed by their toxically drugged patients—and NAMI because, according to the New York Post, it "is awash in money from drug companies"--"$3.2 million per year from nine such companies"--that manufacture these often mind-crippling drugs."
"Psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies would prefer you didn't know or have easy access to information about the crippling and even lethal effects of psychotropic drugs. The complex medical terminology used to describe the drugs and their "adverse effects" can often prevent consumers from even looking"
"...we have a different kind of drug war affecting the world today, one that is perpetuated by psychiatrists dreaming up new mental illnesses to fund a multibillion-dollar legal drug industry. The direct result continues to be an escalating, worldwide consumption of their addictive, mind-altering drugs."
Look for the hard facts in this very inflammatory statements. The only hard fact that I can see in those quotes isn't even from scientology- it's a quote from the New York Post. The rest- from scientology- serves only to make people angry, afraid... and ill.
But one must ask, how can scientology say such things, while complaining about the opinions of others that criticize their group? This author doesn't understand that, and repeated questions have never yielded an answer. But one thing is clear- the "hate group" (by definition, related to this item) known as scientology will never stop until they have destroyed this profession, affecting (financially and emotionally) all of those who are members of it, solely because of their career choice.
Consider the scientology position on the mental health profession, and those that take psychiatric medicines. With that in mind, consider the following (very truncated) list of people that have taken psychiatric medicine because they felt they needed it:
Mike Wallace (ironically, he fell into depression after being sued for libel)
Brooke Shields (of course, the target of Mr. Tom Cruise's hurtful comments)
Jim Carrey
Ellen DeGeneres
Lorraine Bracco
Drew Barrymore
Rosie O'Donnell
Dick Clark
Rosanne Barr
Sheryl Crow
Tammy Wynette
Monica Seles (who went on to win nine grand slam tennis titles)
Ty Cobb
Buzz Aldrin
The list goes on. But it is clear that psychiatric medicine does NOT automatically make one insane, violent, kill others, or kill themselves. That also demonstrates that there is a factor that scientology is ignoring. What is it?
Is the field of mental health perfect? Certainly not. Do some abuse the system and focus on profits over patients? Absolutely. The flaw in the mental health is very simple- people. Some people are greedy. Some are foolish. It's the same flaw in the medical profession, and any service or care profession. Ironically, it's the same allowance that scientology affords to itself. After the recent expose article in the SP times, documenting the beatings within the management structure, scientology was quick to blame the individuals, not the organization. This is not an allowance that they seem to afford to others.
As a closing thought, ironically, the psychiatric professionals admit that suicidality can be a potential side affect in some individuals. They admit this willingly, openly, and freely. Even the CCHR website notes this. Why psychiatrists freely admit this? Because they know something that we all would agree to be a fundamental truth- without the human factor, a strong support system, none of us can succeed.