Scientology Critical Information Directory

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Scientology and psychiatry (anti-psychiatry)


Essays and accounts

Mental Health Matters Now
Since 1999 there have been 28 Scientology bills introduced by members of the Arizona state legislature that would have limited access to treatment and medication for children with mental health disorders.

The purpose of this web site is to expose those members of the legislature who have supported these bills. Why? Because Mental Health Matters !!

Barbara Graham (Jan. 2007): "The New Westboro?"
At first, Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church only showed up at Gay Pride Parades with the message, "GOD HATES FAGS." They have since expanded their operations to include the funerals of AIDs patients, and more recently, military funerals.

Comes now Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a Scientology front group dedicated to "eradicating psychiatry" and all other forms of mental health assistance. This week following a murder at a high school near Boston, CCHR seems to have taken a page out of Fred Phelps' play book. [...]

PerkinsTragedy.org (2006): "Comment by a Friend of Elli Perkins"
Under the threat of loosing my "Total Freedom for all Eternity", I too followed the Scientology policy of avoiding Psychiatric treatment and tried for years to handle my daughter with vitamins and isolation similar to the Lisa McPherson handling. On several occasions, I even signed her out of the Psychiatric unit against medical advice. Throughout her illness, I was subjected to several violent assaults. One episode I recall vividly, was when she stood directly in front of me with a butcher's knife posed to her heart warning me that if I moved one inch, she would kill herself. I froze in terror for some time until she broke silence with an evil laugh saying "I scared you didn't I?" As incredible as it appears to me now, I still dutifully followed the tech of L. Ron Hubbard and avoided Psychiatric treatment. [...]
Jeff Jacobsen (2004): "CCHR - Human Rights Organization Attacks Its 'Enemies'"
Psychiatry was the gremlin in the closet that could be pulled out and blamed for any bad thing. When the Toronto Scientology office was raided by the police in 1983, more Scott Carmichael, spokesman for the church, declared that ''Psychiatry has raised a hue and cry against our religion ... and we cannot help but wonder if they do not lie in the background in this incident.'' [UPI March 4, 1983] When the IRS went after Scientology for exemption issues, David Miscavige — current head of Scientology — linked the attack back to psychiatry. [David Miscavige's IAS speech, 8 October 1993]

Obviously, the operating word from Hubbard was "attack," and this is just what Scientology has done and does to psychiatry.

Gerry Armstrong (2003): "Scientology's Hatred of Medicine, the Real Why"
The real reason for Hubbard's and Scientologists' hatred and vilification of medicine is spelled out by Hubbard in his policy letter of June 29, 1971. Hubbard needed, and the Scientology cult's present leaders need, something on which to blame Scientologists' "case" or "upsets;" that is, the cult's all too common failures.
Michael Leonard Tilse (2003): "False Purpose Rundown"
This type of processing of course is designed to supposedly rid someone of their "False" or "Evil" purposes.

So, I was very dismayed when I attended an International Association of Scientologists event, (or it might have been a 13 March event), where Mike Rinder, a very high Cult official and head of the Cult Office of Special Affairs, proudly presented his statistics about putting "psychs" in jail. You see, he accompanied this presentation with extremely EVIL INTENTIONED images of "psychs" being hung, being thrown in the toilet with excrement and of "psychs" going down the sewer.

It was just an EVIL display of EVIL intentions.

I could hardly believe it. Here the Cult had insisted that "I" needed "MY" evil intentions handled and their own high officer was parading his around for the world to see and applaud. And the public robotically stood and applauded this display of evil.

Martin Ottmann (2002): Affidavit In Support Of A Citizen Complaint
The Church of Scientology regards the profession of psychiatry as an enemy and as a competitor in the "mental field." The Scientology management and its various entities propagate that psychiatry is the "root of all evil." It accuses regularly psychiatrists of committing human rights violations and states as its goal to eradicate psychiatry in the society and replace it with Dianetics and Scientology [Exh. No. 255, Excerpt].
Affidavit of Caroline Letkeman (27 April 2001)
18. Scientology doctrine asserts that psychiatry and psychiatrists are the source and cause for mankind's degradation-psychiatry is Scientology's Public Enemy #1. There is tremendous stigma attached in Scientology to having any history of a mental nature — any minor association with psychiatry or history of having taken psychiatric drugs is made the subject of a petition, and interrogations with Scientology's lie detector (called the e-meter) to verify the details of this involvement. For a person to become a committed Scientologist and then subsequently denied Scientology auditing is tantamount to being spiritually doomed. That Ann was told lies about my history was terribly cruel, in light of the tragic nature and psychological effect this would have for any Scientologist learning that her loved one could not go spiritually free. That Ann was told these lies about me in connection with the writing of my essay was cruel beyond words.
Chris Owen (2000): "Scientology vs. Psychiatry: The origins of Scientology's hostility to psychiatry"
In the light of the current debate about Scientology and psychiatry, I thought I'd post a taster of a major new piece which I'm working on at the moment. "Psychwar: Scientology vs Psychiatry" (working title) is a comprehensive overview and exposé of Scientology's and L. Ron Hubbard's views on psychiatry, the origins of those views and the covert war against psychiatry which has resulted over the past 40 years. A lot of very juicy stuff has come out of secret OSA and Guardian's Office files, which I'll be documenting.
Chris Owen (1998): "Scientology's Secret War Against Psychiatry"
Hubbard is here saying that Scientology's core goal is no longer the spread of his "tech" but the complete destruction of all other mental health practices. This was not idle talk, as the GO made strenuous efforts to attack psychiatrists — an effort which is still going on, in the shape of Scientology's continued denunciations of psychiatrists and psychiatric drugs such as Prozac. There is certainly little doubt that Scientology's current leaders share Hubbard's objective of the eradication (extermination?) of psychiatry. David Miscavige has been reported to have pledged that psychiatry will have been eliminated by the year 2000. No doubt this promise will quietly be dropped when the millennium comes around and psychiatry continues in rude good health.
Affidavit of Martin Ottmann (19 April 1996): The Scientology Theory Of A World Conspiracy
To understand the behaviour of Scientology against psychologists like Dr. Geertz one has to get familiar with the conspiracy theory of Hubbard and in which way this theory gets transported into the minds of the staff of Scientology. I was indoctrinated for four years with the idea that the world in which we lived was the product of a conspiracy of psychologists and psychiatrists. During my stay in Clearwater I had no chance to compare the Scientology theory with the facts. In this chapter I want to described how I got obsessed with the idea of a world conspiracy and what it took to get it off.
Declaration of Jonathan Caven-Atack (9 April 1995)
47. I have spent over ten years interviewing and counselling former Scientologists, and have come to the firm conclusion that Dianetics and Scientology tend to erode independent decision making and critical thinking. Hubbard claimed that his techniques were the only valid approach to mental and spiritual well-being. He derided all psychotherapeutic practices [JCA-107]. Hubbard asserted with regard to psychology and psychiatry that "the instigators, patrons and supporters of these two subjects classify fully and demonstrably as criminals." [JCA-108]. Although Scientology claims to be "open to people of all religions" [JCA-109], Hubbard asserted that heaven has been deserted for at least 43 trillion years [JCA-110], and that Christ is simply a fabrication [JCA-111].
Affidavit of Stacy Brooks Young (9 March 1994)
78. In 1980 Hubbard wrote "Criminals and Psychiatry" (attached as Exhibit 13). In it Hubbard said: "Almost every modern horror crime was committed by a known criminal who had been in and out of the hands of psychiatrists and psychologists, often many times..." The most charitable look at this would be that the psychologists and psychiatrists are simply incompetent. But other more sinister implications can be drawn.
Affidavit of Mary Tabayoyon (5 March 1994)
93.  In 1969 or 1970 at American St.  Hill Organization, I was briefed with other public on the new operation every scientologist was to participate in to terminatedly expose and get rid of the psychiatric profession.  The strategy was to spread the word everywhere we went at every opportunity about the psychiatric death camps -- whenever you bring up the subject of psychiatry always refer to it as "psychiatric death camps."  If thousands of 'scientologists did this on a regular basis it would eventually be something that the majority of the public at large would associate in their minds, i.e., whenever they think of psychiatry they would automatically think the idea of "psychiatric death camps."  It was made into a big deal and all at ASHO was required to attend and the room was decorated with ribbons and so forth.  The whole message was this was a very exciting beginning of the biggest project levied against psychiatry ever and the job was given to all Scientologists to bring that profession to an end.  Before the verbal briefing by a speaker started, we listened to a tape from LRH on how suppressive psychiatry was and they dealt mainly in killing people or at best destroying them forever.  It was our duty to bring them down in order to protect the public at large from them and instead drive the public into Scientology so they could once and for all regain their spiritual freedom.  At the end everyone clapped and cheered and were very excited with their new mission.

In the news

Australia (July 2007): Scientology link to murders
The parents of a woman accused of murdering her father and sister apparently declined psychiatric treatment for her last year because of their Scientology beliefs, a report tendered in court states. [...]

Dr Cross stated that the woman was diagnosed with a psychiatric illness late last year but follow-up from the mental health team at Bankstown Hospital was apparently declined by her parents due to their alleged Scientology beliefs. [...]

Evening Standard (London, Oct. 2006): "Tom's aliens target City's 'planetary rulers'" by David Cohen
I expect the evening to have something a spiritual dimension — after all, Scientology calls itself a religion — but what happens next is truly eye-opening.

Up front, David Miscavige is dramatically - and somewhat bizarrely - attacking psychiatrists, his words backed by clips from a Scientology-produced DVD are broadcast on four giant high-definition TV screens and sensationally called: Psychiatry — an industry of death."

"A woman is safer in a park at midnight than on a psychiatrist's couch," booms Miscavige, backed by savage graphics of psychiatrists - or "psychs" as he calls them - being machine-gunned out of existence.

Tom Cruise once publicly criticised a postnatally-depressed Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants, for which he later apologised, but I am now witnessing the raw dogma that lies behind his outburst.

As Miscavige begins to crescendo "our next step is eradicating psychiatry from this planet, we will triumph!" the audience rise as one, wildly clapping and cheering.

I look around, half expecting people to be rolling their eyes at this ridiculous, over-the-top message, but instead they're staring at the screens with a rapturous gaze, almost as if they are hypnotised. A few minutes later, Miscavige crescendos again, and, on cue, the audience rise to hail the chief.

LA City Beat (2006): "Scientology vs. Science" by Andrew Gumbel
Even before I start writing this column, and pretty much regardless of what I say, I know I am going to tick off the Scientologists. I know this because I have ticked them off already.

A few days ago, I visited their new anti-psychiatry museum in Hollywood, thinking, correctly, that it would offer an intriguing window into the thinking of a notoriously secretive organization. With a name like “Psychiatry: Industry of Death,” the exhibit was not exactly going to be coy about its point of view.

Salon Magazine (July 2005): "Scientology's war on psychiatry" by Katharine Mieszkowski
The Church of Scientology's world war on psychiatry arose from its zealous founder. For reasons known only to Hubbard himself, the science fiction author and budding church leader conceived a violent hatred of psychiatry. Perhaps his animus took root when the American Psychological Association, following the 1950 publication of Hubbard's self-help treatise, "Dianetics," advised its members against using Hubbard's psychological techniques with their patients.

In a 1969 article, "Today's Terrorism," published in a Scientology journal, Hubbard claimed that "the psychiatrist and his front groups operate straight out of the terrorist textbooks. The Mafia looks like a convention of Sunday school teachers compared to these terrorist groups." The psychiatrist, Hubbard went on, "kidnaps, tortures and murders without any slightest police interference or action by western security forces." Later, Hubbard wrote that, in society, "there's only one remedy for crime -- get rid of the psychs! They are causing it!"

Escandalo! (circa 1995?): "Get Thee Behind Me, Thetan!!!" by Jason Torchinsky
Of course, after a little bit of espousing Scientology's virtues, she came back to her hatred of psychiatrists. This time, however, instead of just giving us merely statistics out of nowhere, she provided an entire conspiracy theory that involved the Rockefellers, the international community of psychiatrists, and forced-labor diamond mines in South Africa. It was terribly involved, and she lost me fairly early on, but recaptured my attention when she leaned forward and asked my friend and I if we didn't think it odd that "AIDS seems like an engineered disease?" [...]
The Psychiatric Times (1991): "National Media Beginning to Reveal Scientology's Anti-Psychiatry Tactics"
He served on one APA panel on cults in which every speaker received a three-page letter from Scientologists threatening a major lawsuit if Scientology was mentioned. West was the last to speak and no one had named the group. "I read parts of the letter to the 1,000-plus psychiatrists them and then told any Scientologists in the crowd to pay attention. I said I would like to advise my colleagues that I consider Scientology a cult and L. Ron Hubbard a quack and a fake. I wasn't about to let them intimidate me."

He has since been the brunt of a number of "dirty tricks" and several smear campaigns including one that twisted his antiapartheid trips to South Africa as being pro-apartheid. He even made the cover of Scientology's Freedom magazine as a not very flattering cartoon character. "I was lucky that I was a full-time professor in a big university like UCLA," he reflected. "Others, like Harvard's Jack Clark, who was primarily in private practice, nearly had their lives ruined by the Scientologists."

LA Times (1990): "Suits, Protests Fuel a Campaign Against Psychiatry"
The contempt Scientologists hold for the psychiatric profession is rooted in Hubbard's writings, which constitute the church's doctrines. He once wrote, for example, that if psychiatrists "had the power to torture and kill everyone, they would do so.... Recognize them for what they are; psychotic criminals -- and handle them accordingly."

Hubbard's hatred of psychiatry dated back to the 1950 publication of his best-selling book "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health." It was immediately criticized by prominent mental health professionals as a worthless form of psychotherapy.

Hubbard used his church as a pulpit to attack psychiatrists as evil people, bent on enslaving mankind through drugs, electroshock therapy and lobotomies. He convinced his followers that psychiatrists were also intent on destroying their religion.

Toronto Globe & Mail (Jan. 1980): "Cult harassment, spying in Canada documented" by John Marshall
The week after the Toronto Scientologists were defining mental health associations as enemies of their movement, one of their colleagues took a job in the Canadian Mental Health Association headquarters. Later that year another Toronto member took a full-time job there and a third one had a part-time job.

Documents submitted to the court in the U.S. case included Guardian office reports that the Scientologists had "Penetrated Toronto mental health hospital and established an agent as director of volunteers."

The Anderson Report (1965): "Hostility to Medical Profession"
The frequency and the intensity with which he vilifies psychiatrists and their work are the more serious because of the effect upon preclears, many of whom, when most needing psychiatric attention, are terrified at the thought of going to a doctor. This is one of the most wicked sides of scientology, for having made a massive onslaught on the person's mental integrity by its pernicious practices, it then effectively prevents him from seeking assistance from a source likely to cure or ameliorate his condition.
The Rick A. Ross Institute: Scientology vs. Psychiatry

Other materials

Wikipedia: Scientology and psychiatry
The Church of Scientology rejects the claim that what are commonly called "mental diseases" can have exclusively a biological basis and holds that such conditions have exclusively mental/spiritual causes, which can be corrected by Scientology counseling. On the other hand, the Church of Scientology has policies which forbid the counseling of mentally ill people or those who have received psychiatric treatment. The organization has been known to refuse assistance for persons suffering from notable mental disorders; for some, it has developed special procedures for "handling" these problems, such as the Introspection Rundown.
Narconon Exposed: Scientology versus Medicine
Scientology reserves particular venom for psychiatry, which it sees - quite literally - as the prime force for evil in the universe. In a 1982 bulletin entitled "Pain and Sex", Hubbard declares that "pain and sex were the INVENTED TOOLS of degradation", having been devised eons ago by psychiatrists "who have been on the [time] track a long time and are the sole cause of decline in this universe." [Hubbard, "Pain and Sex", HCO Bulletin of 26 August 1982] In a scarcely less believable vein, Scientology claims that psychiatry was responsible for World War I, the rise of Hitler and Stalin, the decline in education standards in the United States, the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, and even the September 11th attacks. [See respectively "Criminals and Psychiatry" <http://freedom.lronhubbard.org/page104a.htm>, "Psychiatrists: The Men Behind Hitler" <http://www.cchr.org/mbh1.htm>, "Psychiatry's Failures" <http://violence.freedommag.org/page36a.htm>, "Educational and Social Ruin" <http://www.cchr.org/educate/e_sr.htm>, "Bosnia & Kosovo: On The Trail Of Psychiatric Genocide" <http://www.cchr.org/failure/eng/page42.htm>, "Searching for Answers Behind the Terror" <http://www.freedommag.org/English/vol34i1/page02.htm>]
IMPACT - The magazine of the International Association of Scientologists 66
[Fair Use scan more]

A world free of psychiatry

Crime & psychiatry by L. Ron Hubbard

Jeremy Perkins: A Scientology Family Tragedy
On March 13, 2003, Jeremy Perkins, a 28 year old untreated schizophrenic, stabbed his mother Elli 77 times. She bled to death on her bedroom floor. Jeremy is currently being held at Rochester Psychiatric Center, having been found not responsible for Elli's murder by reason of mental disease or defect.

Perkins, his mother and father, his sister, and her husband are all members of the Church of Scientology, a group that believes modern psychiatric medicine derives from an ancient alien civilization's plot to drug and enslave humanity. Scientologists like Tom Cruise vehemently and publicly oppose the pharmacological treatment of mental illness. Unfortunately, Scientology's own brand of therapy, called "auditing", is worthless.

Gary Don Beals: Disturbed Scientologists killing parents
Gary Don Beals says he might not have murdered his father and tried to kill his mother if not for influence by the Church of Scientology. Beals told the Utah Board of Pardons Friday that church members talked him out of getting needed psychological help and also turned him against his parents.
Mike Gormez: "Hubbard on psychiatry and psychology"
It has been alleged that Scientology doctrine requires that psychiatrists and psychologists must be destroyed. With this page I would like to make the case that it is highly likely that indeed Scientology has that as primary target. After all if Scientology's aim is a world "without criminals", and they regard psychiatrists and psychologists to be terrorists and the very cause of all crime, equally reprehensible as Hitler and Stalin, then what would they do with them to achieve that aim?

The founder of Scientololgy/Dianetics, L. Ron Hubbard, had the answer: "get rid of the psychs!"

Tom Cruise's (and Scientology's) crusade against Psychiatry and Psychology
Here is the thing you have understand with psychiatry... ok... There is no science behind it... And to pretend there is a science behind it is criminal. — Tom Cruise, Scientologist actor, on Access Hollywood, 2005

There’s nothing scientific about it. Communication is a good thing, but I think people get more mentally out of having a good meal or going for a walk. I think psychiatry should be outlawed. — Tom Cruise, Scientologist actor, on MSNBC, January 1st, 2004

See also