Is the shrink’s manual just plain madness?
By Carol Forsloff
A psychiatric diagnostic manual widely used by shrinks is a “fraud” claims a group calling itself the Citizen Commission on Human rights, in reference to the DSM IV.
CCHR issued a statement calling the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSMIV a “fraud perpetrated on society for the sole purpose of enormously increasing their income base by labeling and drugging individuals, particularly helpless little children, for profit.”
The group says “this fraudulent labeling and drugging of little children is a gross violation of human rights and child abuse.”
The DSMIII has long been the reference guide for mental health professionals, especially psychiatrists, in defining certain mental health conditions in clinics throughout the world.
“Across Canada, pharmacies last year dispensed 61.2 million prescriptions for psychotherapeutics, worth nearly $2.4 billion,” it said.
“The most potent, mood-altering drugs are going to children,” the group said. They substantiate these claims by citing statistics between 2005 and 2009 where children were given psychotropic drugs in increasing numbers.
“Every expert involved in writing the DSM standard diagnostic criteria for disorders such as depression and schizophrenia has had financial ties to drug companies that sell medications for those illnesses.”claims CCHR, in support of its contentions.
The organization quotes, British Columbia psychologist, Dr. Tana Dineen, the author of Manufacturing Victims, a book that debunks the DSM, who says “unlike medical diagnoses, DSM disorders are ‘voted’ into existence by APA members. They can also be removed if they are too much trouble. In 1973, the APA voted—5,584 to 3,810—to cease calling homosexuality a mental disorder after gay activists picketed an APA conference”.
The fifth edition of DSM IV is planned for release in 2013.
These critics say many of the behaviors listed in the new DSM IV are only quirks and not mental illnesses worthy of classification or prescription drugs. They also claim mental health experts are doing this solely to increase an income base.
What’s the other side of the story?
At first CCHR’s claims might sound good to some folks, but a second look raises some question. The Church of Scientology founded the CCHR.
The position about psychiatry of CCHR is the same one expressed by Scientologists worldwide, including on the Today Show in a well-publicized debate between the host, Matt Lauer, and Tom Cruise in November 2008. Cruise defended Scientologist’s position against psychiatry, saying he knew more than psychiatrists. He, and the group, declare “It’s a fraud.”
CCHR explains its position like this, “CCHR does not provide medical or legal advice. However, it works closely with attorneys and medical doctors and supports medical, but not psychiatric, practices.
Anyone who feels he or she is mentally ill should see a competent non-psychiatric medical doctor as numerous medical studies show undiagnosed and untreated physical complaints can manifest as a psychiatric problem. In many cases, once the physical condition is treated, the mental disorder symptoms disappear.”
Scientology has argued against the use of psychiatry since it was founded by Ron L. Hubbard in the the issues of Scientology and psychiatry have been an ongoing part of the religious group’s particular stance, from its inception with L.Ron Hubbard and the publication of his famous book, Dianetics.
The critics of Scientology call the religion a cult. L. Ron Hubbard Jr., son of its founder, said his father was a wild drinker and a charlatan in a 1983 interview with Penthouse Magazine.
Scientologists have been disparaged because of their beliefs in different countries around the world and have been under investigation for everything from alleged brain washing of members to viciously attacking their critics.
CCHR claims the DSMIV is a fraud. Other people say Scientology is that.
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Posted by Carol Forsloff
on May 22 2010. Filed under Health.
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I’m not even sure what Scientology is. If they’re against psychiatry, though, then they must be doing something right. They may be a strange group of people from what I’ve heard…but I’ve heard also that they are against psychiatric drugs.
One of my uncles was put on anti-depressats…because his doctor said he only had 4 months to live. He’s still alive, but is still supposed to take those drugs. Why? Because he was upset by being told he would die. That’s sick.
Two of my cousins were diagnosed with bipolar disorder. They are forced to take these…medications…if you could call them that. They are average kids when not on those drugs. When on the drugs, they barely have the motivation to do anything. It’s horrid. And guess what? They’re kids! Just KIDS! Last time I checked, kids shouldn’t be put on such drugs.
And since when has anyone seen this “serotonin” or whatever it is? Nobody has seen it. Nobody has seen “brain chemicals” work or even exist. There is NOTHING in any science article about such a thing being seen.
I am against psychiatry for science, my friends, my family, and for the people who have suffered for this pseudoscience’s unworthy crusade for profit and control of all.
Before they were named, mental disorders and illnesses did not exist.
I am not religious. I am not a Scientologist. I am not being paid. I am not a messenger of any kind.
I’m just sick of seeing people suffer.
Defining Major Depression…
I found your entry interesting thus I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog
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“CCHR issued a statement calling the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSMIV a “fraud perpetrated on society for the sole purpose of enormously increasing their income base by labeling and drugging individuals, particularly helpless little children, for profit.”’
Yes, but doesn’t Scientology offer a free stress test that purports to diagnose areas of upset and blocked progress in one’s life? Then, aren’t the results of said test graphed out and interpreted so as to appear as a valid diagnosis for mental health? Then, aren’t people sold Scientology courses to the tune of thousands of dollars in order to help them recover from their “ruin”? So, let’s see: Use a mental health screen to diagnose disorders/upsets, then proffer Scientology as the only solution, charging for EVERY piece of literature, course, and E-meter ($5000). Huh? I wonder who’s really in it for the profit. Certainly not Scientology, with its tax-free earnings going to buy up real estate all over the world. Nope, no profit motive there…
Psychiatry did brain operations called lobotomies on 20,000 Americans (and who knows how many world wide) in the 40s and 50s causing numerous deaths and leaving many others in a vegetable state. They then moved on to insulin shock and electric shock. Earnest Hemingway committed suicide after his electric shock “treatment”. That this group is still trusted with the mental health of U.S. citizens is ridiculous. Unfortunately we have been blinded by these so-called professionals. If they are so professional, why are there more people in prison? Why has drug use gone up — people are dying from prescription drugs as well as illegal drugs. Does anyone remember and care about Michael Jackson? Real science does not vote a new disease into existence. CCHR is the first group to step forward and show that in the case of psychiatry, “the emperor has no clothes”.
It is fine to be critical of psychiatry. It’s not perfect. The problem here is that the “Citizens Commission on Human Rights” (sic) is one of the Scientology organization’s most important front groups.
According to Scientology and its front groups, psychiatrists are to blame not only for 9/11, but for the African slave trade, the Holocaust, ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, and virtually every bad thing that has happened in human history. Scientologists believe that “psychiatric rape” occurs at epidemic levels in the USA, and that psychiatrists use lobotomies and electroshock therapy to keep their victims quiet. Indeed, they believe that “ice-pick lobotomies” are routinely administered by psychiatrists. All Scientology front operations, including CCHR, “Youth for Human Rights” (sic), Narconon, Criminon, “Applied Scholastics,” “Volunteer Ministers,” and others, are 100% oriented to obliterating psychiatry. “Human rights,” in fact, is Scientology’s euphemism for “obliterating psychiatry.”
Beyond psychiatry’s evil deeds on this planet, Scientology’s founder L. Ron Hubbard explained some other things about the vicious shrinks.
According to high-level Scientology doctrine, not available to Scientologists until they have paid as much as USD $300,000, it started with some trouble 75 million years ago, in a far-away galaxy. The place suffered from extreme overpopulation. A guy named Lord Xenu got the help of psychiatrists in summoning the galaxy’s inhabitants for an income tax inspection. Then each person was injected in the neck with a mixture of water and glycol, frozen, and put inside space-planes that looked very much like the DC-8 airliner that was popular in the 1960s. These space-planes flew to Earth (then known as “Teegeeack”), where the beings were stacked inside several volcanoes around the planet. Then Xenu dropped some massively large hydrogen bombs on top of them and blew them into smithereens — but smithereens that turned into parasitic ghosts. After a bunch of other crazy shenanigans involving movie theatres, implanted memories, a train, a circus, a gorilla, etc. etc. etc., these parasitic ghosts, or “body thetans,” now attach themselves in clusters to everyone on modern-day earth, and are responsible for all human mental, emotional and physical problems.
Later in space history, psychiatrists of the Marcab Confederacy, planets around a star in the “handle” of the “Big Dipper” constellation, imposed income tax as a punishment, not as a tax. The Psychiatrists came to earth 225,000 years ago with the 5th Invader Force, and began their reign of terror.
Scientology’s goal is the “total obliteration” of psychiatry, according to current Scientology leader David Miscavige. During his lifetime, L. Ron Hubbard wrote voluminously and lectured ad nauseam on how bad these characters are and about how important it is to exterminate the mental health profession, replacing it with Scientology.
CCHR is certainly NOT the first anti-psychiatry group. However, it is a group founded and supported by Scientology for its own purpose – to replace valid, professional, scientific mental health treatment with Scientology. Scientology’s own admitted campaign is to “obliterate Psychiatry”.
The US may have the highest incarceration rate in the world, but CRIME rates in the US have actually been falling. I guess Scientology fails at research as well.
It is a fallacy to claim that psychiatric illness is merely voted into existence when there is excellent medical evidence that these diseases have a biological basis within the brain with mental/psychiatric manifestations. Unfortunately, people do have real suffering from these “made-up” diseases.
Just remember the level of expertise Tom Cruise displayed when attacking Brook Shield. None.
Psychiatry is far from perfect and overmedication is a real issue. But scientology’s ideology is not an solution to these issues.
Hubbard tortured his wife and gave drugs to his children; Scientology is a predatory and destructive cult.
That’s called a mistake. People do things in life that they later regret. It is sad, yes, but no nation, group, nor individual will ever be perfect. Mistakes, sometimes bone-chilling ones, are made. Why? Because this world is a real pain to deal with.
CCHR is WRONG— Scientology is an authority on NOTHING
it has a long history of harming people..
it destroys family,uses forced child labor ,has a policy of forced abortions for members of its sea org
and a the long laundry list of decades of Crime Fraud and abuse..
its founder L Ron Hubbard was a fugitive from Justice.and charlatan of the worst kind.
In a related story, CCHR’s president Jan Eastgate, is accused of covering up sexual abuse within the “church” of Scientology by coaching an 11 year-old abused girl not to go to police.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/scientologist-jan-eastgate-accused-of-covering-up-abuse/story-e6frf7l6-1225868928427
Scientology is one more iteration of the anti-intellectual, anti-science movement that exists in this country. Scientology’s only answer to someone in a manic or psychotic state is to lock them in a room until they behave, or die.
CCHR is right — psychiatry is not a very scientific field and has harmed a lot of people. The overmedication of our society is a serious problem.
Sounds like you are trying to avoid this issue by “shooting the messenger.”
Anyone who believes that Scientology’s untrained staff members know better than mental health professionals is sadly deluded