I know they are against some pharamaceuticals (and maybe that is somewhat irrational), but does anyone else find it disburbing how unthinking the media have become in criticizing their skepticism? There has to be something to it. I know the whole field is somewhat subjective and not fully understood.
I’ve listened to few lectures by Thomas Szasz on youtube, and what he says is quite interesting. He, together with the church of scientology, head some sort of psychological institute, even though he himself has said (iirc) that he’s an atheist. I think there may be some truth to what they say, but the way they do these things, and the religious madness associated with it certainly doesn’t sit right with me.
There are far more dangerous cults out there (one of them being centred around a certain presidential candidate whose name rhymes with Osama.)
-Jon
I more or less agree with Szasz. But Szasz isn’t a scientologist and I’m not really read up on precisely what the scientologist position is on this, although I’ve heard a lot of comparison made between Szasz and scientology.
There are two separate issues:
Is the massive use of anti-psychotic and anti-depressant drugs a good idea? Is the “chemical imbalance” theory of mental illness a bunch of nonsense?
Are Scientologists a bunch of fruitcakes, even though they’re 100% right about the evils of the psychiatry drugging industry?
How many pharmaceutical corporations take out ads on mainstream media sources? How many ads are taken out by Scientology or critics of the pharmaceutical industry? Hint: A “news” show isn’t critical of its advertisers!
I’m not that informed about scientology. Can anyone give a run down of what they oppose? Is it just psychiatric drugs?
Some hint as to why they oppose these things too.
I am somewhat informed about the subjective nature of psychiatry, which is what caught my interest to this subject. There are even non-scientologists that firmly believe this (and even psychiatrists believe it). But the media is almost insane in their opposition to Tom Cruise. Though I don’t believe Tom Cruise to be an expert on anything but acting, the way Matt Lauer acted in that interview a few years ago made me believe that there is a pretty big opposition to skepticism about this industry. Matt Lauer sounded like he was reading off cue cards. Like he was trying to talk him down and make him understand how irrational he is. But what does Matt Lauer know about anything any more than Tom Cruise?
I don’t understand this constantly bashing of drug producers. The problem here is with psychiastris, which are the ones that prescribe the drugs. My sister, a psychologist, tells me that it’s very common of psychiastrist to not bother to try to identify if a depression ir originated from the “inside” or “outside” (I don’t know how to translate the terms she uses: it just means whether it is social or possibly some chemical disorder I think). They will just prescribe drugs, and generally fail to have any periodicity in the patients visits that would allow the actual treatment. It’s just much easier to prescribe drugs than to get to the bottom of the affliction – at least psychologists have a few methods that she tells me about of how to get the patient to think through their stuff. They aren’t supposed to actually suggest courses of action, like Dr. Phil, but rather try to get the patient to identify possible unresolved issues in his life that are hunting him. I’ve never shown it to her, but stefan – the anarchist guy from youtube – has a couple of videos (like this recent one) where he tries to make pin down the root of the issues callers have. One funny stuff psychologists do is asking the patient what he sees on paper blurs. Of course, they are just blurs, the psychologists aren’t trying to abstract any concrete thing from them. The idea is for the patient to express what it’s in his mind, and to clear his stuff.
Unfortunately, too often people look for psychiastris first, but you are better served by looking for a psychologists counseling first, and then – if the psychologists approves it might be beneficial as well – get a psychiatrist to put your associate on drugs if necessary.