There is over-medication in psychiatry. Two reasons for this:

1) psychiatrists get paid more for doing less to prescribe versus offering psychotherapy;
2) psychiatrists are in demand; they need to be able to get in as many patients as possible because there are often waiting lists. Since medication can produce quicker short term results, it is often a good thing to go to at the beginning. However, given that mental health professionals also include clinical psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, and so on, and given that the different professionals collaborate with each other, I imagine that the psychiatrist expects (or at minimum recommends and hopes) that the patient will also get psychotherapy from a clin. psych, OT, or SW, and will often help them get in touch with one of these.

Greetings.

Death threats, you say. Wow. I mean, I’m not hugely surprised. But still.
Yes, I’m familiar with their net nanny program. That is quite an honour for your friend, definitely. Do congratulate him for me. I’m working on attaining that sought after status myself

I’m not sure I agree with your stance on psychiatry and clinical psych, though. I’m not gonna say that the fields are perfect and without their problems. But I don’t know if I’d go so far as you have gone. I eagerly welcome you, if you would like to, to go into why you are so against them. I think we could agree, though, that these fields are permanently in a tough position and no matter what they do, their decisions will have significant and easily criticized consequences. These people are charged with treating and handling people with disorders that could lead them to really hurt people. How do you deal with that? If they just let them go free, they would be criticized for putting Potential Trouble Sources (to use Scientology lingo) on the street where they pose a real danger to others. If they locked them up, then they’re inhumane monsters. They use the cognitive and behaviourally oriented therapies they have, the medications, and other approaches like ECT (which, I hear, does have success, but I don’t know much about it and so should do some more reading), plus there are community services like support groups for people with schizophrenia and such, etc.

My thinking on this matter is very much in its infancy, and my knowledge on the issues is moderate at best. But it seems that if we are going to go pointing accusatory fingers at psychiatry and clinical psychology, we should be able to do a few things: 1) appreciate the tough situation they’re in and how any decision they make will have important consequences that will have easily opposable drawbacks; 2) If we’re going to call them dangerous, ignorant, evil, whatever, we should be able to point out more humane but practical courses of action.

The only thing that I like about $cientologists is their opposition to psychologists and psychiatrists. Most psychologists and psychiatrists are dangerous and ignorant people who hurt their clients rather than help them. The few intelligent ones I’ve met lament the state of the field in general. I have had too many friends who have been subjected to torture, both mental and physical, by the therapy establishment. But $cientologists seem to oppose psychologists because THEY want to play that role. I’d be interested in knowing the Free Zoner perspective.

Anon- good job this thread.

Here’s the thing. Scientology’s criminal activities continue to happen NOW! As protesters have been saying for quite some time now, this protest is not about religion, it’s about terrorist mafia human rights-abusing anti-free-speech activities by the adminstration of the cult in the very recent past and today. If all of this stuff was 70 years ago and the organization had had a generally sparkling record since then there would be no 2008 protests.

Also, be aware that the Church of Scientology does not control what we read. Many of us are well aware of your Anonymous websites, including Enturbulation. Many of us are aware of your plans and arguments against Scientology. We like to know both sides of an argument. So people that you may think are Anons may very well be Scientologists trying to gain knowledge from both sides of the fence. Scientology is about Knowledge. It is about Freedom. See you all on the 12th

Oh and Crowley was an Occultist (many Anons incorrectly refer to him as a Satanist, but that is clearly wrong if you read any of Crowley’s actual works. Religion is one of my interests, so I know that he wasn’t a Satanist, even if he referred to himself as “the beast”. He founded a religion called Thelema, which has nothing to do with Satanism). Trust me when I say we Scientologists are not the idiots that you think we are, and that we are more aware of Anonymous activities than you may think as well.