Curious about how Scientology treats folks with mental health issues and how effective it is?

Question

The following site gives numerous links to an article detailing how a paranoid schizophrenic boy, left untreated, stabbed his Mother to death after she refused to get psychiatric help for him:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/JeremyPerkins/

Here's a link to an in-depth story of a reporter who actually began developing symptoms as a result of his exposure to Scientology practices:
http://www.lermanet.com/scientologynews/scientology-cult-life-magazine.htm

Yep-I saw a number of those sites-the Jeremy Perkins thing happened pretty close to home-and the Lisa McPherson thing-yikes!-the coroner report said she was emaciated and dehydrated and covered with hundreds of cockroach bites after the Scientology "treatment" that killed her. Yeah, killing your mentally disturbed members is one way to treat the problem, eh?
Check out the links to the crazy treatment by hair analysis (outlawed now in NY) and chelation therapy which has limited effectiveness even for heavy metal poisoning

Here is another really good link to a story told by someone who spent a lot of time involved with a local Scientology group and their experience. It really details the absolute paranoia and intolerance for any questions or dissent amongst members and the repercussions felt when a person attempts to truly assert their own powers of reason. What strikes me as most frightening too is the aspects of indoctrination which closely resmble techniques for brainwashing (sleep deprivation, attempts to isolate from family and friends, etc.)
http://www.buffaloscientologyinfo.com/rich01.html

Answer 1

they treat people who have mental health issues, without regard, or compassion, and charge for it along the way. they brainwash a person , into believing that if you do not pay for your next treatment, you will never get better. it is not effective at all, but puts out a lot of dangerous, and misleading information. they are putting out what i call hate literature, about psychiatry, to prey on people that have had a bad experience with the mental health system, or are denying their illness. there is one or two people on yahoo answers, who believe in Scientology. i don't know how many, because they have to change their identities, because of the ridiculous answers, and questions they post, such as "do psychiatrists kill people and eat their babies?. look what they have done to those individuals. it is not effective at all. they are denying mental illness, and i know mental illness is real, and i know psychiatry, and medications have helped thousands of people return to the community, and relieved of their symptoms. i know , i worked in a psychiatric hospital for over 30 years, so i think that is more effective.

Answer 2

My brother has a personality disorder and he was kicked out of Scientology for being PTS. They called it Potential Trouble Source.

So if your money runs out... then I don't think they care one way or the other.

But Scientology certainly was not the cause of his disorder and I actually think they helped him somewhat. But then when they kicked him out-- oh, that was not good for him.

Edit: How they were helping him-- he was extremely socially isolated and being part of a community was valuable to him.

He agreed with the idea that you need to "define words" to understand anything. He agreed with auditing and e-meters.

He disagreed with some things, but I'm not sure of the details.

All that I think was helpful-- but the organization just cares about $$$ (in my opinion).

Answer 3

I'm so glad others know about these things! I ALWAYS post the Jeremy Perkins story when I answer questions about Scientology (well, almost always).

Do you know about the other harms Scientology has caused and the crimes they've committed? Here, I'll post my list:

• Operation Snow White – Under this program, Scientology operatives committed infiltration, wiretapping, & theft of documents in government offices. This program constituted the single largest infiltration of the United States government in history. Among the 11 prominent Scientologists convicted of this conspiracy was Mary Sue Hubbard, the wife of Scientology’s “prophet”.
http://lisatrust.freewinds.cx/scientology/snow-white/index.html
http://en.allexperts.com/e/o/op/operation_snow_white.htm

• Operation Freakout - Their campaign of sabotage & violence against Paulette Cooper, the writer who published her research & findings on several cults, including Scientology. Scientology’s official plan: to frame Paulette, ruin her career & reputation & get her either incarcerated or locked up in psychiatric confinement.
The official plan: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Krasel/cooper/frk1.html
Her book (free pdf): http://holysmoke.org/cos/books/scandal-of-scientology-cooper.pdf

• Fair Game - the Scientology policy detailing how the organization may confront & handle critics & perceived enemies. Here is a direct quote: "Enemies may be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.”
http://www.xenu.net/archive/disk/fairgame.htm
http://www.planetkc.com/sloth/sci/Fair_game_ord.html

• Physical and psychological maltreatment: Scientologists who "break the rules" while members of the "Sea Org" must subject themselves to the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF), which includes regimes of harsh physical punishment, forced self-confessions, social isolation, hard labor and intensive ideological indoctrination.
http://www.xenu-directory.net/practices/rpf.html
http://www.lermanet2.com/scientology/gulags/BrainwashinginScientology'sRehabilitationProjectForce.htm
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/cos/rpf/escape_2.htm

• Violent Kidnapping - Lisa McPherson was a Scientologist, was involved in a car accident & resultantly became mentally unstable. She was kidnapped from the hospital by agents of Scientology, held against her will, refused proper psychiatric treatment & allowed to STARVE TO DEATH.
Video: http://theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com/
Website: http://www.lisamcpherson.org/

• Tragic Murder - A CBS “48 Hours” special on Jeremy Perkins, the mentally disturbed son of Scientologist parents who refused to put him on the anti-psychotic drugs that would have stabilized him & prevented him from killing his own mother.
Video: http://www.scientomogy.com/jeremy_perkins.php
CBS article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/25/48hours/main2124568.shtml

Answer 4

THANK YOU for the questions and the answers!
I believe we all need information about the harm that Scientology is doing in America.

Answer 5

Denial at it's best! Sad and ignorant, especially for those who are too young or too impaired to advocate for the help they need. But I guess they are all going to their "Nirvana" or "Heaven" or spaceship. I would not want to be there!

Answer 6

There are lots of physical and psychological disorders that can only best be treated by medical intervention and medication. Scientologists are whacked.

Answer 7

I saw that too!!! that was so sad.... I personally think they are a little on the wacky side..

Answer 8

The truth about Lisa McPherson

Lisa McPherson is being used as a center of the Anti-Scientology propaganda, these are the facts.

"Lisa McPherson, died suddenly and unpredictably of a blood clot in her left lung that originated from a knee bruise she suffered in a minor auto accident 17 days earlier." The forensic examiner that originally said that Lisa died of dehydration and bed rest (Dr Joan Woods) admitted that she didn't perform the autopsy and after examining the facts she changed the cause of death of Lisa to be natural. All medical examiners agree that Lisa died of natural causes. My source of information is the News Paper the link is bellow and you can read it yourself. But of course this fact is not mention in the anti-Scientology web sites so they post the erronuous medical report that Dr Joan Woods later retracted.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/57230113.html?dids=57230113:57230113&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+13%2C+2000&author=CRAIG+PITTMAN&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=1.A&desc=McPherson+case+expected+to+haunt+medical+examiner+Series%3A+STATE+DROPS+CHARGES+AGAINST+SCIENTOLOGY

And those sites alleges that Lisa McPherson was held against her will when in fact Lisa was taken to the Scientology resort by her own request. In Judge Quesada's own words "Based on the undisputed facts of this case, plaintiff has not made and cannot make a showing that Lisa McPherson was unlawfully restrained 'against her will' by the defendants. In fact, all of the evidence indicates the opposite. Lisa McPherson refused psychiatric observation or admission at the hospital; she expressly stated her desire to receive the religious care and assistance from her fellow congretants"

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/74470672.html?dids=74470672:74470672&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+22%2C+2001&author=ROBERT+FARLEY&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=3.B&desc=Church+scores+round+in+death+suit

I'm sure if Lisa would be here today she would be piss that her name is being used to attack Scientology. RIP

About Jeremy Perkins, he made his choice and he has to live with the consequences of his choice. Each person is free to make his decisions. But hundreds of mental patients under treatment have done worst than Jeremy Perkins so we can't assume that the source of his crime was lack of mental health.

The cases that you mention are the exception. For hundreds of thousands of Scientologists Scientology works and that is indenialable.

In my opinion the best treatment for mental health patients is PEACE, LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING. We don’t lock them up, we don’t use strait jackets and we don’t drug them. We just let them be until they are ready to come back. Once again this is their choice.
Anyway I have never seen a Psychiatric treatment that works. By Psychiatry own documents their treatments only improve patients 33% of the time but never cure them. Psychiatric has never cured anyone, just ask them, they don’t even think that anyone can be cured.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3895596783332855545&q=psychiatry+is+fraude&hl=en
In this other site you will find dozens of Psychiatric victims speaking against Psychiatry.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=psychtruth&session=gAJ9cQEoVQxlcnJvcl9maWVsZHNxAmNfX2J1aWx0aW5fXwpzZXQKcQNdhVJxBFUGZXJyb3JzcQVdcQZVKFRoaXMgdXNlciBpcyBub3QgYSBtZW1iZXIgb2YgYW55IGdyb3Vwcy5xB2FVCG1lc3NhZ2VzcQhdcQl1Lg==

http://www.drugawareness.org/
http://www.adhdfraud.org/
http://www.escapefrompsychiatry.org/
http://www.antipsychiatry.org/
http://www.mindfreedom.org/
http://www.endofshock.com/
http://www.stopshrinks.org/
http://www.gwenolsen.com/
http://psychrights.org
http://www.prescriptionsuicide.com/
http://www.breggin.com/
http://www.healthyskepticism.org/
http://www.aspire.us/