4thought.tv

This makes me feel angry and sad. It reinforced what I already believed.

A solid rebuttal of some of the ideas presented by previous speakers on the programme.

I've told a few of my friends and work colleagues that I've posted an opinion on this site in response to the Scientology broadcasts. All of them have said that they would not do the same for fear of what might happen to them as a result. It strikes me that there is an inherent bias in the commenting to do with this issue on this site (and I would guess, many others).

Those who agree with Scientology feel free to post a response. Those who do not, feel intimidated by what they have heard about what happens to Scientology naysayers.

Perhaps the question should be "How litigious against its detractors is Scientology in twenty-first century Britain?"

This makes me feel confused.

I think mental illness IS a physical condition often caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. However, I would not dissagree with Dr Andrew, that it can be caused by stress.

Fear is a lack of Faith, nothing more. I surrendered my life completely to a Power Greater than Me, without knowing what that Power is. Anything was better than how I 'was'. There is no longer fear, only Love...

This makes me feel sad.

I learned something from it.

It worries me that scientology would appear to take it upon itself to have views over a wide area of subjects and that there is often no room for alternative views. Any place where thinking and deciding for oneself is not encouraged and undervalued is somewhere that 1 is dangerous 2 is not a place I would want to be

It reinforced what I already believed.

Surely the Scientologist point of view - that mental illness is caused by physical illness - is more likely to treat with drugs than this guy. The government is putting a big emphasis on promoting talking therapies to treat mental health problems at their cause, rather than jumping in with drugs straight away.

Dr McCulloch says, "There really isn't any evidence to support this view [mental illness being caused by an underlying physical illness] that I'm aware of." The Scientologist didn't say 'underlying physical illness' but he did say 'physical condition'. I think the Doctor should go and have a look at his own web site and the campaign Feeding Minds. It says, "...many Mental Health conditions such as Depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's Disease and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be prevented / treated by consuming the right kinds of food and drinks." A dietary deficiency could be classified as a physical condition and more importantly, it could be tested for and treated. The Doctor's website supports what the Scientologist says!

This makes me feel confused.

Writings on Scientology agree that stress causes depression, so I think the interviewee may have the wrong idea. Some Scientologists believe that some mental illness may be caused by an underlying physical condition, and many disagree with the notion of a chemical imbalance in the brain causing the effects widely labelled as mental disorders, while as another commenter mentioned, it is true that those in the field say there is no test for such imbalances or their apparent mental ill effects. It confuses me that Dr McCulloch thinks that Scientologists' beliefs will lead to mentally ill people committing suicide, when in fact some drugs prescribed to mask the symptoms of depression have been known to cause suicidal tendencies.

This makes me feel angry and sad.

This is a typical response from someone who would push drugs that contain products of toxic waste down peoples throats instead of dealing with the underlying cause. If you noticed there was a contradiction in this doctor's statement. He said that he didn't believe that there was a physical cause of mental illness but said it may be linked to a genetic disorder. When you talk Genetics, you talk about a physical thing affecting mental health. I make me so sad that such theories have no scientific or medical evidence to support his claims. People in the field say there are no biological test that can be done to prove mental illness as a disease and if this is so, how can they prove it?

I learned something from it.

The speaker seemed quite scared, what is he hiding?

Also, in response to other comments here, there is no known test, clinical or otherwise, for chemical imbalances in the brain. Don't believe me? Try to find one using the net!. It's Sales spiel designed to confuse the patient into swallowing very lucrative drugs with extremely dangerous side effects. This is the Psychologists bread and butter.

"Follow the money trail."

I think the only aspect this documentary has so far explored is the drug free policy, a very small part to make a full evaluation of Scientology and it's relevance in the 21st century. There is a lot more data to consider before placing a verdict to such a broad statement. I thought there would be a lot more substance to be discussed. The speaker didn't bring much to the table, a bit disappointing all round really.

This makes me feel angry and sad.

I am a victim of Psychiatry and it all but destroyed me. At no time during enforced and unnecessary incarceration did anyone ask me what was going on with me or my life. I was forcibly drugged on entry to hospital, had 240 volts of electricity put through my brain on several occasions and as a RESULT became depressed. Whilst there, I attended a 'ward round' once a week which was for their purpose of collecting information about the effects of their drugs and nothing more.The day prior to the incarceration,I was holding down a professional and enjoyable job and my employers were very happy with my work.
If a family member doesn't like you, they will have no problem convincing a psychiatrist that you need their 'help', in fact nobody would have trouble convincing them that ANYBODY was 'mentally ill' as the touting for business is legion, and growing of late.
Nobody sought to check if I was pregnant before bombarding my body with their filthy toxins and my child was killed as a result. My notes conveniently 'disappeared' when I tried to sue.I could go on with this horror story, but it would fill a book.
When a astonished work colleague finally managed to rescue me, he was told that I would be back there in six weeks. I wasn't.That was many years ago and I still suffer the physical side affects of their abuse.Not to mention the trauma.
Even more appalling is the fact that this is still happening today and that GP's are given what amounts to cash prizes for recruiting victims.They are a law unto thenselves. How can they sleep?
Psychiatry is not even a science.

I don't understand the speaker's point of view at all.

Scientology isn't a lone voice among the growing number of people who recognise the profit-focused practises of the psychiatric industry. Note also that despite Andrew's apparent confusion, it is psychiatry and not psychology that Scientology opposes. We're not talking about people with mild depression who are going through a rough patch and could do with someone to chat with - we're talking about people who for whatever reason are seriously out of touch with reality, and the fact that psychiatry's answer is to drug them with 'medicines' which mask the symptoms while building dependency, and ultimately leaving the person in worse condition than before they started 'treatment'. I highly recommend "Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill" by Robert Whitaker, for further information.

I would note also that it is perhaps poor form to bring in a psychiatrist to present the 'opposing view to Scientology', since these are not two sides of the same coin. Andrew himself seems to know little about Scientology and rightly so, because apart from disliking the exposure they bring, there is no reason for a psychiatrist to have an opposing view on a religion - even if the use of the term 'religion' is in popular dispute.

I think what Dr andrew Mc culloch said on the tv. was very true, and that its a shame we don't get the help that we need from doctors when we ask for help. There are not a enough resources and this is a big problem in our nation health system. i suffer with depression and 7 months ago i attempted suicide and have not been seen by anyone for any counselling yet. many thanks suzanne

The problems are widespread & well known in the so called mental health systems from the horror abuses & massive profiteering in the drugs industry with toxic chemicals, false claims & hidden adverse effects including causing death & their disturbing relationships with self sustaining psychiatrists relentlessly inventing disorders to fit drugs & their self powering as experts in what they have invented, to staff in health services let loose with crude damaging chemicals masquerading as medical drugs being massively abused on individuals regardless of anything relating to proven medical science or any proven positive outcome apart from subduing, causing more damage, adverse side effects that look like mental disorders and deaths from mental drugs chemicals.

As a psychiatric staff nurse once said in the shared house she lived "they don't know anything about the brain" .. just after she had poisoned another resident, a high level retail manager & left him brain damaged in a coma & had poisoned other residents & the owner & went on to drug others with drugs she'd stolen from her hospital just because she wanted the house to herself, when new residents then moved into the shared house she eventually commited poisoning/ attempted murder & fled the property.

Scientology's got things right in many ways on this matter, as for their other beliefs- it's a shame such a serious matter is put next their other beliefs- some of which are bizarre

The area of Scientology concerned with mental health is Dianetics - the predecessor to Scientology (and quite specifically a mental health science not a religion). As one of the leading Dianetics personnel in the country I can tell you that Dr McCulloch's understanding of how we view mental illness is quite mistaken. We recognize the need for addressing the current (and possibly inhospitable) environment that an individual suffering from depression, etc. We additionally look back into the person's past and address underlying causes which might have precipitated the current situation. I have personally helped many people with physical and mental problems overcome them with Dianetics, so it must have some truth behind it!

I don't understand the speaker's point of view at all.

I am tired of so called mental health professionals ranting on about suicide. They seem to think that all distressed people will consider suicide unless they are drugged into a dazed stuper with countless psychotropic drugs. They have little understanding of how real people feel and are more interested in fitting the person into a category and labelling them instead of treating all people as individuals. Labels stick for life and stigmatise people and psychiatric drugs can cause brain damage
Infact, the drugs themselves can cause suicidal thoughts which were never there before. Real doctors do not simply invent disorders . They take years to discover and prove them . Psychiatry is pseudoscience and does more harm than good!

Scientology does not pick on the vulnerable. As is mentioned in earlier posts "Scientology is about the betterment of mankind" The goals are as follows: A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights. Can I ask why that is such a bad thing? How can Psychiatry accomplish these goals if people are subjected to drugging, electric shock (ECT) and various other abuses against humanity?

I say that Dr. McCulloch, as Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation should become familiar with cases such as Jan Pol's below, to make sure such cruelty, in the name of mental health, does not take place in the UK. I have heard of hundreds such cases and I'm not the CEO of any such organisation! How is that? One with such a prominent position should be expected to be very familiar with what actually goes on in the field. I find that it doesn't help pointing the finger against Scientologists -- they have never inherited the field of mental health and they have got nothing to do with it as a matter of fact, although within the broad knowledge of Scientology, if one searches and is actually INTERESTED at all, will find all the answers to all mental illness and most of all, to all mental sanity. Such knowledge was offered to psychiatry back in the late fourties, but astonishingly enough they "were not interested". Why they were not interested is a question which needs to be asked. I can see from what Dr. McCulloch is saying that he too failed to search... where other psychiatrists are using successfully such data to honestly do something to improve the lives of those unfortunate individuals who have suffered mental disorders at some stage. I do believe that psychiatry can do with some reform and that some sort of "chinese walls" need to be built betweeen this profession and the pharmaceutical industry.