Scientology's Anti-Psychiatry Exhibit Causes Controversy

From Free Tibet to Stop the Iraq War, hordes of protesters milling around Boston is no longer a strange sight for its Harvard students.
However, the recent exhibition Psychiatry: Industry of Death stopped students in their tracks and drew protests of its own at its 30 Brattle Street location.

The much-discussed exhibition, which closed last week, was organized by the Citizens Commission for Human Rights (CCHR), an immorally named group that is part of the Church of Scientology.
According to the groups Web site, the non-profit organization hopes to clean up the field of mental health.

To do so, the exhibition uses its own form of shock therapy. Video screens show graphic footage of lobotomies and electroshock treatment; treatments that the Scientologists seem to conveniently ignore are things of the past.
Lobotomies (surgical dissection of the prefrontal cortex) were most popular between 1930 and 1950 (for schizophrenia and intractable depression).
By the early 1970s their use had generally ceased and the last time a lobotomy was used was in France in 1986.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), in which a seizure is induced in an anaesthetized patient (with intractable schizophrenia, psychotic depression, manic depression or catatonia) was, similarly, most popular between 1930 and 1950.
It is rarely still in use today and has been shown clinically to be the most effective treatment for severe depression.
The American Psychiatric Association and the British National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence have shown that the procedure does NOT cause brain damage in adults.
Back at Harvard, a nearby board displays photos of celebrities, such as Kurt Cobain and Elliot Smith, who, the exhibit claims, had been killed by psychiatry.
Outside on Brattle Street, the groups organizers handed out DVDs featuring the exhibitions footage to passers-by.

If CCHR doesnt sound familiar, Anonymous might. Anonymous, which has previously protested against the Church of Scientology, brought swarms of its members to Brattle Plaza several times during the exhibitions run.
CCHRs exhibition ran for several weeks longer than had been originally planned. But the tactics they employed to draw more visitors to the site were not met with approval.

They were persistent to the point of harassment, Kelly, a shop clerk, said. Some were reasonable; others would follow you. Sometimes, they pulled aside women with children.

Zhen Gong, a 10 year old boy, said he was accosted by one of the exhibitions representatives as he was about to eat at a local restaurant.

I was waiting to meet a friend and his mom when someone came up to me. He told me about the exhibition, gave me a flyer, and said Dont believe psychiatry! Its an industry of death! ADHD doesnt exist!

Promotional tactics aside, many students said they thought putting an anti-psychiatry exhibition in the heart of an Ivy League campus was unorthodox. It wasnt what I would expect to see in the square. Kelly said. It was weird.

Much of the discussion and controversy stemmed from the claims made by CCHR.
One particularly contentious claim in both the exhibit and the DVD was that in the past four decades, nearly twice as many Americans have died in government psychiatric hospitals than in all US wars since 1776.
Another alleged that psychiatrists are treating people against their will.

The DVD also ran through a history of eugenics and stated that psychiatrists were responsible for the Nazi actions during the Holocaust of WW2. However, few, if any, visitors seemed convinced by this line of thought.
They also claim that psychiatrists were responsible for the world trade centre terrorism on 9/11.

Unless you are easily convinced by a crazy amount of very graphic imagery and very shady looking video production, it wouldnt be convincing, Daniel Ashwood said.

Professor Anne Harrington of the History of Science department said that she thought CCHRs argument had no credibility.

The CCHR accept the words of psychiatrists which support what they want to hear - but they also talk about psychiatrists like a bunch of corrupt crooks, Harrington said.

Its like holding up a distorted mirror to psychiatry, she added. The distortions get in the way of our ability to see the truth.
Many famous people treated by psychiatrists have subsequently achieved outstanding accomplishments.
For example, the book and film A Beautiful Mind chronicled the life of John Forbes Nash, a Nobel Prize-winning mathematician and economist who was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
In addition, it is an ongoing question as to why many creative geniuses had bipolar disorder. Famous bipolar patients include Ludwig van Beethoven, Sir Isaac Newton, Vincent van Gogh, Kurt Cobain, Charles Dickens and Stephen Fry.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Church
• Cult
• Psychiatry
• Scientology
• Holocaust
• Nazi
• CCHR
• Citizens
• Commission
• Human
• Rights
• Lobotomy
• ECT
• Electroconvulsive

[jdtrickster4]

All you pro $cientology fools should go join the Sea Org so you can experience for yourselves what real abuse & slave labor are, firsthand.

And don't complain about hearing voices like Lisa McPherson, lest you're willing to endure an Introspection Rundown w/ its own "Lisa Clause" where you can be killed or harmed by the cult & can't even sue them; or be placed in one of their "rehabilitation" projects which do use force, are not able to speak unless spoken to, are sleep deprived & underfed.

[hazydayz988]

As much as psychiatry has a dark history (and many of the sciences do) they have also done a lot of good. It would be sad if a display like this detoured someone from seeking help for mental health issues.

[christinemmurphy]

bullshit



[qwyzl]

ok, manic depressives exist in all walks of life. of course you only hear about the famous ones. so that last bit is some what off. like any profession, there are good psychiatrists and bad ones who are just out to make a buck. i have no doubt that some psychiatrists are them selves sociopaths. let's not claim that psychiatry is a pure profession devoid of bad characters. and many psychiatrists do in deed hand out pills like it's candy. over all, though, "scientology" should be banned.

[somesoughtofgermon]

im so sad people spread lies about mental health i have been treated for anxiety disorder in the past and it saved my life also the only risk in ect is the anaesthetic

[Visionz2MyInnerEye]

Whoever made this video is a total idiot. This video is lame and filled with misinformation. Psychiatry is total lies, deception, imprisonment, torture, poisoning, & murder. Fuck Psychiatry and down with all mental institutions!!! I'm going to destroy Psychiatry in 2012!!

[draziom902]

@knight1768 wow you must be proud (sarcasm). depression isn't a disease therefore requires no brain damaging procedures. ect is not humane, it is barbaric more now than in the past as they conceal the barbarism with cosmetic disguise to make it easier on witnesses. psychiatry is a fraud and pseudoscience. you should be ashamed of the crimes you commit against humanity.

[knight1768]

@draziom902 what are you talking about thing of the past?to this day they use ect its very effective on severe depression,its done much more humane under a local,but none the less is done,i work on a psyc.unit in a hospital,and 13 years in a behavior unit before that,psyc. has come a long way.

[starseedleo]

PLZ READ An Open Letter To Our Citizens at schizophrenia dotcom if you want to help our people

[missieclassy]

We do not know that Beethoven had a mental illness: this is an assumption based upon the modern obsession with classifying any behaviour that is apart from the norm as a "disorder".

Although it is most likely that Van Gogh had a mental illness, there is no evidence that he, Newton, Cobain or Dickens had Bipolar Disorder. Andy why are you including Cobain alongside some of the greatest literary and artistic minds to have ever lived? The comparison, (sorry rockers) is purile to say the least.

[missieclassy]

Electro Convulsive Therapy is still often used today (check your facts!!!), and has also been shown in recent studies to cause patients to complain of long term memory loss.

There is a very revealing discussion at the British Journal of Psychiatry:-

google: Quality of life and ECT by L Andre

Also at the British Medical Journal on:-

google: Patients' perspectives on electroconvulsive therapy: systematic review by D Rose