By systematically targeting electroconvulsive therapy as part of its war on psychiatry, experts say Scientology could decimate a treatment that is “saving so many lives.”
…
The Atlantic’s 2001 article explained that ECT [Electroconvulsive therapy] had emerged from a terrifying past to become a safe and effective treatment for some of the worst effects of serious mental illnesses. But Scientology, through its campaigns and by pushing legislation, was promoting outdated myths about the procedure for a public that knew little about it.
Miscavige’s November 3 speech illustrated that Scientology is still pushing this agenda more than 20 years later—but with one big difference.
While Scientology has continued to campaign against ECT on various fronts, it has pursued a little known but very effective strategy against ECT’s most vulnerable spot: Namely, the two small companies that manufacture the devices that physicians use during the procedure.
For decades, Scientology has quietly waged a litigation war against those two companies, SigmaStim and Somatics, and it has both nearly on the ropes.
Scientology knows that if the two companies go out of business, federal regulations mandate that doctors will no longer be able to use their devices, and ECT will become unavailable in this country and around the world.
Those medical providers say that ECT is a safe procedure that is saving lives every day, and they are extremely concerned that it is nearly on the brink of disappearing—and only because of the relentless attacks of Scientology on the device manufacturers, a war that has flown completely under the radar until now.
You know, if the US removed the tax-exempt status from churches, the CoS would have way fewer resources to pull shit like this.
Makes you wonder why journalists don’t bring this up.
You should ask the ones who have.
Which ones? The ones confirmed dead, the ones who disappeared, or the ones in a hole of a federal prison? Oh, I see…
How come only those two companies build those medical devices?
How come Scientology can fuck with them like that?
Why do we still have religion and cults in positions of power?
How come only those two companies build those medical devices?
Not much demand, I’d imagine.
How come Scientology can fuck with them like that?
They have a lot of money, and that’s all it takes.
Why do we still have religion and cults in positions of power?
Because the people who put them in power fall for their bullshit, same as it ever was.
The Church of Scientology has a museum in Hollywood, CA called Psychiatry: An Industry of Death. They don’t admit it’s affiliated with the church- more on that later- it claims it’s run by the “Citizens’ Commission on Human Rights,” which is one of their lobbying groups.
Right next to it is a restaurant called The Cat and Fiddle, which happened to be where an atheist social group I was a part of when I lived there met up once a month. So one day, we decide to go over. They make you give your name and address to go in, so we gave very obvious fake ones. We were followed by what were very clearly handlers pretending to be other museum-goers who just happened to be hanging out in the lobby when we came in and gave us the sort of pious smiles you often see from religious people when they’re intentionally trying to do something shitty to you.
Once you are let in, they make you watch an incredibly boring movie which lasted about half an hour. It was so boring, I remember nothing about it except “psychiatry bad.” The link I give above shows pictures of the very silly exhibits. Now on the subject of ECT, they literally blame the Holocaust on ECT. Like Germany was giving people ECT and that turned them into Nazis and that’s how the Holocaust happened.
And then you get to the end with a bunch of plaques with their “advisors” and the names are names like John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Isaac Hayes… all the celebrities who are openly Scientologists. They didn’t really hide their affiliation very well.
It was very amusing at the time, and they didn’t charge us any money so we didn’t feel like we were contributing to church bullshit, but it does feel a lot less amusing now.
This is low-hanging fruit for scientology because they actually paint it as scary.
Scientology’s “war on psychiatry” is an accurate description because it’s not that they do not believe in it - they believe its effects are evil. As in, yes, you should have to suffer with depression, and schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders. And then you treat it by joining their church where they basically institutionalize you the same way it was done prior to modern psychiatry.
Wow, that is really a terrible shame. ECT saved my grandfather’s life. We were all nervous about it because of the bad marketing and myths out there (which in retrospect are likely perpetrated by scientology).
It was an overnight change after years of failed treatments. We had our Pop-Pop back.
What was he suffering from? If you don’t mind me asking
I’m not OP, but it’s typically used to treat severe depression.
so uh, why do they want this industry dead?
A scifi author said it was bad
that seems too simple for Scientology, they only do things if it makes them money, im pretty sure.
That’s their money making model, target people who need mental Healthcare, tell them it’s not a mental health problem, it’s a spiritual problem, and they need to pay and participate in their religion and avoid mental Healthcare.
ah a classic, just lie to people. I forgot about that one.
Where is Shelly?
Aaron Levin Smith made a video on Shelleys whereabouts somewhat recently. IIRC she’s in a compound in California somewhere and she’s fine, by all outward appearances. I’m pretty sure she’s drinking the kool ade like the rest of them.
Appearances can be deceiving. They wouldn’t be hiding her in a compound for years and not responding to inquiries if everything was good between her and the CoS.
From what I understand, she doesn’t seem to be held against her will. If Aaron Levin Smith is to be believed (being that he is a former Sea Org member, I’d say his credibility is good), she’s been seen out and about running errands and the like, but always with a security detail. There’s a decent chance that I’m misremembering something, though, so take this with a pinch of salt.
Yeah people are desperate to believe horror stories especially involving a woman but the reality is very likely she’s just a member of the cult living a relaxed and affluent life on the money they swindle.
I mean. Comparing modern ECTs to the shit from the 60s is like saying a doctor testing knee reflexes with the little hammer is the same as taking a sledgehammer to a kneecap…
Wasn’t one of the faces of scientology just paid by the french government to star at the olympics?
The whole field of psychology has such an inhumane and crackpot history that they’ve brought this upon themselves. I’m don’t defend Scientology, but they don’t stick ice-picks in peoples brains or use the courts to sterilize minorities. I’m not aware of a Scientologist being instrumental in the Satanic Panic or retrieving false memories, through hypnosis, that put innocent people in jail for child abuse.
EST isn’t going away because Scientology attacked it, it’s because psychologists have cried wolf too many times that their barbaric methods have therapeutic value.
