Scientology Is A Forgery Of PsychiatryIf you ask enough people the first thing that comes into their mind when they hear the word 'Scientology', I believe the general consensus would be 'Tom Cruise'. The same thing would've happened to me if I was asked the same question before I went out of my way to delve further into what Scientology is all about. Other actors like John Travolta, Jason Lee and Kirstie Alley also come to mind. And while Tom Cruise's demeanor is far from normal based on what I see on TV and read in print, I'm left to thinking that if some people who seem to operate on a full deck of cards could involve themselves with such an organization, maybe there's more to Scientology than what popular media paints it to be. Based on my own research, Scientology is a religion founded by fantasy writer L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 and is a modified version of a system called Dianetics. Dianetics is a set of beliefs that relates to the relationship between the mind and body. It states that the mind is composed of three parts: the "analytical mind", the "reactive mind", and the somatic mind. Scientologists believe that the reactive mind is the negative force that halts a man's spiritual progress since it prevents him from living an unethical, sane and happy life. Practitioners undergo a process called 'auditing', which is done through a series of interviews that aims to make them aware of painful past experiences and in consequence extol themselves from the shackles of the "reactive mind". Now this method is nothing new to me. It sounds to me like a trite version of Psychoanalysis, which has been in practice and has helped millions of people since time immemorial. Now the question that pops into my mind is why L. Ronn Hubbard would use an already established psychological method, change it to something else and give it a different name to suit his founded religion. It's also interesting to point out that The Church of Scientology is opposed to the administration of psychiatric drugs based on their belief that the chemicals administered to the body stay permanently. This fact doesn't adhere to the facts already established by the medical community, though as with any religious organization, scientific findings don't really matter in the long run, do they? And this is where I get dubious: using the Psychoanalysis model in the 'auditing' method while debunking psychiatric practices just because they are incompatible with Scientology's set of beliefs raises an impression that the religion is trying to monopolize the ideal treatment for mental health. I'm not completely against Scientology, mind you. If it can improve the lives of its followers, then who am I to impose on those who practice the religion? But as for myself, I would rather prefer to heed the advice of those trained in Psychology. Psychiatry, after all, uses methods that have stood the test of time and are founded on medical and scientific facts. Dogma masquerading as science is a dangerous thing. It can debase our accepted and proven notions of mental health science and in turn, become detrimental to the society as a whole. One only has to see Tom Cruise's interviews on the internet to know what I mean.
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