God is the answer to all your problems

That's sad, but true, Gina. The OP demonstrates their own weak-mindedness, and lack of intelligence. I'm used to reading such drivel. What irks me is that it is posted it at a forum occupied by those who are dealing with emotional issues that can weaken their resolve, and may make them more vulnerable to buying into such crap.

Gina, as an ex-scientologist I can really say......I love you!

According to scientology is was Psychiatrists that did lots of nasty things trillions of years ago. It's a poor sci fi story they would like to see as religious.

I was shocked when I spoke to someone who said that she had her life turn around after electric shock treatment. Scientology could not accept that, these guys are brutes, evil ones, experimenting with peoples minds. In some cases that may be true, but there are plenty who are doing their best to help people, and do.

I can understand why some are suspicious of psychiatry's methods, as some of these were pretty crude up until only a generation or so ago. However, that doesn't mean psychiatry should be written off. General surgery was pretty crude at one point, but some of it is now incredibly sophisticated. It's also the case, of course, that among those treated by psychiatry are the paranoid.

Anyway, cults have several things in common, one of which is to brainwash people into distancing themselves from anything or anyone that threatens their unquestioning loyalty to the cult (with the emphasis firmly on 'unquestioning'). This varies in sophistication, from Prem Rawat's maxim 'distance yourself from people who threaten your inner peace' (i.e. those who criticize Rawat's message and your adherence thereto) to scientology's much more crude 'radical scepticism' of psychiatry (which effectively distances you from anyone or anything that would call into question your sanity for devolving your will to scientology).

In terms of reasoning, I have never seen any good reasoning come out of the Church of Scientology. It's always ultra-defensive, ultra-reactionary, ultra-discursive rambling tripe. Their position is one of drowning out the voice of the other rather than engaging with it. As such, I normally wouldn't engage with it either, but here I felt it best to take the OP's post to pieces to show why it was a pile of crap for the potential benefit of anyone on this site who may be reading it at a time in their life when they are most vulnerable.

Gina, I like your thinking and the mentioning of cults got me thinking about christian beliefs. They were in fact deemed to be a cult according to the ancient Romans and could easily be likened to any obscure religious group from modern times. If they like to quantify their statements about psychiatry by looking at antiquity then we should do the same and throw christian beliefs back beyond the Inquisitions and the Crusades to a time when single deities was unheard of.

GinaSmith, nothing wrong with your ability to observe!

Arbie, I have trouble trying to tell what is a cult from a religion. I think it's about size. Say nasty things about the Pope and sooner or later you'll be excommunicated. Say you want to set up your own version of Christianity and at one time like with the Cathars all your members will be killed or converted. Try being a Catholic priest that promotes female priests or gay rights. Look at the recent hoo har over the cover up of paedophiles in the church. The same happened in the Anglican church. Think that's changed now? I wouldn't want to set up my own Islamic off shoot in Iran, or Saudi Arabia, and I think it would even be dangerous in Europe.

God cannot be the answer to anything if she/he/it is not defined. The old testament god is jealous, mean spirited, cruel, a mass murderer. The new testament one is magically three things while being one thing, (and that don't impress me much). He is also a lamb. He is also Krishna, a beautiful youth, kind of teen idol, so black he's blue, stole butter from his mum, able to wrestle giant snakes. He's a fit old man throwing lightening off mountains. He's an old man with long white hair and beard (ethnically white skin too) sitting on a cloud for eternity playing with his harp. God is Love. God is the all powerful creator of the entire universe, occasionally he turns his back and there goes New Orleans! or a Tsunami destroys thousands of people, but he does have time to help you pass your driving test???????????

I have to agree with the majority of replies here that believing in god is all well and good but when you start talking drivel and saying psychology/psychiatry is the route of all evil, i think it's time to increase your anti-psychotics (sorry about the pun all). If some mental health patients didn't see their psychiatrists regularly to tweak their medication and keep them reasonably stable, there would be a lot of very dangerous mental health patients out there, me for one. I take anti-psychotics to calm me down and stop me getting aggressive/agitated thanks to depression and a personality disorder caused by abuse and neglect as a child. I suppose god was punishing me for something, but at 7 years old i am lost as to what i had done to deserve it? Oh well i suppose it takes all-sorts.

cusochris wrote:I have to agree with the majority of replies here that believing in god is all well and good but when you start talking drivel and saying psychology/psychiatry is the route of all evil, i think it's time to increase your anti-psychotics (sorry about the pun all). If some mental health patients didn't see their psychiatrists regularly to tweak their medication and keep them reasonably stable, there would be a lot of very dangerous mental health patients out there, me for one. I take anti-psychotics to calm me down and stop me getting aggressive/agitated thanks to depression and a personality disorder caused by abuse and neglect as a child. I suppose god was punishing me for something, but at 7 years old i am lost as to what i had done to deserve it? Oh well i suppose it takes all-sorts.

why can't you learn stop your aggression on your own?

anyway... i personally dislike the idea of simply killing an emotion. control is about redirection, not repression--maybe channel it into something? or if the situation is inappropriate, learn to snap back to reality and calm yourself now, let it out later. it is a FACT that we will develop tolerance to drugs and that the dose will, inevitably, need to increase. but if we condition ourselves to submit only to our own control, we get better and better at doing so. PLUS we positively reinforce ourselves as we recognize our ability to harness our freedom of will and screw the universe.

like i said, we're our own gods. cheesy, but true.

I'm sorry, but did you not read what i said 'imaduck' about the reasons why i see a psychiatrist/psychologist and use medication to reduce aggressive feelings and calm me down? I assume from what you say you have never experienced abuse and neglect personally? because if you have/had you would understand why sometimes it's not that simple to just 'decide' that you can control everything you feel and do. If you have experienced abuse or some other severe trauma in your life and find that you can control everything you feel and do so don't need any help then 'GOOD FOR YOU' (yes that is sarcasm by the way), it must be hard being perfect when the rest of us are so flawed and weak. I'm afraid we can't all be so 'in control' and 'condition ourselves', some of us need help to cope with our confusing emotions and feelings of guilt, anger, and pain. I am going through therapy to learn to cope with what happened to me for more than 17 years of my life, and i apologize if needing help to do that makes me weak and not a 'god' like you. You clearly have a low opinion of people like me, i just hope that your belief in your own strength isn't ever properly tested, like it has for people like me, because i would hate to be the one to break it to you that, your belief that you are always capable of 'snapping back to reality' and 'controlling your anger' in all circumstances is just a load of b*****s. You would finally realize how insubstantial and insignificant your belief that you can always 'snap back to reality and calm yourself down' no matter what the situation really is.

cusochris wrote:I'm sorry, but did you not read what i said 'imaduck' about the reasons why i see a psychiatrist/psychologist and use medication to reduce aggressive feelings and calm me down? I assume from what you say you have never experienced abuse and neglect personally? because if you have/had you would understand why sometimes it's not that simple to just 'decide' that you can control everything you feel and do. If you have experienced abuse or some other severe trauma in your life and find that you can control everything you feel and do so don't need any help then 'GOOD FOR YOU' (yes that is sarcasm by the way), it must be hard being perfect when the rest of us are so flawed and weak. I'm afraid we can't all be so 'in control' and 'condition ourselves', some of us need help to cope with our confusing emotions and feelings of guilt, anger, and pain. I am going through therapy to learn to cope with what happened to me for more than 17 years of my life, and i apologize if needing help to do that makes me weak and not a 'god' like you. You clearly have a low opinion of people like me, i just hope that your belief in your own strength isn't ever properly tested, like it has for people like me, because i would hate to be the one to break it to you that, your belief that you are always capable of 'snapping back to reality' and 'controlling your anger' in all circumstances is just a load of b*****s. You would finally realize how insubstantial and insignificant your belief that you can always 'snap back to reality and calm yourself down' no matter what the situation really is.

oh please, i never said it was JUST THAT SIMPLE. it's about practice and pushing yourself even when it hurts, rather than conveniently submitting to the consequences of your past. do you have any idea how difficult it is for me to approach a person? the overwhelming fear of annihilation by humiliation, knowing that i was never able to connect to the world because i grew up in my own shell, never able to interact without being tormented for being so strange? of course part of me still doubts that i can ever, ever become a part of the world, just as well as that part beckons me back into self-destructive solitude. it's a freaking battle every day, being surrounded by co-workers who are, to me, not unique individuals but projections of the kids who rejected and humiliated me in the past--i struggle to strangle this innate belief of mine that convinces me i'm always on the freak stage and the rest are the cruel, manipulative audience waiting for me to react cheerfully to their compliments so they can point and laugh! ###$, the CONSTANT loops of anxiety, humiliation, shame, self-hatred... not to mention my parents, god knows what happened there, i don't even remember anything about my childhood save for fights with them, the incessant accusations of being too strange, too problematic, all of the meds that didn't work, the fact that i could NEVER, EVER open up to them (i actually struggle not to speak like a scared little robot around them, even though strangling my voice like usual would be so much easier) or interact without disdain or mutual exchanges of straight-up explosive anger... but hey dude, i'm making progress, SLOWLY, how about that?

i have nothing against therapy... just most medications. i believe that it is in our best interest as humans to harness our own strength. why are you in therapy if not to learn to do just that? as for my view on meds, i can appreciate strong emotions because they remind me that i can feel, and i'm grateful for the ability. chemical calm is like... worse than emptiness.

sorry, but people are inclined to seek validation for their pasts and their pain--it's understandable, but when you start using them as excuses, where is your hope?

After everything you have been through (scarily similar to my own) how do you manage, without meds, not to be angry towards a world that points and judges you even now as an adult? I lose my temper with people so easily and feel that they don't even try to understand why i feel like i do. I am normally quite a peaceful person but without medication i would really struggle to keep my cool. I am convinced that without medication i would not have a marriage, and would probably end up in court numerous times. I do understand what your saying about feeling numb all the time, and i sleep far too much because of the meds, but until my therapy has reached the point where i don't feel so angry and bitter all the time i can't even consider stopping my meds. Do you have any good suggestions for how i can control my temper more, without saying what most people say, which is count to ten, because when i get angry the feeling lasts for hours and sometimes even days before i calm down.