Scientology 'dangerous' on mental health

10 March 2010 | 07:23:11 AM | Source: AAP

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Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry says Scientology is putting lives at risk with its views on mental health (Getty Images)

Australian of the Year Pat McGorry has backed calls for a Senate inquiry into Scientology, saying its views on mental health are putting lives at risk.

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"They are the deniers of the realities of mental illness, which I find incredibly irresponsible and dangerous," he told ABC Radio on Wednesday.

The renowned mental health expert has joined psychiatry boss Louise Newman and the Brain and Mind Institute's Ian Hickie in urging senators to vote for an inquiry.

The Senate is expected to vote on the issue, brought forward by independent senator Nick Xenophon, by the end of next week.

Professor McGorry met Senator Xenophon on Tuesday to lend his voice to the cause.

McGorry 'concerned'

"I'm concerned that any restriction or any discouragement of access to mental health care will cost lives and result in unnecessary disability for people," he said.

"The whole mental health field would support this call for an inquiry and it's something that's overdue in my opinion."

So far, only the Australian Greens have committed to voting for the inquiry and it needs more support if it's to get up.

Senator Xenophon said the church had nothing to fear from a transparent inquiry where it would be given the right of reply.

He said he would not abandon any victims of Scientology, adding he could be a "completely stubborn bastard" when it came to pursuing important issues.

The church's Australian vice-president Cyrus Brooks has rejected the support of the mental health experts.

"That's the wrong way for them to go there. They're going into the field of religion and they're in the field of mental health," he said.
 

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Your Comments

28 Dec 2011 2:28 AEST

priyankara

From: srilanka

young mind

we must protect our young minds.that's a most important things.so our all member of the body control in mind.we are never think about those things.

Agree (0 people agree)
Disagree (0 people disagree)
 

10 Mar 2010 23:20 AEST

Lee

From: sydney

Proof of efficacy

Just check the scientific basis of psychiatry. None. Don't believe me, look for yourself. I have,extensively. I have never relied on authoritarianism. And I never will. I leave that for the sheep of the world. The onus of efficacy and scientific testing and validity rests on the shoulders of psychiatry alone. The argument is dead. Long dead. The mental illnesses don't exist as there is no proof for there existence, based on the lack of any known medical test, often admitted by psychs themselves.

Agree (1 people agree)
Disagree (6 people disagree)
 

10 Mar 2010 17:31 AEST

mike

From: adelaide

to Steve

Your making the mistake of calling Scientology a religion - a little bit of research and you will realize this

Agree (4 people agree)
Disagree (1 people disagree)
 

10 Mar 2010 15:13 AEST

Pat

From: Perth

Dangerous grounds

Steve: I understand that religions may teach things that individuals with a base in science regard as ridiculous, but expanding an inquiry to all religions would be dangerous. What spiritual beleifs are people allowed to hold then, and transmit to the next generation, with someone making the allegaton that they are corrupting young minds? None- and apart from such an inquiry being a breach of the Universal Delclaration of human rights, it is a political impossibility in this country,

Agree (1 people agree)
Disagree (1 people disagree)
 

10 Mar 2010 10:27 AEST

Steve

From: Sydney

Enquiry should expand to all religions

Scientology is a scam. However, christianity, Islam, hinduism, Judaism and all other religious faiths are guilty of corrputing young minds with preposterous claims of their own which afflict terrible phsychological damage. At least Scientology does not preach everlasting hellfire to those who don't believe their stories.

Agree (9 people agree)
Disagree (3 people disagree)
 

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