The murders in Australia was committed by a 25 year old woman, who is the daughter of scientologists who were opposed to her taking anti-psychotic medication. She murdered her father and sister and stabbed her mother. There is debate over whether she was or was not on medication but it seems clear that her parents at least were opposed to her taking it:
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www.news.com.au]
I am looking for reports that state the history of the woman's involvement in scientology herself - did the parents bring her up under scientology beliefs or was she herself ever involved? The reason I want to know is that there are a many reports of scientology causing psychosis, so I don't think its a coincidence that there is a psychotic person in a scientology family - unless the family turned to scientology in the hope of finding a way to deal with someone who was already psychotic.
Scientology has its own special treatment for psychosis, called an "Introspection Rundown". This is interesting because most churches don't need special techniques to handle psychotics as they don't create them in the first place.
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While on the Introspection Rundown, the individual is held in isolation, prevented from leaving, and given the silent treatment by those guarding him or her. We know the most about the way the Introspection Rundown was run on Lisa McPherson, a Scientologist who died in Scientology's custody. Lisa was physically held down, force fed, and given prescription sedatives that were illegally prescribed. Since an important part of Scientology is always doing things the same way and in accordance with policy, it's likely that the Introspection Rundown has been fundamentally similar for others who have undergone it.
[b:9bea438b85]How is the Introspection Rundown dangerous?[/b:9bea438b85]
The Introspection Rundown attempts to treat serious mental illness by methods that have not been medically tested, typically carried out by people with little training of any kind and thoroughly inadequate medical training. Force-feeding an uncooperative individual present a serious risk of causing choking. The lack of contact with outsiders and complete secrecy from oversight greatly increase the risk of harm to the individual. Finally, depriving the person of verbal contact can cause further emotional trauma.
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www.scientology-lies.com]
I can't find the link, but in another article I read that the purpose of the rundown is for the person to introspect until they have a realisation of what their problem is. I can't remember the term, but it was similar to the Landmark 'racket' concept - lock the person up until they own up to their racket. This is abominable cruelty.
So. There is another element of lgats that seems to have its roots in scientology.. the tendency of the processes to cause psychosis. That, and the need to introduce waivers and release forms to absolve them of responsibility for their methods.
After the Lisa McPherson lawsuit, Scientology introduced this release form for members:
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Scientologists now sign a contract permitting the organization to treat them with these methodologies. The "Agreement and General Release Regarding Spiritual Assistance" states that
"Scientology is unalterably opposed, as a matter of religious belief, to the practice of psychiatry, and espouses as a religious belief that the study of the mind and the healing of mentally caused ills should not be alienated from religion or condoned in nonreligious fields ... all mental problems are spiritual in nature ... there is no such thing as a mentally incompetent person-- only those suffering from spiritual upset ... I reject all psychiatric labels ... (and) desire to be helped exclusively through religious, spiritual means and not through any form of psychiatric treatment, specifically including involuntary commitment based on so-called lack of competence ... If circumstances should ever arise in which government, medical or psychiatric officials or personnel or family members or friends attempt to compel or coerce or commit me for psychiatric evaluation, treatment or hospitalization, I fully desire and expect that the Church or Scientologists will intercede on my behalf ... I understand that the Introspection Rundown is an intensive, rigorous Religious Service that includes being isolated from all sources of potential spiritual upset, including but not limited to family members, friends or others with whom I might normally interact."
The contract goes on to indemnify the Church of Scientology from legal action as a consequence of what may happen during an Introspection Rundown.
[
nightlight.typepad.com]
The xenu site has another definition:
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Introspection Rundown, a therapy for handling psychotic breaks in the cult. Involves locking the person up to prevent bad PR with the isolation step, also called baby watch. Sometimes instilling such wacky ideas as Xenu, Body Thetans and OT III can make people a bit unstable; the IRD is used to contain people when they flip out.
[
www.xenu.net]
This article describes how scientology may cause psychosis; very interesting because most of it applies to large group awareness training as well:
[
everything2.com]
Some excerpts:
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After an individual is hooked by a bait and switch come-on, Scientology uses exercises that covertly put the receiver in hypnotic trance. The purpose of covert trance induction is to increase the subject's suggestibility and to control the subject's resources. These techniques are derived from traditional hypnosis and from cult rituals used to produce fanatical loyalty from the inititation rites of past secret societies.
These coercive control techniques alone could explain the many reports of psychosis and suicide in Scientology...
...Hubbard boldly experimented with first generation Russian and Korean brainwashing processes on unknowing members under a cloak of "religion." His innovative experimentation helped produce a second generation of thought reform and mind control techniques. These new methods are considerably more dangerous than their first generation predecessors. While developing what Scientology calls its secret L-12 initiation, Hubbard allegedly said that if the initiators performed this rite incorrectly you might as well build a pine box for the individual receiving it.
These second generation thought reform programs are commonly called "coercive persuasion" in the courts. In United States v. Lee 455 U.S. 252, 257-258 (1982), the California Supreme Court found that:
"when a person is subjected to coercive persuasion without his knowledge or consent... he may develop serious and sometimes irreversible physical and psychiatric disorders, up to and including schizophrenia, self-mutilation, and suicide."
...The goal of all coercive persuasion programs is to produce target compliance and control of the target's resources by holding the target at a point of maximum psychological stress, without inducing psychosis. Unfortunately, the second generation coercive programs have increased the chance of error because their targets tend to be less well monitored, and the advanced techniques used to induce stress are more powerful and less predictable in their effects upon individuals.
In coercive persuasion programs, the main attack is done through frequent and intense attempts to cause a person to reevaluate the most central aspects of their experience of self and their prior conduct in NEGATIVE ways. Efforts are designed to destabilize and undermine the subject's basic consciousness, reality awareness, world view, emotional control, and defense mechanisms. These tactics are engineered to induce the individual to reinterpret his or her life history and to adopt a new (often irrational) version of causality.
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In these secret initiation levels, to more effectively attack the person's core concepts of self, Hubbard's methods trick the person in trance into believing he is not who he always thought he was. To fragment the individual's personality and integrity on order to facilitate better initiate control, Hubbard induces a hypnotic state of multiple personality similar to an artificial schizophrenia. Many observers report Scientologists switching "personalities" dramatically and abruptly.
This is the best description of lgat and quest training I've seen yet, even though its talking about Scientology.