My son came back very disturbed from the New Warrior weekend. He committed suicide two weeks later. I would like to hear from others who have attended this or another LGAT who have had similiar experiences i.e. suicide or any other psychological issues after going to one of these groups. Thank you.

For the benefit of readers, no, Concerned Dad and Concerned Oz are not related :)

Concerned Dad - the grief you must be feeling is something one cannot imagine - I hope you have a support group, family, system.


I opened a thread on Landmark LGAT to discuss co-related murder and suicide from participation back last year sometime:
[board.culteducation.com]

Since this thread, there was a missing person's case of a teen near Denver I recall last year round July. There is a thread on this too from the boy's sister somewhere.

Executive Success Seminars - NXIVM, have also a number of associated suicides from weekend course participation and a search on the RR database will lead you to them though I can't place where the suicide articles are: [www.culteducation.com]


Oz

I am so sorry to hear about the death of your child, "concerned dad".
I don't know if it's the times, the area I live in, or just the fact that I found this forum, but I'm beginning to think that cults are as great a danger to children as drugs and alcohol.

I really wish that someone would initiate a cult-awareness program in the public school system on a national level. I don't think the public schools give children the tools to enable them to analyze and make rational decisions about a lot of the information that is given them. I think they are very vulnerable to coercion because of this. We all know about anti-drug programs in schools; I think that a cult prevention program would be as useful.

So much harm is delivered to people under the guise of organizations which claim to have a model for self-improvement. I'm particularly horrified by the "boot-camp" type programs for troubled youth.
As a teen (quite a while back) I was sent to several of these by people who believed they had my best interests in mind. (I also went to some voluntarily, on my own.) Whenever the abuse and deprivation started at these residential treatment centers, I resisted fiercely and ran away, so I never stayed long enough for them to damage me.

Is there anything we can do to help prevent these kinds of tragedies?

Bonnie - Societal prevention of cult abuse is a massive topic worthy of its own thread so I have started one and linked in your prior writings on the subject in the area of Child prevention and cults :)


[b:a6a2540c7a]Combating spread of coercive cultic persuasion in society[/b:a6a2540c7a]
[board.culteducation.com]


Let's keep this thread open for suicide related matters :)

Oz

Likewise, I knew of a few suicide attempts - a couple of successful ones - of youth in the TM movement decades ago.

Tragic.

Concerned Dad, you must be wrenched. Somewhere on the cult news through Rick Ross was a presentation made at a recent ICSA conference by an MD who became a cult awareness activist, following the suicide of his son in Scientology.

Michael Langone, director of ICSA, would like to sponsor youth education programs about cults to enter schools. As Oz mentioned, there would be huge obstacles to the acceptance of such programs in school districts.

Right now, however, Langone's concern is having funds to design such programs. Unfortunately, the only people who know about the true dangers of cults are those whose lives have already been damaged by cults (including financial damage). Thus, the ICSA donations are not adequate yet to launch such programs.

Thanks to Rick, at least this forum exists for us to share with one another.

And I've been told of three suicides related to the Miracle of Love.
Two were teenagers, and one was an adult woman.

My first Large Encounter group experience lasted for a week. Afterwards I was very confused, depressed.


Two other people I know, after attending the same annual event, sufered psychotic breaks and needed to be hospitalized. One of them has never recovered and has been...well, scizophrenic is the only way to describe it, for ....about eight years now.


I believe that the people who run these things often do not know what they are doing. They have access to some powerful methods, and do not understand the potential dangers....

Dear concerned Dad

My Dad is a concerned Dad also as we lost my sister 20 Dec. Here is my post from the LGAT board. What do you think we should do next? In Sydney we have the Police and Coroner doing a real investigation. I do understand your pain - seeing my parents' grief is just tragic.

"Hello

My name is Kate and I live in Sydney Australia. Just before Xmas my sister did a course called Turning Point. My Internet investigation shows that this is very similiar to Landmark Forum which operates in Sydney as well. Both have "est" as a base and all descriptions of what goes on closely match.

My sister did this couse Sat and Sun 17, 18 Dec. Her husband found her a bit strange on the Monday. At work on Tues 20 Dec she was euphoric and trying to get everyone to do the Turning Point course. Sometime in the late afternoon she slipped into a deep psychosis. She took her clothes off, heard voices etc etc.

Despite work collegues and the ambulance people being there she "flew" out the window (old fashioned building where windows could be opened.

My sister died on 20 Dec at 7pm.

She had no prior history of mental illness or disturbance. She had seen a cousellor about issues such as whether to have a baby. Counsellor says she was not mentally ill.

This does not seem to be the first incident of the type after a Landmark type course.

The State Police and Coroner are investigating and interviewing all the Turning Point people.

I have seen bad outcomes from Landmark before but not this. I knew my sister was doing a course but I did not realise the nature of it.

I simply blame the incidious course for killing my lovely sister.

Does anyone have any comments or advice in relation to my story?

I think informing your members of parliament about this would do some good. I think it would suffice with sending emails to a number of them.
Demand an answer - do they think this is acceptable?
You can copy paste what you have written here.

Just don't get to caught up in it so you forget to take care of yourself.

You might want to ask the police to read this forum. You can also point them to stories that most describes what you have seen happened to your sister.

My deepest sympathies.
nettie

I have word documents explaining in detail, in their own words (VERY interesting) what they get up to, and it doesn't take a genius to work out its a money making mind control scam. Need 10 posts first though, sorry.