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Psychiatrist refers to Scientologists as flat earthers
Scientologists were condemned today as “flat earthers”, following revelations in court that an alleged murderer was denied psychiatric treatment due to her family’s Scientologist beliefs.
Australian Church of Scientology vice-president Cyrus Brooks said the Scientology link to the murder was “a bit of a red herring”.
Speaking on ABC Radio, Australian Church of Scientology vice-president Cyrus Brooks said the Scientology link to the killings was “a bit of a red herring”. [MP3 Audio of the show]
“The woman was actually under the drugs, she was on drugs at the time of the incident. She was also under the care of a psychiatrist … since January,” he said.
“The records show that she was on psychiatric drugs, so to say that it had something to do with us, then I think it’s incredibly defamatory and unfair.”
A psychiatric report tendered to Bankstown Local Court yesterday said the 25-year-old woman accused of murdering her father and sister in Revesby last Thursday had tried to get help twice last year, but her Scientologist parents had a religious objection to psychiatric intervention.
- Justice Anderson, Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia, quoted atWhat judges have to say about Scientology
Mr Brooks went on to argue that modern psychiatry used many methods that were largely “unproven” and psychiatric assumptions – such as chemical imbalances in the brain – simply did not exist.
Almost immediately after Mr Brooks finished his interview, Sydney University psychiatrist Chris Tennant phoned ABC Radio to reject the Scientologist’s beliefs.
Saying it was “so sad to hear the flat-earthers getting on the radio”, Professor Tennant denied modern psychiatry was largely “unproven”, stating the amount of research on mental illness was “as strong” as that for cancer and heart disease.
“It’s a tragedy to hear this mumbo jumbo being proselytised by this group,” he said.
“The sad thing about this sounds to be that this girl may well have been prescribed some psychiatric treatment but living in a family which had the Scientology attitude there is no way there would have been what we term compliance.”
Following Professor Tennant, the president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, also discussed the issue, saying if the girl had access to appropriate medical treatment it could have “changed the course of her life”.
Reports this morning stated the accused woman’s parents had taken her off anti-psychotic medication and instead treated her with non-psychotic medicine imported from the US.
Mr Brooks denied the US medicine had anything to do with Scientology.
He said the church did not give the family any advice on the daughter’s situation and had not recommended the US medication she was alleged to have taken.
Mr Brooks said he was not aware of any US medication used for the same purpose.
The woman accused of the double murder is due to appear in court again tomorrow.
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