Psychiatry: An Industry of Death 3882331 207688930 2008-04-23T20:21:38Z 209.129.155.253 {{Infobox Museum |name = Psychiatry: An Industry of Death Museum |image = Psychiatry death museum.jpg |imagesize = 200 |map_type = |latitude = 34.0976° |longitude = -118.334° |established = 2005 |location = 6616 [[Sunset Boulevard]], [[Los Angeles, California]] |type = |visitors = |director = |curator = |publictransit= |website = http://www.cchr.org/index.cfm/13207 }} '''Psychiatry: An Industry of Death''' is a [[museum]] in [[Hollywood, California]], [[USA]], as well as several touring exhibitions.<ref>{{cite web | first = Kevin| last = Libin| title = Torture, or just plain torque? 'Industry Of Death' Exhibition On Psychiatry Walks A Fine Line| url = http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=6549c0e2-6caf-4daf-be90-df36919788e2&k=65604| publisher = [[National Post]]| date = [[2007-08-09]]| accessdate = 2007-09-20}}</ref> It is owned and operated by the [[Citizens Commission on Human Rights]] (CCHR), an [[anti-psychiatry]] organization founded by the [[Church of Scientology]]. The museum is located at 6616 [[Sunset Boulevard]], [[Los Angeles, California]] and entry to the museum is free. <ref>http://www.cchr.org/index.cfm/13216 CCHR</ref> The opening event on [[December 17]], [[2005]]<ref>[http://www.cchr.org/index.cfm/12423 Opening Press Release]</ref>, was attended by well-known Scientologists, including [[Priscilla Presley]], [[Lisa Marie Presley]], [[Jenna Elfman]], [[Danny Masterson]], [[Giovanni Ribisi]], [[Leah Remini]], [[Catherine Bell]], and [[Anne Archer]].<ref>{{cite news |first = Jeannette |last = Walls |url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916572/ |title = Getting hitched hasn't mellowed Elton John - Gossip: The Scoop - MSNBC.com |work = [[MSNBC]] |date = [[2005-12-22]] |accessdate = 2006-06-08 }}</ref> The museum is dedicated to exposing what it describes as "an industry driven entirely by profit" and provides "practical guidance for lawmakers, doctors, human rights advocates and private citizens to take action in their own sphere to bring [[psychiatry]] under the law."<ref>"Museum Targets Psychiatry As An “Industry Of Death”", CCHR press release, December 21, 2005</ref> It has a variety of displays and exhibits making allegations against the institute of psychiatry. The displays highlight [[biological psychiatry|physical psychiatric treatments]], such as [[physical restraint|restraints]], [[psychoactive drug]]s, [[shock therapy]] and [[psychosurgery]] (including [[lobotomy]], a procedure not used widely as a treatment since the early 1970's) with which psychiatrists have attempted to treat mental problems. ==DVD== In 2006, a documentary film also called ''Psychiatry: An Industry of Death'' was released on DVD by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights. The film is 108 minutes long and is described by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights in this way: <blockquote> {{Cquote|Through rare historical and contemporary footage and interviews with more than 160 doctors, attorneys, educators, survivors and experts on the mental health industry and its abuses, this riveting documentary blazes the bright light of truth on the brutal pseudoscience and the multi-billion dollar fraud that is psychiatry.<ref>[http://www.cchr.org/index.cfm/14396 DVD Presentation page]</ref>}} </blockquote> ==Exhibits at Worldcon 2006== The museum had a large display area at the 2006 [[Worldcon|World Science Fiction Convention]] held in [[Anaheim, California]], at which it presented a variety of exhibits on CCHR's controversial views on psychiatry. The following images by blogger [[Cory Doctorow]] highlight some of the exhibits. <gallery> Image:Piod museum entrance.jpg Image:Piod museum children.jpg Image:Piod museum controlling.jpg Image:Piod museum eugenics.jpg Image:Piod museum origins.jpg Image:Piod museum warning.jpg </gallery> ==Criticism== The CCHR has been criticized by journalist [[Andrew Gumbel]] for "crudeness" and "paranoia" in its criticism of psychiatry. Gumbel, who covered the museum's gala opening for [[Los Angeles CityBeat]] magazine, described how CCHR publicist Marla Filidei attempted to engage him in a debate about the evils of psychiatry: {{cquote|I told her I wasn't a scientist and had no interest in getting into a detailed argument about the benefits or dangers of mood-altering drugs; on the other hand, she wasn't a scientist either, and the Church of Scientology had absolutely no standing to pronounce on medical issues. That clearly riled her, because by the time I got home there was an e-mail waiting in which she called our meeting "the most bizarre encounter I have had with a reporter in 10 years" and essentially berated me for refusing to engage in an argument she was clearly itching to have [...]. The crudeness of the anti-psychiatric argument is tinged with a distinct patina of paranoia. It's not enough for Scientologists to express their near-pathological hatred of psychiatry in all its forms; they also have to feel they are being persecuted for their beliefs.<ref name="gumbel">{{cite news |first = Andrew |last = Gumbel |url = http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3137&IssueNum=136 |title = Scientology vs. Science |work = [[Los Angeles CityBeat]] | publisher = Southland Publishing |date = [[2006-01-12]] |accessdate = 2006-06-08}}</ref>}} Two scientists featured in the DVD, [[Holocaust]] scholar [[Michael Berenbaum]] and [[bioethics]] scholar [[Arthur Caplan]], have rejected the attack on psychiatry and psychology. Berenbaum stated that "I have known psychiatrists to be of enormous assistance to people deeply important to me in my life," and Caplan complained that he had been taped without being told what the film was about, and called the producers "smarmy and dishonest."<ref>[http://www.sameritech.com/tribunearchive/3-22-07.pdf Funny? Yes, And Quite Weird, Too], Tampa Tribune, Mar 22, 2007</ref> ==See also== * [[Anti-psychiatry]] * [[Psikhushka]] * [[Citizens Commission on Human Rights]] * [[Scientology and psychiatry]] * [[Duplessis Orphans]] ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{Portal|Scientology|Scientology e meter blue.jpg}} * [http://www.cchr.org/index.cfm/13216 Official website] (includes photographs) * [http://www.prleap.com/pr/22120/ CCHR press release] * [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/20/sbt.01.html CNN coverage of the opening] * [http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3137&IssueNum=136 Los Angeles CityBeat's coverage of the opening] {{Scientology}} [[Category:2005 establishments]] [[Category:Anti-psychiatry]] [[Category:Los Angeles area museums]] [[Category:Religion and society]] [[Category:Scientology organizations]] [[pl:Psychiatria: Przemysł Śmierci]]