Welcome to the April 2007 issue of the new-and-improved Psychology Debunked newsletter!

When God allowed the Assyrians to take Israel's northern kingdom captive in 722 B.C. and the southern kingdom (Judah) captive in 586 B.C. for their persistent idolatry, the Israelites hadn't completely abandoned their traditional temple worship. Rather, they had engaged in continual "dual" worship: worship in the temple of the Lord God of Israel, and worship at the high places of the various pagan dieties. God warned them about keeping to the commandments of the Word of God, but their response was one of stubbornness:

"Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God... they followed idols, and become idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them." 2 Kings 17:14,15

The dual worship of God and the worldly idols around them brought God's judgment. The Israel of old is a warning to the church of today. We must beware of "Christian" psychology that amounts to worship of God + the worldly idols of self, philosophy and biological determinism. May we hear the Lord and not stiffen our necks to His glorious, simple truth: a relationship with God through Jesus Christ is more than enough for living the blessed life that God has for us.

Talk therapists and mind pills are two idols of today that Satan is using to move our focus away from the living God. This month, Pastor Ken Scribner discusses one such talk therapy, Recovered Memory Therapy.

In the news, lawsuits soar against drug companies lying about the side effects of their antipsychotic medications; the UK considers mental health screening for crime; depressive disorder gets a reality check; and a no-additive food experiment in Australia gets kids behaving well.

Finally, don't miss a letter we received from a reader who implemented a biblical and time-tested approach with her autistic child, and got  amazing results.

In Christ alone,

Lisa and Ryan Bazler

Lilly shareholders sue for non-disclosure of Zyprexa risks

Shareholders of the drug giant Eli Lilly have filed a class-action lawsuit against the company for not disclosing the life-threatening risks of the antipsychotic Zyprexa--risks the company knew about for more than a decade but hid from doctors, the FDA, the public, and their shareholders. more » 

Antipsychotic drug manufacturers in hot water as litigation skyrockets

Many state and federal governments are suing antipsychotic drug manufacturers, including Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Janssen, AstraZeneca, and Bristol-Myers Squibb, for not disclosing the risks of their drugs used in state- and federal-run programs (schools, prisons, foster cares, Medicare/Medicaid, etc.). This web page lists the many state and federal lawsuits filed just in the last few months. more »

President Bush's 2002 New Freedom Commission on Mental Health said our mental health system is "in shambles," and a new SAMHSA study proves it. The study concluded that seriously mentally ill persons die 25 years younger than the rest of the population. The primary reasons for the 25 year disparity? Suicide, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, chronic heart disease, and heart attack--suspiciously the same side effects of SSRI antidepressants, antipsychotics, and ADHD drugs. The study states, "disparity in length of life appears to be worse in 2006 than in 1986," the same period the blockbuster SSRI antidepressants, antipsychotics and ADHD drugs flooded the market. more » 

UK Blair Justice Plan to screen  children for crime risk

Tony Blair's new Justice Plan seeks to begin "early intervention" for children to assess crime risk. Children are screened based on their parents' drug and crime history and through mental health and DNA tests, and "treated" through the mental health system. This is Teenscreen at a whole new level--biological determinism run amuck. more »

NYU: 25% of depression diagnoses are really normal life experiences

This New York University study from the Archives of General Psychiatry says 25% of depression diagnoses are really just the result of normal life experiences, like job loss, investment loss, divorce, or unwanted re-location. The authors say the DSM needs to be revised to include these depression triggers. This study should discourage knee-jerk depression labeling and drug prescribing by doctors when life hits their patients with inevitable suffering. more » 

Food additives cause aggressive behavior in children

The food children eat can have a direct impact on their behavior and school performance. When this Australia school went additive-free for two weeks, everyone was amazed with the results. more »

Recovered Memory Therapy - a pastor's perspective

Millions have been affected by false memories of sexual abuse created by therapists during "recovered memory therapy," or RMT, including Ken Scribner, whose marriage and pastoral ministry were destroyed by allegations of sexual abuse in his wife's family. While acknowledging that real cases of sexual abuse exist--even in the church--his article clearly explains the spiritual and familial dangers of RMT. more »

Read more about RMT here.

Q&A

This pastor asks, "Do you have any information about the book Healing for Damaged Emotions by David Seamands?" See our answer here.

Letters

This godly mother of a 9-year-old autistic daughter took her daughter from screaming, sensory problems and head-banging to a child who now appears almost completely normal. How did she do it? more »