Welcome to the July/August 2010 issue of the Psychology Debunked newsletter!
In the May/June issue, we looked at the second of three qualifications for overcoming that which overcomes us: trusting in God. No matter what happens around us, good or bad, we must always maintain that childlike trust in the great shepherd and overseer of our souls. After dying to self and trusting in God, we are now ready and willing to do what God wants:
Qualification #3: Obey God
Mat 16:24Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let himdeny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Mat 16:25For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Jhn 14:23Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Jam 1:22But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
It's easy to say we love others and trust in Jesus, but it's much more difficult to put our faith into obedient action in the grind of the every day. This requires an act of the will to know what God wants, and then to do it. True faith is faith in action, not just in word.
How do we know what God wants, what pleases God, and what is God's will for our lives? We won't know until we read His Word and learn how to apply it to our everyday lives; until we learn how to listen for his promptings in our spirit; and until we discern God's will and His direction through the people and circumstances around us. Once we know, we must then obey what we know.
Although it was difficult, and it took multiple promptings from God and others to light the way, I finally obeyed God by leaving an industry I knew to be incompatible with God's Word and ineffective and harmful in people's everyday lives. God has replaced a potentially lucractive career with a much better opportunity: raising four beautiful girls in godliness. I know on that Day, Jesus Christ will reward me for my decision to obey God rather than man.
Augusta Universtity student Jan Keeton, making her way through a Masters in Counseling program, faced a similar choice, and she chose well--more on this below.
In the news this month, more holes found in the serotonin deficiency theory of depression; neurotransmitter testing ready for the junk science heap; almost a third of all children on prescription medication (!) and the drug companies still want more; antidepressants and miscarriages; antidepressants and suicides - the hard numbers; military non-combat deaths increasing, with psych drugs likely to blame; H1N1 fizzles but profit sizzles; and an extra special thanks to Harry Reid and his drug company lobbyists for passing the recent Universal Healthcare Bill.
In this month's Q&A, a Christian psych student questions her major. And in letters, a Christian wife asks for prayer for her husband, whose life was destroyed by psychiatric drugs.
After almost seven years, this issue will be the last issue of the Psychology Debunked newsletter. Don't worry though--we are investigating other, more interactive and efficient ways of communicating with our readership. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, would you pray for us? Pray for God's direction in our ministry and for effective open doors in His good timing.
Thank you for your ongoing support!
Working out our faith,
Lisa and Ryan Bazler
Counseling grad student's biblical views on homosexuality stall degree, risk expulsion
Jen Keeton's experience, not unlike my own, illustrates why true biblical Christians cannot practice psychotherapy and still hold to their biblical convictions. Doing so will likely get you expelled from school, rejected for licensing, reported to the licensing board, or sued for discrimination. Ultimately you could lose your license for using the Bible in many professional counseling settings.
"A lawsuit against Augusta State University in Georgia alleges school officials essentially gave a graduate student in counseling the choice of giving up her Christian beliefs or being expelled from the graduate program.
"School officials Mary Jane Anderson-Wiley, Paulette Schenck and Richard Deaner demanded student Jen Keeton, 24, go through a "remediation" program after she asserted homosexuality is a behavioral choice, not a "state of being" as a professor said, according to the complaint...
"The remediation program was to include "sensitivity training" on homosexual issues, additional outside study on literature promoting homosexuality and the plan that she attend a "gay pride parade" and report on it."
Serotonin theory of depression flipped on its head
"If you thought depression was caused by low serotonin levels, think again. It looks as if the brain chemistry of a depressed person is much more complex, with mounting evidence suggesting that too much serotonin in some brain regions is to blame.
"If correct, it might explain some of the negative side-effects associated with selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antidepressants like Prozac which increase the amount of the neurotransmitter serotonin in some parts of the brain."
Carlat: Beware of tests that claim to measure neurotransmitters
"Lately I've noticed the rapid rise in a cottage industry of clinics and labs offering to measure your levels of neurotransmitters for a hefty fee...
"I urge you to be an educated, and in this case, a skeptical consumer. There is not a speck of scientific evidence that blood tests of neurotransmitters have any relationship to the health of your brain. This is not for lack of trying; our brightest neuroscientists have been working to establish such a correlation for decades. Unfortunately, there are some thorny scientific problems to contend with..."
"In 2009, the increase of prescription drug use among children was nearly four times higher than in the overall population, making children the leading growth demographic for the drug industry.
"One in four insured children, and nearly 30 percent of adolescents, took at least one prescription medication to treat a chronic condition in 2009."
Dr. Mercola asks, "Why are drug companies targeting your children as customers?"
More antidepressant dangers: study links antidepressants and miscarriage
"Scientists at University of Montreal report Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that women taking the drugs most often prescribed to treat depression and anxiety -- including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and the older tricyclics -- had a significantly higher risk of miscarriage than a matched control group of women who did not take antidepressants. The study is the first of its kind to analyze which antidepressants and which doses are most likely to be associated with spontaneous abortion."
"The majority of persons who committed suicide in Sweden in 2007 had received extensive treatment with psychiatric drugs within a year of committing suicide."
Military psych drug use out of control; deaths increasing
Psychiatrist Dr. Peter Breggin: "I recently testified before the Veterans Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives about the increased rates of suicide in the military and pointed out that it probably is caused in part by the increased rate of prescribing psychiatric drugs, especially antidepressants which are scientifically documented to increase suicidal behavior, especially in young men and women of military age." more »
Neurologist Dr. Fred Baughman: ""Andrew White, Eric Layne, Nicholas Endicott and Derek Johnson were four West Virginia veterans who died in their sleep in early 2008. Baughman's research suggests that they did not commit suicide and did not "overdose" leading to coma as suggested by the military. All were diagnosed with PTSD. All seemed "normal" when they went to bed. And, all were on Seroquel (an antipsychotic) Paxil (an antidepressant) and Klonopin (a benzodiazepine).
"They were not comatose and unarousable with pulse and respirations or pulse intact, responsive to CPR, surviving transport to a hospital, frequently surviving. These were sudden cardiac deaths." more »
H1N1: follow the money
A year ago, H1N1 was a pandemic, killing thousands. Today, you don't hear about it much. The big money has been made.
"A stunning new report reveals that top scientists who convinced the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare H1N1 a global pandemic held close financial ties to the drug companies that profited from the sale of those vaccines. This report, published in the British Medical Journal, exposes the hidden ties that drove WHO to declare a pandemic, resulting in billions of dollars in profits for vaccine manufacturers."
Harry Reid is the biggest drug company money hound in Washington, and thanks to him, government-run healthcare wins, drug companies win, and everyday Americans lose. Now the drug lobbyists are paying him back with campaign funds and ads for his re-election in November.
"No scalp would be as treasured by Republicans this fall as that of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. And no incumbent is receiving as much air support from the drug industry as is Reid, who championed a health care bill that pads drug company profits."
This reader asks, "I'm almost done with my psychology degree but I'm doubting its teachings because it seems to contradict my faith as a Christian. The more I learn, the more I feel psychology is deceiving. What should I do?" See our answer.
Letters
This woman's husband was destroyed by psychiatric drugs. Her personal experience, grounded in biblical truth, can minister to all of us. "Psychiatry as a whole... is fraudulent and nothing but guess work. We must warn as many people as we can to not ever see a Biological Psychiatrist at any time ever."more »
"At times you said that I must alter my beliefs because they are unethical. ... Other times you said that I can keep my beliefs so long as they are only personal and I don't believe that anyone else should believe like me. But that is just another way of saying that I must alter my beliefs, because my beliefs are about absolute truth. ... In order to finish the counseling program you are requiring me to alter my objective beliefs and also to commit now that if I ever may have a client who wants me to affirm their decision to have an abortion or engage in gay, lesbian or transgender behavior, I will do that. I can't alter my biblical beliefs, and I will not affirm the morality of those behaviors in a counseling situation"
-- Augusta University Grad Student Jen Keeton, in response to faculty pressuring her to accept the homosexual lifestyle in her counseling beliefs and practice
"I have warned many many people to please not take any Psychiatric drug for any reason whatsover. Telling them the Truth that God dosen't want us to alter our brain chemistry for any reason whatsover. That our minds belong to God and to God alone. And,that we are to cast all our cares on Him as He cares for us. Jesus and Jesus alone is our Peace for as Jesus has said that the Peace that He gives us is not as the World gives which is a false peace that will destroy mankind in the end."
-- Letter from a reader whose husband's life was ruined by psychiatric drugs
Do you have a question relating to secular or "Christian" psychology, mental disorders/diseases, psychiatric medications, or biblical counseling? Ask us.
Would you like us to speak about psychology at your church, a local event, or a media outlet? Contact us to book a date.
Have you recently discovered a web site or news article that would be of interest to us and our readers? Send us the link, and we may include it in future newsletters (Note: We do not necessarily agree with or endorse all of the material on websites to which we link).
We read and appreciate every email but are unable to respond to every one.
This newsletter is freely distributable to others. To remove your address from this list, unsubscribe.
The mission of this ministry is to inform mental sufferers and those from whom they seek help of the physical, mental and spiritual dangers of mental health disorders and treatments, and to encourage them to pursue a drug-free, psychology-free, Christ-centered life. Visitors to this web site taking psychotropic drugs who wish to discontinue use are strongly advised to consult a qualified physician for assistance and supervision before starting the discontinuation process. This ministry and web site provides information to help visitors make the most informed decisions about their mental health, and should not replace the advice of a medical doctor.
