Anonymous asked this question on 5/2/2000:

Why does the Scientology church oppose the use of Prozac?

desertphile gave this response on 5/2/2000:

That's a good question. The answer would take a very great amount of time and effort to be thorough, but I'll address the larger issues here. You may wish to copy this text to a file for later use when the CoS's propaganda mill starts churning out their anti-Prozac nonsense.

The Church of Scientology sees itself as a direct economic competitor to the mental health profession. They therefore slander it every chance they get, mostly out of greed. They feel that if they can prevent people from seeking real help, those people will turn to Scientology "services" for "help."

They also claim they believe that the mental health professionals are "dangerous" and "evil." This is due to Scientology Scripture that state psychiatrists are being telepathically controlled by aliens from outer space. See Scientology Scriptures at http://www.xs4all.nl/~xemu/Christ2.html

Let us now address Prozac. The Church of Scientology claims it believes that Prozac causes people to become suicidal and violent. They offer two or three "cases" as "evidence." They assert that some people who were violent while taking Prozac had "no history of violence" before taking Prozac. They also claim that there are people who were "made suicidal" even though those people had "no history of suicidal thoughts."

Not only are those claims false, but they are fundamentally impossible. Not only are their specific "cases" false, but they have been DEBUNKED!

First thing first.

Prozac is a Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitor (SSRI). It increases the amount of serotonin in the body by blocking enzymatic destruction of that neurotransmitter after it has "passed on" the "impulse." (It is pre-synaptic, however--- not post-synaptic like some of the other anti-depressants.) This means that serotonin is effectively increased in the blood stream, spinal cord, brain, and wherever else the amine is located.

Studies show that violent people have very low levels of serotonin in their bodies (generally measured from spinal fluid). Studies have been performed (such as reported in the Teicher report, "American Journal of Psychiatry," February 1990) that show that violence is related to low levels of serotonin. Human and monkey studies looking at acts of aggression and serotonin levels show that both the humans and monkeys with low serotonin are more violent.

What's more, suicidal people ALSO have very low levels of serotonin. Studies have been performed on the dead bodies of otherwise healthy suicides and accident victims, and the serotonin levels of the suicides were found to be much lower than then accident victim's serotonin level.

Note that the two are related. Suicide is violence on the self.

There is a reason why low serotonin is connected to violence and suicide. It's called primate hierarchy. Dominate males and females have HIGHER levels of serotonin in their bodies (measured from spinal fluid), and conversely these individuals commit FEWER acts of violence and aggression. Dominance is the opposite of aggression and violence. The alpha male and lead female "rule" by acting like "rulers," and only resort to violence when required.

Also note that when an alpha male is replaced by a subordinate, the alpha male's serotonin level DECREASES drastically, and the subordinate male's serotonin level increased. The once-alpha male then increases its violent and aggressive behavior.

The data is conclusive: low serotonin results in an increase in violence.

If I my add a political side-bar here. Domestic violence is a sure sign of a man's low hierarchy status among his peers. Low job status, low self-worth, and low-respect from others in a man's environment (that is, low hierarchy) results in low serotonin level in his body, and an increase of abuse of females and children. In humans and monkeys, fighting with females is a sign of low hierarchy.

Here's the interesting thing: when violent monkeys and humans are given Prozac, violent and aggressive behavior drastically DECREASES. Low hierarchy monkeys cease to fight with females; argumentative, aggressive, and violent humans show a decrease in those behaviors.

And they kill themselves less often with the higher level of serotonin that Prozac grants them. Suicide is violence; serotonin decreases that violence and the fantasies of self-violence.

Now to get to the "cases" that the Church of Scientology claims it believes show that Prozac causes violence and suicide.

One case is that of Joseph Wesbecker. The Church of Scientology claims that he had no history of violence and suicide until after he took Prozac. This individual brought an AK-47 rifle to work and killed 8 people, wounded 12 others, and then killed himself. The CCHR claims Prozac was responsible.

However, the Church of Scientology fails to reveal that Wesbecker had a long history of violence and thoughts of suicide. That's why he was on Prozac! The Louisville Press reported that he had a long history of mental illness which resulted in his engaging in violent behavior with other people and himself. He was hospitalized in 1978, 1984, and 1987 for mood disorder and paranoia. He had been diagnosed by four doctors as being manic depressive and paranoid. Before he started taking Prozac, he told one doctor that he felt like he wanted to harm his foreman at work; a year before the shooting and before taking Prozac, he told his wife he was going to go to work and "shoot a bunch of people." Three months before being put on Prozac, he bought the AK-47.

Why would the Church of Scientology not tell us about this? Could it be they wish to DECEIVE us?

Another "case" was Rebecca McStoots. She and the CCHR claimed that she had "no prior history" of violence, and that Prozac caused her to shoot a doctor in the neck. She was sentenced to ten years in prison, but she sued the makers of Prozac, Eli Lilly.

The truth is that long before she started taking Prozac, she had shot her husband in New Mexico and fled to California. In California she stabbed a woman with a knife. It only took Eli Lilly a small amount of effort to discover these facts, and the law suit was dismissed.

The Church of Scientology will not tell you these facts either. That would show they are full of shit.

There are many other "cases" just like these. People claim they were not violent and not suicidal before talking Prozac. And yet the REASON people are prescribed Prozac is because they are depressed and often suicidal!

So when the Church of Scientology claims a "link between Prozac and violence," they are right: Prozac DECREASES violence!

The average rating for this answer is 4.8.

Anonymous rated this answer a 5.

Goodness. You wrote all that for me? I do not understand what "seritone" is, but I think I understand what youre saying. i'll think it over some.