Miss Wog:
I don't buy the idea that the state obtained from medicating mental illness is always a permanent improvement. I think you've often just succeeded in hiding the person from themselves.
I've seen too many friends and others that had real problems that could have been addressed ... in many ways. Not just Scientological ones. And instead someone in the mental health system decided that they just needed to be medicated: permanently. It made the person unable to really address the root cause of their problems. They just turn off emotionally, often for the rest of their lives.
I agree there are interventions that need to be made and there are also people that have serious troubles brain-wise that require medicines because they can't function because of an imbalance otherwise.
But I don't buy that the system of mental health should be treated as some authority on the field of mental health in general. It works for some. And it does a fair amount of irreparable damage for others.
And to be clear, Scientology should not be used to address someone who has a serious need for medications because of a major mental imbalance. And, in fact, in the FreeZone, it's not. The Class VI I know won't touch people who need medical attention, including psychiatric medical attention.
And I hope I've made this clear: Scientology is not for everyone. I don't want to give the impression that it is. And I don't think anything I've said gives the impression that it is.
Welcome Brian! I just have to say something here in regard to your comments.
I have had some experiences with the mental health system here in Australia with my son.
This has mainly been through the public health system which is free here. Indeed, most people with serious mental issues use this system as they are unable to function in a work environment generally and have no way of funding private care whilst they are in a welfare situation. I would assume this would be a similar scenario in the US, NZ and the UK.
The system does often leave a lot to be desired at times. To be fair to these people, they are desperately underfunded, under resourced and overloaded. In any kind of a system, this is a certain recipe for disaster, yet the system functions to some degree and there are some success stories.
I have found a lot of the professionals to be somewhat arrogant, cold and opiniated (often signs of a burnout). The patients really do need someone on their side keeping an eye on things and their welfare in general to voice concerns when things don't appear to be going right, because quite often their concerns are ignored or considered to be acting out. Quite often the patients don't recognise what effects the medications or treatment is having and they need someone who knows them to help out there. Those left on their own often end up falling through the cracks and their stories often don't end well. So, family and/or friend support is a crucial point.
Having said that, there are also many professionals who are fantastic at what they do, just limited by resources as to how much they can do.
The private sector often has better care, but that is for the realm of the financially better off families. I say families, because mental healthcare is absolutely a team effort, not just left to the professionals.
One of the biggest problems the patients have is that they are mentally disabled (duh!). Before you laugh at that, this is why they are where they are. But also it is the biggest stumbling block in their care and self management. Their thinking is flawed and they cannot see things the way we do or do things the same as well. It is a very long process for them to learn self management and many really are incapable of doing so - depending upon the severity level of their condition. And like many of us so called normal folks, well, sometimes we just don't really want to! A lot of them develop a sense of comfort (used as a relative term here) in their little world and cannot see the need to change.
It is really quite unfair of Scientology to judge psychiatry when they point fingers and criticise when they will not make any efforts to fix the problem themselves. They have a go at some, but bear in mind they will only treat the readily fixable (usually those who only need to learn a little self discipline) and won't touch the others that only the psychiactric system is left with.
This too me indicates they are too arrogant to lend a hand and/or don't have the solutions. I think both. They make a lot of noise about everyone else, but do squat themselves.
How does Scientology deal with schizophrenia, Asperger's, autism, bipolar, or the myriad of conditions? They don't. "We'll pick it up next lifetime". They have no idea what to do and make excuses to avoid the issue. Calling them degraded beings is one such excuse. Is kicking them into the gutter and leaving them any better than a psychiatrist trying to get them on the level to some degree?
None of the above conditions have a cure at this time. I comes down to management and medication if necessary. There is a massive amount of research going on into mental illness and there are slow but progressive breakthroughs. We just don't have all the answers yet. So we can't just condemn the system because it doesn't suit us, unless there is something better to replace it with.
Psychiatry and its related fields, including medicine, will readily admit their shortcomings. Scientology will most definitely not and do not research anything other than how to make more money and gain more control. At least these systems have more people who actually care about you. I know where I'll take my chances.
Just for the record, my son is under supervision of psychiatrists and psychologists. He is not on meds anymore and is sort of managing. We have gone through a lot of doctors, diagnoses, drug addiction (prescription types) and hoopla to get there. It seems we have finally found some balance for him. He is now diagnosed of having an acute anxiety disorder. We were going up the Asperger's path for a while there and was eventually discounted. After a few suicide attempts, his management became more urgent.
Last year we went to a family friend's son's wedding. At the reception, I was seated next to Dr. Bob (retired) who was the family's GP. His specialty was in anxiety disorders and ADD. I found out that his own son suffered these and killed himself at a relatively young age. We got on well, and spoke a lot about mental health in general and I learned a few things about anxiety disorders as well. It was interesting to meet a right person at the right time for me.
Sorry, the LOL button just didn't cut it! 
