Since "Dianetics" became a national craze,
Americans are asking: // Can we doctor our minds at home? // ... but
psychiatrists think there may be danger in dianetics
Sunday, 29 October 1950
Publisher: Oakland Tribune
Authors: W. A. Sprague, Roland Wild
Publisher: Oakland Tribune
Authors: W. A. Sprague, Roland Wild
* Some followers of Hubbard have already faced this problem. "At our club," reported one woman, "any one can apply to the secretary for an 'auditor' of either sex to arrange sessions at home.
By its very nature, dianetics, and its probe into the sexual background
could lead to abuse. The very intimacy of the tête-à-tête could lead to
a scandal, and Hubbard would be ruined. We will have to check the backgrounds of everyone who joins the club."
Shows Demand for Better Mental Care
WHO
CAN YET SAY whether dianetics and all its claims ("You will not be a
god, but you will be a superman") will prove to be a contribution to the
field of mental health, or merely another fad like phrenology and the
eating of live goldfish?
Hubbard is insistent, and the
medical profession has yet to pass judgment. In the circumstances,
perhaps one conclusion is justified: that dianetics, in providing a
"poor man's psychiatry," has demonstrated the craving of many Americans
for improved mental care.
Hubbard may yet drive home the
desperate need for inexpensive and competent agencies for mental health.
If this happens, the engram will have served a useful, not to say
noble, purpose.
[Picture / Caption: In dianetics "audit," Eleanor Dove writhes as forgotten memories surge from subconscious "reactive"mind.]
[Picture
/ Caption: He started "Dianetics"... L. Ron Hubbard (above) is the man
behind the new mental health craze, "dianetics." He is also the father
of the world's first "dianetics baby," an infant named Alexis Valerie
who was carefully shielded during the pre-natal period from any kind of
loud noise, bump or parental talk lest this produce an "engram" (see
story). Result: the baby talked at three months, crawled at four, and is
free from phobies.]
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