Fish

I first heard about Co$ when my boyfriend was doing a Uni assignment on cults. It got filed under 'weird crap that I can't do much about'.

Then, the Anonymous video went up, and suddenly there was a movement out to tackle Scientology. I did some more research. I saw 'The Unfunny Truth' on YMNTD. I read about how Scientology attempts to treat mental illness with vitamins and 'counselling', and how all the deaths, the suicides and the murders, haven't made a damn IOTA of difference to what they're doing. THEN I got pissed off.

You see, it could so very easily have been me.

A few years ago, I developed depression. With a supportive boyfriend, an understanding doctor and medication, I got back on track. But I was (am still) wary of any long-term drug use, so I went the long way round. I meditated. I took lots of vitamins. I exercised and attempted to remove sources of stress from my life. And if I'd heard at that point about Scientology's claims, I would have probably tried that too.

If it hadn't been for that boyfriend, that doctor and a supportive family, I would have been a prime target. I would have been desperate for an understanding peer group. I would have been quite easy to 'love-bomb'. And in that depressive state, it would have been so very easy to convince me that 'the tech' worked, that all I needed to do was work harder, pay more, do more courses, give it time to work. Sure, some critical thought could have uncovered the BS behind the tech, but when you're depressed you constantly doubt your own thoughts and feelings.

I know what it's like to feel totally without hope, to be desperate for an answer, to be willing to try anything no matter how esoteric or illogical if it might work. And the thought of that 'Church' targeting people in that state to suck them into a life of misery and exploitation, training them to exploit others, makes me sick to my core.