Any documentary that includes contributions from Thomas Szasz "and" Charlotte Iserbyt has the makings of a truly great film. Unfortunately, a worthy attack on the junk science of psychiatry was almost allowed to degenerate into an ad hominem filled polemic against eugenics and something called racism. For that it loses one point. "Psychiatry: An Industry Of Death " is actually the name of a museum, one founded by Szasz with the backing of the Church of - wait for it - Scientology. It is ironic that a sham religion founded by a con man should be in the forefront of the anti-psychiatry movement, but this one worthy deed will have earned L. Ron Hubbard a pair of angel's wings. Although "...Industry Of Death" does appear to go over the top - there are many people out there who are more evil than any psychiatrist - it is the evil good men do that has always been the bigger problem. The film does not dwell too much on the quackery that is psychiatry, concentrating instead on the powerful vested interests, ie big money, that have turned America in particular into a charlatan's paradise, often at the expense of children who are diagnosed with ADHD at the drop of a hat.We are also shown the historical perspective and the horror shows of psychiatry from the insane asylum to the lobotomy and beyond. You will probably disagree with much of what this film says, but most people will agree that whether or not it actually exists, the extent of mental illness has been greatly exaggerated, that psychiatric drugs should be used as a last resort if at all, and that the financial influences on psychiatry should be reigned in.

Most of the footage was edited to make it seem like they are right (cut out the parts they didn't like or didn't justify their sayings). As a psychology student, I'm aware that my profession has some weaknesses and in the United States it is quite industrialized but I don't think that just because of some economic interests it should be called a worldwide conspiracy. Because this is what they call psychology, a conspiracy with some very evil folks behind it. Most of it is fake and the whole concept is illogical. Furthermore even if what they say would turn out to be true, they're so aggressive and only looking at one side of situation that it is very hard to believe anything they say.SPOILER They quote Nietzsche to justify one of their chapters or whatever that is and right after that they start talking about eugenics, of course about how wrong it is. If we look at Nietzsche's lifework then we may realize that it was pretty much similar to the idea of eugenics. So they only use those sentences that they like but not the whole source. This does not work that way, thus it's a fake. One moment they like the guy, the next moment they hate his ideas.They claim that there are no mental illnesses, on the other hand they are calling psychiatrists sadists and many other things, they mention mostly psychopathic traits which are pretty much mental illnesses according to their terminology.There is a chapter where a guy visits a few different psychiatrists with a set of symptoms and according to the movie it is the proof that psychology does not have any scientific basis. The problem is that all the psychiatrists came up with the same 3 or 4 possible diagnoses after a few minutes of talk. If it were such a fraud as they claim, each therapist should have come up with very different diagnoses.SPOILER ENDIn my opinion, the reason why the creator of this rubbish is denying the existence of mental illnesses because that way he wouldn't have to face his own sh*t.

I came through mental hospital treatment in Poland. What is in this movie is true also about Poland. As long as you have cash you will be kept, your relatives cheated that you need all this pills , even electric shock. Mental hospitals are places where people are left without help, forced into believing into lies, changing pills one after another. Its a sick system. My advice - If you feel bad , turn to God or true friends or some anonymous support group but don't come to this greedy heartless people. If you take pills - try to resign from them step by step. I was in mental hospital nearly 11 years ago. Now I don't smoke, don't drink alcohol, nor take any medicine and do my best to treat myself the best way I can. This is the best therapy - be your friend. If there is anything that scares me on this world is being put into hands of psychiatrists. This movie together with "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" are real pictures of mental hospital like Toszek in Poland.

Calling this a documentary is as appalling as this propaganda film itself. There are credible several anti-psychiatry movements around the world that manages just fine without lying, distorting interviews and using flashy fox-like special effects as smokescreens. This Scientology funded project is not one of them.I can't believe that some people actually fall for some of these outlandish claims! Like that more people killed by psychiatry than all US wars since 1776... On top of that they exploit the human tendency to fill in gaps of information by eg first only mentioning some of the dubious experiments performed by Pavlov and then stating that Pavlovs theories were very important in the creation of Behaviourism. Both correct but presented in this way the audiences get some wild ideas about it, this is repeated throughout the "documentary". Omitting facts such as that Behaviourism is an approach in psychology, NOT psychiatry, is also prevalent.Finally to make it easier for the audiences to swallow all the lies explore the real nightmares of the early days of Psychiatry. Now a documentary focusing on that would be something I'd like to watch but abused in this way it's just sickening, horrid and appalling.I'm sorry if my writing seems disheveled but this propaganda film greatly upset and sickened me. If I weren't opposed to banning films I'd strongly advocate a banning of this one.