I'm All SHOOK Up!

Pastor Kerry Shook of The Woodlands Church in The Woodlands, Texas, is shilling for Big Pharma...unwittingly, of course, but that doesn't mitigate his responsibility.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:12

You got yourself some children. They all be running wild, driving you crazy. They keeping you up all night long. You better turn on your radio dial up to John Rohnman's show, because I said so. Hello, out there and listener land. You've tuned into, because I Said so, the only podcast on the World Wide Web where you'll hear the under-adulterated truth about psychology, the mental health professions in general, children and child rearing, which is today called parenting. I'm your host, john Roseman. I am a psychologist and glad you've joined us and hope you enjoy the show and will continue to join us. Today's podcast is titled I'm All Shook Up, which the meaning of which will become evident shortly.

Speaker 1: 1:28

I became aware of Pastor Kerry Shook of the Woodlands Church in Woodlands, texas maybe I don't know 10 years ago, courtesy of a member of his rather large congregation. The church member in question was concerned that Pastor Shook was giving out in his sermons misinformation about psychiatric drugs and the nature of mental health problems like depression and anxiety. Basically, shook was telling his congregation that depression and anxiety were biologically based and could be significantly mitigated by taking psychiatric drugs of one sort or another. At the time, I was doing a weekly 30-minute show on American Family Radio and I used airtime to correct the misinformation Shook was spreading through his sermons. In the course of taking this public, I discovered, interestingly enough, that the Woodlands Church had on staff a licensed psychiatrist named Paul Looney. I also discovered that more and more church pastors across America were forming alliances with psychiatrists and psychologists and, like Pastor Kerry Shook, spreading falsehoods concerning psychological conditions, psychological diagnoses and psychiatric drugs. It didn't surprise me a bit, by the way, to discover that Rick Warren, then the famous lead pastor at Saddleback Church in Southern California, was involved in this disinformation campaign.

Speaker 1: 3:35

Even though my program was highly popular, american Family Radio suddenly, after three years, cancelled me without explanation other than telling me they felt it was time for a change. Time for change, john. Time to change a program that's drawing more listeners by the week. Fancy that when I pushed American Family Radio for more of an explanation, all they were willing to tell me was that the show had indeed stirred up controversy. So Christians are averse to controversy. Since when? I suspect but I have no proof that Woodlands and or a number of other influential donors to American Family Radio told them that if they didn't stop me from upsetting their Apple Carts, they would pull their support. So in a heartbeat I became a victim of Christian cancel culture, which boils down to valuing money over the truth. Sadly, a growing number of Christian churches are falling into that satanic trap of the church. How does one identify them? Well, first of all, they're big Too big for their britches. As my mama used to say, they're addicted to money.

Speaker 1: 5:06

A few years ago, the same member of the Woodlands Church drew my attention to a sermon Shook had given in which he again dispensed misinformation concerning psychological maladies and psychiatric drugs. I promptly wrote Pastor Shook an email, waited a few weeks and, lo and behold, dr Looney responded. Okay, so is that a bit odd, or what? I write Pastor Kerry Shook and get a response from Dr Paul Looney. To his credit, looney did not say I was wrong about anything I had said in the email to Shook. He basically told me that Pastor Shook was a well-intentioned guy who didn't deserve my criticism. Hey folks, have you heard the news? Good intentions do not justify falsehoods. So what did I say in my American Family Radio broadcast? In my email to Pastor Shook, I told the truth. I told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I said no conclusive proof exists to support the claim that depression, anxiety and other psychological maladies are biologically based. Therefore, the psychological states of depression and anxiety were not bona fide illnesses, they were states of mind Period. And I said that no psychiatric drug had ever reliably outperformed a placebo in controlled clinical trials, meaning that big pharma is gaslighting the American people.

Speaker 1: 7:07

The most recent episode concerns a sermon Shook gave to his congregation in early September of this year. You can find it on YouTube if you're interested. It's titled quote From Overwhelming Fear to Overwhelming Blessing end quote. In it, shook claimed that his experience with depression and anxiety can be explained in part by his grandfather's similar experience, which eventually led to the grandfather's suicide. Very unfortunate, shook implies that he inherited a quote chemical imbalance and low serotonin end quote which he claims have been successfully treated with psychiatric drugs.

Speaker 1: 8:04

Okay, before going any further, let's get a couple of things straight. First, depression and anxiety are real. Nearly everyone has had some experience with one or the other or both, and some folks, including presumably Pastor Kerry Shook of the Woodlands Church in Woodlands, texas, have had more than their share of experience with depression and or anxiety. Depression is due to all such folks. Second, there is zero evidence, no conclusive body of evidence, that would support the claim that depression and anxiety are passed from one generation to the next in a family's gene pool. That's a myth Never been proven. Or is there conclusive evidence that depression and anxiety are caused by biological states of one sort or another? In that regard, there is no evidence to support the often dispensed claim that people who are chronically depressed or anxious suffer from something called a biochemical imbalance. Although theories abound, no one has ever conclusively identified the chemicals in question and no one has ever quantified the supposed imbalance.

Speaker 1: 9:41

Third, a leading psychiatrist has gone on record as saying brace yourself. He's gone on record as saying that the term biochemical imbalance is quote nothing but a useful metaphor. End quote those were his exact words that the term biochemical imbalance is quote nothing but a useful metaphor. End quote Nothing but a useful metaphor means that the term biochemical imbalance does not refer to a quantifiable internal state. Nothing but a useful metaphor also begs the question how is something that isn't real useful, the answer to which is that the term biochemical imbalance is useful in persuading people who suffer from chronic depression or anxiety that their states of mind can be corrected with drugs that do not reliably outperform placebos in controlled clinical trials. By the way, if a drug does not reliably outperform a placebo, then, folks, it is a placebo. Do I mean that Big Pharma and the mental health industry in America are marketing placebos to the American public? Absolutely, that is exactly what I mean.

Speaker 1: 11:35

But, john, someone might say I've been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and I rely on the drugs I take to keep me level. How could they be placebos if they work? Good question. The answer to that good question is that, concerning psychological states of mind, placebos work. They don't work on verifiable biological disease like cancer or diabetes, but they work when the issue is a state of mind, because the mind, unlike the body, can be persuaded to believe that a drug is working when the drug is doing nothing. Quite simply, if a guy named Dr So-and-So, who wears a white coat and has a stethoscope hanging around his neck, tells you that your problems are due to a biochemical imbalance which he's never tested for, and that he's prescribing you a drug that will correct the fictional imbalance and cause you to feel much better, you are very likely to believe Dr So-and-So and your expectation becomes what is called a self-fulfilling prophecy. And voila, you begin to feel better. And, by the way, the fact that placebo's work concerning psychological issues like depression and anxiety is unassailable proof that depression and anxiety are not physiological states but rather merely states of mind.

Speaker 1: 13:28

So Pastor Schuch has added again spreading the false gospel of psychiatric drugs. For the record, I don't think he's purposefully lying and I would never accuse him of that. I think he believes he's giving people the straight story and, for the record, the misinformation coming from Pastor Schuch is covered by the First Amendment. He has a right to express his opinions concerning psychological states of mind and psychiatric drugs. What bothers me, and should bother you, my listener, is that Schuch is using the significant influence of his pulpit to spread misinformation and encourage people to take drugs that are, from a purely scientific point of view, no better than placebos, but which differ from placebos in two very significant respects. First, they present the possibility of dangerous side effects, which placebos do not. Second, they are expensive, which placebos are not.

Speaker 1: 14:45

So here's my offer to Pastor Kerry Schuch and psychiatrist Dr Paul Looney I will travel to the Woodlands Church on my own dime for the purpose of engaging in spirited debate with Schuch and or Looney in front of their own people, on their own turf. All I require is a wireless microphone, equal time and permission to invite any media I choose. In closing, I'm going to say in this podcast what I've said before Society and psychiatry are engaging in deceptive business practices. They don't tell the public the truth about their fake theories, their fake tests, their fake diagnoses, their fake therapies, their fake drugs, their fake claims to being science. Their financial support depends on people believing that what they say about certain states of mind are true, when in fact they are not true. And I can prove they're not true. In fact, if you've listened to me and read my writings over the years, then you know that I've already proven they aren't true.

Speaker 1: 16:10

And remember, dear listener, I am a psychologist licensed by the North Carolina Psychology Board to practice psychology. In all fairness, I must add that the board regrets the day they ever sent me my license. I wonder why and that's a wrap for today You've been listening to Because I Said so. I'm your host, john Roseman. Thanks for joining us and I hope you continue to do so. And, as always, folks keep on rockin' in the free world, because if we don't rock it, we're gonna lose it.