Mystical Prozac For Youth?

Worldnet Daily reports on the shocking link between psychiatric drugs, suicide, violence and mass murder in this piece called: MANIA:

"...reporting the truth about the relationship between psychiatric medications and mass murderers is just the beginning. "MANIA" also reveals clear and compelling evidence that psychiatric drugs hurt children physically – causing shrinkage of their brains, damage to their hearts and other significant effects."

WND reviews the known "adverse drug reactions" most widely prescribed antidepressants to include: mania, paranoid reaction, psychosis, hallucinations among others.

Are these drug-induced altered states in any way related to the altered states which can be achieved by contemplative prayer? Though the resultant mood-altering characteristics present differently physiologically, are these characteristics rooted in the same spiritual aspect?

Pastor Bob DeWaay writes in Contemporary Christian Divination :

"... many of the teachers of Christian mysticism also warn of dangers that lurk for those who journey within. Kelsey, who learned his version of Christian mysticism by integrating many diverse religious practices with the depth psychology of Carl Jung, claimed that below our rational consciousness lays a whole inner world where one meets the “Other.” The problem is that when people learn techniques to access this inner realm beyond the conscious mind, they often meet horrible forces of darkness."

According to Kelsey, evil exists there that is both intrinsic and extrinsic to the human psyche. Some who go on this journey do not have a strong ego and a strong connection to the outer, material world, and cannot get back.

"If it is so dangerous (as other Christian mystics besides Kelsey also admit), why go there? The answer is that mystics think that God is to be found within. The realm of the unconscious mind, demonic powers, Jesus Christ and His kingdom, and any other spiritual reality is hidden from us through normal means of knowing. Kelsey describes his beliefs:

There are various techniques for opening up the tight capsule of space and time. Zen and Yoga, paying attention to dreams, prayer, contemplation, meditation, and the use of biofeedback all can be helpful for some people in reaching stillness and opening themselves to new experiences within. . . . There is a real danger in much of Eastern thought and in our own scientific probing into the mind, but is not because there is something dark and evil lurking in either of them. The danger lies in the fact that Eastern ways of prayer and scientific interest in altered states of consciousness do not go far enough. The road stops once the relaxation, the peace and the detachment, or the extrasensory perception is achieved, and then one is left to wander."

"Kelsey thinks that those on the “inner journey” have to navigate the dangers and press further inward until they meet God there and find wholeness."

"Richard Foster also mentions the danger: “So that we may not be led astray, however, we must understand that we are not engaging in some flippant work. We are not calling on some cosmic bellhop. This is a serious and even dangerous business.”

In Sarah Belle Dougherty's Inducing Altered States we find:

"Today there is a proliferation of techniques that induce altered states of consciousness -- most stem from traditional sources, some combined with techniques from modern research. Meditation, yoga, tantra, drumming, chanting, ecstatic dance, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, and chemicals among many others are widely available and much publicized. Often these practices are accompanied by psychophysical and "mystical" phenomena. Modern healing and psychotherapy are increasingly incorporating various traditional methods which involve these states and phenomena, gradually working toward a synthesis of ancient wisdom and modern science, both theoretically and practically."

Former New Ager Brian Flynn of One Truth Ministries writes Be Still and Know … that you are being deceived:

"This is the only way that one can truly silence the mind. It is like putting the mind in neutral. Without repetition your own thoughts simply get in the way. We are beings that simply cannot shut off our thoughts, but you can through repetition, by going into an altered state. Hindus have practiced this type of meditation for centuries."

Regardless of the touted health benefits of yoga, meditation, etc. it is obvious that DANGER is present in the altered state of consciousness. Whether it is in the form of a pill, the form of a lotus, or in the form of a cross, an altered state of consciousness is playing Russian Roulette with spiritual forces. Guns, like drugs, should be kept out of reach from children.