History Main / ManufacturingVictims

* Dr. Steinman in ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' uses ADAM, a highly-addictive genetic modifier, to perform his plastic surgery. Combined with his MadArtist tendencies (he's a plastic surgeon who worships Picasso), his patients tend to need ''more'' plastic surgery to undo the first round. And he's the only one in Rapture.

No real life examples, please. However, media examples of how different real life therapies have been portrayed are, of course, welcome.

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* Averted in ''DykesToWatchOutFor'': As Mo turns into a therapy junkie as a way of avoiding dealing with her life, her therapist actually throws her out.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* ZigZagged in ''Film/FightClub''. The main character and his love interest join group therapy for conditions they don't have, such as cancer, in order to feel a sense of connection and community. The question of whether the therapy helps people who actually need it is not addressed.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:NewspaperComics]]
* PlayedForLaughs in [[http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-06-18/ this]] ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' strip.

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* ''ZinniaJones'': The episode [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScW-djjpzGY I am not a symptom]].

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* ''LawAndOrderSVU'' has played this card a few times.

* PlayedForLaughs in [[http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-06-18/ this]] ''Dilbert'' strip.

For ''some'' individuals and at ''some'' times, intensive therapy and drug treatment might help immensely, but for others, the time spent in therapy, the side effects of maintenance medication aren't worth their limited or nonexistent benefits, and at least in three cases it can actually worsen disorders. [[note]] In antisocial personality disorder, talk therapy only makes someone learn how to be more manipulative and controlling and drug therapy only becomes a way to acquire drugs. In PTSD or other trigger-based illnesses, some forms of therapy -especially group therapy involving people in worse shape- can themselves trigger and increase severity of trigger responses. In anxiety, any therapy that induces self-reflection and introspection can lead to far worse anxiety and some maintenance meds such as SSRI drugs have anxiety as a side effect.[[/note]] In these cases, ManufacturingVictims happens when therapists or mental health/rehab businesses promise unrealistic success rates and persuade the parents of autism spectrum children or anxious people willing to please their therapists to continue maintenance medication when as needed or none would do, to continue therapies or counseling that really aren't needed (and that in the case of trauma like PTSD or grief, can be itself a trigger), or to consider inpatient rehab/therapy at a facility they are being paid for referrals to when outpatient is adequate.

Please note that those who make a living ManufacturingVictims are not necessarily malicious: They keep telling themselves that their method is popular because it works, when the grim reality is that it's popular because it gets people hooked on it. Regardless, a large majority of training for therapeutic work attempts to instill the idea that this trope is bad, as making the person dependent on therapy just replaces the old problem with a new one. Unfortunately, there's generally no good way for an outsider to tell the difference between the actual use of this trope and the existence of a hopeless case that keeps coming back despite lack of improvement. Also note that many psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and clinical depression are chronic conditions that would legitimately require ''years'' of drug therapy, counseling, and passive monitoring. That doesn't even get into the many and varied controversies over addiction treatment and therapy, including whether 12 Steps, non 12-step abstinence programs, or managed substitution/use are the gold standard or are enabling addiction itself. Mental health issues and dealing with them are ''highly'' individualized and personal matters.

* The books by Kevin Trudeau [[ConspiracyTheorist paints the entire pharmaceutical industry this way]]. Do bear in mind though that Trudeau is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau currently doing time in federal prison]] for criminal contempt stemming from failure to pay fines regarding his own [[AllNaturalSnakeOil dubious medical claims.]]

* The books by Kevin Trudeau [[ConspiracyTheorist paints the entire pharmaceutical industry this way]]. Do bear in mind though that Trudeau is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau currently doing time in federal prison]] for [[AllNaturalSnakeOil fradulent medical claims]].

* The books by Kevin Trudeau [[ConspiracyTheorist paints the entire pharmaceutical industry this way]]. He's also been accused of [[AllNaturalSnakeOil doing this himself]]. As in, he has criminal convictions for it.

* ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' (season 3, episode 13) has Foxy going into therapy. The psychiatrist implants a false memory of childhood sexual abuse, and this false memory takes over her life. Ruining her life, making her end up in jail, and make her murder a lot of innocent people -- in that order. To be fair, the "specalist" was just another housemate.

According to the book ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Victims-Psychology-Industry-People/dp/1552070328/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287874489&sr=8-1 Manufacturing Victims]]'', the therapy industry operates under the same market economy as any other business: If the customer doesn't come back, it means you have failed. Thus, the ideal therapy is one that makes the patient dependent on the therapist rather than ready to move on with her life.

* ''DrawnTogether'' (season 3, episode 13) has Foxy going into therapy. The psychiatrist implants a false memory of childhood sexual abuse, and this false memory takes over her life. Ruining her life, making her end up in jail, and make her murder a lot of innocent people -- in that order. To be fair, the "specalist" was just another housemate.

For ''some'' individuals and at ''some'' times, intensive therapy and drug treatment might help immensely, but for others, the time spent in therapy, the side effects of maintenance medication aren't worth their limited or nonexistent benefits, and at least in three cases it can actually worsen disorders [[note]] In antisocial personality disorder, talk therapy only makes someone learn how to be more manipulative and controlling and drug therapy only becomes a way to acquire drugs. In PTSD or other trigger-based illnesses, some forms of therapy -especially group therapy involving people in worse shape- can themselves trigger and increase severity of trigger responses. In anxiety, any therapy that induces self-reflection and introspection can lead to far worse anxiety and some maintenance meds such as SSRI drugs have anxiety as a side effect.[[/note]] In these cases, ManufacturingVictims happens when therapists or mental health/rehab businesses promise unrealistic success rates and persuade the parents of autism spectrum children or anxious people willing to please their therapists to continue maintenance medication when as needed or none would do, to continue therapies or counseling that really aren't needed (and that in the case of trauma like PTSD or grief, can be itself a trigger), or to consider inpatient rehab/therapy at a facility they are being paid for referrals to when outpatient is adequate.

* The books by Kevin Trudeau [[ConspiracyTheorist paints the entire pharmaceutical industry this way]]. He's also been accused of [[AllNaturalSnakeOil doing this himself]].

Finally, there is the elephant in the room that for some disorders (especially in regard to PTSD, complicated grief, the autism spectrum, and some forms of anxiety disorder and some personality disorders) that existing drug therapy, counseling, and passive monitoring and other therapeutic intervention are of limited use ''at best'' and useless at worst, and that accommodations (from sensory accommodations for autistic individuals to learning and avoiding triggers for PTSD or grief or anxiety) and time are the things that help the most in recovery. For ''some'' individuals and at ''some'' times, intensive therapy and drug treatment might help immensely, but for others, the time spent in therapy and/or the side effects of maintenance medication aren't worth their limited or nonexistent benefits. In these cases, ManufacturingVictims happens when therapists or mental health/rehab businesses promise unrealistic success rates and persuade the parents of autism spectrum children or anxious people willing to please their therapists to continue maintenance medication when as needed or none would do, to continue therapies or counseling that really aren't needed (and that in the case of trauma like PTSD or grief, can be itself a trigger), or to consider inpatient rehab/therapy at a facility they are being paid for referrals to when outpatient is adequate.

* ''Family Guy'' in the episode Friends of Peter G. has both Peter and Brian sentenced to 30 days of AA as a result of extreme public intoxication. When they complain to Lois about how pointless the meetings are she says that AA has helped a lot of people over the years. Brian retorts that all that has happened is that their members have simply traded their addiction to alcohol for being addicted to the idea of being AA members.

Finally, there is the elephant in the room (especially in regard to PTSD, complicated grief, the autism spectrum, and some forms of anxiety disorder) that existing drug therapy, counseling, and passive monitoring and other therapeutic intervention are of limited use ''at best'' and useless at worst, and that accommodations (from sensory accommodations for autistic individuals to learning and avoiding triggers for PTSD or grief or anxiety) and time are the things that help the most in recovery. For ''some'' individuals and at ''some'' times, intensive therapy and drug treatment might help immensely, but for others, the time spent in therapy and/or the side effects of maintenance medication aren't worth their limited or nonexistent benefits. In these cases, ManufacturingVictims happens when therapists or mental health/rehab businesses promise unrealistic success rates and persuade the parents of autism spectrum children or anxious people willing to please their therapists to continue maintenance medication when as needed or none would do, to continue therapies or counseling that really aren't needed (and that in the case of trauma like PTSD or grief, can be itself a trigger), or to consider inpatient rehab/therapy at a facility they are being paid for referrals to when outpatient is adequate.

Finally, there is the elephant in the room (especially in regard to PTSD, complicated grief, the autism spectrum, and some forms of anxiety disorder) that existing drug therapy, counseling, and passive monitoring and other therapeutic intervention are of limited use ''at best'' and useless at worst, and that accommodations (from sensory accommodations for autistic individuals to learning and avoiding triggers for PTSD or grief or anxiety) and time. For ''some'' individuals and at ''some'' times, intensive therapy and drug treatment might help immensely, but for others, the time spent in therapy and/or the side effects of maintenance medication aren't worth their limited or nonexistent benefits. In these cases, ManufacturingVictims happens when therapists or mental health/rehab businesses promise unrealistic success rates and persuade the parents of autism spectrum children or anxious people willing to please their therapists to continue maintenance medication when as needed or none would do, to continue therapies or counseling that really aren't needed (and that in the case of trauma like PTSD or grief, can be itself a trigger), or to consider inpatient rehab/therapy at a facility they are being paid for referrals to when outpatient is adequate.

Please note that those who make a living ManufacturingVictims are not necessarily malicious: They keep telling themselves that their method is popular because it works, when the grim reality is that it's popular because it gets people hooked on it. Regardless, a large majority of training for therapeutic work attempts to instill the idea that this trope is bad, as making the person dependent on therapy just replaces the old problem with a new one. Unfortunately, there's generally no good way for an outsider to tell the difference between the actual use of this trope and the existence of a hopeless case that keeps coming back despite lack of improvement. Also note that many psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and clinical depression are chronic conditions that would legitimately require ''years'' of drug therapy, counseling, and passive monitoring.

* Before she got her powers, [[Creator/MarvelComics Moonstone]] was an ''extremely'' unethical psychiatrist. One of her female patients was afraid her husband was cheating on her. When the patient started making progress with her issues, Moonstone telephoned the patient, disguised her voice to sound like a bimbo, and asked to speak to the patient's husband.

Please note that those who make a living ManufacturingVictims are not necessarily malicious: They keep telling themselves that their method is popular because it works, when the grim reality is that it's popular because it gets people hooked on it. Regardless, a large majority of training for therapeutic work attempts to instill the idea that this trope is bad, as making the person dependent on therapy just replaces the old problem with a new one. Unfortunately, there's generally no good way for an outsider to tell the difference between the actual use of this trope and the existence of a hopeless case that keeps coming back despite lack of improvement. Also note that many psychological conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and clinical depression are chronic condition that would legitimately require ''years'' of drug therapy and counseling.

Please note that those who make a living ManufacturingVictims are not necessarily malicious: They keep telling themselves that their method is popular because it works, when the grim reality is that it's popular because it gets people hooked on it. Regardless, a large majority of training for therapeutic work attempts to instill the idea that this trope is bad, as making the person dependent on therapy just replaces the old problem with a new one. Unfortunately, there's generally no good way for an outsider to tell the difference between the actual use of this trope and the existence of a hopeless case that keeps coming back despite lack of improvement.

* Before she got her powers, [[MarvelComics Moonstone]] was an ''extremely'' unethical psychiatrist. One of her female patients was afraid her husband was cheating on her. When the patient started making progress with her issues, Moonstone telephoned the patient, disguised her voice to sound like a bimbo, and asked to speak to the patient's husband.

* In the DavidCronenberg flim ''TheBrood,'' Raglan manages to get at least one patient addicted to his treatments.