Bennett Braun, the psychiatrist who fueled the 'Satanic Panic,' dies at 83
He diagnosed dozens of patients with what he said were repressed memories of torture by cults. He later lost his license.
Bennett Braun, a Chicago psychiatrist whose diagnoses of repressed memories involving horrific abuse by devil worshipers contributed to fuel what became known as the “Satanic Panic.” of the 1980s and 1990s, died March 20 in Lauderhill, Florida, north of Miami. He was 83.
Jane Braun, one of his former wives, said he died at the hospital from complications from a fall. Dr. Braun lived in Butte, Montana, but was in Lauderhill on vacation.
Dr. Braun rose to prominence in the early 1980s as an expert in two of the most popular and controversial areas of psychiatric treatment: repressed memories and multiple personality disorder, now known as dissociative disorder. of identity.
He claimed that he could help patients uncover memories of childhood trauma - the existence of which, according to him and others, was responsible for the fragmentation of the individual into many distinct personalities.
He created a unit dedicated to dissociative disorders at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago (now Rush University Medical Center); has been frequently quoted in the media; and helped found what is today the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, a professional organization that now has more than 2,000 members.
It was from this important platform that Dr. Braun made public his most explosive discoveries: that in dozens of cases his patients discovered memories of being tortured by satanic cults and, in some cases, having participated in the torture themselves.
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He diagnosed dozens of patients with what he said were repressed memories of torture by cults. He later lost his license.
Bennett Braun, a Chicago psychiatrist whose diagnoses of repressed memories involving horrific abuse by devil worshipers contributed to fuel what became known as the “Satanic Panic.” of the 1980s and 1990s, died March 20 in Lauderhill, Florida, north of Miami. He was 83.
Jane Braun, one of his former wives, said he died at the hospital from complications from a fall. Dr. Braun lived in Butte, Montana, but was in Lauderhill on vacation.
Dr. Braun rose to prominence in the early 1980s as an expert in two of the most popular and controversial areas of psychiatric treatment: repressed memories and multiple personality disorder, now known as dissociative disorder. of identity.
He claimed that he could help patients uncover memories of childhood trauma - the existence of which, according to him and others, was responsible for the fragmentation of the individual into many distinct personalities.
He created a unit dedicated to dissociative disorders at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago (now Rush University Medical Center); has been frequently quoted in the media; and helped found what is today the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, a professional organization that now has more than 2,000 members.
It was from this important platform that Dr. Braun made public his most explosive discoveries: that in dozens of cases his patients discovered memories of being tortured by satanic cults and, in some cases, having participated in the torture themselves.
We are having difficulty retrieving the content of the article.
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