A $23B industry is warehousing and abusing teens under the guise of therapy. Survivor Meg Appelgate shares her harrowing story here on Skeptical Sunday. Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and a guest break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. This time around, we’re joined by Meg Appelgate, the CEO of Unsilenced, a grassroots organization dedicated to speaking out against institutionalized child abuse in the troubled teen and youth mental health industry! On This Week's Skeptical Sunday: The Troubled Teen Industry (TTI) is a vast, multi-billion dollar system that operates with minimal oversight, annually affecting 120,000-200,000 youth. Like an invisible web, it captures vulnerable teenagers through deceptive marketing and scare tactics, turning typical teenage behaviors into perceived crises that supposedly require extreme intervention. The industry's roots are deeply concerning, stemming from controversial organizations like Synanon and The Seed. These programs' techniques were so severe that a 1974 Senate report compared them to Korean War prisoner brainwashing methods — a chilling foundation that still echoes through today's practices. The long-term impact on survivors is devastating and scientifically measurable through Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scores. Like a computer virus that corrupts system files, these experiences rewire the developing brain, leading to increased risks of physical and mental health issues - from depression to chronic diseases — that can persist throughout adulthood. Despite marketing themselves as therapeutic environments, many of these programs actually traumatize youth through practices like forced isolation, inappropriate restraints, medication misuse, and severe communication restrictions. It's akin to promising a safe harbor but delivering a perfect storm of institutional abuse. Positive change is happening through growing awareness and advocacy. Organizations like Unsilenced are making concrete progress - helping shut down 90 abusive programs since 2022, supporting survivors, and pushing for legislative reform. This momentum shows that with continued effort and awareness, we can protect vulnerable youth and create safer alternatives for struggling teenagers and their families. Connect with Jordan on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at [email protected] and let him know! Connect with Meg Appelgate at TikTok and Instagram, visit the Unsilenced website, and make sure to read... See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Full Episode
Welcome to Skeptical Sunday. I'm your host, Jordan Harbinger. Today I'm here with Skeptical Sunday co-host, survivor and advocate Meg Applegate. On the Jordan Harbinger Show, we decode the stories, secrets, and skills of the world's most fascinating people and turn their wisdom into practical advice that you can use to impact your own life and those around you.
And our mission is to help you become a better informed, more critical thinker, During the week, we have long-form interviews with a variety of amazing folks, from spies to CEOs, athletes, authors, thinkers, performers.
On Sundays, though, we do Skeptical Sunday, where a rotating guest co-host and I break down a topic you might have never thought about and debunk common misconceptions about that topic, such as why the Olympics are kind of a sham, why tipping makes no sense, acupuncture, astrology, recycling, chemtrails, banned foods, and more.
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Just visit JordanHarbinger.com slash start or search for us in your Spotify app to get started. Today, every parent knows that raising teenagers can be a wild rollercoaster ride. From mood swings to rebellion, navigating the teenage years can be challenging. I'm not quite there yet, and I don't know, should I be looking forward to that?
But what happens when the challenges of adolescence make parents feel like they need to find outside help? Enter the Troubled Teen Industry, a complex web of programs and facilities that claim to help troubled teens and their families survive. But are these programs the solution, or do they create even more problems?
Today, we're transporting ourselves to the troubled teen industry with survivor, advocate, and mother to her own teenager, Meg Applegate. Meg is the CEO of Unsilenced, which is a nonprofit organization that aims to help stop institutional child abuse by empowering self-advocates to create lasting social change. Meg, thanks for joining me. This is quite a topic we're going to deal with here today.
Hey, Jordan. Thanks for having me. It's quite an introduction and probably one that my teenager would roll their eyes at. It's funny you use the word transported because many of the kids that enter these programs are transported against their will, oftentimes in the middle of the night.
So this kind of sounds like kidnapping. Is it that dramatic? That's crazy, honestly.
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