Every minute of every day, 100 people around the world die, whether from malnutrition, accidents, disease or plain old age. Each death leaves a mark on someone, and though the phrase "time heals" is thought to be an answer, L. Ron Hubbard in Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, says that it only buries the hurt; and this hurt knocks the life out of people…that is, until Dianetics counseling brings them back to life. Due to the popularity, the seminars teaching the techniques are now a weekly occurrence at Hubbard Dianetics Foundations nationally.

Few people have not been touched by the loss of a loved one, and the sense of depression and hopelessness can be great. Such a person was Sean McLaughlin. One day, when he was ten, he lost his sister in a tragic and wasteful accident when she was pregnant with her first child. That was 30 years ago, and what had been a Brady Bunch life for Sean and the rest of his family, quickly spiraled out of control. For the next two years, Sean struggled not only with his own loss, but also his mother's. Sean fell ill regularly, missed school, and turned to drugs to deaden the pain. From pot he went to pills and then acid; then there was rehab and methamphetamines.

When he reached 26, he went back and forth between prescription and street drugs. One day, living in a rundown area of downtown Long Beach, a zombie who felt no emotion when friends died, he stopped eating and drinking for nine days and, figuring he was going to die, called people to say his farewells. His girlfriend called the medics and while on I.V. support in the hospital, he made the decision to quit drugs, starting with the sleeping pills he was being offered by the nurses.

Later, and while off drugs, Sean read Dianetics, The Modern Science of Mental Health and came across a passage where L. Ron Hubbard talked about how the life goes out of a person when he loses someone near and dear, and how this life force remains buried afterwards, influencing the individual without him even knowing it.

"I read that and it hit me like a ton of bricks, recalls Sean. "I had all this life- energy trapped from losing my sister. Following the procedures of Dianetics counseling, I went back in my mind to the time when I first heard that my sister was dead, and moved forward through the following days that had been so painful, through the time of the funeral. I went through it again and again, each time more of it coming back to me, until I was able to see and hear it all again, all the different emotions, the deep, deep sense of loss. There was so much information and upset trapped in that memory, and it had influenced me in many ways since then. I realized that my dislike of wearing smart clothes came from having to wear them to the funeral, and this had even influenced my profession: I chose one where I could wear what I wanted—hairdressing. I would miss weddings of friends for the same reason. And I had not been able to listen to anyone talking about death: I used to become really angry with them. That counseling session took just a couple of hours and not only did I feel a huge weight lift off my shoulders, but the counseling also vitally changed my life.

"Shortly after I visited my parents... They have pictures of my sister all over the house, and usually, when I go there, I feel so drained of energy, so dead, that I go to sleep almost immediately. This time, I walked all around the house looking at all the pictures and had no bad reaction whatsoever. Whenever I hear of someone dying, I do not freak out, and I have not had problems with dressing smartly since either. After thirty years, I finally have a little more of me back."

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