Born Into a Cult: The Unbelievable True Story of One Man's Escape from Scientology
Born Into a Cult: The Unbelievable True Story of One Man's Escape from Scientology  
Podcast: Change Your Brain Every Day
Published On: Mon Nov 10 2025
Description: Abandoned at birth and handed over to Scientology's paramilitary wing, Jamie Mustard spent his first years in a slum-like "orphanage" where babies were stacked in bunks, starved of human touch, and bathed only once a week in filthy water. Decades later, he's a celebrated author, artist, and survivor. And now, he's exposing the global network of abuse that destroyed thousands of children's lives.   In this jaw-dropping conversation with Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen, Jamie reveals how he escaped a billion-year contract, overcame illiteracy and shame, and discovered the neuroscience of healing trauma through brain health. This is one of the most harrowing—and hopeful—survivor stories ever told on the podcast.   You'll learn: • What really happened to children inside Scientology's secret compounds • Why he called himself "Child X" • How he survived a pressure-cooker environment "kind of like Lord of the Flies" • How medical neglect nearly cost him his hearing… and his life • How a celebrated author could grow up feeling "stupid" • Why shame kept him silent for decades • How trauma rewires the nervous system… and how to reset it • The radical treatment that erased decades of his anxiety in 20 minutes • Why so many of the kids he grew up with were lost to addiction and suicide   Jamie's new book, Child X: https://www.amazon.com/Child-Slavery-Poverty-Celebrity-Scientology/dp/163774708X