Bennett G. Braun (August 7, 1940 – March 20, 2024) was an American psychiatrist known for his promotion of the concept of multiple personality disorder (now called "dissociative identity disorder") and involvement in promoting the "Satanic Panic", a moral panic around a discredited conspiracy theory that led to thousands of people being wrongfully medically treated or investigated for nonexistent crimes.
[4] Widely accepted as an expert in his field, he was a member of the DSM-III-R advisory committee on dissociative disorders.
He said “If the mind can do this in tearing down body tissue, I think it suggests the same potential for healing.”[5][6] In the 1980s, Braun became a leading proponent of the satanic ritual abuse theory, and appeared on TV promoting it.
[7] According to this theory, thousands of children were being subjected to organized acts of murder, torture, human sacrifice, cannibalism and sexual abuse throughout America, in elaborate ceremonies performed by Satan-worshippers.
[14][15] The decision of the state of Montana to license Braun in 2003 in spite of the previous events elsewhere, elicited legal action[16] and criticism.