It was not the dawn flooding the bay with splendor which woke Frederick…rather it was a gradual awareness of flaming words…all around him—living things that carried him down wide rivers and over mountains and across spreading plains. Then it was people who were with him—black men, very tall and big and strong. They turned up rich earth as black as their broad backs; they hunted in forests; some of them were in cities, whole cities of black folks. For they were free; they went wherever they wished; they worked as they planned. They even flew like birds, high in the sky. He was up there with them, looking down on earth which seemed so small. He stretched his wings. He was strong. He could fly. He could fly in a flock of people…
— Excerpt from There Was Once a Slave, by Shirley Graham
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey (later known as Frederick Douglass) was born a slave circa 1818. After being separated from his mother as infant, and later from his grandmother, he was sent to live in a plantation nearby only to be eventually placed into servitude with the Auld family in Baltimore. Despite a Maryland law prohibiting slaves from being taught to read, Frederick acquired early literary skills from a member of his master’s family. But after acquiring further abilities and gaining recognition as a teacher himself, he was sent to local farmer who had the repute of being a “slave breaker.” Frederick barely survived one particular beating that left him bleeding and near death in the woods. With the aid of two mysterious individuals, Frederick found himself in a moment of transcendence as described above, eventually on his way to freedom. His life would become one of great meaning as social reformer, orator, writer, and leader of the movement to abolish slavery for good.
For all who suffer, like Mr. Douglass, meaning must first come through survival. But at some point, a question emerges about whether distress and misery mean more than the pain one feels. An inquiry of transcendence appears. In a study of those affected by severe childhood trauma (Skogrand et al., 2007), surviving is defined as “to continue to exist or simply to stay alive” (pg. 256). For those who survive, they are able to find a way through each day that comes, but past trauma still exerts significant control over their life. But with those who transcend, there is a sense of rising above the ordinary physical and psychological state. Although traumatic experiences themselves may remain as definitive and directive circumstances in a person’s life, transcendence provides an escape to a more meaningful, and often joyful existence.
It appears that in the journey towards transcendence there first comes a growing awareness that something more exists beyond the palpable struggle. In the study mentioned above, awareness was generally followed by a sense of resiliency, of fighting back and persevering against the many restrictive forces, including self-blame. As noted in a study of male survivors of childhood sexual abuse (Grossman, Sorsoli, & Kia-Keating, 2006), resiliency partially involves constructing a cognitive framework that makes sense of a traumatic past. This may include a recognition of the perpetrator’s own struggles; it may be an acknowledgment that being mistreated does not mean the victim received “punishment” for being a bad person. Gradually for many, acceptance of what has happened, and of roles that others may have played, seeps in. At some point, opportunities for forgiveness emerge. It seems the avenue of forgiveness then becomes directly tied to helping others, resulting in a posited “altruism born of suffering” (Staub & Vollhardt, 2008). For many, this all leads to a greater sense of purpose and meaning, often through spiritual endeavors.
Although trends suggest stages towards transcendence, the reality is that “making meaning” of suffering runs a varied course. However, three themes (e.g., Grossman, Sorsoli, & Kia-Keating, 2006) seem to apply: meaning through reason and understanding, meaning through action, and meaning through spirituality. For those who find meaning through action, a “survivor mission” often involves creating purpose by channeling negative energy they feel into actions that matter, and can help save others from perpetration. Some find meaning in slowly removing the intrapsychic barbs. Some even find meaning in creative and artistic endeavors.
But is true meaning a fleeting, far-reaching reality? Some philosophers have suggested that few ever reach its promised shores; others believe it is essential even to survive. It seems this paradox cannot be. In a recent study (Heintzelman & King, 2014), two researchers from Missouri set out to address these two questions: Is life truly meaningful at all, and if so, is it available to many or just a few? Their extensive review and analysis suggested that life is, in fact, both very meaningful and ubiquitous at a high level. And not just for those who superficially seem to have few struggles. Polls taken by those hospitalized with alcoholism, in cocaine recovery programs, over the age of 85, and those critically ill all said the same thing: life has great importance.
So if life is in fact so full of meaning, why is it that only a limited number of people indicate they are thriving in their daily lives? Studies (e.g., Keyes, 2002) have generally noted that less than 1 in 5 people in the United States report that they are flourishing. More report that they are languishing or even worse. It is understandable that many people struggle greatly due to adverse experiences. But often those with the worst experiences don’t report the most distress, and those with only minor difficulties seem to barely get by.
Beyond all other issues, three restraining personal factors repeatedly seem at play. One is the reality of self-blame, as contrasted with self-worth. While the former is associated with a sense of unworthiness and helplessness, the latter speaks of an acute mindfulness of the value that each of us have. Self-worth should not be confused with narcissism and/or inflated self-esteem. Narcissism involves the attribution that the individual alone is responsible for blessings granted and accolades attained. Self-worth recognizes that much of what produces meaning and happiness is acquired from beyond. Although we recognize that all of us commit mistakes and transgressions, the manifestation of self-worth invokes an understanding that each person is worth that of another, only expressed in a unique way. A leader may influence by her life. A helper may influence by his heart. Sufferers can influence by their witness. But all lives can have great meaning, much of which will always be beyond our poor powers to perceive. So it seems the only thing more tragic than when people feel discarded by the world is when they are discarded by themselves.
These ideas form a converging point of trauma focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT). When creating painstaking narratives of a traumatic event(s), individuals come to understand how to disentangle deep-seeded beliefs of self-blame, and reframe these with realistic attributions and acknowledgements which stresses that many factors associated with the trauma(s) were at play. Trauma starts looking less like an affirmation of an individual’s self-loathing; it becomes more like an encounter(s) to be better understood and departed from.
Secondly, research has consistently found that attitudes must be accompanied by daily practices and environmental adjustments to provide a framework for a happier existence. The horrors of trauma must be directly, and repeatedly, contradicted by habits of contentment. If anxiety-provoking flashbacks persist, positive experiences must allow for new memories to be formed. If hatred stews incessantly, then regular acts of joy and giving must replace. If heightened arousal remains, then daily measures of calming practices and peaceful encounters must move in. Hard as it seems, unfair as it is, if joy and contentment are desired, somehow that rock must erode away.
But beyond self-blame and habitual practices, it appears that one factor looms above all. This issue serves to bury many people in the catacombs of their own selves and enables generations of trauma to ensue. It is the factor of fear. Born of stigmatization or alienation or condemnation or complete objectification, the dictatorial nature of fear knows no bounds. In order to find meaning and transcendence, one must again find hope, and faith, and ultimately love. Fear prevents love. Without love of some kind, encountering regular joy becomes unlikely, and distress is always a window away.
So with that, I will end this series with a personal prayer that came out of a moment of my own frustration and futility years ago and took me down a path never intended. It later became part of a devotional entitled 40 Days of Hopeful Prayer.
It is simply entitled Fear:
There are days when the worry seems to dominate me
When I cannot see outside my head
My eyes reflect in those I know well
Although so much is left unsaid
I do not wish to fear the fear that seeps inside
Nor do I desire for the anxiety to take hold
But, as one perseveration seems to improve
Another one begins to unfold
Alas, I receive Your grace
And Your clarity rings through
I sense that with my worry
I am given an opportunity to do
For although the straight path seems more safe
And the unknown has much to fear
I sense that You are urging me
To come ever more near
To the purpose You are asking of me
To the image You have created long ago
To the journey that lies in store
Of that which I do not know
So here I stand at this moment now
If this be the case, I truly implore
That instead of only seeing what may go wrong
Let me see the possibilities in store
Let worry not immobilize my soul
Or freeze me where I am
But let it spur my body to act
And my mind to create again
If all else fails, though
And the shadows begin to close in
I ask that You push me forward
Through the walls that lie within
* * * * *
References:
Grossman, F.K., Sorsoli, L., & Kia-Keating, M. (2006). A gale force wind: Meaning making by male
survivors of childhood sexual abuse. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 434-443.
Heintzelman, S.J. & King, L.A. (2014). Life is pretty meaningful. American Psychologist, 69, 561-574.
Keyes, C.L.M. (2002). The Mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal
of Health and Social Research, 43, 207-222.
Skogrand, L., Singh, A., Allgood, S., DeFrain, J., Defrain, N., & Jones, J.E. (2007). The process of
transcending a traumatic childhood. Contemporary Family Therapy, 29, 253-270.
Staub, E. & Vollhardt, J. (2008). Altruism born of suffering: The roots of caring and helping after
victimization and other trauma. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 78, 267-280.
I am one of those who “transcended” trauma to live a productive, peaceful and, yes, at times joyful life. Like most success in life, however, mine was the result of genetic qualities over which I had no control, helpful witnesses in early life, and just plain dumb luck. I disagree with recommending forgiveness, gratitude, etc. to those who have experienced life-altering trauma. Even if you yourself are a survivor of trauma, recommending a path that worked for you to others is fraught with peril, in my view. Each individual has to find his or her way through the tragic ‘distress’ of having been victimized early in life. It will be a different path for each person. Forgiveness can be absolutely the wrong thing for some people in some situations. Helping others–well, there’s a knife-edge between helping and being a martyr. As for spiritual disciplines that encourage us to look for help outside ourselves. Ouch! That can be so debilitating for trauma survivors whose trauma included being made helpless. I get that you are trying to help others heal. I hope my remarks here will prove helpful to some, even if they are irrelevant to others.
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Thank you, Ann. Yes, your remarks are very helpful to me. I’ve read all five of these articles and I’ve had a very difficult time even commenting on them. Now I don’t have to, because you have so elegantly stated everything that concerned me about them. I’ve been told by someone who was abusive to me that I “had to learn how to forgive and forget,” so articles like these make me go nonverbal pretty quickly.
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Hi Ann,
Thanks for taking the time to share your insights. Your witness as someone who has found joy in suffering is very valuable. And I agree that genetics, fortunate encounters, and luck (although others might disagree with the connotation of this term) do play a role in transcending trauma and distress. But where we diverge is the idea that all people do not have an ability to influence the level of happiness in our lives, at least to some degree. I have to be honest in saying that this seems like a very hopeless message, especially as someone who works with young people and parents regularly who are looking for ways to reduce distress and feel greater happiness. You are right in saying that it will be a different path for every person, but if we remove the options that come with highly effective practices below (which are taught daily even to those with bad luck and as you would say, genetic challenges), then we are basically saying that there is nothing we personally can do to improve our situation. I recognize that these may feel unnatural to some or that they should arise spontaneously, not necessarily in a prescribed way as we often do for improving diet, exercise, etc.., but I would ask you an honest question:
What would you tell someone who came to you yearning to feel more joy and less distress in their lives?
Where I do appreciate your remarks again greatly is that they are witness to how many do feel. But in feeling they do not have an ability to find ways to reduce distress/increase joy, I would argue that this is one of the top reasons, if not the number one reason, that people voluntarily seek out psychotropic drugs. And then of course we enter into a different domain of conversation.
Thanks again for taking the time to read and comment all of these despite our diverging thoughts. And thanks for being a witness to others.
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James,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply to my comments.
First, I have had the experience of counseling several teenagers out of suicide and have dealt with hundreds of abused children. In each case of suicidal intent I emphasized to them that they were strong, wonderful people (they were my students of varying ages and of both sexes) and that if they were miserable at home, at 18 they would be able to get away and make their own lives. I firmly believe (not original to me, of course) that “madness” is a social problem and most often the result of violent/sexual trauma in infancy (which leads to the worst, most obdurate and physical effects), childhood (my own experience), or in adolescence. We enable abusers as a society, from the lowest to highest levels.
Victims need unique, non-prescriptive (in all senses) support and absolute realism, not ‘paths’ and ‘techniques’ that work for some or work for awhile. From your picture, I surmise that I’ve lived from twice to three times as long as you. Forty years ago or even ten I could not have written what I did. I didn’t know enough and I hadn’t synthesized my experiences and study. I keep learning every day.
I post on this site not to prescribe to anyone, but to offer my experience for what it’s worth. In my view, victims (no one should be afraid of that word–life as a human is fraught with unavoidable victimization of one kind or another) should guide themselves if they are to heal as much as possible. They need truth, but we are afraid to look at the truth. Over and over I have observed that people without children will readily admit that trauma probably causes dysfunction, but once people have children, they usually become much less willing to accept this paradigm. Do you see how this guilt syndrome affects our response as a society to hidden predation?
Finally, joy is brief and not easy to find for victims of torture, trauma, etc. We are damaged. Period. Our lives are as difficult, invisibly, as someone with no legs.
Is my view hopeless? What do you think, from what I’ve shared? If it is hopeless that we will ever as a society admit that our ways of child-raising are 100% damaging and that sexual abuse is epidemic in our culture (as it used to be in German culture, for example–see Alice Miller), then, yes, I have no hope for ending ‘madness’ and suicidality.
I appreciate that you are working to help victims. But I do believe that only each victim, uniquely, knows how to heal and must be supported, no matter how labor intensive the effort entailed, to do so. I hope that doesn’t sound self-righteous. I mean it in solidarity with all on this site.
Thank you, Uprising and others. When enough of us have formed a consensus, perhaps we can design a system that will replace forced treatment and drugging.
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Hi Ann,
I am enjoying our discussion so I figured that I would offer a few further thoughts. I want to first say that I greatly value those such as yourself of an older age and with more experience. I have learned and will learn so much from those who go before me. But I think it would be a misnomer to suggest that older age and greater experience automatically equal more wisdom. Although time and experience provide more discernable opportunities for wisdom, the reality does not always play out this way. Many of our greatest thinkers, healers, innovators, and such had a paucity of both in comparison to others. But one thing is clear for me – with greater age/experience has come more questions and less answers, but the dynamic answers that persist appear to do so because they possess a universal truth even in the ever-changing world of human uniqueness. But you are right, we are always learning.
Although I agree that prescriptive help without working with each individual uniquely can be unhelpful, this is one of the difficulties of writing to a vast audience that does not sit across from you in a quiet room. In a room, you can see and hear and feel his or her presence in order to modify in this way, and so writings such as mine get criticized as being prescriptive, although I would like to think (maybe wrongly) that I work to be descriptive, not prescriptive. If you read what I write, you will not find me espousing 5 steps to better gratitude or ten steps to forgiveness (although I do not criticize those who do as some people do yearn for this type of direction). Instead, I attempt to describe a process that is often so foreign, so complicated that many simply forgo or ignore it, such as channeling. And along the line of practices, I do believe that some come to their own unique identity through practices, and some arrive at specific practices through their own uniqueness. But in all cases, people do rely on practices (internal and external) to guide them each day.
I want to address your thoughts on the following matter: I quote, “Over and over I have observed that people without children will readily admit that trauma probably causes dysfunction, but once people have children, they usually become much less willing to accept this paradigm. Do you see how this guilt syndrome affects our response as a society to hidden predation? Finally, joy is brief and not easy to find for victims of torture, trauma, etc. We are damaged. Period.”
Let me be very clear. I know that trauma causes dysfunction, often significant dysfunction. It is a large part of the reason why I wrote this series. I see its tragic consequences in my office daily and the more kids I have and work with, the more its consequences become so apparent. My wife and I work very hard to minimize the trauma that our children experience, both directly and vicariously (e.g., media exposure). I know it causes damage. On all this we complete converge. But where we diverge is the “period.” I not surprisingly see your reference to “parents admitting this less” in a different way. I believe that it is not that parents such as myself enter denial or naivety in regards to this paradigm. It is that we can’t accept the “period”, and I believe we have many measures of faith and reason to support that people can and do heal even if they never forget what happened. And I think that when we become parents and caregivers of children, we understand that one of the roles that we are deeply called is to always seek out healing. It is why band-aids are never far away.
There seems to be a sense by some on MIA that when a person writes about hope and healing in the way that I have, they are somehow denying the widespread atrocities or horrors that do exist. That is why I painstakingly made sure to make clear in this series as with other writings that although I am attempting to describe potential practices that may help, I am in no way denying or justifying their presence (or invalidating their horror), which is why I discussed issues anywhere from the Rwandan genocide to childhood sexual abuse. It is really, really sad to me at just how far atrocities such as these extend, and how often people and organizations turn a blind eye on them. It is why courageous communication may be one of the scarcest commodities today.
And in regards to one of your final questions, “Is my view hopeless?” Well, your secondary comments were more hopeful to me than your first, which as I said before implied to many that happiness and joy after trauma was a matter of chance and good genes. I don’t think the idea that 100% of parenting practices are harmful is hopeful, as parenting practices are just one microcosm of imperfect human practices that often do have good intent and merit, which would then suggest that 100% of human practices are harmful. But what is hopeful to me is that you continue to work with others, in a deeply caring and unique role, in the hopes that a light will emerge from an otherwise dark place. For that I thank you deeply and you give me hope that others like yourself truly care. For although it may seem that we both are staring at each other across a dark valley, we are both trying to find a way across, and hoping and discerning that the other’s strategies may hold keys for our own success.
Hope your weekend has been good. Sorry for my long windedness. I just want to be clear.
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Exactly. My feelings are the same as those expressed by Uprising.
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I feel the same way. This article best articulates my feelings even though I don’t have breast cancer fortunately:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/10/i-survived-breast-cancer-but-i-hate-breast-cancer-awareness-month/
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Thanks for sharing the article. An honest woman willing to say things that are not popular. She’s willing to talk about the things no one wants to talk about.
It’s the same with trauma; no one wants to admit that our society is messed up and that our children are paying the price in all kinds of abuse. And we don’t want to hear about all the horrible things that have been and are being done to children. Why is it that a sexually abused child has to tell, on the average, seven adults before they’re believed? And almost no one knows about the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study which revealed that child sexual abuse is common, rather than a rarity as most people assume. One hundred twenty-four billion dollars are lost to the American economy every year due to child sexual abuse but you don’t hear anyone in Congress talking about this problem.
There are a lot of very hurt people, adults and children, in this country and we can’t afford to sit around and talk about transcendence and making meaning. We’ve got to admit that very bad things are done to lots of children, often by their very own family members, and then we’ve got to begin listening to these kids and doing something to help them get out of their horror. The Jerry Sanduskeys and pedophile Catholic priests are only the tip of the iceberg.
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Hi Stephen,
I find the issue of childhood trauma one as you say being almost ignored.
Has beating children in the US been made unlawful? Or is it still allowed?
I know here they stopped publicly flogging children in schools in the late 1970s. They have a collection of books in the State archives called “punishment books” that record all of the public floggings that were dished out and by whom. I did try to get access to them when I was at college, as I wanted to look into where those who were given the worst treatment ended up.
Of course my application for access was denied as expected. Sure would like to examine them though. Maybe in my next life.
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Stephen, I was one of those kids, back in the 60s, when it was not only not talked about, it was completely and totally 100% kicked under the rug–by parents, in some cases, certainly in mine, no less–and allowed to fester, as though nothing had happened. Talk about crazy-making, literally. That’s a disaster waiting to happen, like around college age, right on cue.
When I talk about healing, finding meaning, and ‘transcending’ the trauma, it’s to be an example of someone who did, in fact, heal through this perspective. I think I can’t afford to NOT talk about this aspect of it. To me, aside from actually healing from the trauma of abuse–sexual and otherwise–and talking about the kind of personal transformation that can be experienced from having faced the underbelly of humanity in such a direct way, as opposed to feeling condemned to chronic suffering, as I’m afraid many do, I feel that I am, indeed, doing something highly constructive and productive.
While I’m doing the best I can to spread a hopeful message that these things do heal–not with a one shot magic bullet, but with focus and systematic healing–I’m all for preventing others from going through what I and countless others have. Any suggestions?
Indeed, the family structure is in big trouble. Families are turning on and killing each other. It’s all over the news daily, multiple stories at a time. I’d love for this to be the focus of any kind of movement. It’s where society is cracked, like the San Andreas Fault. What has happened to families?? And what’s the solution?
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James, really wonderful piece and, I think, an extremely clear and articulate conclusion to your very thoroughly reasoned series.
I love all of what you have to say, here, and I agree, this has been my experience. I especially loved this:
“Self-worth recognizes that much of what produces meaning and happiness is acquired from beyond. Although we recognize that all of us commit mistakes and transgressions, the manifestation of self-worth invokes an understanding that each person is worth that of another, only expressed in a unique way. A leader may influence by her life. A helper may influence by his heart. Sufferers can influence by their witness. But all lives can have great meaning, much of which will always be beyond our poor powers to perceive. So it seems the only thing more tragic than when people feel discarded by the world is when they are discarded by themselves.”
That is so humbling, and from my perspective, truthful. We certainly have control over how we perceive anything, and with practice, as you say, we can always broaden our perspectives to create new meaning out of any events in our life. (The only word I would want to change in that paragraph is where you write, “beyond our poor powers to perceive.” I’d replace ‘poor’ with ‘limited,’ only because it sounds less evaluative and more neutral). Still, I agree that there are perceptions beyond our scope, although we can certainly make it a point to strive to see things from a higher and more neutral/compassionate perspective.
This is so beautifully validating to each member of any collective, without shunning, excepting, or marginalizing anyone. Each and every human being has intrinsic value, each moves the energy of the collective one way or another, regardless of our judgments or reactions to anyone. We are all connected, whether we like it or not. That’s certainly how I see it.
I believe it is so healing and personally empowering when we can each be aware of and internalize this intrinsic value we carry, at all times. We tend to vacillate in this awareness, but it’s a good thing to remember when we are feeling the opposite.
I believe if we have the intention to feel happy and joyous, regardless of anything, we can find that avenue, if we can find that connection to what is beyond our physical awareness. This broader consciousness is what I found gave meaning to my life, in totality, and it completely changed my world, both internal and external. As my perception shifted toward a place of meaning and self-worth, my environment transformed to reflect this, as I internalized it. It’s been a glorious transformation, all around, and it’s extended outward.
And yes, forgiveness played a major role for me, in that it allowed me to let go of blame and resentment, own my experience from a whole new perspective, and bring in a more compassionate, lighter response to life’s harder moments. Doesn’t mean I have to hang out with those that I forgave, just the opposite. I go the other way when looking for relationship, so as to not repeat what I experienced before. Again, what you describe is my experience, to a tee.
I always love your beautiful work, very enlightening and validating. Thank you 🙂
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James,
As one who is a leader who has influenced by her life, a helper who has influenced by her heart, and a sufferer who hopes to influence by her witness. And as one who does and has for decades found meaning in creative and artist endeavors, one who is searching to find meaning through a “survivor mission,” but doesn’t quite understand what you mean by “slowly removing the inter psychic barbs.” But, absolutely finds “purpose and meaning through … spiritual endeavors,” yet was defamed and poisoned by psychiatrists for belief in the “Holy Spirit” and “God,” according to my medical records.
I find great solace and hope in the fact you believe in prayer, rather than merely denial of the Holy Spirit and worship of the almighty dollar, as my psychiatric practitioners did.
After surviving 15 distinctively different poisoning attempts at my life, according to my medical records (and research), one really loses fear of death, and is grateful to Jesus for dying for her sins. No fear. Except, I no longer believe Jesus should forgive everyone, and do fear for the unrepentant psychiatric practitioners more than any other group on this planet (well, the unrepentant child molesters and murderers aren’t in good graces either).
I hope and pray you can influence those within your profession to change their ways and repent to those they’ve harmed, because that’s actually what the Holy Bible states is needed prior to your going to God to ask for forgiveness (and what’s great is your industry has malpractice insurance, exactly for this purpose).
And as one who has gone on a spiritual journey, explored and challenged Jesus’ theology, and found her naive hopes Jesus should save all to be incorrect. And as one who has now painted herself as seeing eye to eye with Jesus, because I now believe His theology is correct and the Way towards the ultimate goal of peace on earth.
I hope you may help influence those who believe in the DSM stigmatization “bible” to rethink the wisdom of their defamatory and deluded belief system, and to look to the Holy Bible for wisdom and truth instead.
Thank you for your contemplations and prayers, I’m certain they will be known by those that actually matter. And please do what you can to save others within your profession, because certainly they’ve been defaming and trying to murder the Christians for decades now.
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And such eugenics deluded behavior in the US today, is no more acceptable than it was when the psychiatric eugenicists were trying to murder the Jews in Germany decades ago. And we all now know the DSM “disorders” today are no more scientifically valid than was claiming being Jewish was a “mental illness” in Nazi Germany.
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On eugenics Someone Else
According to my record one relative of mine suffered and died in a mental hospital and another relative suffered but never got treatment and went to America. BUT what wasn’t on the record was that he bcame a millionaire in America and remained one.
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Actually, German psychiatry began murdering people labeled as “mentally ill” and the developmentally disabled long before the Jews became a target for Hitler’s “final solution.”
In the 1930’s German psychiatry received permission and backing from the German government to carry out a “euthanasia” program against people in the “mental hospitals.” This program was applauded by the Rockafeller Foundation and was supported by many psychiatrists here in America at the 1941 annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. The doctor who gave the keynote address at this meeting extolled the virtues of the German extermination of “useless eaters” and proposed that the same thing be done with the “mentally ill” here in America. He was opposed by only one psychiatrist out of the entire group who listened to the keynote address.
Six German cities were designated to be the places where the first gas chambers and ovens were built. Then, everyone labeled as “mentally ill” had to fill out and submit a form which was then evaluated by two psychiatrists. If one of the two psychiatrists gave a thumbs down about a form, that person was loaded up, taken to one of the six cities, and sent into the gas chamber where they were “disposed” of and then their body was put in the oven, along with numerous others, and burned. People labeled as “mentally ill” were referred to as “useless eaters” along with the developmentally disabled and anyone else with a health problem that could get you labeled with the “useless eaters” designation. Eventually this label would also be applied to the Jewish people . Originally they used the exhaust from diesel engines as the means to asphyxiate(sp) their victims.
When Hitler came along he realized the potential of the gas chambers and ovens for his “final solution” against the Jewish people and anyone else he hated and allowed German psychiatry to train the SS in their use. So, the Nazis were not the first to use the chambers and ovens.
During the war they quit sending the “mentally ill” to the six cities and began murdering them simply by letting them starve to death in the psychiatric “hospitals” Some American soldiers testified about their going into these “hospitals” and finding dead bodies and people dying from starvation everywhere in these places.
I know that there are many who will read this and say that this could never happen here in America. But look up the 1941 annual meeting of the APA and read the keynote address for yourself. In 1942, an anonymous editorial appeared in the APA’s Journal supporting this “euthanasia” program for America. It was supported by many of the foundations that were tied to the wealthy families here in America. I believe that the power of psychiatry must be curtailed as soon as possible. It already has way too much social control right now.
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Thank you very much, Someone Else. Your thoughts and insights are appreciated, and your gratitude for the series is meaningful to me. I especially agree that the link between the psychology and the spirituality of a person is something that can’t be ignored. And prayer can’t be forgotten, even as someone who often struggles to know which way to go. As far as the “intrapsychic barbs”, I was referring to those psychological aspects that continue to cause us pain (as barbs on a fish hook do) and prevent further self-growth. Probably not the clearest way to say it, though.
Thanks again for all the ways you provide hope to those who have been faced with seemingly insurmountable odds.
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Little to add except that your comments are often a post in themselves. I can only say that your thoughts are so appreciated. I poured alot of time, reflection, and study into this series in the hopes that at least a few would find it worthwhile and helpful. I actually decided to write it after one commenter on a previous article (don’t remember which one) said that I/we should spend more time talking about ways to reduce distress then discussing issues around the describing and defining of mental illness. And yes, “limited” would probably be a better choice than “poor”. Sometimes the alliterative lure takes over in me and does not fully serve to articulate exactly the way it should be said.
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Re “your comments are often a post in themselves” = passion.
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James,
A beautiful piece !
I believe that love, in the purest and most perfect sense casts out fear.
And this reminder to myself (sometimes moment-by-moment) has helped me overcome past traumas, the “demons” in y life.
It is, IMHO, the essence of faith. A gift from a higher source. One for which I am grateful for, but can take credit.
Duane
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HI Duane,
Your authentic positivity does not go unnoticed. And I believe you are right. It all comes down to love – not the fleeting emotion that we often associate with this term, but the willful, soulful, mindful truth that desires to leap out of us all from Someone much greater than us.
jim
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typo – *cannot* take credit
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This is a beautiful piece, but I can’t quite relate to all of it. It feels prescriptive in its suggestion that everyone has to transcend and find meaning in order to have value. Fredrick Douglas is mentioned a lot in our literature. I don’t mind, but again, it seems to suggest that in order to find meaning, one has to transcend the beating in the woods to become something truly extraordinary in order to shed the spoiled identity of the labeled self. Some of us are survivors. Many of us never achieve anything beyond bare subsistence. We still have value. Those who have died in the woods have value. Those who remain in the woods have value and never do anything beyond remaining have value. Things that are not beautiful have value as well.
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Hi Sharon,
It is good to hear from you, and I actually appreciate you clarifying some of what I said in your comment below. I want to be clear, as I tried to in lines such as “a suffers influence through their witness” that all life can have meaning even through survival and perpetual struggle. I absolutely agree with these last lines, which by the way are beautiful in themselves:
Many of us never achieve anything beyond bare subsistence. We still have value. Those who have died in the woods have value. Those who remain in the woods have value and never do anything beyond remaining have value. Things that are not beautiful have value as well.
I couldn’t have said it better. But in writing the series, and this last article itself, many people do want to feel less distress and more happiness, and that was the reason I undertook it. But again, I appreciate what you are saying, and in your suffering, you have great meaning and value no matter what happens. I hope and pray, though, for you (if you have this desire) that greater happiness and contentment will come.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
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Thanks James,
This has been a wonderful series of articles. As I have said in other comments they have resulted in some deep reflection for me. And I wondered what it was that caused that, and why I found myself almost annoyed by it. Sometimes music expresses how I feel better than a 4000 word essay so, this is where I started from.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InRDF_0lfHk
Buried in that type of thinking of course your articles have challenged the very direction I am heading. I don’t wish to experience joy, I want to ‘paint it black’. And of course it niggled at me because your right, distress can be turned to joy, and in the ways you have described so well.
So I tip my hat to you brother, and once again thank you.
Regards
Boans.
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What can I say Boans that you haven’t said already through the series. You are right – the music video expressed very well what I think you are trying to say. I think we all have a desire to just “paint it black” at times. I certainly know that I find myself fighting this urge at times when I just want to be negative and glum, even if I know positive and resilient options are available. It really is part of the human experience. Ironically, though, it is those black, rainy, cold moments in the early morning on my bike commuting to work or in the middle of the woods running that remind me that black does not have to stay, and that the sun will rise again. And so I keep plunging myself into the darkness in search of a greater light.
Keep pressing my friend, keep pressing…
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James, let me add my voice (a bit belatedly) to those who greatly appreciate the perspective you’ve brought through your articles. Actually, I haven’t read all of them yet, so I plan to go back and “fill in the gaps”. Ironically, as I was reading and discussing this one with my daughter–even as I was doing so because of the positive, uplifting, hopeful message–I took a temporary, dark departure into the bitter, angry thoughts that regularly re-emerge when I think about the way in which psychiatry can and does brutalize people in the name of healing and/or “stability”. In fact, I added some pretty graphic, crude remarks to those thoughts! Another irony: my daughter, who more than once has undergone very misguided, torturous experiences at the hands of psychiatry’s “healers”, does not seem nearly as subject to these forays into Bitterland as I am!
At any rate, your article resonates with me, even as there is a part of me that resists it, for it seems to draw me to a higher, more hopeful place–the place of the One completely innocent victim/redeemer!
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Hi Russerford,
Great to have you offer your thoughts no matter what the time frame. I love that you are talking through these ideas with your daughter, as we are increasingly talking with our kids about these areas as they grow older. Two things you said that really struck me – one, was your ironic (or not) experience of inner psychological and/or spiritual angst as you were reading this. I think this funnels into that last statement of yours about resistance, which other commenter have spoken of, and which I feel myself on a daily basis. Often, there is an acute awareness of two different courses that I can take in many situations – one that I feel will take me/others to better places, and one that will keep me constrained – and it is this deep resistance that I feel I have to work through if I am to take the former step. But sometimes the resistance seems strong, and as Boans mentioned, I want to just “paint it black” and remain mired in the place I am. For me, this resistance is my pride, and it does prevent me from pursuing the One I am called to pursue and growing in ways I feel I am called to grow.
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