Someone I know well spent years in and out of expensive treatment centers for alcohol, depression, drugs, etc. I always helped with the finances, but finally, when asked once again to help with yet another institution that would “ fix” the problem, I told this someone they were smarter, and knew more than the therapist s they would see. That they knew exactly what they would be told to do.
I said just do it for yourself or this will never end.
They did and are now well employed, married and very happy.
Good call. When you continually help someone in the throes of addiction they quickly shift their dependence from both God and themselves to you. This traps them in a downward spiral of self-loathing, among other maladies.
There are times when helping one out of a bind is the best thing that can be done. These are usually one off situations where the person, through no fault of their own, finds themselves in a situation where the potential damage caused by the experience outweighs any benefit that might be gained.
There are also times when helping someone is the worst thing that can be done because by doing so they are inadvertently shielded them from learning the hard necessary lessons that are born from their mistakes.
Pain and failure are the best teachers. But nobody wants to be their students.
You were kind to help him with his finances. And I think maybe you could see that he wasn't completely captured by the mental health institutions. The best mental health professionals show you in therapy the tools you have to heal yourself. And you're right, as good as therapists are, they really aren't as capable as the person themselves of knowing who they are.
At the same time, the one thing that separates good and bad outcomes for addiction is a good support system. I am not talking about mental health professionals, but family and friends. I think we will find that one of the ongoing problems with mental health is the issue of isolation. At t he very least we need people around us to tell us when we are screwing up and what to do to snap out of it.
I know one woman who has been in and out of "treatment" 17 times (she's in her early 40s). She likes the drug lifestyle, and when she is forced to go into treatment for one reason or another, she considers it a version of "going to the spa" for a vacation.
The "treatment center" racket gives everyone the out they need not to deal with the very real problem of drug addiction.
Ah, yes. I can identify with that. So much stunted potential in the world and it's painful to see it and yet be unable to unstunt it. (ok, unstunt is not a word, but it's late & I'm tired).
When you study the next generation when you're out and about and interacting with them, just know that their bodies are filled with mercury, aluminium, and only the devil knows what else from their mass injections, their food is highly addictive sugar based and chemical laden and - depending on where they sourced it - is designed to warp their gender; and their minds are mush from this toxic diet, Tik Tok, social media, CRT and common core education. It may be wise to allow pathos to melt away your scorn.
I once read a comparison of the trans social contagion and its accompanying "treatments" with Thalidomide and lobotomies and other medical wonders, and I couldn't disagree with the premise.
Trudeau government pledges $1.7 million to target pro-family African nations with LGBT propaganda
Trudeau's Liberals, including MP Anita Vandenbeld, and LGBT activists are increasingly targeting majority-Christian African countries that pass laws protecting their societies from homosexual and gender ideology.
Not just the transgender but the trans sickness movement.
Imagine being afraid of getting infected by a disease that you only will know you have by a test that affirms you are positive, and the remedy for it is continued isolation and obfuscation of social interactions.
Oh Brother you got that one pegged. In the day, we had Rene Richards, and that's all "she" wrote. Now, it's legion and as Gato points out, their recruiting em out of kindergarten. You know, I liked it better when you were in the middle square.... https://youtu.be/WZbLAPFmHdg? Cheers
Yes. https://jbilek.substack.com/ - super solid research into who is behind this sick twisting of normal growing up (and sometimes with added neurological injury from this poisoned, over-vaccinated world), into convincing kids they are "born in the wrong body". It really does connect to transhumanism. Written clearly for all to see.
as a retired physician, I agree wholeheartedly with your assessments here. If you want to stay healthy, avoid the medical industry as much as possible. Therapists, like chiropractors and tennis instructors, are a life-long commitment. At least the other two groups don't do life-altering trial and error with your brain chemistry. Eventually all of the human condition gets medicalized and thus monetised.
I’m a massage therapist in a chiropractic office and my experience is that people who choose ‘alternative’ medicine like chiro and massage can often avoid surgery for years, sometimes even forever. The ones who take an active role and work on their health, posture, etc outside of the work we do fare the best.
I'm sure that some will disagree, but if an individual finds themself ensnared in an endless succession of visits to the chiropractor, a good solid dive into yoga is a worthy alternative. Problem is: it takes physical and mental effort...
For sure! The clients that just want to come once a month and have us do all the work don’t have as much success. Keeping your joints moving naturally, like through yoga or walking is highly underrated.
As a sports and exercise physician and doctor of 39 years standing I wholeheartedly agree.
I see a plethora of people in whom simple aging has been medicalised. "Arthritis", which is usually nothing more than aging, must be treated with drugs and surgery.
The system disempowers people and calls them "patients".
My role as a physician is to educate, empower, and extract them from the medical machine through knowledge and simple healthy living.
I cease many more medications than I prescribe and have a very busy practice.
Do you notice a very definite split like I do? Either someone goes the pharma route and wants pain meds, surgery, ‘pain management’, etc or they want none of it and do everything possible first to avoid those? I can’t get over how complete the divide is in my practice.
The best anti-inflammatory is exercise. There is so much evidence that it is effective in everything from cancer and rheumatoid arthritis down to simple wear and tear.
Other than that it's healthy diet, plenty of sun (Vitamin D and near infrared) and sufficient quality sleep.
much appreciated, Gareth. Isn't it just the perfect Catch-22 when your knees and feet are so painful that exercise is a key. I do agree, though - self-discipline. It's not that the road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions - it's that the road to Hell; is paved ......
Well. If one takes care not to select a chiropractor who sees his mission as cult conversion instead of manipulating your screaming back into happy silence again, you'll be OK. Not weekly treatments but "Ah! Snapped back into place! Thank you doc!" and bye.
I go when needed- if I have a regular & top notch yoga practice it's "never."
If I'm stressed, not doing yoga, & dehydrated, it's once a month.
If I'm "middling," it's a series of adjustments to straighten out the mess once every couple of years, lol!
Looking after your own health is the only actually successful path I know of. It just takes effort, time & commitment. We humans are distracted, stressed, and fed "rot" continually, making it more difficult than is necessary, but still we can take control if we choose. It's really that simple.
I used to get a lot of clients who would come to me for massages but would go to a Chiro where they paid a monthly fee for unlimited adjustments. I always tell them that there’s a lot more a chiro can do than adjust - decompression, laser therapy, tens units, dry needling, etc etc (all of which my chiro does). Many of them ended up switching when they failed to get relief at the places that just do adjustments.
About 16 years ago I had what my chiropractor later diagnosed as a "frozen muscle" in my left biceps muscle. I was in unrelieved pain for months, couldn't find a comfortable sleep position, and finally began to lose mobility (I couldn't place my left hand on my waist for ex.).
Finally I went to the chiropractor who gave me, in one visit, an accupuncture treatment and then used an ultrasound machine on my arm and shoulder. He warned me I might be feeling a lot of pain the next day as the muscle "unfroze."
I had no pain. Everything was fixed. No need to go back for any further treatment. I was just kicking myself for having endured that for so long when the remedy was so simple and accessible.
This is excellent, I love it. It doesn’t always work this way, but I’m a big believer that people should try the massage/PT/chiro/yoga whatever route before going the medical route. Sometimes you still have to have a surgery, but often not.
I wasn't a sportsgal and this wasn't an injury (it was probably an excess of stress and tension).
I'm not a fan of our sterling medical professionals in general. Recovering from the treatment is usually the worst part of getting stuff fixed. I'm currently working to get full function back of my hand after the setting of a broken wrist last September. That cast was some great tendon-shrinker fer shure. I declined physical therapy after it was removed and just did it on my own and can do everything now I used to be able to do before. It's just the funny way my hand is now connected to the rest of me that annoys me a bit. But hey. I ain't a show cat and nobody gonna care if I look like someone didn't read the directions carefully when they built the model.
I found two of 'em. The third was my stepbrother who was full-in crazy. But the other two were like excellent car mechanics. Found the problem and fixed it and didn't expect an ongoing pilgrimage.
And frankly, I'd rather be permanently visiting my chiropractor, TCM practioner, or my yoga instructor, than any MD; they are all cheaper, do less long term damage, & there is the real possibility I'll benefit.
Especially with the last, if you get a good one, that is; for me that practice will negate any need for the first completely!
Add Vitamin D, (really the fundamental hormone for health; physical, mental & emotional,) & all the essential nutrients, & voila, human health abounds!
Gravity, trauma and abuse of our bodies are constant. It’s viewing health, disease and “treatments” as events rather than the constant process. Consistent practice with a great instructor for tennis improves your game. Consistent practice with a chiropractor improves your health. And a lifetime of care is less than a day in the hospital.
One of your better pieces of the year Gatto! Things like this won’t change until a significant percentage of parents remove their children from public schools. If the school closures during the pandemic and the ridiculous “reopening” protocols didn’t convince parents that the public schools aren’t a good environment for learning I don’t know that the threat of MBP from mental health professionals within the system will either.
There is a danger here. to treat ourselves like a "useless eater."
I am glad I didn't have screens back in the seventies while in class. I had to cope with the downtime of boredom by learning to draw. Some kids passed notes to one another, other kids were disrupted, and still others were put on ritalin, when they probably should have had a class outside working with their hands...doing something.
I am glad my parents didn't put me on any drugs growing up. I had a self-control problem and it was due to boredom. Give someone entertainment, and they might be satiated for a day, but teach someone how to entertain themselves, and they will never be bored again.
Some sort of perverse cultural direction that resulted from the push in public education to herd as many students as possible into colleges and universities, whilst embracing the attitude so infamously employed by Hillary Clinton's "deplorables". Or if you will, those who work with their hands (implication being that working with one's hands is the default vocation for those unfortunates that are incapable of instead "working with their brains.") I observed this monstrosity gathering momentum in the late fifties/early sixties. We are now reaping the harvest that was sown back then.
Exactly right! I was ridiculed because I wasn’t interested in going to college. Although I took college prep courses in high school I didn’t have the smarts to get a scholarship, the funds to pay for college myself nor the desire to go onto a higher education. I wanted a job and a place of my own so I went right to work in a couple of crappy jobs until I managed to get into the utility field and made great money, especially as a woman. Meanwhile my college educated peers ended up with crappy jobs until they married and stayed home with their kids. I am not in any way criticizing them marrying and staying home with their children, it’s just that their higher education gained them nothing (in their own words) except another 4 years in classes and student loans that took years to pay off.
Such an important comment, thank you. I too was thinking that the school system is absolutely complicit in this train-wreck. If I could go back in time and home school, I would. that being said, I think we deserve better schools. Happily EGM has written about this as well.
When I was pregnant the first person to talk with me in one OBGYN office was a newly minted psychologist who gave me a survey to fill out. It asked the question (among others): "Do you ever feel like hurting yourself or feel depressed right now?" I was F@CKING PREGNANT!!!
My husband drew a big smiley face on the survey and we left that toxic office!!!
It's on all assessments I think. I was asked this question recently on an assessment and my answer to "do you feel lonely, sad, depressed, etc." my response was "don't we all?"
We were told. it was specifically targeted to research the condition "post-partum depression". Well yeah, sometimes being at home alone with a baby who never sleeps or sleeps all the time can be trying, but as you say below, pathologize normal? This is not to make light of some very difficult situations, but honestly. I hadn't even had my son yet(!) and was ecstatic to be pregnant after being told I could never have a child. It was a complete, welcome surprise and I was thrilled! Totally inappropriate and felt invasive and patronizing. And, I never consented to being a research subject!!! The power of suggestion (of depression etc. ) also comes to mind...
Years of listening to terrestrial radio and a few years of reading the Atlanta Journal and Constitution taught me the power of propaganda and asking the constant question "What are they really saying here?"
I think your example...of being pregnant...those moments of absolute jubilation and joy...the refractory period from that endorphin rush could be mis-perceived as depression. I think most of what you felt, was normal. And yeah, your case is even stranger because you were told you couldn't get pregnant. Imagine that, asking someone if they are feeling depressed that their world was open to new possibilities....Also highlights how wrong "science" can be.
Yes. But I wasn't even depressed! I just went to see if it would be a good practice for the birth. Didn't expect a psychologist! I just wanted a midwife and the practice got good reviews. It was a complete blindside! I never got depressed either - had a great birth at a birth center and went home the next day. Big blessing. Actually, it hadn't even occurred to me to be depressed, thankfully.
The problem with pathologizing is now they appear to almost want to invite pathology. In an effort to not stigmatize mental health issues, they almost make it appear "not" having an issue is an issue. So you are not joyous you are "manic" you aren't happy you are "delusional." No...I'd say you are happy. No need to read any more into it.
Instead of asking kids every day “are you feeling happy or sad?” - which their doctors and teachers do - imagine what would happen if we asked questions like these instead:
- How many people did you serve this week?
- What is the bravest act you performed?
- What hero were you most like?
You get what you measure, and we’re measuring for crazy every day…
Pathologizing normal life is part of the problem, yes. However, I think not enough attention is being paid to real neurological damage from environmental sources. The National Survey of Children's Health (available at ChildHealthData dot org) shows that twice as high a percentage of kids can't count at all, can't write their own name, etc., as five years ago. Some neurologic issues that have nothing to do with attitude or emotion are occurring at much greater frequencies than they were in the past. Indeed, "Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy" is a term often deployed by overzealous child abuse pediatricians in situations when children do have a real illness--just an illness that was not as common in the past as it is today. Talk to a pediatric neurologist and ask how often they see kids with seizures, and you'll be depressed by the answer. (I knew zero kids with seizure disorders in my youth, but my child only had to go to school for a few months before she made her first friend with medication-controlled epilepsy.)
All of this is to say that kids *are* sicker than they used to be, in their brains and in other parts of their bodies. Labeling all of this new illness "depression" or "anxiety" is a mistake in many cases, because a kid who can't recognize any numbers might manifest anxiety, but his problem is the underlying issue, not the nervousness about it.
I agree, though, that there is a push (mostly by people who are *not* neurologists or specialists) to label nervousness as clinical anxiety, etc. Parents have been given a message that making a child do something difficult might lead that kid to kill himself, and that message is obviously wrong. Maybe the kid needs some kind of help at school, if he does have a disability that has gone unnoticed or improperly handled. Maybe he needs help from a guidance counselor on handling a perceived conflict with a peer or a teacher. But he needs to get that help and then do the difficult thing, not be given the fake "out" of "mental illness." I think that is true in many situations.
They are injecting heavy metals and other NEUROtoxins into babies a few hours old. Add many more toxins children get into their body and by the time they can talk, if they do talk, then yeah they have mental issues as they have been poisoned for YEARS.
When the pendulum starts swinging, it is very easy to dismiss real problems that exist. I think the term is "throwing the baby out with the bathwater"?
We live in a neurotoxic world. Read Dr. Exley. This IS rather new.
I had a repressed memory. It popped up one day, unbidden, with intense clarity. No therapy was involved in its advent.
And anxiety? Yes, I absolutely believe that pharma products are over- used, but we are just coming out of one of the stranger periods in human history. Should we be surprised that folks are more than a little "off" and needing help?
Ding ding ding! Another very important comment fleshing out this excellent essay. It is absolutely a perfect storm of shit. I too knew zero kids with neurological issues back in the day. Some classmates were slower than others, but no one had an instruction manual. Oh and one girl had diabetes. Now all my daughter's friends vy for attention with various diagnoses and she just throws up her hands because she's one of the few "normal kids" in class. We already have a younger child with epilepsy, mama ain't got no time for pretend problems.
This has been on my mind a lot lately. I know so many people caught in the web of psych drugs. I've been listening to psychologists
and psychiatrists who havecome to the uncomfortable but true conclusion that their field has no scientific basis for the diagnoses they slap on everyone, nor for the drugs they dole out to everyone.
There is promise in treatments like cognitive behavior therapy and dietary changes like ketogenic diets. There is such a strong gut/metabolism/neurology connection.
I would have been considered ADHD and am…the OCD members of my family are hell on wheels as organizers and detail keepers, but my ADD makes me a turbo multi-tasker. They just took personality types and pathologised them.
Lots of these things started with the ridiculous Progressive Era when “Social Sciences” would help them all centrally plan a better world. The root of demonizing Apathy, long considered a virtue amongst folks like the Stoics became the symptom for Shell Shock instead of a natural reaction to the horrors of WWI trench warfare. The psychology field kinda sucks (though I find Behavioral Economics interesting)
Pathologizing normal, and normalizing pathology. What a glorious bounty that brings. You are rational about a disease and make an accurate risk/reward assessment and you are labelled a grandma killer. You adopt ridiculous mitigation strategies like wearing a mask, self-isolating, and taking experimental substances and you are a hero.
It all depends on the individual. None of this - NONE - is one size fits all. Some do, some don't, some win, some lose, some don't give a phluck one way or the other, some care intensely, and the only thing that never changes is that everything changes.
The smartest among us only have knowledge of very little. We might be able to do a lot with that very little knowledge, but we miss other things, important details, and even details we should have known and realized.
A large percentage of boys, are very naturally and healthily "ADHD."
It used to be called "active," "energetic" & "athletically inclined," lol!
I believe the guy who wrote about the difference between hunter/gatherer brains & later, farmer/book learner types, cannot remember his name, sorry, was onto something. Also the concept of Kinesthetic Learners.
Boys, testosterone, makes for energy. Being a Kinesthetic learner places the body & it's senses into a different state with all sensory input from the world around you grabbing your attention- kind of like a wolf moving through the forest- every sound, smell, image is perceived and responded to, almost instantly.
You cannot take kids of this type into a closed room & tie them to a desk and drone on & on!
They will not stand it. They fault is not with them, they learn a different way, and a much more effective way for many types of human activity!
My daughter is one of them, although she did tolerate the classroom better than some.
Every child is unique. We need to be aware of this & help them learn accordingly & good teachers did so automatically, in the past.
Recess, sports, shop, art, music all these activities made school work, in the past, as did learning games and activities.
Now the poor children are tied to computer screens. That disaster and all the brain damage from their toxic injections, foods, water & "medicine" has wrecked a large percentage.
Maybe as a society we will start to comprehend what we have done, now?
Call me a minimizer, but we are all on the spectrum of these things.
I was asked the other day if I had trouble reading. My response: is this a question from twenty years ago? Because we have distractions all the time, hold on, while I was commenting on this I just got an email notification.
One other question I got on the assessment. I wanted to ask "ARE YOU STILL ASKING THIS QUESTION, STILL?!?!?" Did I get my Covid vaccine?
I'm a tail-end Gen Xer, but my youngest sister of the 5 of us is 32. This article is her to a tee! She's estranged herself from the family for the last 10 years. She is a mess. So sad and alone. Everything is always someone else's fault. She hasn't been able to maintain a single relationship her whole adult life. She's been diagnosed with mild autism. She's now suing her ex-employer for not making accommodations. AND, she's decided to get another degree and go into counseling/therapy!! I've met no one in my life who I'd be less likely to take life or relationship advice from! Run from that office, everybody!
Your youngest sibling out of the five kids was likely the one who "profited" most from being the Baby of the family, and the most likely of the five to cling to her status as such.
Get your children out of the #*^$ public schools! "I couldn't teach them" is a b.s. excuse, unless you yourself are illiterate. In that case, learn to read, Then teach your kids. It's that simple. Heaven knows in a good, conservative area with 'good' schools, half the children graduate 'below grade level', which usually means functionally illiterate.
Colonial New England had a 98% literacy rate, for heaven's sake!!!
With all the resources available to home school, it’s a no brainer. Young kids doing 2-3 hours a day of schoolwork, on there schedule, with the rest of the day left for outdoor play and some field trips thrown in, will be light years ahead of any kid that goes to a public school. If I was starting over, my kids would never step foot into one of those useless children’s prisons. They have crashed downhill in the past 20 years or so, to the point they are unable to perform the task they are assigned to.
So much of this could be solved if parents refused to get smart phones for their kids and took their kids to church (preferably a church with a strong youth group experience, but not a "woke" church). Jesus saves.
My kids (now young adults) didn’t get smart phones until
they were in HS. We were the only ones when out to dinner with a box of crafts for each of them with crayons, stickers, toys, etc. Everyone else had their kids on those phones. We camped for our vacations, or visited family who has a farm. They were on sports teams and learned karate. We had backyard socials and block parties. Though my kids eventually went to “woke” colleges, they graduated with honors and turned out to be amazing, creative, kind, conservative and intelligent human beings. My spouse and I worked hard trying not to spoil them and teach them about life and how to save and invest their money.
My daughter works in behavioral health with adults who have turned to addictive behaviors to cope/numb themselves. She doesn't use any of the approaches that you suggest- she helps the person get to the core of their struggles and holds them totally responsible. covid crap messed up so many young adults who were pushed into isolation (and which many parents supported!) at a crucial time of their social and emotional development. I applaud good mental health counselors. They are out there.
I have, on occasion during my long, strange trip, worked with the mentally ill. Being a card carrying loon myself, I have occasionally been on the other end of this. In any case, the one constant through it all was that the "professionals" were almost always way crazier than I was, or the institutionalized patients they "treated". The American Psychological Association, too, is about as radical left as any political organization out there, pro-pedo long before it became all the rage. And I'll never forget the psychiatrist who locked himself in with a patient he had just overloaded with incompatible drugs, hoping to conceal that fact if she actually died, which she nearly did. The result of this is a HEALTHY skepticism when it comes to mental illness, its causes and effects. Thinking critically is essential, since we are constantly, constantly, constantly bombarded by Big Pharma, and the supposed healthcare workers Gato described. In any case, ultimately I learned that being bonkers is not the end of the world, and if you step outside yourself and watch the chaos unfolding around you on a daily basis, it can be quite amusing...and satisfying.
Pathologizing normal leads to medicating normal, which can cause worse symptoms that are then attributed to worsening mental illness and additional diagnoses and drugs.
The modern world is drowning in phoney 'experts'....and the Mental Health ones are amongst the most scary. Like this example...... Abigail Shrier “ took her ten-year-old son to a clinic for help with a stubborn stomach ache. During the visit, a nurse used a survey to interview the boy with questions like: “1.In the past few weeks, have you wished you were dead? 2.In the past few weeks, have you felt that you or your family would be better off if you were dead? 3.In the past week, have you been having thoughts about killing yourself? If yes, please describe.” Keep in mind a few facts of the case: this was an appointment for a stomach ache....” https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/take-me-to-your-experts
Yes, I've seen the same thing, they give the survey to the kid, I take it away and hand it back to them not filled out, they say nothing, they know what they are doing.
For 22 years I have volunteered in a youth program for first time offenders through our county DA. They are mostly things like retail theft, fights, vaping or drinking, vandalism. One kid was a weapon at school…a butter knife to spread humus on crackers 😳🙄. In these times of Zero Tolerance, it’s a way to prevent kids from entering the court system for bad decisions made by immature adolescents. In the last 2 decades, we’ve been struck by how many of the parents are harried, overwhelmed, guilt ridden, have no confidence, and are sad. The kids most of the time are non commutative and sullen. The kids are with us 3-6 months and one of the things they have to do is make a weekly check in call to one of us designated as their contact. Just a quick call. We’re all moms on my panel, although now we are grandma ages. I’m always pleasantly surprised by how many of my kids will gab with me about their week in school, what their friends are doing, what they like to do on the weekends, and our conversations go from the initial first grunting to sometimes a half hour! After they exit the program, I rarely see them again and the rate of repeat offenses is almost nil. I’ve been doing this long enough that I do occasionally run into one of my kids as an adult and they all say the same thing. That having an adult conversation with someone who said they were a “knucklehead teenager and they’re going through what teenagers have gone through since time began but that’s no excuse for XYZ behavior,” helped them. But the last 4 years almost every single child is in therapy with some sort of emotional diagnosis coupled with medication. The offenses haven’t changed, but the medical interventions have skyrocketed. My conversations with them are the same, but they are definitely more isolated from other kids their age. It’s sad.
You know who we never see? Homeschoolers and religious families. Kids who interact with a multitude of different aged people through homeschooling or church. Just my unscientific observation.
Someone I know well spent years in and out of expensive treatment centers for alcohol, depression, drugs, etc. I always helped with the finances, but finally, when asked once again to help with yet another institution that would “ fix” the problem, I told this someone they were smarter, and knew more than the therapist s they would see. That they knew exactly what they would be told to do.
I said just do it for yourself or this will never end.
They did and are now well employed, married and very happy.
Good call. When you continually help someone in the throes of addiction they quickly shift their dependence from both God and themselves to you. This traps them in a downward spiral of self-loathing, among other maladies.
There are times when helping one out of a bind is the best thing that can be done. These are usually one off situations where the person, through no fault of their own, finds themselves in a situation where the potential damage caused by the experience outweighs any benefit that might be gained.
There are also times when helping someone is the worst thing that can be done because by doing so they are inadvertently shielded them from learning the hard necessary lessons that are born from their mistakes.
Pain and failure are the best teachers. But nobody wants to be their students.
Called "enabling."
"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools." -Herbert Spencer
You were kind to help him with his finances. And I think maybe you could see that he wasn't completely captured by the mental health institutions. The best mental health professionals show you in therapy the tools you have to heal yourself. And you're right, as good as therapists are, they really aren't as capable as the person themselves of knowing who they are.
At the same time, the one thing that separates good and bad outcomes for addiction is a good support system. I am not talking about mental health professionals, but family and friends. I think we will find that one of the ongoing problems with mental health is the issue of isolation. At t he very least we need people around us to tell us when we are screwing up and what to do to snap out of it.
I know one woman who has been in and out of "treatment" 17 times (she's in her early 40s). She likes the drug lifestyle, and when she is forced to go into treatment for one reason or another, she considers it a version of "going to the spa" for a vacation.
The "treatment center" racket gives everyone the out they need not to deal with the very real problem of drug addiction.
When you use "they" it gets hard to follow. "He" or "she" would be clearer.
Shush! You're being programmed.
Confused - she only uses "they" when referring to "everyone" in the last sentence...
Thanks. I'd Like this, but the like button on Substack has mysteriously stopped working for me.
Why did it take you "years" to figure that out, Charles? Maybe "third time's the charm" is a good rule of thumb.
Saw the potential and couldn’t give up. Unique circumstances
Ah, yes. I can identify with that. So much stunted potential in the world and it's painful to see it and yet be unable to unstunt it. (ok, unstunt is not a word, but it's late & I'm tired).
And now the trans movement, which I believe will make the repressed memory fiasco look harmless by comparison.
When you study the next generation when you're out and about and interacting with them, just know that their bodies are filled with mercury, aluminium, and only the devil knows what else from their mass injections, their food is highly addictive sugar based and chemical laden and - depending on where they sourced it - is designed to warp their gender; and their minds are mush from this toxic diet, Tik Tok, social media, CRT and common core education. It may be wise to allow pathos to melt away your scorn.
Excerpt from and much more here: https://tritorch.com/transgender
yup, don't look in the basement....the doctor IS the patient...
So true RG , went to a medical conference yesterday saw it live …
I once read a comparison of the trans social contagion and its accompanying "treatments" with Thalidomide and lobotomies and other medical wonders, and I couldn't disagree with the premise.
The F→M trans movement has gone tits-up.
I thought thalidomide was given in the 60’s for morning sickness? And caused severe birth defects?
It was.
It did.
But it was approved by "experts" so, you know, all good etc.
Wait, you;re not a doctor, how do you know thalidomide is harming kids?
I am a DES daughter. Also approved by “experts”
Frances Oldham Kelsey of the FDA spared the US the worst of that.
She got suspicious about it and didn't approve it for sale. She did this despite intense lobbying from a US pharmaceutical corporation.
(It wasn't approved in the DDR either.)
Thalidomide is still in use under other names, but now it comes with the appropriate warnings.
Trudeau government pledges $1.7 million to target pro-family African nations with LGBT propaganda
Trudeau's Liberals, including MP Anita Vandenbeld, and LGBT activists are increasingly targeting majority-Christian African countries that pass laws protecting their societies from homosexual and gender ideology.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/trudeau-government-1-7-million-target-pro-family-african-nations-lgbt/
Trudeau is mental!
Not just the transgender but the trans sickness movement.
Imagine being afraid of getting infected by a disease that you only will know you have by a test that affirms you are positive, and the remedy for it is continued isolation and obfuscation of social interactions.
Oh Brother you got that one pegged. In the day, we had Rene Richards, and that's all "she" wrote. Now, it's legion and as Gato points out, their recruiting em out of kindergarten. You know, I liked it better when you were in the middle square.... https://youtu.be/WZbLAPFmHdg? Cheers
Yes. https://jbilek.substack.com/ - super solid research into who is behind this sick twisting of normal growing up (and sometimes with added neurological injury from this poisoned, over-vaccinated world), into convincing kids they are "born in the wrong body". It really does connect to transhumanism. Written clearly for all to see.
as a retired physician, I agree wholeheartedly with your assessments here. If you want to stay healthy, avoid the medical industry as much as possible. Therapists, like chiropractors and tennis instructors, are a life-long commitment. At least the other two groups don't do life-altering trial and error with your brain chemistry. Eventually all of the human condition gets medicalized and thus monetised.
I’m a massage therapist in a chiropractic office and my experience is that people who choose ‘alternative’ medicine like chiro and massage can often avoid surgery for years, sometimes even forever. The ones who take an active role and work on their health, posture, etc outside of the work we do fare the best.
I'm sure that some will disagree, but if an individual finds themself ensnared in an endless succession of visits to the chiropractor, a good solid dive into yoga is a worthy alternative. Problem is: it takes physical and mental effort...
For sure! The clients that just want to come once a month and have us do all the work don’t have as much success. Keeping your joints moving naturally, like through yoga or walking is highly underrated.
massage, in concert with exercise/yoga, is the best form of health maintenance imo.
Well, I agree for what it’s worth. Massage seems to really stave off pain from imperfect posture and repetitive movements.
As a sports and exercise physician and doctor of 39 years standing I wholeheartedly agree.
I see a plethora of people in whom simple aging has been medicalised. "Arthritis", which is usually nothing more than aging, must be treated with drugs and surgery.
The system disempowers people and calls them "patients".
My role as a physician is to educate, empower, and extract them from the medical machine through knowledge and simple healthy living.
I cease many more medications than I prescribe and have a very busy practice.
Do you notice a very definite split like I do? Either someone goes the pharma route and wants pain meds, surgery, ‘pain management’, etc or they want none of it and do everything possible first to avoid those? I can’t get over how complete the divide is in my practice.
Absolutely.
Fortunately my practice self-selects for the latter group.
Mine too
You are brilliant! Thank you for your work!
Thank you!
do you have any wisdom on ameliorating the pain from inflammation, generally ?
The best anti-inflammatory is exercise. There is so much evidence that it is effective in everything from cancer and rheumatoid arthritis down to simple wear and tear.
Other than that it's healthy diet, plenty of sun (Vitamin D and near infrared) and sufficient quality sleep.
much appreciated, Gareth. Isn't it just the perfect Catch-22 when your knees and feet are so painful that exercise is a key. I do agree, though - self-discipline. It's not that the road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions - it's that the road to Hell; is paved ......
Perfect summary.
Self-discipline is essential, and creativity infinding an exercise regime that works for you.
Remove seed oils and highly processed foods from your diet. Immediately. And completely.
Find someone that can teach you a few simple 20 minute core routines on a vibration power plate. It'll be smooth moving in a few weeks.
Well. If one takes care not to select a chiropractor who sees his mission as cult conversion instead of manipulating your screaming back into happy silence again, you'll be OK. Not weekly treatments but "Ah! Snapped back into place! Thank you doc!" and bye.
I go when needed- if I have a regular & top notch yoga practice it's "never."
If I'm stressed, not doing yoga, & dehydrated, it's once a month.
If I'm "middling," it's a series of adjustments to straighten out the mess once every couple of years, lol!
Looking after your own health is the only actually successful path I know of. It just takes effort, time & commitment. We humans are distracted, stressed, and fed "rot" continually, making it more difficult than is necessary, but still we can take control if we choose. It's really that simple.
I used to get a lot of clients who would come to me for massages but would go to a Chiro where they paid a monthly fee for unlimited adjustments. I always tell them that there’s a lot more a chiro can do than adjust - decompression, laser therapy, tens units, dry needling, etc etc (all of which my chiro does). Many of them ended up switching when they failed to get relief at the places that just do adjustments.
About 16 years ago I had what my chiropractor later diagnosed as a "frozen muscle" in my left biceps muscle. I was in unrelieved pain for months, couldn't find a comfortable sleep position, and finally began to lose mobility (I couldn't place my left hand on my waist for ex.).
Finally I went to the chiropractor who gave me, in one visit, an accupuncture treatment and then used an ultrasound machine on my arm and shoulder. He warned me I might be feeling a lot of pain the next day as the muscle "unfroze."
I had no pain. Everything was fixed. No need to go back for any further treatment. I was just kicking myself for having endured that for so long when the remedy was so simple and accessible.
This is excellent, I love it. It doesn’t always work this way, but I’m a big believer that people should try the massage/PT/chiro/yoga whatever route before going the medical route. Sometimes you still have to have a surgery, but often not.
I wasn't a sportsgal and this wasn't an injury (it was probably an excess of stress and tension).
I'm not a fan of our sterling medical professionals in general. Recovering from the treatment is usually the worst part of getting stuff fixed. I'm currently working to get full function back of my hand after the setting of a broken wrist last September. That cast was some great tendon-shrinker fer shure. I declined physical therapy after it was removed and just did it on my own and can do everything now I used to be able to do before. It's just the funny way my hand is now connected to the rest of me that annoys me a bit. But hey. I ain't a show cat and nobody gonna care if I look like someone didn't read the directions carefully when they built the model.
agreed, but those are tough to find in my experience.
I found two of 'em. The third was my stepbrother who was full-in crazy. But the other two were like excellent car mechanics. Found the problem and fixed it and didn't expect an ongoing pilgrimage.
And frankly, I'd rather be permanently visiting my chiropractor, TCM practioner, or my yoga instructor, than any MD; they are all cheaper, do less long term damage, & there is the real possibility I'll benefit.
Especially with the last, if you get a good one, that is; for me that practice will negate any need for the first completely!
; ))
yep, and I'd say that the yoga will help more than a psychologist and a chiropractor combined.
Add Vitamin D, (really the fundamental hormone for health; physical, mental & emotional,) & all the essential nutrients, & voila, human health abounds!
(If you can "nix" the poisons, of course...)
: ))
Bingo!
Gravity, trauma and abuse of our bodies are constant. It’s viewing health, disease and “treatments” as events rather than the constant process. Consistent practice with a great instructor for tennis improves your game. Consistent practice with a chiropractor improves your health. And a lifetime of care is less than a day in the hospital.
I take my medical advice on chiropractors from the Billy Joel song "Matter of trust" where he states.
"And some might have learned to adjust, but then it never was a matter of trust."
One of your better pieces of the year Gatto! Things like this won’t change until a significant percentage of parents remove their children from public schools. If the school closures during the pandemic and the ridiculous “reopening” protocols didn’t convince parents that the public schools aren’t a good environment for learning I don’t know that the threat of MBP from mental health professionals within the system will either.
i would say this; in general the kids are not alright these days.
90% of this is because we've lost our connection to mother nature and working with our hands.
Also screen time at home and school, lack of sunlight and movement….
Spot on
And perhaps, might the relentless, 24/7 barrage of propaganda to which we subject our kids also be contributing to "not alright"?
There is a danger here. to treat ourselves like a "useless eater."
I am glad I didn't have screens back in the seventies while in class. I had to cope with the downtime of boredom by learning to draw. Some kids passed notes to one another, other kids were disrupted, and still others were put on ritalin, when they probably should have had a class outside working with their hands...doing something.
I am glad my parents didn't put me on any drugs growing up. I had a self-control problem and it was due to boredom. Give someone entertainment, and they might be satiated for a day, but teach someone how to entertain themselves, and they will never be bored again.
Some sort of perverse cultural direction that resulted from the push in public education to herd as many students as possible into colleges and universities, whilst embracing the attitude so infamously employed by Hillary Clinton's "deplorables". Or if you will, those who work with their hands (implication being that working with one's hands is the default vocation for those unfortunates that are incapable of instead "working with their brains.") I observed this monstrosity gathering momentum in the late fifties/early sixties. We are now reaping the harvest that was sown back then.
Exactly right! I was ridiculed because I wasn’t interested in going to college. Although I took college prep courses in high school I didn’t have the smarts to get a scholarship, the funds to pay for college myself nor the desire to go onto a higher education. I wanted a job and a place of my own so I went right to work in a couple of crappy jobs until I managed to get into the utility field and made great money, especially as a woman. Meanwhile my college educated peers ended up with crappy jobs until they married and stayed home with their kids. I am not in any way criticizing them marrying and staying home with their children, it’s just that their higher education gained them nothing (in their own words) except another 4 years in classes and student loans that took years to pay off.
And God in particular.
The capital "g" is a nice touch
Such an important comment, thank you. I too was thinking that the school system is absolutely complicit in this train-wreck. If I could go back in time and home school, I would. that being said, I think we deserve better schools. Happily EGM has written about this as well.
When I was pregnant the first person to talk with me in one OBGYN office was a newly minted psychologist who gave me a survey to fill out. It asked the question (among others): "Do you ever feel like hurting yourself or feel depressed right now?" I was F@CKING PREGNANT!!!
My husband drew a big smiley face on the survey and we left that toxic office!!!
It's on all assessments I think. I was asked this question recently on an assessment and my answer to "do you feel lonely, sad, depressed, etc." my response was "don't we all?"
Great response!
We were told. it was specifically targeted to research the condition "post-partum depression". Well yeah, sometimes being at home alone with a baby who never sleeps or sleeps all the time can be trying, but as you say below, pathologize normal? This is not to make light of some very difficult situations, but honestly. I hadn't even had my son yet(!) and was ecstatic to be pregnant after being told I could never have a child. It was a complete, welcome surprise and I was thrilled! Totally inappropriate and felt invasive and patronizing. And, I never consented to being a research subject!!! The power of suggestion (of depression etc. ) also comes to mind...
The power of suggestion.
Years of listening to terrestrial radio and a few years of reading the Atlanta Journal and Constitution taught me the power of propaganda and asking the constant question "What are they really saying here?"
I think your example...of being pregnant...those moments of absolute jubilation and joy...the refractory period from that endorphin rush could be mis-perceived as depression. I think most of what you felt, was normal. And yeah, your case is even stranger because you were told you couldn't get pregnant. Imagine that, asking someone if they are feeling depressed that their world was open to new possibilities....Also highlights how wrong "science" can be.
Yes. But I wasn't even depressed! I just went to see if it would be a good practice for the birth. Didn't expect a psychologist! I just wanted a midwife and the practice got good reviews. It was a complete blindside! I never got depressed either - had a great birth at a birth center and went home the next day. Big blessing. Actually, it hadn't even occurred to me to be depressed, thankfully.
The problem with pathologizing is now they appear to almost want to invite pathology. In an effort to not stigmatize mental health issues, they almost make it appear "not" having an issue is an issue. So you are not joyous you are "manic" you aren't happy you are "delusional." No...I'd say you are happy. No need to read any more into it.
Ok, I think you might really like this:
https://gaty.substack.com/p/how-we-make-children-miserable-and
Instead of asking kids every day “are you feeling happy or sad?” - which their doctors and teachers do - imagine what would happen if we asked questions like these instead:
- How many people did you serve this week?
- What is the bravest act you performed?
- What hero were you most like?
You get what you measure, and we’re measuring for crazy every day…
I can’t imagine the “role models “ who would be tagged as heroes these days.
Pathologizing normal life is part of the problem, yes. However, I think not enough attention is being paid to real neurological damage from environmental sources. The National Survey of Children's Health (available at ChildHealthData dot org) shows that twice as high a percentage of kids can't count at all, can't write their own name, etc., as five years ago. Some neurologic issues that have nothing to do with attitude or emotion are occurring at much greater frequencies than they were in the past. Indeed, "Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy" is a term often deployed by overzealous child abuse pediatricians in situations when children do have a real illness--just an illness that was not as common in the past as it is today. Talk to a pediatric neurologist and ask how often they see kids with seizures, and you'll be depressed by the answer. (I knew zero kids with seizure disorders in my youth, but my child only had to go to school for a few months before she made her first friend with medication-controlled epilepsy.)
All of this is to say that kids *are* sicker than they used to be, in their brains and in other parts of their bodies. Labeling all of this new illness "depression" or "anxiety" is a mistake in many cases, because a kid who can't recognize any numbers might manifest anxiety, but his problem is the underlying issue, not the nervousness about it.
I agree, though, that there is a push (mostly by people who are *not* neurologists or specialists) to label nervousness as clinical anxiety, etc. Parents have been given a message that making a child do something difficult might lead that kid to kill himself, and that message is obviously wrong. Maybe the kid needs some kind of help at school, if he does have a disability that has gone unnoticed or improperly handled. Maybe he needs help from a guidance counselor on handling a perceived conflict with a peer or a teacher. But he needs to get that help and then do the difficult thing, not be given the fake "out" of "mental illness." I think that is true in many situations.
They are injecting heavy metals and other NEUROtoxins into babies a few hours old. Add many more toxins children get into their body and by the time they can talk, if they do talk, then yeah they have mental issues as they have been poisoned for YEARS.
Yes!
When the pendulum starts swinging, it is very easy to dismiss real problems that exist. I think the term is "throwing the baby out with the bathwater"?
We live in a neurotoxic world. Read Dr. Exley. This IS rather new.
I had a repressed memory. It popped up one day, unbidden, with intense clarity. No therapy was involved in its advent.
And anxiety? Yes, I absolutely believe that pharma products are over- used, but we are just coming out of one of the stranger periods in human history. Should we be surprised that folks are more than a little "off" and needing help?
Ding ding ding! Another very important comment fleshing out this excellent essay. It is absolutely a perfect storm of shit. I too knew zero kids with neurological issues back in the day. Some classmates were slower than others, but no one had an instruction manual. Oh and one girl had diabetes. Now all my daughter's friends vy for attention with various diagnoses and she just throws up her hands because she's one of the few "normal kids" in class. We already have a younger child with epilepsy, mama ain't got no time for pretend problems.
"It is absolutely a perfect storm of shit."
"You mean shitstorm."
"I prefer it my way."
This has been on my mind a lot lately. I know so many people caught in the web of psych drugs. I've been listening to psychologists
and psychiatrists who havecome to the uncomfortable but true conclusion that their field has no scientific basis for the diagnoses they slap on everyone, nor for the drugs they dole out to everyone.
There is promise in treatments like cognitive behavior therapy and dietary changes like ketogenic diets. There is such a strong gut/metabolism/neurology connection.
what makes me sick is all the diagnosis of ADHD.
Pretty sure I have something to that effect. but, I worked it out, at a young age, and have used it as a competitive advantage.
I would have been considered ADHD and am…the OCD members of my family are hell on wheels as organizers and detail keepers, but my ADD makes me a turbo multi-tasker. They just took personality types and pathologised them.
Lots of these things started with the ridiculous Progressive Era when “Social Sciences” would help them all centrally plan a better world. The root of demonizing Apathy, long considered a virtue amongst folks like the Stoics became the symptom for Shell Shock instead of a natural reaction to the horrors of WWI trench warfare. The psychology field kinda sucks (though I find Behavioral Economics interesting)
Pathologizing normal, and normalizing pathology. What a glorious bounty that brings. You are rational about a disease and make an accurate risk/reward assessment and you are labelled a grandma killer. You adopt ridiculous mitigation strategies like wearing a mask, self-isolating, and taking experimental substances and you are a hero.
Yeah the only downside is I don't sleep a lot. But again those extra hours awake do me justice.
Because if I'm not the smartest guy in the room on a deal...well...that means I have to outwork them.
Well, smarts doesn't mean success, and I think actually after awhile it works against it.
It all depends on the individual. None of this - NONE - is one size fits all. Some do, some don't, some win, some lose, some don't give a phluck one way or the other, some care intensely, and the only thing that never changes is that everything changes.
The smartest among us only have knowledge of very little. We might be able to do a lot with that very little knowledge, but we miss other things, important details, and even details we should have known and realized.
Liberalism is a disease
Oh shoot. I forgot to say very well put
A large percentage of boys, are very naturally and healthily "ADHD."
It used to be called "active," "energetic" & "athletically inclined," lol!
I believe the guy who wrote about the difference between hunter/gatherer brains & later, farmer/book learner types, cannot remember his name, sorry, was onto something. Also the concept of Kinesthetic Learners.
Boys, testosterone, makes for energy. Being a Kinesthetic learner places the body & it's senses into a different state with all sensory input from the world around you grabbing your attention- kind of like a wolf moving through the forest- every sound, smell, image is perceived and responded to, almost instantly.
You cannot take kids of this type into a closed room & tie them to a desk and drone on & on!
They will not stand it. They fault is not with them, they learn a different way, and a much more effective way for many types of human activity!
My daughter is one of them, although she did tolerate the classroom better than some.
Every child is unique. We need to be aware of this & help them learn accordingly & good teachers did so automatically, in the past.
Recess, sports, shop, art, music all these activities made school work, in the past, as did learning games and activities.
Now the poor children are tied to computer screens. That disaster and all the brain damage from their toxic injections, foods, water & "medicine" has wrecked a large percentage.
Maybe as a society we will start to comprehend what we have done, now?
I hope so!
excellent summation
Besides the Dali lama, everyone on earth has ADHD
"So the Lama said, 'On your deathbed you shall receive total consciousness.'
So I got that going for me. Which is nice."
https://youtu.be/NNhq7DdBAfU?si=Fx-W5mRIbSB4U-jn
True
Call me a minimizer, but we are all on the spectrum of these things.
I was asked the other day if I had trouble reading. My response: is this a question from twenty years ago? Because we have distractions all the time, hold on, while I was commenting on this I just got an email notification.
One other question I got on the assessment. I wanted to ask "ARE YOU STILL ASKING THIS QUESTION, STILL?!?!?" Did I get my Covid vaccine?
I said no...and they moved on.
Hell yes!
I'm a tail-end Gen Xer, but my youngest sister of the 5 of us is 32. This article is her to a tee! She's estranged herself from the family for the last 10 years. She is a mess. So sad and alone. Everything is always someone else's fault. She hasn't been able to maintain a single relationship her whole adult life. She's been diagnosed with mild autism. She's now suing her ex-employer for not making accommodations. AND, she's decided to get another degree and go into counseling/therapy!! I've met no one in my life who I'd be less likely to take life or relationship advice from! Run from that office, everybody!
Your youngest sibling out of the five kids was likely the one who "profited" most from being the Baby of the family, and the most likely of the five to cling to her status as such.
Have you considered a career in psychology? 🤪
I've considered a career in anecdotal psychology.
Get your children out of the #*^$ public schools! "I couldn't teach them" is a b.s. excuse, unless you yourself are illiterate. In that case, learn to read, Then teach your kids. It's that simple. Heaven knows in a good, conservative area with 'good' schools, half the children graduate 'below grade level', which usually means functionally illiterate.
Colonial New England had a 98% literacy rate, for heaven's sake!!!
With all the resources available to home school, it’s a no brainer. Young kids doing 2-3 hours a day of schoolwork, on there schedule, with the rest of the day left for outdoor play and some field trips thrown in, will be light years ahead of any kid that goes to a public school. If I was starting over, my kids would never step foot into one of those useless children’s prisons. They have crashed downhill in the past 20 years or so, to the point they are unable to perform the task they are assigned to.
So much of this could be solved if parents refused to get smart phones for their kids and took their kids to church (preferably a church with a strong youth group experience, but not a "woke" church). Jesus saves.
My kids (now young adults) didn’t get smart phones until
they were in HS. We were the only ones when out to dinner with a box of crafts for each of them with crayons, stickers, toys, etc. Everyone else had their kids on those phones. We camped for our vacations, or visited family who has a farm. They were on sports teams and learned karate. We had backyard socials and block parties. Though my kids eventually went to “woke” colleges, they graduated with honors and turned out to be amazing, creative, kind, conservative and intelligent human beings. My spouse and I worked hard trying not to spoil them and teach them about life and how to save and invest their money.
My daughter works in behavioral health with adults who have turned to addictive behaviors to cope/numb themselves. She doesn't use any of the approaches that you suggest- she helps the person get to the core of their struggles and holds them totally responsible. covid crap messed up so many young adults who were pushed into isolation (and which many parents supported!) at a crucial time of their social and emotional development. I applaud good mental health counselors. They are out there.
I have, on occasion during my long, strange trip, worked with the mentally ill. Being a card carrying loon myself, I have occasionally been on the other end of this. In any case, the one constant through it all was that the "professionals" were almost always way crazier than I was, or the institutionalized patients they "treated". The American Psychological Association, too, is about as radical left as any political organization out there, pro-pedo long before it became all the rage. And I'll never forget the psychiatrist who locked himself in with a patient he had just overloaded with incompatible drugs, hoping to conceal that fact if she actually died, which she nearly did. The result of this is a HEALTHY skepticism when it comes to mental illness, its causes and effects. Thinking critically is essential, since we are constantly, constantly, constantly bombarded by Big Pharma, and the supposed healthcare workers Gato described. In any case, ultimately I learned that being bonkers is not the end of the world, and if you step outside yourself and watch the chaos unfolding around you on a daily basis, it can be quite amusing...and satisfying.
You don't come across as a loon. Seriously.
It's all a clever ruse!
Pathologizing normal leads to medicating normal, which can cause worse symptoms that are then attributed to worsening mental illness and additional diagnoses and drugs.
The modern world is drowning in phoney 'experts'....and the Mental Health ones are amongst the most scary. Like this example...... Abigail Shrier “ took her ten-year-old son to a clinic for help with a stubborn stomach ache. During the visit, a nurse used a survey to interview the boy with questions like: “1.In the past few weeks, have you wished you were dead? 2.In the past few weeks, have you felt that you or your family would be better off if you were dead? 3.In the past week, have you been having thoughts about killing yourself? If yes, please describe.” Keep in mind a few facts of the case: this was an appointment for a stomach ache....” https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/take-me-to-your-experts
Yes, I've seen the same thing, they give the survey to the kid, I take it away and hand it back to them not filled out, they say nothing, they know what they are doing.
For 22 years I have volunteered in a youth program for first time offenders through our county DA. They are mostly things like retail theft, fights, vaping or drinking, vandalism. One kid was a weapon at school…a butter knife to spread humus on crackers 😳🙄. In these times of Zero Tolerance, it’s a way to prevent kids from entering the court system for bad decisions made by immature adolescents. In the last 2 decades, we’ve been struck by how many of the parents are harried, overwhelmed, guilt ridden, have no confidence, and are sad. The kids most of the time are non commutative and sullen. The kids are with us 3-6 months and one of the things they have to do is make a weekly check in call to one of us designated as their contact. Just a quick call. We’re all moms on my panel, although now we are grandma ages. I’m always pleasantly surprised by how many of my kids will gab with me about their week in school, what their friends are doing, what they like to do on the weekends, and our conversations go from the initial first grunting to sometimes a half hour! After they exit the program, I rarely see them again and the rate of repeat offenses is almost nil. I’ve been doing this long enough that I do occasionally run into one of my kids as an adult and they all say the same thing. That having an adult conversation with someone who said they were a “knucklehead teenager and they’re going through what teenagers have gone through since time began but that’s no excuse for XYZ behavior,” helped them. But the last 4 years almost every single child is in therapy with some sort of emotional diagnosis coupled with medication. The offenses haven’t changed, but the medical interventions have skyrocketed. My conversations with them are the same, but they are definitely more isolated from other kids their age. It’s sad.
You know who we never see? Homeschoolers and religious families. Kids who interact with a multitude of different aged people through homeschooling or church. Just my unscientific observation.
Sanity. Damn. We used to know what it is, how to practice it, what the benefits are.
Time to "adult up" a lot more!!