Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 447(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
A low murmur went up. Lennon agreed that that was a bold statement. But did she disagree? She wasn’t sure.
“What I’m saying is not as controversial as it might sound,” the doctor went on. “We have scans that record what happens in different sections of the brain when a person is traumatized. It’s quite clear. Moreover, traumatized individuals are well aware something is very wrong and suffer because of it. They vacillate between agitation and numbness. They’re often suicidal and have extremely low self-worth. They experience chronic mental and emotional pain.”
A woman raised her hand. “Thank you, Doctor. Are there medications that can help these people?”
“Mostly no, at least not without getting to the heart of the problem. Diagnoses are thrown at those who suffer with PTSD. Attention deficit disorder. Oppositional defiant disorder. Borderline personality disorder. Intermittent explosive disorder. Reactive attachment disorder. Substance use disorder. And none of these diagnoses are completely off the mark. But none of them address the root of the problem. You can throw all the labels and all the pharmaceuticals in the world at them, and you won’t make a dent in the underlying issue. The most these substances will do is temporarily control them. In some instances, a history might be taken and a PTSD diagnosis tossed into the mix. But again, until we have ways of treating these individuals that don’t force them to deal with side effects that are worse than the diagnosis, it matters little to the person suffering.”
Lennon pulled in a breath and let it out slowly. She was familiar with the list of diagnoses the doctor had just listed. How many times had she arrived at a call for family trouble and met a child who’d been diagnosed with all those things and more? A child. In most cases, and in her gut, she believed there was something far deeper going on with a kid who acted out to that degree. And even now, sometimes she saw one of them wandering the streets of San Francisco, still high on something—only now it was of the illegal variety.
“So you believe many of the diagnoses are bullshit?” a man near the back asked.
“To put it bluntly, yes.”
The young man let out a short laugh but appeared mildly uncomfortable. “Lots of professionals would disagree with you, Dr. Sweeton.”
“Indeed, and they have. But show me one who’s helped a previously homeless drug addict with ten mental diagnoses live a full, rich life. Or one who’s assisted an incest survivor experience satisfying sexual relationships absent fear or rage. If you can, I will wholeheartedly consider that person’s professional opinion and enthusiastically inquire as to their treatment methods.”
Shifting and murmurs all around. Was the doctor saying that complete mental health for people like the ones he was describing was an impossibility? If so, why was he in this business?
A woman raised her hand, and the doctor tipped his chin in her direction. “You mentioned mental issues pertaining to a history of trauma. But if the body itself seeks to protect the individual, are there vestiges of that later in life?”
“Absolutely. Victims of prolonged trauma experience many similar physical phenomena. I have seen patients who are numb in many areas of their bodies, specifically where trauma occurred. Some can’t see themselves in mirrors. They are far more vulnerable to experiencing long-term health problems. Chronic muscle tension creates migraines, severe back pain, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and other pain conditions. They cannot concentrate and often lash out violently at the simplest of provocations. Speak to any victim of chronic and prolonged trauma, and they will list their physical ailments. But these ailments are only symptoms of their underlying torment. And once again, the drugs they’re prescribed may help temporarily, but are ultimately bound to fail, leaving them that much more desperate.”
The entire audience seemed to be as rapt by the doctor’s passion as Lennon. He looked pained himself, as though the torment of these traumatized patients and the lack of treatment they experienced was a deep personal wound. Maybe it was. Maybe he’d been a victim once too. Or loved someone who was.
“These people are statistics to most professionals. They overwhelm our welfare system, they fill up our prisons, and they flood our medical clinics. What can we do? We must do something. Not only for them, but for the children they will produce—the ones who will almost certainly experience trauma as well, after being raised by emotionally deficient parents who, more often than not, expose their children to the same types of trauma they themselves suffered.”
“Other than the traditional protocols, what can be done for people like that?” a girl asked after raising her hand. “People who almost literally need their brains rewired?”
“As of now? We have some promising treatments,” Dr. Sweeton answered. “EMDR is one, though it’s controversial within the field. I, however, believe it’s a worthy area of study and have used it in my practice. It stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing.” All around Lennon, students were jotting in their notebooks. “It’s a psychotherapy treatment that involves moving your eyes in a specific way while processing traumatic memories. Holotropic breathwork is similar—though, as the name suggests, it involves breathing techniques to influence your mental and emotional states.”