(no subject)

[resonant]

The spouse reconnected with his former therapist via Facebook instant messaging this weekend. They got to talking about current events.

"I counseled a member of a neo-Nazi group once," the therapist said.

"Did you learn anything useful about the movement?"

"This particular fellow was a victim of childhood sexual abuse. I think that was the root of his rage," the therapist said.

It makes me wonder how things would be different if American mental health care were in better shape.

Comments

[dira]

This reminds me a lot of Johann Hari's book, Chasing the Scream, about the war on drugs and the nature of addiction--the strongest risk factor for developing a substance misuse problem is a prior trauma and social isolation. So if we spent a tenth of what we spend on drug enforcement on social workers...

[pauraque]

I can't say that surprises me. I doubt many people who join hate groups are happy and content with their lives.

[anoyo]

!!! I have so many Feelings about American mental health care, but they mostly drill down to: people should have to learn about the effects of trauma and how trauma processing works either in high school or college. And anyone who's going to be in a position of authority, or working with a high volume of people in the "system," should have to be fully educated on some dissemination of Trauma-Informed Care, no matter what model they pick (I lean heavily toward CBP, but I am Biased as Hell).

[lobelia321]

*waves*