Home » Articles posted by Randolph Harris II International Institute (Page 292)
Author Archives: Randolph Harris II International Institute
Dj Evel at Amnesia in Ibiza with the Foam and Diamonds for Lady
Discovering your Self in language is always an epiphany, even if finding the words to describe your inner reality can be an agonizing process. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of LORD: “O LORD (Allah, God, Jehovah), save me!” The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of love that endures forever. A crisis in your life has come, and you must have a clear conception of the work that you are called to do. The sages of the ages call you harbinger. The Prophets look to you and say: “He is Elijah come again.” Your mission here is that of harbinger; for you will go before the Messiah’s face to pave His way, and make the people ready to receive their King. This readiness is purity of heart, you must yourself be pure in hear and word and deed. In infancy the vow for you was made and you became a Nazarite. The razor shall not touch your face nor head, and you shall taste not wine nor fiery drinks. Men need a pattern for their lives; they love to follow not lead. #RyanPhillippe 1 of 9
The man who stands upon the corners of the paths and points the way, but does not go, is just a pointer; and a black of wood can do the same. The teacher treads the way; on every span of ground he leaves his footprints clearly cut, which all can see and be assured that he, their master went that way. Men comprehend the inner life by what they see and do. They come to Allah through ceremonies and forms. And so when you would make men know that sins are washed away by purity in life, a rite symbolic may be introduced. In water wash the bodies of the people who would turn away from sin and strive for purity. This rite of cleansing is a preparation rite and they who thus are cleaned comprise the temple of purity. And you shall say: You men of America, hear; reform and wash; become the sons of purity, and you shall be forgiven. This rite of cleansing and this temple are but symbolic of the cleansing of the soul, which does not come from outward show, but is the temple within. That is why I find this account so inspiring. #RyanPhillippe 2 of 9
Learning the names of things enables the child not only to create an inner representation of the invisible and inaudible physical reality around them, but also helps us to find ourselves. While I talk easily and can tell interesting tales, I quickly realized how difficult it was to feel my feelings deeply and simultaneously report them to someone else. When I got in touch with the most intimate, painful, or confusing moments of my life, I often found myself faces with I choice: I could either focus on reliving old scenes in my mind’s eye and let myself feel what I had felt back then, or I could tell my analyst Djevel logically and coherently what had transpired. When I chose the latter, I would quickly lose touch with myself and start to focus on his opinion of what I was telling him. The slightest hint of doubt or judgement would shut me down, and I would shift my attention to regaining his approval. Now, you may never point to the way and tell multitudes to do what you have never done; but you must go before and show the way. #RyanPhillippe 3 of 9
Since then, neuroscience research has shown that we possess two distinct forms of self-awareness: one that keeps track of the self across time and one that registers the self in the present moment. The first, our autobiographical self, creates connections among experiences and assembles them into a coherent story. This system is rooted in language. Our narratives change with the telling, as our perspective changes and we incorporate new input. John said, “Why need I wait? May I not go at once and wash?” Matheno said: “This well,” and then they went down to the Jordan ford, and east of Jericho, just where the host of Israel crossed when first they entered Canaan, they tarried for time. Matheno taught the harbinger, and he explained to him the inner meaning of the cleansing rite and how to wash himself and how to wash the multitude. And in the river Jordan, John was washed; then they returned unto the wilderness. #RyanPhillippe 4 of 9
The other systems, moment-to-moment self-awareness, is bases primarily in physical sensation, but if we feel safe and are not rushed, we can find words to communicate that experience as well. These are two ways of knowing are localized in different parts of the brain that are largely disconnected from each other. Only the systems devoted to self-awareness, which is based in the medial prefrontal cortex, can change the emotional brain. Now in Endedi’s hills, Matheno’s work was done and he and John went down to Egypt. They rested not until they reached the temple of Sakara in the valley of the Nile. For many years, Matheno was a master in this temple of the Brotherhood, and when he told about the life of John and of his mission to the sons of men, the hierophant with joy received the harbinger and he was called the Brother Nazarite. For eighteen years, John lived and wrought within these temple gates; and here he conquered self, became a master mind and learned the duties of the harbinger. #RyanPhillippe 5 of 9
In the groups I used to lead for veterans, I could sometimes see these two systems working side by side. The soldiers told horrible tales of death and destruction, but I noticed that their bodies often simultaneously radiated a sense of pride and belonging. Similarly, many patients tell me about the happy families they grew up in while their bodies are slumped over and their voices sound anxious and uptight. One system creates a story for public consumption, and if we tell that story enough, we are likely to start believing that it contains the whole truth. However, the other system registers a different truth: how we experience the situation deep inside. It is this second system that needs to be accessed, befriended, and reconciled. The great Feast of the Pasch was ended and the Nazarenes were journeying toward their houses. And they were in Samaria, and Mary said: “Where is my son?” No one had seen the boy. And then Joseph sought among kindred who were on their way to Galilee; but they could find him not. #RyanPhillippe 6 of 9
And Mary asked the guards had they seen Jesus, a little boy about twelve years old. The guards replied: “Yes, he is in the temple now disputing with the doctors of law.” Just recently at my teaching hospital, a group of psychiatric residents and I interviewed a young woman with temporal lobe epilepsy who was being evaluated following a suicide attempt. The residents asked her standard questions about her symptoms, the medications she was taking, how old she was when the diagnosis was made, what had made her try to kill herself. She responded in a flat, matter-of-fact voice: She has been five when she was diagnosed. She had lost her job; she knew she had been faking it; she felt worthless. For some reason one of the residents asked whether she had been sexually abused. That question surprised me: She had given us no indication that she had had problems with intimacy or sexuality, and I wondered if the doctor was pursuing a private agenda. #RyanPhillippe 7 of 9
Yet, the story our patient told did not explain why she had fallen apart after losing her job. So I asked her what it had been like for that five-year-old girl to be told that something was wrong with her brain. That forced her to check in with herself, as she had no ready-made script for that question. In a subdued tone of voice, she told us that the worst part of her diagnosis was that afterward, her father wanted nothing more to do with her: “He just saw me as a defective child.” Nobody had supported her, she said, so basically had to manage by herself. I then asked her how she felt about that little girl with newly diagnosed epilepsy who was left on her own. Instead of crying for her loneliness or being angry about the lack of support, she said fiercely: “She was stupid, whiny, and dependent. She should have stepped up to the plate and sucked it up.” #RyanPhillippe 8 of 9
And they went in, and found him as the guard had said. And Mary said: “Why, Jesus, why do you treat your parents thus? Lo, we have sought two days for you. We feared that some great harm had overtaken you.” And Jesus said, “Do you not know that I must be about my Father’s work?” However, He went round and pressed the hand of every doctor of the law and said: “I trust that we meet again.” And he went on with his parents. The passion obviously came from the part of her that had valiantly tried to cope with distress, and I acknowledged that it probably had helped her survive back them. I asked her to allow that frightened, abandoned girl to tell her what it had been like to be all alone, her illness compounded by family rejection. She started to sob and kept quiet for a long time until finally she said: “No, she did not deserve that. She should have been supported; somebody should have looked after her.” Then she shifted again and proudly told me about her accomplishment—how much she had advanced despite the lack of support. Public story and inner experience finally met. #RyanPhillippe 9 of 9
The Future Guardians of the Liberties of the Country
In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. After the Vietnam war, we developed the Posttraumatic Cognition Inventory to assess how patients think about themselves. Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often include statements like, “I feel dead inside. I will never be able to feel normal emotions again. I have permanently changed for the worse. I feel like an object, not like a person. I have no future, and I feel like I do not know myself anymore.” The critical issue is allowing yourself to know what you know. That takes an enormous amount of courage. Many Vietnam Veterans, other Veterans, Military, Marines, and Law Enforcement feel like combat caused a terrible split inside of their souls. For years, they remain unaware of how to heal that split, and feel like there is more than one person inside of them. I am sure there never was a people, who had more reason to acknowledge a divine interposition in their affairs. Consider the omnipotence of that God, who is alone able to protect them. #RyanPhillippe 1 of 7
Some involved in combat feel like there is part of them that is willing to do whatever it takes to protect our freedoms, houses, and families, and friends. They are willing to maim, kill, and torture others to out the fear of God in them so they know that these men and women in uniform will do whatever it takes to prevent critics from attacking the things they love. However, this is not them at all, it is not their nature. They are actually made up of other elements that indeed are just the opposite. The people who protect and serve us say they feel like guardians, they are loving, fun, and protective. They liked to respect others and also to be given respect in return. They are not really killers, torturers, but sometimes it is part of the job. You cannot defend people with flowers, candy, cake and words. These men and women also feel horror and sadness. And they have to tell the truth even if it is brutally painful. If, to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise to a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God. #RyanPhillippe 2 of 7
You have to realize these people are warriors and they are engaged in a battle to protect life and freedom, and are well established in their beliefs and in the role and place in the larger scheme of life. When becomes a soldier or a law enforcement officers, they know death is a possibility, and many accept their own deaths as though they have already occurred, and so the fear of the actual moment when their hearts stop beating supposedly ceases to exist. Death is not supposed to be an impediment to duty or courage. Instead, it is a transition from physical life to spiritual existence. If you strike them down, they become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Some even believe that death can result in their ascension or transition to becoming a ghostly figure still capable of communicating with and advising others. Death does not invoke fear and dread, but it adds a level of meaning and appreciation for life. They cannot tell others what is going on inside, and they look at many of us as their kids that they love and want to protect because they know how special and precious life is. #RyanPhillippe 3 of 7
Protecting the freedoms of others and keeping the peace also makes them feel sadness and rage because sometimes the standard operating procedure for all soldiers who killed face-to-face requires a sophisticated psychosocial training. Many people criticize officers who shoot others when they feel unsafe, but they deal with life and death situations every day, often times more than once a day and their lives are always on the line. For instance, on 17 July 2016, a police officer, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA, was shot while investigating a call on the South Side. Officers responded to several calls in the 3500 block of S. 17th Street in the early morning hours (shortly after midnight), they were called to the area for two domestic violence related incidents, and during both occasions, the suspect was no longer on scene when the officers arrived. However, around 2.00am, one of the officers was seated in his patrol car, in the area, conducting an investigation when a suspect approached on foot, produced a gun, and fired several times into the inspector’s car, striking him several times. #RyanPhillippe 4 of 7
As other officers were on scene investigating regarding the injured officer, 31-year old male (with 13 years of experience) they heard a single gunshot around 2.30m, in the 3500 block of South 17th Street, and discovered a male who has suffered an apparent self-inflicted fatal gunshot wound to the head. A handgun was recovered next to the suspect. The deceased suspect is a 20-year-old West Allis man, with an arrest record which includes two prior felonies, and he is the suspect of the domestic violence incidents for which the police were originally called. It is believed that this person is the suspect who shot the officer. Ballistic evidence will confirm this in the coming days and the police are not seeking any other suspects. The injuries officer was transported to a local hospital for treatment of serious injuries, but he is expected to live. So this is why some officer get spooked when they think you are reaching for a gun and if they order you to freeze, stop what you are doing so you do not get killed. Just freeze. #RyanPhillippe 5 of 7
This is also why people do not call the police for drama because you never know what could happen. If it is not a life threatening situation, many people forgo calling the police because someone could end up dead. Getting perspective on your terror and sharing it with others can reestablish the feeling that you are a member of the human race. After the Vietnam veterans joined a therapy group where they could share the atrocities they had witnessed and committed, they reported beginning to open their hearts to others. At one time, veterans were disrespected and spit on, and now they are honored and respected. And someday, police officers will be honored and respected on a larger scale, too. They do keep us safe and protect us even when you may not be aware. The goal is for everyone to obey the law to the best of their ability, and if you see an officer, do not get spooked or reach in your pockets. If you have a cell phone, you may just want to hold it in your hand so they can see it. And if you do have a weapon and are stopped, and know you are going to be arrested, let them know if it is on your person if you need to so they do not suspect you are reaching for it. #RyanPhillippe 6 of 7
The goal is to keep everyone alive and safe. They are human and have families, too. Soldiers and other law enforcement stand for what they believe in while staring into the face of death. Their moral reasoning is guided by justice, courage, and humanity. They have resolved their own fear of death. Regardless of the outcome, they have what it takes to keep fighting despite the odds being stacked against them. The Constitution of the United States of America, and the laws made under it, must mark the line of my official conduct. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. In one in which the measures of government receive their impression so immediately from the sense of the [people] as in ours, it is essential. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government so we can communicate the future guardians the liberties of the country. #RyanPhillippe 7 of 7
I Want to Save America—so Help me GOD
The World needs more justice, love will not cut it. People love violence. Ignoring inner reality eats away at your sense of self, identity, purpose and the community. On 17 July 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA, 3 law enforcement officers were shot, and 3 were injured, one suspect is dead, and two others may be trying to evade law enforcement. No motive has been identified at this time, however. Also, since 1 January 2016, in Chicago, Illinois USA 325 people have been killed by gun fire, 1875 have been shot and wounded, making a total of 2,200 people shot. There has been a total of 361 homicides in Chicago, Illinois USA this year. Nonetheless, many people are upset about black men being shot and killed by police officers, and while death is tragic, unarmed black men only make up 4 percent of the people killed by police every year. Nonetheless, no one says anything about the murder rate in Chicago, Illinois USA. In fact, the murder rate in Chicago, Illinois USA was 468 people in the year 2015, with 2,900 shootings, and 416 murders by gun in Chicago, Illinois USA in 2014. So this is not a new phenomenon and yet it gets no media coverage. #RyanPhillippe 1 of 5
I seriously question the agenda of the American media. It seems that they are trying to use the killings of African America men, to turn society against the police, so that they can destabilize the people who protect us, which would make it easier for terrorist groups to radicalize Americans and target innocent people. I do not know about you, but I worry every time people are shot and killed, and I also worry about the lives of our police officers, as they are humans, too. Think about these little boys and girls who grow up and want to protect people for a living, think about their innocent big blue, green, or brown eyes. If you ever have talked to a police officer, many of them are actually nice people. Over the years, I have gotten attached to a few of them and every day, I wonder if I will ever see them again. Because I am around officers so frequently, I do not do drugs because I do not want to disappoint them, and I am even watching my speed on the roads more often and trying to do everything I can to be a lawful and upright citizen. #RyanPhillippe 2 of 5
Nonetheless, I want to also call something to your attention, and please do not be mad at me. However, there is mass hysteria about people of Middle Eastern descent being terrorist, and many of them are peaceful and law abiding citizens. Nonetheless, Mexicans are taking over the American media and many of them are turning it into a propaganda department. They sensationalize the news and do not put things in perspective. I am not saying that all Mexicans are bad, but we have immigrants coming from Mexico illegally and some legally, and they have an agenda and many of them do not like to follow the law. They are trying to steal citizenship and implement their culture here in America, and a lot of them do not like White nor Black people. This is not true for all Mexicans, but there is a faction of Mexicans who are trying to make America as lawless as Mexico and they are recruiting American politicians to help them and citizens. #RyanPhillippe 3 of 5
I think that Donald Trump is right that it is 2016, and we need to close our boarders and worry about terrorist attacks coming from Mexico. I know that this article is going to hurt some feelings, but I have to put the fact out. If Black lives matter so much, why is no one trying to stop all those murders in Chicago, Illinois USA, why is the news not reporting on it? If you have not noticed, many of the reporters in Sacramento, California USA are making a parody of TV news. They are running around looking insane. Instead of reporting on serious news like how to stay healthy, or presenting you with scientific research, they are giving your silly stories about deer running around in Midtown. Recently, Ron Jones with CBS 13 KOVR did a story about a deer on the loose in Midtown Sacramento, California USA, and I thought it was the most ridiculous story I have ever seen and a waste of air time when we have serious issues going on that are totally being over looked. So please think about the media you are consuming, and do some research for yourself and find out what is really going on in America and around the World. #RyanPhillippe 4 of 5
The owners of these TV stations (FOX40, CBS13, CW31, ABC10, KCRA, and NBC UNIVERSAL) are mostly feeding the public garbage and putting citizens, law enforcement, and even some of their employees at risk and they do not care because no one says anything. No one openly protests the trash that they are passing off as news. I have seen a rapid decline of the news values in Sacramento, California USA since 2007, and it is sad because we do have some really great reporters, but we have others who are making a mockery of journalism and it needs to stop! The critical issue is allowing yourself to know what you know and you know that there is something very wrong with the distorted and enstooled news you are consuming. Towards the preservation of your government, it is requisite that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations which impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. #RyanPhillippe 5 of 5
Breaking the Silence–I Pray the LORD Reveals to what his Truth is
Give sorrow word; the grief that does not speak knits up the doer wrong heart and bids it break. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In van you rise early, and stay up late toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves. Listen, my son, to your father’s instructions, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. We can hardly bear to look. The shadow may carry the best of the life we have not lived. Go into the basement, the attic, the refuse bin. Find gold there. Find an animal who has not been fed or watered. It is you!! This neglected, exiled animal, hungry for attention is part of yourself. #RyanPhillippe 1 of 7
If the wicked say, “Come along with us; let us lie in wait for someone’s blood, let us waylay some harmless soul; let us swallow them alike, like the grace, and whole, like those who go down to the put; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot with us, and we will share a common purse” —my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood. These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves! Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it. Men talk of nature as an abstract thing, and lose sight to what is natural while they do so! Judge not things by their names. To be called one thing, is oftentimes to be another. #RyanPhillippe 2 of 7
The most helpful interventions to reduce trauma are those ones that focus on relieving the physical burdens generated by trauma. Traumatic events are almost impossible to put into words. This is true for all of us, not just for people who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Pangs are too sharp, griefs too deep ecstasies too high for our finite selves to register. When the emotion reached this pitch the mind choked; and memory went white till the circumstances were humdrum once more. While trauma keeps us dumbfounded, the path out of it is paved with words, carefully assembled piece by piece, until the whole story can be revealed. The genius of evolution lies in the dynamic tension between optimism and pessimism continually correcting each other. #RyanPhillippe 3 of 7
Courage may be a virtue that many people may not develop. It consists of emotion strength that involve the exercise of the will to accomplish dreams and goals in the face of opposition, both external and internal, with neither being dependent on the actual size of the opposition or threat. It requires bravery and perseverance regardless of obstacles. Those without courage most certainly would shrink in the face of mounting opposition or minuscule odds of victory. Courage in battle is important for the majority side and essential for those who are oppressed. The reason people continue to fight in the opposition in the face of mounting defeat is humanity. Regardless of pain and suffering, or loss, many men and women will not stop helping and care for others regardless of the risk to their own lives. Cultivating happiness in a person’s life, courage, humanity, and altruism provide a strong foundation for those bound to a cause worth fighting for even against tremendous odds. #RyanPhillippe 4 of 7
Silence about trauma can lead to death—the death of the soul. Silence reinforces the godforsaken isolation of trauma. Being able to say aloud to another human being, “I was assaulted” or “I was battered by my neighbor” or “The Mayor called it discipline, but it was abuse” or “I am not making it since I got back from Iraq,” is a signed that healing can begin. We may think we can control our grief, our terror, or our shame by remaining silent, but naming offers the possibility of a different kind of control. When Adam was put in charge of the animal kingdom in the Book of Genesis, his first act was to give name to every living creature. If you have been hurt, you need to acknowledge and name what happened to you. #RyanPhillippe 5 of 7
Feeling listened to and understood changes our physiology; being able to articulate a complex feeling, and having out feelings recognized allows the little boy inside to forgive others for having been scared and submissive and allows one to enjoy his own company. It lights up our limbic brain and creates a moment of enlightenment. In contrast being met by silence and incomprehension kills the spirit. What cannot be spoken cannot be said to the self. If you hide from yourself, the fact that you were assaulted when you were young, you are vulnerable to react to triggers like an animal in a thunderstorm: with a full-body response to the hormones that signal danger. #RyanPhillippe 6 of 7
Without language and context, your awareness may be limited to: I am scared. Yet, determined to stay in control, you are likely to avoid anybody or anything that reminds your even vaguely of your trauma. You may also alternate between being inhibited and being uptight or reactive and explosive—all without knowing. As long as you keep secrets and suppress information, you are fundamentally as war with yourself. Hiding your core feelings takes an enormous amount of energy, it saps your motivation to pursue worthwhile goals, and it leaves you feeling bored and shut down. Meanwhile, stress hormones keep flooding your body, leading to headaches, muscle aches, problems with your stomach or Netflix and Chill functions—and irrational behaviors may embarrass you and hurt the people around you. Only after you identify the source of these responses can you start using your feelings as signals of problems that require your urgent attention. #RyanPhillippe 7 of 7
Highlighter Exercise—How to Resist the Dark Side in Us All
We live amongst riddles and mysteries. Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart. However, those who turn to crooked ways, the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon the World. A person’s values and ability to tolerate distress and uncertainty can play a role in whether that individual can be manipulated. In certain circumstances, people who are normally fundamentally good can commit thoughtless or even cruel acts. For example, when people are influenced by an authority figure, they are more likely to commit an act that goes against their moral values than they would otherwise be. After someone makes a decision that goes against his or her moral values, that person may experience emotional discomfort and distress. To ease these feelings, the person may adjust his or her beliefs. To reduce his own distress about going against his values, his cognitive dissonance over the discrepancy between moral values and immoral actions, some try to rationalize their actions. However, mysteries which must explain themselves are not worth the loss of time which a conjecture about them takes up.
After the birth of his son, a Vietnam veteran, working as a Registered Nurse was frazzled, explosive, and on edge, but he had no idea that these problems had anything to do with what he had experiences in Vietnam. After all, the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnosis was relatively new, and as a working-class guy, he did not consult shrinks. His nightmares and insomnia subsided a bit after he left nursing and enrolled in a seminary to become a minister. He did not seek help until his son’s crying triggered unrelenting flashbacks, in which he saw, heard, and smelled burned and mutilated children in Vietnam. He was so out of control that some wanted to put him in the hospital to treat what they thought was a psychosis. However, as he started working with a good mental health professional, he began to feel safe and slowly started to tolerate his feelings without becoming overwhelmed. This helped him to refocus on taking care of his family and on finishing his training as a minister. After two years, he was a pastor with his own parish, and he felt that his work was leading him in the right direction.
Holding on to one’s values is essential to controlling one’s emotions and other, baser instincts. Seventeen years to the day after the birth of his son, he was experiencing exactly the same symptoms—flashbacks, terrible nightmares, feelings that he was losing his mind. After Bob was able to deal with the specific memories of what he had seen, heard, and smelled back in Vietnam, details that he had been too scared to recall were now being integrated so that they became stories of what happened long ago, instead of instant transports into the hell of Vietnam. Once he felt more settled, he wanted to deal with his childhood: his brutal upbringing on the mean streets of Beverly Hills, and his guilt of having left behind his younger schizophrenic brother when he enlisted for Vietnam. Bob confronted as a minister—having to bury adolescents killed in car crashes only a few years after he had baptized them or having couples he had married come back in crisis over domestic violence. Bob went on to organize a support group for fellow clergy faces with similar traumas, and he became an important force in his community.
Bob started to experience serious neurological illnesses at the age of forty-two. He had suddenly started to experience episodic paralysis in several parts of his body, and he was beginning to accept that he would probably spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. He thought his problems might be due to multiple sclerosis, but his neurologist could not find specific lesions, and they said that there was no cure for his condition. Given his grim prognosis, Bob started receiving letters of love, support, and encouragement from his son. He felt that these letters were helping him alleviate the distressing feelings he was experiencing in his body, just as he learned to tolerate and live with his most painful memories of the war. He started spending time with his son, they would walk miles at the park every day, and this was rearranging physical sensations and muscle movements. Bob expressed delight with his increased sense of control. He enjoyed being around his son who was young and energetic.
Bob loved being at the park with his son, even though parts of his body occasionally gave way and he would have to rest for days or weeks at a time. Despite his physical limitations, people would see Bob trotting around the park and looking healthy and happy, he gained a sense of bodily pleasure and mastery that he had never felt before. Bob’s psychological and physical exercise treatment had helped him put the horrendous experience of Vietnam in the past. Now befriending his body was keeping him from organizing his life around the loss of physical control. He still regularly suffers from weakness in his limbs that requires him to sir or lay down. However, like his memories of childhood and Vietnam, these episodes do not dominate his existence. They are simply the ongoing, evolving story of his life. Bob, by continuously connecting with his values, staying true to his identity, and being mindful of his emotions, is able to say no and withstand the dark side’s influence. His example awakens a similar value in his son, who helps bring his dark father back to the light. When you know what your values are, it is not hard to make a decision.
As Many as 60 Percent of Mental Health Assessments are Incorrect
A fortune, like a man, is an organism which draws to itself other minds and other strength than that inherent in the founder. I call on the LORD in my distress, and he answers me. Save me, O LORD, from the lying lips and from deceitful tongues. What will he do to you, and what more besides, O deceitful tongue? He will punish you with a warrior’s sharp arrows, with burning coals of the broom tree. Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am a man of peace; but when I speak, they are for war. I life up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of the Heaven and Earth. He will not let my foot slip—he who watches over the World will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the Sun will not harm you by day, nor the Moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. By the law of nature, everything hath a right to liberty. A few studies have shown that anticonvulsants and mood stabilizers, such as lithium or valproate, can have mildly beneficial effects, taking the edge off hyperarousal and panic. The most controversial medications are the so-called second-generation antipsychotic agents, such as Risperdal and Seroquel (Sarah pills), the largest-selling psychiatric drugs in the United States of America ($14.6 billion in 2008). Low doses of these agents can be helpful in calming down combat veterans and women with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to childhood abuse. Using these drugs is sometimes justified, for example, when patients feel completely out of control and unable to sleep or where other methods have failed.
However, it is important to keep in mind that these medications work by blocking the dopamine system, the brain’s reward system, which also function as the engine of pleasure and motivation. People who are more prone to distress appear to have brain activity different from that of people who are less prone to it. The amygdala is the part of the brain that is most related to emotion processing and the fear response. This structure seems to be more active in people who are prone to anxiety as opposed to people who are less prone to it. In fact, by studying an individual’s amygdala activity levels, scientists are able to predict the likelihood of that individual’s development of anxiety and depression disorders as far as four years in advance. Antipsychotic medications such as Risperdal, Abilify, or Seroquel (Sarah pills) can significantly dampen the emotional brain and thus make patients less skittish or enraged, but they may also interfere with being able to appreciate subtle signals of pleasure, danger, or satisfaction. They may also cause weight gain, increase the chance of developing diabetes, and make patients physically inert, which is like to further increase their sense of alienation. These antipsychotic drugs are widely used to treat abused children who are inappropriately diagnosed with bipolar disorder or mood dysregulation disorder. More than half a million children and adolescents in America are now taking antipsychotic drugs, which may calm them down but also interfere with learning age-appropriate skills and developing friendships with other children. A Columbia University study recently found that prescription of antipsychotic drugs for privately insured two- to five-year-olds had doubled between 2000 and 2007. Opinion is arbitrary, and various as religion. Only 40 percent of them had received a proper mental health assessment.
Liberty is sweeter when founded securely on the law. The man of candor and of true understanding is never hasty to condemn. Vices are the harpies that infect and foul the feast. However, research on altruism suggests that people who remain mindful and true to their values of helping others are more likely to experience beneficial emotions such as love and joy while helping others. In addition, the research on mindfulness (noticing the experiences in the present moment rather than fixating on the past or the future) suggests that people who practice mindfulness are more likely to be altruistic and to exhibit better mental health. Until it lost it patent, the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson doled out LEGO blocks stamped with the word “Risperdal” for the waiting rooms of child psychiatrists. Children from low-income families are four times as likely as the privately insured to receive antipsychotic drugs for teenagers and children—including three unidentified infants who were given the drugs before their first birthdays. There have been no studies on the effects of psychotropic medications on the developing brain. Dissociation, self-mutilation, fragmented memories, and amnesia generally do not respond to any of these medications. In fact, people who tend to be more mindful and those who follow their values are less likely to develop PTSD and are more likely to recover from addiction, depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. In contrast, people who are more impulsive are more likely to be driven by immediate gratification, are more likely to struggle with their academic commitments, and may be more likely to struggle with regulating their emotions. The Prozac study was the first to discover that traumatized civilians tend to respond much better to medications than combat veterans. Since then, other studies have found similar discrepancies.
In this light, it is worrisome that the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs prescribe enormous quantities of medications to combat soldiers and returning veterans, often without providing other forms of therapy. Perhaps the purpose is to keep what they witnessed secret? Or perhaps the stories would drive others to suffer from mental problems after hearing what these men and women did and had to endure? Distress tolerance refers to an individual’s ability to regulate his or her emotions during a stressful event. People who struggle with distress tolerance are more likely to try to avoid unpleasant emotions and have a hard time following through with their dreams, goals, and values when they are distressed. Painful emotions such as fear can lead to impulsive decisions, self-harm, and aggression. People who struggle with dreams of suffering respond impulsively and aggressively when they slay men, women, and children when at war. Between 2001 and 2011, the Veterans Affairs spent about $1.5 billion on Seroquel (Sarah pills) and Risperdal, while Department of Defense spent about $90 million during that same period, even though a research paper published in 2001 showed that Risperdal was no more effective than a placebo in treating posttraumatic stress disorder. Similarly, between 2001 and 2012, the Veteran Affairs spent $72.1 million, and Department of defense spent $44.1 million on benzodiazepines—medications that clinicians generally avoid prescribing to civilians with posttraumatic stress disorder because of their addiction potential and lack of significant effectiveness for posttraumatic stress disorder. Memories of taste cited as a power recognizable by the symptoms which it provokes in us. Sometimes these symptoms are needed to move the patient physically.
Power Betrays Promise
People have always used drugs to deal with traumatic stressed. Each culture and each generation has its preferences—gin, vodka, beer, or whiskey; hashish, marijuana, cannabis, or ganja; cocaine; molly, lean; opioids like oxycontin; tranquilizers such as Valium Xanax, and Klonopin. When people are desperate, they will do just about anything to feel calmer and in more control. However, drinking and drugs are not the answer. Mainstream psychiatry follows this tradition. Over the past decade, the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs combined have spent over $4.5 billion on antidepressants, antipsychotics, and antianxiety drugs. A June 2010 internal report from the Defense Department’s Pharamaceconomic Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas USA showed the 213,972, or 20 percent of the 1.1 million active-duty troops surveyed, were taking some form of psychotropic drug: antidepressants, antipsychotics, sedative hypnotics, or other controlled substances.
However, drugs cannot “cure trauma; they can only dampen the expressions of a disturbed physiology. And they do not teach the lasting lessons of self-regulation. They can help to control feelings and behavior, but always at a price—because they work by blocking the chemical systems that regulate engagement, motivation, pain, and pleasure. Some of my colleagues remain optimistic: I keep attending meetings where serious scientists discuss their quest for the elusive magic bullet that will miraculously reset the fear circuits of the brain (as if traumatic stress involved only one simple brain circuit). I also regularly prescribe medication. Just about every group of psychotropic agents has been used to treat some aspect of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac, Zoloft, Effexor, and Paxil have been most thoroughly studied, and they can make feelings less intense and life more manageable.
Patients on SSIRs often feel calmer and more in control; feeling less overwhelmed often makes it easier to engage in therapy. Other patients feel blunted by SSRIs—they feel they are losing their edge. I approach it as an empirical question: Let us see what works, and only the patient can be the judge of that. On the other hand, if one SSRI does not work, it is worth trying another, because they all have slightly different effects. It is interesting that the SSRIs are widely used to treat depression, but in a study in which we compared Prozac with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), many of whom were also depressed, EMDR proved to be a more effective antidepressant than Prozac. Keep in mind, however, that selfishness and preoccupation with deficiencies keep some from growing beyond their existing internal achievements to become greater people.
Medicines that target the autonomic nervous system, like propranolol or clonidine, can help to decrease hyperarousal and reactivity to stress. This family of drugs works by blocking the physical effects of adrenaline, the fuel or arousal, and thus reduces nightmares, insomnia, and reactivity to trauma triggers. Blocking adrenaline can help to keep the rational brain online and makes choices possible: Is this really what I want to do? Since I have started to integrate mindfulness and yoga into my practice, I used these medications less often, except occasionally to help patient sleep more restfully. Self-actualizers have an unbiased view of reality, acceptance of themselves and others, simplicity, social interest, self-reliance for their own requirements, focus on problems outside of themselves, profound personal relations, creativity, and great tolerance. When they try to inspire others, they do so for the sake of those others, not for their own aggrandizement.
Traumatized patients tend to like tranquilizing drugs, benzodiazepines like Klonopin, Valium, Xanax, and Ativan. In many ways, they work like alcohol, in that they make people feel calm and keep them from worrying. (Casino owners love customers on benzodiazepines; they do not get upset when they lose and keep gambling. Many journalists are also on these drugs because the traumatic nature of the job.) However, also like alcohol, benzos weaken inhibitions against saying hurtful things to people we love. Most civilian doctors are reluctant to prescribe these drugs, because they have a high addiction potential and they may also interfere with trauma processing. Patients who stop taking them after prolonged use usually have withdrawal reactions that make them agitated and increase posttraumatic symptoms. Some of my patients have told me they know a guy who is kind of like a benzo, he makes them feel comfortable, but they have withdrawal from not seeing him.
I sometimes give my patients low doses of benzodiazepines to use as required, but not enough to take on the daily basis. They have to choose when to use up their precious supply, and I ask them to keep a diary of what was going on when they decided to take a pill. That gives us a chance to discuss the specific incidents that trigger them. Openness involves an appreciation of things others might consider impractical and a readiness for new and unusual experiences. The traits that make up this factor tend to be more esoteric than those in the other factors, less based on overt behavior (observable actions) and more on covert behavior (the things we do that others cannot directly observe—thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs). The highly open individual has a greater appreciation for subjective or abstract reality.
Enlightening the Dark Side of the Mind
Feeling is so subtle. You cannot reject its coming, neither can you keep it back, however you try, when it ebbs. My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word. I have done what is righteous and just; do not leave me to my oppressors Ensure your servant’s well-being; let not the arrogant oppress me. Your statues are wonderful; therefore, I obey them. The unfolding of your words gives me light; it gives understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands. Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name. Direct my footsteps according to you word; let no sin rule over me. Redeem me from the oppression of me, that I may obey your precepts. Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your decrees. Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed. My zeal wears me out, for my enemies ignore your words.
When I was a medical student, I spent the Summer working for Jan Bastiaans, a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands who was known for his work treating Holocaust survivors with Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). He claimed to have achieved spectacular results, but when colleagues inspected his archives, they found few data to support his claims. The potential of mind altering substances for trauma treatment was subsequently neglected until 2000, when Michael Mithoefer and his colleagues in Southern Carolina received Federal Drug Administration (FDA) permission to conduct an experiment with Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or ecstasy). MDMA was classified as a schedule I controlled substance in 1985 after having been used for years as a recreational drug. As with Prozac and other psychotropic agents, we do not know exactly how MDMA works, but it is known to increase concentrations of a number of important hormones including oxytocin, vasopressin, cortisol, and prolactin. (Never used drugs, unless prescribed to you by a trained medical profession.)
Most relevant for trauma treatment, MDMA increases people’s awareness of themselves; they frequently report a heightened sense of compassionate energy, accompanied by curiosity, clarity, confidence, creativity, and connectedness. Michael Mithoefer and his colleagues were looking for medication that would enhance the effectiveness of psychotherapy, and they became interested in MDMA because it decreased fear, defensiveness, and numbing, as well as helping to access inner experience. They thought that MDMA might enable patents to stay within the window of tolerance so they could revisit their traumatic memories without suffering overwhelming physiological and emotional arousal. In 2013, between 9 to 28 million people between the ages 15 and 65 used ecstasy (0.2% to 0.6% of the World’s population). MDMA is generally illegal in most countries. Limited exceptions are sometime made for research.
The initial pilot studies have supported that expectation. The first study, involving combat veterans, firefighters, and police officers with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has beneficial results. In the next study, of a group of twenty victims of assault who had been unresponsive to previous forms of therapy, twelve subjects received MDMA and eight received an inactive placebo. Sitting or laying in a comfortable room, they then all received two eight-hour psychotherapy session, mainly using internal family systems (IFS) therapy. Two months later 83 percent of the patients who received the MDMA plus psychotherapy were considered completely cured, compared to the 25 percent with the placebo group. None of the patients has adverse side effects. Perhaps most interesting, when the participants were interviewed more than a year after the study was completed, they had maintained their gains.
By being able to observe the trauma from the calm, mindful states that IFS calls Self, mind and brain are in a position to integrate the trauma into the overall fabric of life. This is very different from traditional desensitization techniques, which are about blunting a person’s response to past horrors. This is about association and integration—making a horrendous event that overwhelmed you in the past into a memory of something that happened a long time ago. Nonetheless, psychedelic substances are powerful agents with a troubled history. They can easily be misused through careless administration and poor maintenance of therapeutic boundaries. It is to be hoped that MDMA will not be another magic cure released from Pandora’s box. It is time for you to act, O LORD; your law is being broken. Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.
Obedience and Punishment Orientation
Leave behind you all the hesitations and puzzles, confirm your belief in life and compress your pursuit and love into a tremendous impetus to boost yourself into a hopeful tomorrow. Time is stealing away, allot for no procrastination and fantasies. Over 190 people were killed in the country of Turkey on 15 July 2016, and 754 arrested, and more than 1,154 injured. Life presents us with a common, yet precious gift. That is youth. Let us repay it with our enthusiasm and diligence. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in a man. Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. My yearning is a breeze that blows all the year round. Whenever your curtain flutters, it is I who is calling you below my voice. How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. The primary motivation for sticking with and rooting for the disadvantaged team may be concerns with justice and fairness for the meek.
I will seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. Throw heart onto the cloud and let missing kiss the passionate horizon. Then wind brings blue to you and that is the thing I am eager for. When you look up at the blue sky and step into the memory with white clouds—my darling, how many sweetness you pick up in the rut lifted by the years? I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that some from your mouth. I always sing that familiar song even in my dreams. I wonder if you miss the past events like me. I rejoice in following your statues as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your decrees; I will not neglect your word. How I want to fly to your side and to accompany you on your way of pursuit for knowledge and write out impressive statements. Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word.
When evening mist envelops the Earth quietly, my concern for you becomes stronger and stronger like the twilight at dusk. Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. I am a stranger on Earth; do not hide your commands from me. My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times. You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed and who stray from your commands. I am lonely Albatross yearning for a warm harbor. No matter how far it is, I will sail lightly over and call at it to tell it about the yearning in the White Squall. Remove from me scorn and contempt, for I keep your statues. Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees. Giver my love—every morning, every leaf with morning dew and every evening, every beach with golden glow in my lingering missing. Love is a great happiness to human. Love means that a man not only demands happiness from life, but also presents happiness to beloved. Your statues are my delight; they are my counselors.
Sweet love between us is like a song of happiness, beautiful melody and notes fill out life with happiness. I am laid low in the dust; preserve my life accord to your word. I recounted my ways and you answered me; teach me your decrees. Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders. You dip in passionate love and write me warm poems, at last you make sweet honey with your heart. My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word. Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law. Give me flawless memory, and a pure friendship. Give me a gentle heart, and an eternal beauty. I have chosen the way of the truth; I have set my heart on your laws. Love is a taciturn agreement between two hearts. A glance between a pair in love tells far more love’s essence than a huge encyclopedia. I hold fast to your statues O LORD; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. It is wrong to neglect all the other meanings of life merely for love as the first meaning of life is to live. Man has to live, and then love will have something to fall back on.
Teach me O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Love is calling of the heart, love is selfless dedication, it is like the delta breeze in the World and the spring of life. The World will turn to a happy World as long as we give our honest love out. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. On the balance of love, I prefer to be tiny gauge graduation rather than be the heavier weight measuring the distance between heart. Turn my heart towards your statues and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Please smile, my dear. If you weep, my face will be wetted; if you grieve, my heart will ache. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Love is the key to the secret life. With love subtracted, life will become tasteless and colorless. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness.
Once together with you, we walked through that beautiful forest. That momentary magnificence is well worthy of my life-long memory. May your unfailing lobe come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise; then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in your word. Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, illuminate our hearts and warm our life, for I have put hope in your laws. I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. I have the most valuable gift to present you with, which is my pure heart. The gentleness of you at the time you lowered your head is as charming as hibiscus rising out of water. I miss you deeply. I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. I will speak of your statues before kings and will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love them. Your name will always resound in my heart proudly; let my compatriots hear this loud and happy song and this song is your name. I life up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.
Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life. The arrogant mock me without restraint, but I do not turn from your law. I remember your ancient laws, O LORD, and I find comfort in them. Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken your law. My heart will be with your forever, as long as you are honest to me, I will never change my mind at the crossroad of love. Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge. In the night I remember your name, O LORD, and I will keep your law. This has been my practice: I obey your precepts. I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise. Why do people fight a losing battle? Why do people persist when the odds are against them? Humans seem to have a beneficial or pleasurable response to fair treatment and a disgust or protest response to unfairness. Research results show that unfair treatment seems to be intrinsically aversive and fair treatment inherently pleasurable. Justice is the essential characteristic of moral reasoning.
The Most Pardonable of all Liberties—the Liberty of Composing your Mind
In one of the largest published studied of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) more than one-third of the patients dropped out; the rest had a significant number of adverse reactions. Most of the women in the study still suffered from full-blown PTSD after three months in the study, and only 15 percent no longer had major PTSD symptoms. A thorough analysis of all the scientific studies of CBT show that it works about as well as being in a supportive therapy relationship. The poorest outcome in exposure treatments occurs in patients who suffer from mental defeat—those who have given up. Being traumatized is not just an issue of being stuck in the past; it is just as much a problem of not being fully alive in the present. One form of exposure treatment is virtual-reality therapy in which veterans wear high-tech googles that make it possible to refight the battle of Fallujah in lifelike detail. #RyanPhillippe 1 of 5
As far as I know, the US Marines performed very well in combat. The problem is that they cannot tolerate being home. Recent studies of Australian combat veterans show that their brains are rewired to be alert for emergencies, at the experience of being focused on the small details of everyday life. More than virtual-reality therapy, traumatized patients require real World therapy, which helps them to feel as alive when walking through the local supermarket or playing with their kids as they did in the streets. Patients can benefit from reliving their trauma only if they are not overwhelmed by it. A good example is a study of Vietnam veterans conducted in the early 1990s. When veterans were pushed to talk repeatedly about every details of their experiences in Vietnam, the investigators had to stop the study because many patients became panicked by their flashbacks, and the dread often persisted after the sessions. #RyanPhillippe 2 of 5
Unauthorized and abhorrent thoughts will sometimes invade the best human heart. Fear plucks the feathers from the wings of the soul and sits it naked and shivering in a vault, where the passing of a common hodman’s foot above sounds like the king of terrors coming. Because of their terror and fear from reliving their memories, some veterans never returned to therapy after being forced to talk repeatedly about their experiences in war, while many of those who stayed with the study became more depressed, violent, and fearful; some coped with their increased symptoms by increasing alcohol consumption, which led to further violence and humiliation, as some of their families called the police to take them to the hospital. Over the past two decades, the prevailing treatment taught to psychology students has been some form of systematic desensitization: helping patients become less reactive to certain emotions and sensations. #RyanPhillippe 3 of 5
However, is desensitization the correct goal? Maybe the issue is not desensitization but integration: putting the traumatic event into its proper place in the overall arc of one’s life. Desensitization makes me think of a small boy—he must have been about five—I saw in front of my house recently. His hulking father was yelling at him at the top of his lungs as the boy rode his tricycle down my street. The kid was unfazed, while my heart was racing and I felt an impulse to deck the guy. How much brutality had it taken to numb a child this young to his father’s brutality? His indifference to his father’s yelling must have been the result of prolonged exposure, but, I wondered, at what price? Yes, we can take drugs that blunt our emotions or we can learn to desensitize ourselves. As medical students, we learned to stay analytical when we had to treat children with third-degree burns. However, as neuroscientist have shown, desensitization to our own or to other people’s pain tends to lead to an overall blunting of emotional sensitivity. #RyanPhillippe 4 of 5
A 2010 report on 49,425 veterans with newly diagnosed PTSD from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who sought care from the Veteran’s Affairs (VA) showed that fewer than one out of ten actually completed the recommended treatment. And exposure treatment, as currently practiced, rarely works for them. We can only process horrendous experiences if they do not overwhelm us. And that means that other approaches are necessary. Speaking of overwhelming, terror attacks are happening so much to civilians that we really do need to think about close our boarders and have to teach kids and adults how to process mass causalities. On 14 July 2016, a truck rammed into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the French Riviera city of nice, on Thursday night, killing about 60 people, during a French national holiday. The most pardonable of all liberties—the liberty of composing your mind, violence is never the answer. #RyanPhillippe 5 of 5
