Ariel Castro – Pain Recycled or Original Evil?

Posted on May 11, 2013 by

In “Inside the mind of Ariel Castro,” (Fox News opinion, May 10, 2013) Dr. Keith Albrow says there is no original evil left in the world, everyone is just recycling pain.

Albrow says Castro endured as a child crushing abuse – physical, emotional, sexual – at the hands of relatives, and the key to understanding him is to understand that his ability to empathize was killed. Thus Castro’s mind creates a house of mirrors, reliving over and over again the abuse, unable to escape the “dehumanized recreation of his own destruction.”

A man who loves his mother cannot brutalize women and violently force abortions. Did Castro deny and suppress at five and at thirteen years year of age  a murderous rage toward his mother, when it was too psychologically threatening, and then as an adult allow that rage to explode out of him at all females?

Dr. Albrow states that Ariel Castro is neither monster nor devil, but a small boy ruined.  But as an adult he failed to fight the darkness within so, in the light of the world, the horrors of his basement chambers are now exposed.

Albrow’s opinion that there is no original evil left in the world is thought-provoking, empathic in itself, and the keystone to his article, albeit somewhat doubtful. Hasn’t it been true that at least since Cain and Abel there have been plenty of criminals with decent parents? Hasn’t it been true through recorded history that everyone is born with innocence, the capacity to reason and yet at the same time the capacity to do evil? Hasn’t this been named “original sin”?

Indeed, while Castro had a small, quiet, inner voice telling him his behavior was monstrous, he didn’t stop. Why not? Come now the slow wheels of justice, finely grinding.

If some monsters are born freshly into the world, or if all monsters are grown of recycled pain, the distinction is important only to the society trying to determine the just disposition of each case. The distinction is meaningless to the brutalized and dead victims.

I close with this memorable truth from Dr. Albrow’s article:

“It is popular to speak of children as resilient. It is a complete and utter myth. Children are exquisitely emotionally sensitive. The seeds of major depression and panic disorder and PTSD and borderline personality disorder and, yes, antisocial (psychopathic) personality disorder are most often sown in childhood and adolescence. And while someone may be born gifted by God with a hardy brain chemistry, with serotonin and norepinephrine and dopamine aplenty, many are not, and are, therefore, even more vulnerable, from birth.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/05/10/inside-mind-ariel-castro/#ixzz2SzChVW3G”

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Don’t Say a Word, a Review of Helen Cochran Coffey’s Book About Her Daughter’s Suicide

Posted on October 26, 2012 by

Anubis, jackal-headed god of mummification and protector of the dead

Death of a loved one by suicide changed the orbit of Helen Cochran Coffey’s life.  That her daughter Heather died in such a way exposed Coffey’s raw frustration with a mental health system  that, according to Coffey, for twenty years misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and mistreated her child.  How could this happen?

Coffey believes that this tragedy was the result of the incompetence of mental health evaluation and treatment, and she wants the system repaired so others do not suffer the same.  So with the support of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the Survivors of Suicide, Coffey wrote a book about her daughter’s journey through the dark forests of depression, borderline personality disorder, serious substance dependency and treatment.

Is this book worth reading?  It depends on what you’re looking for.  If you’re looking for definite signposts of mental illness in the early years of life, you won’t find them here.  In fact, the first several chapters describe what seems like a normal childhood lived by a very likeable child up until high school.  They provide a sunny backdrop in stark contrast to the black storms coming.  But it also raises a question about Coffey’s reactions to typically stupid adolescent behaviors, reactions including having Heather arrested at school and subjected to an inpatient emergency psychiatric evaluation.  Heather was “diagnosed” as possessing stupid adolescent behaviors and over-controlling parents, and was released.

By chapter five, though, Heather’s life unglues.  Read this book if you want see how a hard-working, conscientious young woman and mother begins to wobble on her axis and careen into an ugly universe of addiction, depression, divorce, failed treatment efforts, failed liver, job loss, and then ultimately alone  in her garage one cold February morning uses a leather belt to hang herself.

If you are interested recognizing mental illness and getting direction for it, fortunately Coffey’s book doesn’t end with suicide.  In an effort to help others recognize impending mental illness, she includes lists of “symptoms” or behaviors  as possible indicators demonstrated by Heather from her earliest years.  Some of the behaviors listed might unnecessarily alarm.  The fact that Heather kept her room neat, for example, doesn’t give her a compulsive disorder.  Some of the behaviors, however, are concerning and worth reading.

Coffey recounts the numerous treatment facilities Heather attended although this book is not much of an endorsement of those services.  Coffey lists other support groups as well.

Finally, Coffey runs through a series of idealized scenarios questioning the law enforcement system, the legal system, the mental health system, the laws, treatment professionals, treatment facilities, treatment plans, and almost anything peripherally related to mental illness.  The question is, basically, if all of these things were different (perfect?) would Heather’s outcome have been different?  The implication seems to be, “yes, so shame on everyone.”  Her point is advocacy for change.

But whether the outcome would have been different is hard to say.  All the systems, even operating at perfection, depend on scientific knowledge about mental illness, the ability to diagnose it, and having tools to treat it.  Frankly, we just don’t know that much yet.  Heather’s case in particular seemed extremely difficult to name, especially as complicated with depression, substance dependency and life-threatening alcoholism.  Somewhere along the way someone threw in “borderline personality disorder,” too.

Could Heather’s outcome have been different?  We can only hope. This book, if nothing else, is thought-provoking.

Posted in Art, Book Review, borderline personality disorder, DBT, suicide | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Do people with borderline personality disorder usually go for people much less attractive than them? – Yahoo! Answers

Posted on October 2, 2012 by

I’ve never thought about this, but I saw the question on Yahoo Answers today and wondered.  I especially wondered if a pick of a “5″ or a “6″ on the “pretty” scale might have nothing to do with borderline personality disorder?  What do you think? See the full question below:

Do people with borderline personality disorder usually go for people much less attractive than them?

I was dating a guy with BPD and he was very very cute. I am cute, too. I would say he is a 9 and I’m an 8. I used to see all these girls on his FB page, but most of them were like 6s or 5s, so I never worried about them. But I just recently (unfortunately) found out he was seriously talking to some of those girls, which shocked me. I guess looks don’t matter to some people. But I was wondering if this is typical of people with borderline personality disorder. Do they date down in the looks department to try to ensure that their partners don’t leave them when they misbehave? I may have been close to him in the looks department, but I am 5 years older. I’m wondering if he did that for the same reason as he did in dating less attractive girls (i.e. thinking I didn’t have many options at the age of 30, which couldn’t be further from the truth btw lol). Any thoughts on this?

via Do people with borderline personality disorder usually go for people much less attractive than them? – Yahoo! Answers.

Posted in borderline personality disorder, mental illness, positive psychology | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Bipolar Disorder Family History Risk Factor for Recurrent Hypomanic/Manic Episodes in Major Depressive Disorder

Posted on October 1, 2012 by

Published on October 1, 2012 at 9:15 AM

By Ingrid Grasmo, medwireNews Reporter

A family history of bipolar disorder increases the likelihood of recurrent episodes of hypomania or mania (H/M) in individuals with prior major depressive disorder, suggest findings published in Bipolar Disorders.

The research also shows that these patients have a lower risk for subsequent H/M if the first episode occurred within 8 weeks of initiating an antidepressant or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

Discussing the proposed revisions for DSM-V, Jess Fiedorowicz (University of Iowa, USA) and colleagues say the findings “do not support the predictive validity of treatment-associated mania and also fail to support the proposed relevance of an H/M episode ‘persisting beyond the physiological effect of that treatment.’ “

However, the findings offer some support to practitioners who distinguish treatment-associated hypomania as a distinct disorder on the bipolar spectrum.

This prospective study of 108 patients diagnosed with unipolar major depression at intake found 21 of 60 patients who developed H/M had a family history of bipolar disorder. Indeed, a family history of the mood disorder was associated with a two-fold increased likelihood of repeat episodes of H/M.

The researchers say this is consistent with previous study findings showing that individuals with bipolar disorder and a family history of the condition have more episodes than those without this genetic predisposition.

Twelve patients developed H/M within 8 weeks of starting to take an antidepressant or undergoing ECT, of whom 33% reached the threshold for mania while the remainder had only hypomania. Furthermore, only 27% of the 96 patients with spontaneous episodes met the criteria for mania.

The study also showed that compared with 60% of patients with a spontaneous episode, only 17% with treatment-associated H/M developed a subsequent H/M. Notably, patients with treatment-associated H/M had a significantly later age of onset for mood disorder and were more likely to have been experiencing depressive symptoms in the 8 weeks prior to the index H/M episode.

The authors say it remains unclear whether the findings reflect true differences between a hypothetical population vulnerable to antidepressant-associated H/M and those prone to spontaneous H/M.

They call for a prospective study of mood disorders to resolve nosological issues concerning the position of antidepressant-associated H/M. “Nonetheless, our data suggest that duration of H/M in weeks does not have any predictive validity, nor do specific thresholds of 2 or 4 or more weeks,” add the researchers.

via BD family history risk factor for recurrent episodes in MDD.

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Well, Fatwa You Too, Buddy

Posted on September 25, 2012 by

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah issued a fatwa calling on young Muslims in Western countries in particular to carry out the death sentence of Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the “Innocence of Muslims” film’s creator and an Egyptian-American Coptic Christian, as well as the film’s actors and all those involved in its making. The film ridicules Mohammed.

You will remember the same kind of thing happened to British-Indian author Salman Rushdie, whose writings were considered blasphemous, and Taslima Nasrin, a Bangladeshi writer who expressed critical views of Islam, particularly regarding the status and treatment of women.

This was no small matter for Rushdie or Nasrin, forcing both into hiding due to death threats over their expressions critical of Islam.

But why make a film?

Egypt had a revolution in Jan 25 2011.  Now Christians have been killed all over Egypt at an alarming frequency.  In the latest massacre of Coptic Christians in front of the Maspiro building, more than 24 were killed and 250 injured. Reports say that video shows the military taking part in this massacre, using armored vehicles to crush Christians.

I’ve read that Islamist leaders justify special fines against Christians for being non-Muslim.  The fact is Christians in Egypt are being persecuted by Islamists, and are being driven out.  Christian churches are disappearing, are virtually gone, being exterminated like vermin.

And no one apologizes for this.

No one issues a fatwa over this.

The President of the United States does not mention this.

So, unknown individuals, including a Coptic Christian, make an awkward, bumbling, 15-minute movie expressing their disdain of Islam, and post it on the internet.

The reaction:  Bring out the Death Squads.  Destroy all of Western Civilization.  Death to America!  The reaction makes me mad as hell.

It makes me made because if someone in Western Civilization issued a “fatwa of death” they would go to prison for conspiracy to commit murder.  They belong in prison.  In this country we call a “fatwa of death” putting out a “hit” on someone.  Mobsters do that.  We don’t tolerate mobsters, we don’t respect mobsters. We put mobsters in prison.  We put them there because they are a threat to humanity and to civilization.  They belong there.

Here’s the point:  Rushdie, Nasrim, and Nasrallah all employed legal, civilized means of personal expression.  Islamic extremist show their disagreement by employing murder and attempted murder, all toward the end of intimidating and killing expression.

Here’s our prayer: Islamist extremists realize sooner than later the world is filled with human minds equipped with videos, cell phones, blogs, tablets, computers, television, books, and every other form of communication that allows their brothers and sisters to say what they think about religious terrorists.

Here’s our fatwa: We hereby issue our own fatwa on intimidation.  Every free person has an obligation to kill the use of intimidation in every form, including religious tyranny, with whatever artistic, legal, literary, or other humanly civilized tool he or she has.

May peace be with you.

Posted in murder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work – YouTube

Posted on February 9, 2012 by

Here embedded is a brief talk by Shawn Achor, author of the Happiness Advantage.  He gives a quick overview of such principles as focusing on health rather than illness, meditation, acts of kindness, journaling about gratitude, and exercise.  An enjoyable and fast-moving presentation concerning  positive psychology.   Happy Secret to Better Work.

Posted in I Journal, journaling, Mental Health, positive psychology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stopping Self-Harm Urges Using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) | Bipolar Burble | Natasha Tracy | Writer

Posted on February 1, 2012 by

I’m posting from Natasha Tracy’s blog the following, with the thought that this is basic but useful information concerning DBT and avoiding self-harm.

Self-Harm Avoidance Techniques

T – Change your body temperature to change your autonomic nervous system (the part of your body that handles unconscious functions like breathing and heart rate)

Take advantage of your dive reflex, seen when you dive into cold water. Hold your breath and submerge your face into ice water or hold cold packs up to your face. It’s important that you get the eye socket area and under the eye cold.

Warm your body to relax. Soak in a warm bath or put your feet in hot water.

I – Intensely exercise to calm down a body revved up by stress and emotions.

Engage in intense exercise even if only for a short time

Expend your body’s pent up energy and strength by running, walking fast, walking up stairs, playing basketball, weightlifting, etc.

P – Progressively relax your muscles. (There are many relaxation and meditation techniques that work to do this.)

Starting with your hands and moving to your forearms, upper arms, shoulders, neck, forehead, eyes, cheeks and lips, tongue and teeth, chest, upper back, stomach, buttocks, thighs, calves, ankles and feet – tense for 10 seconds the relax each muscle and move onto the next.

Putting Self-Harm Avoidance Techniques into Practice

Only you can stop your own self-harm. You have to trust that some of these techniques are going to work for you but you have to actually do them for them to work. You have to want to stop your self-harm. You have to reach out to others. You have to get help. You can stop self-harming, but you have to do the work to make it happen.

Note: TIP self-harm avoidance techniques provided by local DBT practitioners.

via Stopping Self-Harm Urges Using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) | Bipolar Burble | Natasha Tracy | Writer.

Posted in self-mutilation, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, DBT | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment