BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all.” - Bill Clinton Since the Virgina Tech Tragedy in April and this week's numerous shootings, I have been spending a lot of my online time searching for what the Torah and the Jewish Sages have to say about mental illness, depression and the treatment of trauma. For too long we have swept the problems of mental illness under the carpet... and hoped that they would go away. -- Richard J. Codey Some of what I read was oversimplification. Some of it assumes a level playing field with all the mentally ill. Some of it, unfortunately, posits that mental illness can be controlled by willpower - ignoring medical research that points to the fact that mental illness is caused by chemical changes in the brain that are often permanent and sometimes genetic in cause. Additionally, some say that depression from abuse can be overcome by sheer willpower, completely ignoring once again - that abuse and trauma can cause p...

From the great BEYOND THE PSYCHIATRIC BOX: By Patricia Lefave, Labelled, D.D.(P) These are not opposites. They are the same thing. This is how well trained we are. We are taught to split reality itself and support a double standard as a ''norm.'' Let me give you a concrete example of this. A little while ago, a thirtyish woman I know who is a ''career'' patient, ( someone who attends every new program looking for a "cure" ) corrected me when I told her I thought we all need to learn how to blame appropriately, instead of continuing to travel around the infinite loop of the "No-One-Must-Be-Blamed Game". Patiently, and with a little sigh, she explained something to me that obviously I did not understand. It's not about blame,' she said, parroting the local mental health profession, It's about responsibility or accountability. I responded: Blame MEANS: to hold accountable. She didn't believe it. I looked perplexed at her....

By Ed Edelson -- HealthDay Reporter Ever get a gut feeling something just isn't quite right, and make a decision accordingly? Science is beginning to suggest those instincts may have roots deep in the brain. Research in young volunteers points to some kind of "sixth sense" -- a mechanism in the brain that picks up on subtle clues, then sends out subconscious signals of trouble ahead. The finding could help explain certain intuitive phenomena seen among humans. For example, in the recent Asian tsunami, aboriginal people sought out higher ground in the moments before the disaster, as did many wild animals. Could subtle changes in weather or the environment have warned them early on? Just such an early warning system may exist in the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain area important in processing complex information, according to a report by psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis. Their findings appear in the Feb. 18 issue of the journal Science. In their experi...

God, this is hard Even though I consider my anti-abuse advocacy and helping other victims my Teshuva, I will admit it is helping heal my own inner wounds in ways I would never have thought. This article helps capture that feeling. Adele Ryan McDowell Did you ever hear this story? The young woman goes up to her parish priest and says, "Father, Father, will you please pray for my therapist?" The priest inquires, "Why does your therapist need prayers, my child?" And the young woman replies, "I am in therapy for only one hour each week, but my therapist is there for hours and hours all week long." The young woman had a point. My practice of psychotherapy has been a healing endeavor for me. It has opened my heart beyond my wildest comprehensions, and it has brought forward the very best part of me. I am convinced that one of the reasons the gods directed me into this line of work was to teach me patience. You can't push a process. The work can someti...

FACING THE SHADOW Carl Jung and the Shadow Posted by Andrew S. Carl Jung: What did he mean by 'the shadow'? Carl Jung claimed that facing the shadow was one of the greatest moral challenges a person could face. In this essay, I will explain what Jung meant by this statement, and use a hypothetical example to point out why undertaking such a process may be a moral challenge. I will attempt to verify the plausibility of Jung’s argument by two means: first, I will contrast Jung’s argument to two competing theories (including the death instinct; arguably the Freudian equivalent of the Jungian shadow). Secondly, I will evaluate the Jungian shadow from the hypothetical position of someone who dismisses the Jungian framework overall. At this point, I will evaluate how illuminating the Jungian shadow argument may be to a hypothetical skeptic, and finally from my personal point of view. To understand what Carl Jung meant by the shadow, we’re going to have to back-track a few steps, ...

CAN WE 'LABEL' THE INDIVIDUAL PSYCHE? When I was an actor I found human behavior fascinating. I still do. Sometimes I will watch television or a movie and really work on trying to 'get into the head' of one of the characters. Like Tony Soprano - a sociopath with a conscience. A study in opposites. I used to do this when I worked and I found many of the people around me terribly distrubing. I still do. The people I meet in my advocacy work often intrigue me. Unfortunately, I am so empathetic I feel far too deeply in many cases. I have been in and out of some sort of therapy since about 1980. I know, I'm a stereotype. It was a huge stigma in my family to go. I never told my parents I was going. Besides, my narcissistic parent would have thought I was talking about them all the time. I have been with my current main therapist for over 10 years. I like her and she 'grows' along with me in a very non-judgmental sort of way. I have had other therapist...