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I recently posted some thoughts on the case of Mark Becker, who killed his ex-football coach while suffering from the delusion that he was Satan and was trying to control the children of his town. Some people took exception to the fact that I called him a “psychotic killer”, apparently believing that all case of schizophrenia are caused by psychological trauma, a belief that is a revival of the “schizophrenogenic mother” theory advocated decades ago by my former professors at Yale, Theodore Lidz and Steven Fleck. An idea which has fortunately been dropped into the trash bins of psychiatric history, BTW.
Now we can all agree that Mark Becker killed someone, and that he was psychotic at the time, unless you want to convince me that football coaches are actually Satan and that you can use teddy bears to hypnotize people. Why calling him a “psychotic killer” is therefore offensive is therefore beyond me. Whether or not he was traumatized by his family, I have no idea, since I never interviewed them, but to assume that he was is my opinion fairly lame.
What gets me is that these posters feel like that since I am a psychiatrist they can throw whatever rocks they feel like. I mean, just because you are suffering from mental distress, or a mental disorder, or whatever you want to call it, doesn’t mean that you can act like a troll. This isn’t the first time this has happened, so I am calling them out. This is no excuse to act like a mean person.
In their post, they took advantage of the fact that I had previously written about my mother, who died when I was four and a half years old, an event that was deeply traumatizing for me. They said that my experiences, in comparison to the trauma that all schizophrenics suffer, apparently at the hands of their families and the mental health system, were “trifling” and insignificant” in comparison. Why they had to bring my mother into this, I don’t know. But All I have to say is …
Leave my mother out of this.
Making comments like that is dehumanizing and insensitive. There is no excuse for that. You can’t judge my experiences and what I feel. I’m sorry if you are angry at the mental health system. But I am not responsible for whatever happened to you. If you don’t like what I write, don’t read it.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sarah Glenn, Doug Bremner. Doug Bremner said: My response to attacks on my recent Mark Becker post | BYTTP http://bit.ly/aTiZ6A [...]
I was alarmed at the post at Marian’s downplaying your trauma from your mother’s death, which wasn’t just a death, the details left out growing up, only to find out she was never claimed after dying—PTSD happens to all of us in some way and no one should negate another’s to benefit their arguement, it makes it then appear the “my pain is worse than yours” BS.
What I’d like to bring into the discussion regarding trauma induced psychosis, is how medications and traumas affected my own daughter and finally a psychiatrist stated the obvious that had been happening over the years from the exact care she was receiving being in the wrong setting, the mental health setting.
She was forcibly injected, hand-cuffed by police when found missing, and a myriad of other traumas, all triggered by an entry into the mental health system by a SSRI psychotic reaction.
The blame the parents and family for all trauma induced psychosis is just not balanced enough, using what happened to my daughter as an example.
The psychiatrist who helped actually get her moved out of the psych system into recovery said it best:
“These drugs were not designed for people like her, and the traumas such as police handcuffing her induce psychosis.”
Exactly…think about how many people have had things happen to them without their families involved…how about rape? violent crimes happen to the person, they have a psychotic break, labeled SZ in the system…then who says it’s mom’s fault?
Everyone has a different story, and frankly I know I’ve been traumatized by seeing what I have inside the psych wards, to the point, I could claim PSTD from it….but I’ll weather it out.
btw, I hesitantly chimed in here, knowing it would probably freak people out, but I really was blown away at the negating of Doug’s feelings over his mother’s death, which is quite complex. Just because he is a psychiatrist, remember all this happened in his childhood, why not take it from there?
I will shut up now!
How is it that you can be writing a post on your website June 18th and within an hour writing me an email asking for money to help you because you were mugged at gunpoint in London? Has your yahoo email account been hijacked?
I figured out it is a scam:
I should have noticed right away that whoever hijacked your account signed it “James”, so it is not you.
Yeah, I got that email too. I offered to help so will see if the little miscreants respond. Ha ha! Hope you are well soul brother!
Ha ha Here is there response….. Doug?
Glad to hear back from you.It has really been embarrassing for me.$1,500 will cover all my expenses but i will appreciate whatsoever you can afford to wire right now, I promise to refund it to you as soon as I arrive home. You can wire it to my name from a western union outlet around. Here are the details you need to get it to me;
Name – James Bremner
Address: 42 Richmond Mews, London W1D 3DH, England
Country: London, United Kingdom
I still have my passport so I can use it as identification, e-mail me the transfer details and the confirmation number include the amount sent..
Let me know as soon as you are heading out to the Western union.
__
James
I wouldn’t stress too much. Most muggles don’t understand “psychotic” as a clinical term. They hear the word and automatically think of Norman Bates and people dancing naked covered in lady-skin.
Like “ignorant” it’s a word that has strayed from the definition in common usage.
These guys are really annoying. I had the same password for facebook, twitter and email and they went on all three! Now the email account is locked so I don’t know what is going on.
I agree with Rossa (and Bertram Karon) that Schizophrenia ia a terror disease and the trauma involved is subtle. I’m sorry about her comments regarding your mother’s death, though I can understand the root of her anger (given my rotten experience with psychiatrists! It’s a little infuriating to read a psychiatrist’s opinion that his reaction to trauma is normal and healthy, but the “schizophrenic” is sick). However, your losing your mother at such a young age is a tremendous trauma and no one should trivialize it.
Doug, I too got an email, new it was bogus. “James”. There has been news reports in regards to this type of scam. Its usually the elderly who are targeted.
I think I got my hacker problems fixed. Hopefully noone sent any money.
@Kimbriel when did I ever say that my reaction to trauma was normal and healthy? And why do you assume that noone became psychotic in response to the situation?
Schizophrenia involves not only delusions and hallucinations. It is a chronic and debilitating disorder. Yes, trauma can lead to psychotic symptoms. Yes, schizophrenics can be traumatized. That doesn’t mean that all schizophrenia’s sole cause is trauma.
I’m confused, here. You refer to “these” posters attacking you on the Mark Becker post, so I went back and looked at it, and I see one poster who was especially critical, and yes, personal, but I don’t see two. Since my post was also posted at Different Thoughts, I must be guilty by association in your mind. Please tell me what it is in my post that attacks you personally or is otherwise disrepectful. Differing opinions as to what psychiatry is or should be are not personal attacks. Apparently now, I am even guilty of attacking your mother and I don’t even know what that is about. One of your commenters (Kimbriel) now thinks I attacked your mother. She may just have confused who I am, but none-the-less, that’s the impression that her comment leaves the readers. I never even knew you wrote about your mother. “They” took advantage of the fact – who’s “they?”. Have I missed something here or is it that you just don’t agree with my strong belief that schizophrenia is not a brain disease? I can live with that, we’re adults here. Or have I got this completely wrong and I am not being included as a “they?”
I know about Schizophrenia, Doug, but unfortunately we must disagree that it is a disease. It is not a medical disease, at least there’s no proof of that yet… I’m just saying I can understand her anger…
Rossa, I never thought you attacked his mother… I don’t think you did… Sorry for giving you that impression… I should have said “marion’s comments”. It’s not always easy to edit comments on the ipad. I thought your comment was fair…
Kimbriel – I thought that it was probably just a confusion, but I also understand Marian’s deeply felt anger about how poorly people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia are viewed, as if they aren’t even human. People with a mental health diagnosis have no voice. Unfortunately, their families are often in collusion with the psychiatrists and the pharmaceutical industry to keep them mentally ill. That is all I am trying to say.
Well, as far as treatment in society and having an SZ label:
When my then-still-mute daughter who presents as appears autistic was missing, the cops were told by the person who called them she was “SZ and off drugs”. THAT caused my daughter to be slammed into the gravel face down and handcuffed, shoved into the back of the police car.
Now that the SZ label has been dropped, she is being treated with FAR more dignity than EVER in the mental health system, so shocking much that it took me a while to be greeted so friendly from staff as a parent myself.
It’s night and day treatment comparison.
When I called police when she was lost and told them she was mute, vulnerable and autistic they placed an APB out and sent cops everywhere looking, immediately and the 2 police who found her were very nice to her.
Anyway, just thought I’d toss that out here, because I have seen the discrimination first hand and even in a medical hospital with her.
*took me a while to get used to being treated better…
That’s disgusting to me… I’m glad Lindsay is doing better. There is so much hope for her, for her future.
Thanks Kimbriel.
Marian has picked my first comment above to highlight “I was alarmed at the post at Marian’s downplaying your trauma from your mother’s death, which wasn’t just a death, the details left out growing up, only to find out she was never claimed after dying—PTSD happens to all of us in some way and no one should negate another’s to benefit their arguement, it makes it then appear the “my pain is worse than yours” BS.”
Yes, I did say that, as the first reaction to the first post she did on this topic and “Dear Doug” letter series of sort.
If you read the comment, you can see I clearly say it can “make it appear” that way, and it did appear that she was not accepting or trivializing his PTSD from his loss of mother.
BUT, of course the bigger picture, larger topic of discussion has emerged as Marian gives more insight to her thoughts on her blog.
I GET IT.
I’m not able to express myself that great in these types of discussions.
It’s why I told of the handcuffing story about my daughter. As a visual and real life story about how ONE PERSON was treated 2 different ways JUST because she had an SZ label.
The very big picture discussion, is of course how pscyhiatrists and the profession do often promote this discrimination.
I’ll leave it at that, I’m sure someone else can write about it better than I can.
Just know, I’ve seen and been witness to myself the degrading of not only my daughter, but others in psych wards, in public and the worst holier than thou attitudes from psychiatrists.
I also empathasize with Doug and the story he tells of his mom. I empathize with everyone in these discussions, and that’s the truth.
I don’t know what is going on but I think that people can misconstrue “psychotic killer” as meaning that we assume all psychotic people are at risk of becoming murderers. At least that’s how it is portrayed and why people think that we have to step in and pre-drug people who are psychotic or at risk for psychosis so they don’t go killing people. But then if some crackhead goes and murders their girlfriend in a heat of jealousy we don’t see people pushing to drug them.
I think if my mom died when I was four I would have been extremely traumatized. Heck, I cried and cried at my big brother who was babysitting me when she left me as a toddler to go on errands for an hour.
I just read the sidebar and saw your recent trackback – for Tweets that mention Do Statins Make You Stupid? After reading this post when I glanced at it my eyes saw: “Does Satan Make You Stupid?”
Oh no, visual hallucination. Maybe I should get some Zyprexa.
@amy No you weren’t hallucinating. I want you to go immediately to the publishers at Random House and tell them to publish Doug’s latest book or there will be consequences.
Regarding family trauma…
One “professional” liked to yell “I’M NOT INTERESTED IN ETIOLOGY.” She also recommended “marijuana in case the meds don’t work.”
Another “professional” told me my Mother had an “axe to grind,” and thus was not “allowed” to be part of my “treatment.”
I salute anybody stuck in the American mental health system and its Flowers for Algernon assault on peace of mind.
@Satan, we don’t make deals with middle women.