Past
"Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it." Remember that truth. I think the behavioral psyschologists have forgotten it.
Thanks to the advent of managed care, behavioral psychology and medicine management have gotten a big boost. Medicine is cheaper for an insurance company than paying for an undefined number of office psychotherapy visits. Since no one likes the idea of an entire populace doped up on Prozac indefinitely, behavioral psychology won acceptance.
In a gross simplification, it works something like this:
Your preferred physician puts you on medication to alleviate the symptoms of depression and refers you to the behavioral shrink down the hall. The behavioral shrink will then meet with you and discuss your recent history ("Why do you think you're depressed?") The behavioralist will have you chart your symptoms so that the two of you can spot triggers. You then work on those triggers.
Depressed because you have no friends? The behavioralist will tell you to get out more - join a club or visit church.
Depressed because you just got divorced? Get back on the dating scene.
Schizophrenic? The behavioralist will make sure your meds are managed appropriately and train you to recognize your symptoms and your triggers.
The behavioralist believes you can be cured by changing your life patterns. We live in the present; your past doesn't matter.
But while this approach works for SOME people, it doesn't work for others.
Why? Because while we all strive to live "in the moment", we live in moments formed by our past. The ex-wife got a divorce because she was unable to trust that a husband wouldn't abuse her as her father had done. The shut-in is trapped by her lack of self-worth and a family that reinforced that belief through constant criticism.
Sending the shut-in to church to meet people won't cure her. It will only enforce her isolation by reminding her that she lacks the ability to connect with people. Lonely in a room full of people.
Psychoanalysts believe that our past has power. That in some people, the experiences of their past can envelope them in a hell of their own design. They see that the shut-in can't form connections with other people because her past taught her time and again that those same connections will fail her.
I've come to realize that there is something powerful in acknowledging my past. For me, the behavioral approach doesn't work because it dismisses the past. But my past is me - it forms who I am today, and why I am neurotic: I am afraid of becoming my mother. I am afraid of spending my whole life wrapped in psychosis; convinced that every man I meet is an abuser, every kid a drug addict, every neighbor a thief.
The behaviorist hears this and says, "Well, don't isolate yourself as your mother has done. Get out, meet people, form more friendships, make connections, and date men." All of which dismisses the impact my mother has had on me.
I can't make connections, I can't let go - I'm a control freak. Why? Because my experiences with my mother have taught me to fear chaos. And what is the nature of love? The ability to let go. Chaos incarnate.
The psychoanalyst hears, "I'm afraid of becoming my mother" and says, "Why do you fear becoming your mother? What did she do that makes you afraid?" And you begin a guided journey into your past.
Through that journey into your history, you begin to recognize the "Whys". Why you have to always obey the rules. Why you can't let men into your life. Why you have difficulty forming attachments.
Our past has power. Those who disregard their past are doomed to repeat it.
Thanks to the advent of managed care, behavioral psychology and medicine management have gotten a big boost. Medicine is cheaper for an insurance company than paying for an undefined number of office psychotherapy visits. Since no one likes the idea of an entire populace doped up on Prozac indefinitely, behavioral psychology won acceptance.
In a gross simplification, it works something like this:
Your preferred physician puts you on medication to alleviate the symptoms of depression and refers you to the behavioral shrink down the hall. The behavioral shrink will then meet with you and discuss your recent history ("Why do you think you're depressed?") The behavioralist will have you chart your symptoms so that the two of you can spot triggers. You then work on those triggers.
Depressed because you have no friends? The behavioralist will tell you to get out more - join a club or visit church.
Depressed because you just got divorced? Get back on the dating scene.
Schizophrenic? The behavioralist will make sure your meds are managed appropriately and train you to recognize your symptoms and your triggers.
The behavioralist believes you can be cured by changing your life patterns. We live in the present; your past doesn't matter.
But while this approach works for SOME people, it doesn't work for others.
Why? Because while we all strive to live "in the moment", we live in moments formed by our past. The ex-wife got a divorce because she was unable to trust that a husband wouldn't abuse her as her father had done. The shut-in is trapped by her lack of self-worth and a family that reinforced that belief through constant criticism.
Sending the shut-in to church to meet people won't cure her. It will only enforce her isolation by reminding her that she lacks the ability to connect with people. Lonely in a room full of people.
Psychoanalysts believe that our past has power. That in some people, the experiences of their past can envelope them in a hell of their own design. They see that the shut-in can't form connections with other people because her past taught her time and again that those same connections will fail her.
I've come to realize that there is something powerful in acknowledging my past. For me, the behavioral approach doesn't work because it dismisses the past. But my past is me - it forms who I am today, and why I am neurotic: I am afraid of becoming my mother. I am afraid of spending my whole life wrapped in psychosis; convinced that every man I meet is an abuser, every kid a drug addict, every neighbor a thief.
The behaviorist hears this and says, "Well, don't isolate yourself as your mother has done. Get out, meet people, form more friendships, make connections, and date men." All of which dismisses the impact my mother has had on me.
I can't make connections, I can't let go - I'm a control freak. Why? Because my experiences with my mother have taught me to fear chaos. And what is the nature of love? The ability to let go. Chaos incarnate.
The psychoanalyst hears, "I'm afraid of becoming my mother" and says, "Why do you fear becoming your mother? What did she do that makes you afraid?" And you begin a guided journey into your past.
Through that journey into your history, you begin to recognize the "Whys". Why you have to always obey the rules. Why you can't let men into your life. Why you have difficulty forming attachments.
Our past has power. Those who disregard their past are doomed to repeat it.
posted by Cary at 2:47 PM
1 Comments:
Cary,
There's a line in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier that fits perfectly with what you're saying here:
Kirk: Damn it, Bones, you're a doctor. You know that pain and guilt can't be taken away with a wave of a magic wand. They're the things we carry with us, the things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves. I don't want my pain taken away! I need my pain!
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