Chain Reactions:

Of Both Good And Evil
By Patricia Lefave, Labelled, D.D.(P)
First posted December 2005
The Chain Reaction That Is Group Evil:
Many of us know that makes us "sick" (psychologically) and keeps us sick, is the invalidation of our experience by everyone around us and the isolation into which we are forced as a means of control used by others.

This invalidation, isolation, and constant violation of our personal boundaries often grows to include the public at large, especially true now that psychiatry has invited nearly everyone into it's A.C.T. Public abuse often becomes a daily part of our lives, especially if we dare to disagree with our saviours and/or our diagnosis. We are not "allowed" to protest, or even talk about this to others without the result frequently being on the receiving end of more oppression or the threatened promise of more unwanted "help." This is the chain reaction that destroys lives, minds, relationships and often any hope of escape or future well being.

The view from the position of the psychiatrized is confusing, mystifying, frightening, often enraging and horrifying. Of course, these reactions are not understood by those who fail to see themselves, and their participation from the psychiatrized individual's point of view. This is especially true when those who get involved in these group assaults see themselves as individual's "observing" us and not as members of a mob, watching, assessing, evaluating, gossiping about, and following us. All, it would seem, have convinced themselves that we, whom THEY perceive as less than human, are unaware of them, even when they are acting out abusively from four feet away!

The warped psychology of that seems to be this: "Abuse is NOT abuse as long as the abused does not KNOW that he or she is being abused. "

This is how the abusive "normals" grant themselves permission to act out on vulnerable scapegoats, provided for them by a society that will not own it's own warped thinking and behaviour. Since our complaints of this have already been pathologized before any of these group events have even begun, the abusive in our communities feel safe to do it since we, who are their victims, will not be believed anyway.

You might like to read M. Scott Peck's (M.D.)"People of the Lie"

(I once slapped it down on the desk of one of the psychiatrists who was "helping" me by pretending she didn't know anything)


Creating A Chain Reaction of Good:
As difficult as it is to turn this "sow's ear" into a "silk purse" I believe we CAN do it.

The first thing we need to do is stop trying to "get through" to those who can not or will not hear us and our complaints as legitimate. Instead, we recognize ourselves as the best support system we've got since this is an experience we all share. We turn our horrifying experience inside the collective unconscious into a healing experience of the collective consciousness, with those of us a little bit ahead in the understanding of it, connecting to those who are pulling themselves out but who are a little bit behind us. We treat each other with the equality, dignity, encouragement and respect that we can not get from our abuser or from the current mental health system.

We "allow" each other to speak our truth, reveal our perceptions and express our emotions about it all from our collective experience. We validate ourselves both as individuals, and as a group, by speaking from the first person singular, with an attitude of mutual respect and caring. We talk straight, we don't play "covert" head games with each other, and we all find our genuine Selves in the process.

In this way, we will create our own chain reaction of growth, healing, encouragement and understanding which will counteract the chain reaction of oppression, sickness, disdain and mystification. Ultimately, I believe, we will have a "silk purse" that will be the envy of every "sow's ear" on the planet. Don't give up hope. You are not alone.


onCA