Fourteen months ago, I suffered a tragic loss that resulted in profound grief. Most extended family members were not very supportive. They were grieving as well but they would say things to me like, "you should go talk to someone, I don't know how to help you but you need help." It was really hurtful. It made me feel like a freak. After 3 months of doing practically nothing, I decided I wanted to live. I joined a gym and attended fitness and yoga classes to restore my fitness but also as a way to pass the time with distractions (and with strangers who know nothing about me). Anyway, getting to the point in relation to your article, in the yoga classes I was doing there were periods of meditation. These were difficult at first because I thought I would just start to cry with all distraction suspended for those moments. Also, I didn't really relate to the "me centered" meditation. So I just started to pray. I prayed for myself sometimes but I also would focus on my closest loved ones. Just asking for comfort and wisdom and courage and so on and also expressing gratitude for them. And I've been praying ever since. I still get sad every day but I'm slowly recovering and along with the support of a few loved ones, the prayer is key. And now I focus on expanding my prayer beyond my grief and toward others who are facing difficulty. A good friend is having heart surgery today. Multiple jabs yet he seems clueless. I pray for his survival and recovery. I pray for his family.
Totally agree. Thank you to you and your cousin. I am a counsellor working in a body centred and transpersonal way. I recall, during my training in integrative counselling, that I was the only one in our cohort that was comfortable in the realm of the soul and spirit. Everyone else expressed fear of exploring the transpersonal with their future clients. Often, during our sessions, I would feel called to challenge the narratives being propogated by the tutors. It was educational, to say the least. I now witness first hand the harmful consequences of mainstream psychiatric meds (I support the bereaved) and doctors dishing out SSRIs like sweets... people on depression meds for 20 or even 30 years. They tend to be completely disconnected from their emotions, numbed and often suicidal (one of the known serious side effects). Now there is a group of critical psychiatrists whom are challenging their 'profession' like Joanna Moncrieff and Sami Timimi. More needs to be done.
I am not traditionally religious anymore, but I have still found myself defending Christianity and other faiths in conversations with friends. I do it because I know spirituality to be one of the most beautiful facets of human perception, but I also do it to challenge my friends’ arrogant and often baseless assertions that science is superior.
There is such a palpably hateful response to religious spirituality in science-worshippers; it’s almost performative. I think it is related to liberal “virtue-signaling”, and I say this a politically left-leaning moderate. It’s a close-minded, conditioned response for many of them, and they often use it to silence opposition. Just like in the Fauci example.
Science is absolutely a religion for most of my friends. It’s as if they think that all experiments, studies, and peer-review processes are perfect and unbiased. This despite knowing that humans designed them, and even when conflicts of interest are involved, such as monetary and social incentive (publication in prestigious science journals). Many will believe anything “science” says in order to fill the void which cultural secularity gouges in them. Science is not worthless, but it will always be incomplete without the acknowledgement of the soul.
The poem Ozymandias by Shelley captures the impermanence of form, yet the ego tends to bypass that fact. The bigger consciousness is ineffable, and using the word God reduces an experience to an image or concept, which I don't think is what God is at all. Christianity today seems to follow a cult and/or business model. No such model existed for the Neanderthals. The problem with science in terms of soul exploration, one needs to be able to reproduce the results in an experiment to verify. The world of psychic phenomena doesn't operate according to the same laws that apply to the material world. We don't have the tools to measure. But the component of soul is experienced by an individual nonetheless, it is outside of belief. The reductionistic model of medicine which divides the person into body parts, and mental parts all independent of each other has nothing to offer for reintegration that is needed for healing. I think heeding the messages of dreams is a good start on the path.
Much has been studied and written about the harms of traditional (toxic) masculinity. Talk to any mother of a teenaged boy and she will tell you that she's sad and terrified that her boy is loosing his soul to the likes of Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson, incel culture etc. - that traditional masculinity in today's culture means having the ability to be excruciatingly callous, mean, rude and sexist; pretending to love porn and love mistreating women, macho tough guy pretending. That cause is not at all at odds with what you are saying...it's a subset of a larger conversation. "APA’s new Guidelines for Psychological Practice With Boys and Men strive to recognize and address these problems in boys and men while remaining sensitive to the field’s androcentric past. "Thirteen years in the making, they draw on more than 40 years of research showing that traditional masculinity is psychologically harmful and that socializing boys to suppress their emotions causes damage that echoes both inwardly and outwardly" - surely you agree that socialising boys to suppress emotions is damaging g to their soul. What is a soul if not feelings, thoughts and how a person connects to the world?
I disagree that traditional masculinity is toxic and I oppose the APA's representation of it. However, how certain forms of male behavior are portrayed and how some men can act can certainly be harmful... I would just not in anyway refer to that as masculine. That behavior is the opposite of masculine. Masculinity in my opinion represents courage in face of fear, standing up for and protecting those who are vulnerable, respectful of women, loving commitment to wife and family, taking care of your family and being an active father. Stoicism can provide great value and is not the same as emotional suppression. The APA is a political organization that is swayed by specific ideology. They are in the worst position to create guidelines for men- which is why many men avoid therapy. We can all agree we require honorable and masculine men more than ever. Men are not women and do not cope in the same way. Men are also placed in positions in society and with their families that require certain mindsets and behaviors. I could go on... but we need to protect masculinity from those who want to defile it and associate it with abuse and sociopathic behavior.
Agree with your definition of masculinity but I think that is the ideal - what it is supposed to mean, what we wish it was - rather than reality unfortunately. Men who take care of families, are active fathers, vulnerable etc. are more often described as Kind, caring, vulnerable etc. rather than "masculine". I think pre adolescent and adolescent boys are fed a steady diet of violence, use, abuse, kick down and repress masquerading as "masculinity". And are "shamed" by media influencers and, to some extent, peers, for daring to have a soul. You look at what boys are looking at and it is tragic. Tragic. Maybe we're lost in the weeds of semantics - traditional vs. toxic masculinity.
While I'm Christian and happy to call a higher power God I understand that this is problematic for many people for many reasons. (That's why they call it "a higher power" in Alcoholics Anonymous). Here in rural America we have a not insignificant spiritual abuse problem - people brought up in extremely dehumanising "religious" environments who become physically ill at the mere mention of Jesus Christ. Trauma. My church has a weekly support group for "spiritual recovery" - it's a big group. My point is that I think there is more than one way to access the soul. Very interested in the studies about nature, somatic healing, pets and yes, prayer.
Don't know much about the APA being a political organisation but I don't doubt it and would love to hear more. VERY interested in your ideas about Big Pharma and agree with your thesis that we have medicalised human experience. Thank you for you work in this area - so important. So many lives stuck and ruined by this garbage. Do you have a piece on how antidepressants change the architecture of the brain?
Fourteen months ago, I suffered a tragic loss that resulted in profound grief. Most extended family members were not very supportive. They were grieving as well but they would say things to me like, "you should go talk to someone, I don't know how to help you but you need help." It was really hurtful. It made me feel like a freak. After 3 months of doing practically nothing, I decided I wanted to live. I joined a gym and attended fitness and yoga classes to restore my fitness but also as a way to pass the time with distractions (and with strangers who know nothing about me). Anyway, getting to the point in relation to your article, in the yoga classes I was doing there were periods of meditation. These were difficult at first because I thought I would just start to cry with all distraction suspended for those moments. Also, I didn't really relate to the "me centered" meditation. So I just started to pray. I prayed for myself sometimes but I also would focus on my closest loved ones. Just asking for comfort and wisdom and courage and so on and also expressing gratitude for them. And I've been praying ever since. I still get sad every day but I'm slowly recovering and along with the support of a few loved ones, the prayer is key. And now I focus on expanding my prayer beyond my grief and toward others who are facing difficulty. A good friend is having heart surgery today. Multiple jabs yet he seems clueless. I pray for his survival and recovery. I pray for his family.
Totally agree. Thank you to you and your cousin. I am a counsellor working in a body centred and transpersonal way. I recall, during my training in integrative counselling, that I was the only one in our cohort that was comfortable in the realm of the soul and spirit. Everyone else expressed fear of exploring the transpersonal with their future clients. Often, during our sessions, I would feel called to challenge the narratives being propogated by the tutors. It was educational, to say the least. I now witness first hand the harmful consequences of mainstream psychiatric meds (I support the bereaved) and doctors dishing out SSRIs like sweets... people on depression meds for 20 or even 30 years. They tend to be completely disconnected from their emotions, numbed and often suicidal (one of the known serious side effects). Now there is a group of critical psychiatrists whom are challenging their 'profession' like Joanna Moncrieff and Sami Timimi. More needs to be done.
I am not traditionally religious anymore, but I have still found myself defending Christianity and other faiths in conversations with friends. I do it because I know spirituality to be one of the most beautiful facets of human perception, but I also do it to challenge my friends’ arrogant and often baseless assertions that science is superior.
There is such a palpably hateful response to religious spirituality in science-worshippers; it’s almost performative. I think it is related to liberal “virtue-signaling”, and I say this a politically left-leaning moderate. It’s a close-minded, conditioned response for many of them, and they often use it to silence opposition. Just like in the Fauci example.
Science is absolutely a religion for most of my friends. It’s as if they think that all experiments, studies, and peer-review processes are perfect and unbiased. This despite knowing that humans designed them, and even when conflicts of interest are involved, such as monetary and social incentive (publication in prestigious science journals). Many will believe anything “science” says in order to fill the void which cultural secularity gouges in them. Science is not worthless, but it will always be incomplete without the acknowledgement of the soul.
The poem Ozymandias by Shelley captures the impermanence of form, yet the ego tends to bypass that fact. The bigger consciousness is ineffable, and using the word God reduces an experience to an image or concept, which I don't think is what God is at all. Christianity today seems to follow a cult and/or business model. No such model existed for the Neanderthals. The problem with science in terms of soul exploration, one needs to be able to reproduce the results in an experiment to verify. The world of psychic phenomena doesn't operate according to the same laws that apply to the material world. We don't have the tools to measure. But the component of soul is experienced by an individual nonetheless, it is outside of belief. The reductionistic model of medicine which divides the person into body parts, and mental parts all independent of each other has nothing to offer for reintegration that is needed for healing. I think heeding the messages of dreams is a good start on the path.
Maybe your cousin should become a pastor.
Thank you for your excellent work doc.
Respect. Same team here 😇
Much has been studied and written about the harms of traditional (toxic) masculinity. Talk to any mother of a teenaged boy and she will tell you that she's sad and terrified that her boy is loosing his soul to the likes of Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson, incel culture etc. - that traditional masculinity in today's culture means having the ability to be excruciatingly callous, mean, rude and sexist; pretending to love porn and love mistreating women, macho tough guy pretending. That cause is not at all at odds with what you are saying...it's a subset of a larger conversation. "APA’s new Guidelines for Psychological Practice With Boys and Men strive to recognize and address these problems in boys and men while remaining sensitive to the field’s androcentric past. "Thirteen years in the making, they draw on more than 40 years of research showing that traditional masculinity is psychologically harmful and that socializing boys to suppress their emotions causes damage that echoes both inwardly and outwardly" - surely you agree that socialising boys to suppress emotions is damaging g to their soul. What is a soul if not feelings, thoughts and how a person connects to the world?
I disagree that traditional masculinity is toxic and I oppose the APA's representation of it. However, how certain forms of male behavior are portrayed and how some men can act can certainly be harmful... I would just not in anyway refer to that as masculine. That behavior is the opposite of masculine. Masculinity in my opinion represents courage in face of fear, standing up for and protecting those who are vulnerable, respectful of women, loving commitment to wife and family, taking care of your family and being an active father. Stoicism can provide great value and is not the same as emotional suppression. The APA is a political organization that is swayed by specific ideology. They are in the worst position to create guidelines for men- which is why many men avoid therapy. We can all agree we require honorable and masculine men more than ever. Men are not women and do not cope in the same way. Men are also placed in positions in society and with their families that require certain mindsets and behaviors. I could go on... but we need to protect masculinity from those who want to defile it and associate it with abuse and sociopathic behavior.
Agree with your definition of masculinity but I think that is the ideal - what it is supposed to mean, what we wish it was - rather than reality unfortunately. Men who take care of families, are active fathers, vulnerable etc. are more often described as Kind, caring, vulnerable etc. rather than "masculine". I think pre adolescent and adolescent boys are fed a steady diet of violence, use, abuse, kick down and repress masquerading as "masculinity". And are "shamed" by media influencers and, to some extent, peers, for daring to have a soul. You look at what boys are looking at and it is tragic. Tragic. Maybe we're lost in the weeds of semantics - traditional vs. toxic masculinity.
While I'm Christian and happy to call a higher power God I understand that this is problematic for many people for many reasons. (That's why they call it "a higher power" in Alcoholics Anonymous). Here in rural America we have a not insignificant spiritual abuse problem - people brought up in extremely dehumanising "religious" environments who become physically ill at the mere mention of Jesus Christ. Trauma. My church has a weekly support group for "spiritual recovery" - it's a big group. My point is that I think there is more than one way to access the soul. Very interested in the studies about nature, somatic healing, pets and yes, prayer.
Don't know much about the APA being a political organisation but I don't doubt it and would love to hear more. VERY interested in your ideas about Big Pharma and agree with your thesis that we have medicalised human experience. Thank you for you work in this area - so important. So many lives stuck and ruined by this garbage. Do you have a piece on how antidepressants change the architecture of the brain?