Zoe Williams is one of the few Grauniad journalists - I think the term ‘journalist’ is fairly appropriate in her case - who didn’t disgust me during the paper’s assault on Corbyn. (Perhaps I’m being naive, and/or my memory is being too kind to her, but that’s how I remember it.)
In the end, psychiatry is simply society in a white coat, the medical end of the norm-enforcement and denial of reality that drives individuals to suppress their trauma in the first place.
Sounds worth a read. In a similar vein there’s Gabor Maté’s later book (2019) When The Body Says No. This is more specific than the v d Kolk sounds, focusing on stress and the dangers of resisting stress so determinedly that a fuse blows elsewhere in the system. (Crude paraphrase but not unfair I think.)
And as far as I know: yes, related to (father of) Aaron Maté.
Sidetracking my own thread (it was pretty tangential in the first place, so it doesn’t matter much, and it certainly isn’t worth starting another tangential thread to avoid sidetracking it):
I skimmed through a few of ZW’s articles written during the blitz on Corbyn, and they were indeed reasonable, and therefore untypical of the Grauniad at the time, just as I remembered. What I had forgotten, however, was this article, written before Corbyn’s ascent:
So it’s strange to see her using the word ‘Blairite’ in a disapproving manner (not approving, anyway), in the post-2015 articles I reviewed. She seems to have done some trimming.
Think you’re right about the bulk of psychiatry, Twirl. Shamanic soul-retrieval, otoh, is an ancient, genuine soul healing technique which still very much does authentically what it says in the name. Those in need should try it.
BUT search out diligently an authentic shamanic practitioner who is actually doing the real stuff. I know one such, and I see the results of her skills. This stuff, ancient, proven and authentic, really works.
With sarcasm richly spread, like Nutella on a really posh sarnie, this is a snide rejoinder to Zoe. I agree, as a former reader of (mainly the Saturday edition) the Graun, that ZW was one of the less egregious. But that was All A Long Time Ago, definitely pre Snowden if you catch my drift.
Cracking down on cigarette smoking tipped me over the edge to become an ex smoker, helped by a Pfizer pill, champix. As this may have extended my life by some years (and certainly helped the cash flow) I doff the hat to the early Blair govt. It’s about the only credit I’d give though and by then it was inevitable anyway. Yup: I can do whataboutery just like all the other hypocrites 