My mind, life, views, body, and abilities, have changed drastically since I was finishing up college and starting my last blog, Mad Science Writer, over four years ago. That blog was meant to be dense with posts full of sources and critical analysis, but I never felt that I could adequately get the job done because my life was a mess. I didn't understand why, then, but gradually learning why has unlocked universes for me, in more ways than one.
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As I found, things were not so serene as they looked on the surface... |
One goal for this blog is to write more the way that I think, which is extremely challenging to do with language. One of the most important concepts I've learned in life is
denominalization. The 'things' we talk about are actually processes, and
endowing processes with 'thingness' affects how we think about them. In
everyday terms, you might think of solid objects like bookshelves or
fossils as 'things', because their rate of change is very slow.
Yet, relationships are not 'things' in the everyday sense, in that
you cannot put one in a wheelbarrow. It is safe to say that 'a
relationship' consists of behaviors, thoughts, and emotions. Relating is an
action that you do rather than an object that you have.
Because nominalizing distorts how we think about the world, it affects one's ability to think critically and make rational decisions, and even limits one's ability to experience life. So, I've completely changed how I think over the years in order to accommodate this mode of thought, the utility of which should become apparent.
Along this vein, I have taken all
the labels off myself, and thus all humans. I literally do not see people as citizens, sports
fans, lawyers, Christians, atheists, republicans, parents, clerks,
professors, etc. They
are human beings.
I used to think this was impossible and
thus a laughable prospect, simply because I could not make it work in my
head. But now, with all that I've been through, I think of myself as 'just
human', a large-brained, largely-hairless female primate, who isn't in
bad shape, considering.
Since this is how I think,
I therefore cannot think of myself as the "Mad Science Writer", whether
or not I'm writing about science, and whether or not I've actually gone
mad.
Back in January 2012, I began that blog as I was finishing up college, and looking forward to catching up on all the cool science I had been neglecting to learn about. After a lifetime of emotional trauma, I was still dealing with trauma-induced numbness (commonly called "conversion disorder" <-nominalization).
I was looking forward to living free of dysfunctional roommates
(<-label), eventually replacing them with medicinal cannabis
plants.
I could have used the plants more than I actually did, had I known that my body was as grossly deformed and disabled as it actually was, nor that the sometimes-overwhelming pain was anything more than a constant annoyance. I was not able to hide these problems from others, so they made fun of me, and I thought of it more as an embarrassment than anything.
After over a decade of going to abusive 'therapists' (<-label), I was seeing a psychologist (<-label), with a Ph.D. in 'treating PTSD', and who co-wrote a book on this subject. He agreed that everything I told him was consistent with PTSD (<-nominalization), and that the 'therapists' who told me otherwise were claiming I had other issues just to control me.
Trying to make someone think they're losing their mind is called
gaslighting, and it's an important concept I'll be talking about on this outlet. This psychologist had observed some of my former therapists and said that indeed they are
like sharks, attacking in a frenzy when there's blood in the water. He
agreed that they should not even be around people who are so vulnerable.
Then I told this supposedly learned psychologist about the abuse I was still going through, and not
just with the remaining roommates. The second man who wanted to marry
me (whom I refer to as X) had some pretty severe gaslighting episodes that affected my life, and had even almost killed me.
Some
of these incidents (
which I've blogged about) include trying to convince me
that "there's no gas leak" and "you're not drowning" when the opposite
was true. When I say 'almost killed me', it's no joke. And what he did to the cat, Violet, that's just inhuman. She was the best cat ever, no animal deserves the months of pain and suffering she went through, and it's taken me a long time to forgive myself for not stopping him and believing him sometimes when he said "she's getting better".
Yet, the psychologist seemed to think that I would be best off coping and finding better ways of living with this dangerous maniac and other people I shouldn't be around. So, he had a Ph.D. in helping traumatized people, and instead of empowering me, he enabled the abusers! How?