A $230,000 student loan: loan forgiveness is not the issue - cost - is the issue.

Maybe it's time to investigate the creditors, loan processors and even better the university system financial aid offices.

           PHOTO CREDIT:  Shane on Unsplash

A $230,000 bill for college tuition and... take a read of this article and it's the cost of the education that is suspect....

It may also be time to remove the non-profit tax exemption statuses of universities as well. The feds need money, the universities really do not. Tax exemption to the acedemians and funded researchers who are being paid mostly by student loan money (except those research projects funded by...).  

The Biden Admin, the folks at Navient, the Missouri MOHELA loan processing corporation, the gazillion lawyers, the Supreme Court - and hell I don't know how many other political blame the other guy parties involved in these shenanigans- who are supposedly waving the flags of "helping" or "saving" us all from the opposition.... just ABSOLUTELY MISSING THE POINT.  

Say what you want ... this guy has college degrees that cost $230,000 - without bank interest clearly known. and I thought that was shameful. TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.

Manipulation and forethought...

Changing views in mental health begins with changing lexicon.  Here's a different view on what inhibits bias change ...

Mental health and maybe just really pissed off?

Taken from my instagram...

The system sent this police officer to jail for freezing his ASD son to death; many many systems failed. Now what?

This article and another similar indicate a several year history of child abuse in the home of a police officer hurting and killing his autistic son.  Another article is quoted to say that school officials stated the child was underfed and neglected... two systems involved who are to protect protect.  Now the security footage is a question as well ... who saw that stuff "in the cloud" if that's where it was?  

            PHOTO CREDIT:  Kat J and Unsplash

Before I rant here's one quote:

"Suffolk County Department of Social Services Commissioner Frances Pierre said in a statement at the time of Valva's arrest that child neglect was alleged in the household in 2018, triggering a one-year child supervision program."

In 2018.  I'll say that again,  in 2018.

So this was known.   Reunification of families (keeping kids in their homes) is a federal mandate.  But here there are several layers that make the gaps in protection horrific in evidentiary failure:

1. Youth with ASD have added protection sensitivity as they are classified as not only minors to be kept safe from abuse,  but they are a"vulnerable population." The state and others have a responsibility to act at a higher level when reports are made. 

2. A parent in law enforcement is not a more protected (shielded) class in abuse scenarios.  They,  law enforcement,  "by their public service" are also to be more closely scrutinized when abuse is previously substantiated, as it was in 2018.   Again,  a higher level of protecting the child is indicated,  especially with law enforcement as the perpetrator.

3. Some states see schools as an institution of protecting youth as a status to attend to - with greater sensitivity as well.  In other words,  if abuse is found in those instituions (discovered, reported) Shevchenko if child welfare act more quickly. 

4. In this case, I can almost bet with high certainty there were multiple prior abuse reports from the school to the child protecting agencies...multiple enough that they lead to a one year supervised visitation with the dad and his ASD children, a police officer, with vulnerable population status youth,  from the school to child welfare. 

5. The above,  with only a little speculation on my part (see number 4), is sufficient given what is now known in 2020 and in 2022, to merit a full discovery and disclosure of the institutions involved in the oversight of these kids, looking at every protocol for the affected/ involved schools, child welfare agencies, law enforcement, social workers teachers, legal parties previously involved, GALs (guardian ad litems), mental health providers ... where many many gaps are why and how this child died.

It is not enough to focus on the abuse of a perpetrator of such crimes when this many people were already involved in this kids life long before he died.  Those systems must be evaluated, correctively acted upon, with program improvement and change.

I wrote extensively about this topic in 2004, 2009 and again in 2019.  You can search "Adult Welfare by Kurt LaRose" and the initial 3 minute read will reference many many scenarios to consider ... or go here. 

Someday, we will find a way to help.   When a system keeps missing things,  with high profile leaders at the helm of the headlines (like police officers killing their ASD child when child welfare was involved many times prior, where schools and social workers and mental health providers were involved in diagnostics by the ASD label alone) imagine how many more non high profile cases are prolific in the US.

Changed minds in the USA about same sex marriages? More smoke and mirrors...

     Here's photo credit shoutout to Anastasiia.             Mukhina and unsplash.

The idea that Americans have changed their minds on same sex marriage in the shadows of the Respect for Marriage Act likely passing into federal law is not exactly progress.  Why? This very well rounded and well done Yahoo 360 take on the topic screams of internalized heterocentrism (I did not use the word homophobia intentionally).  In summary, it is the law that protects same sex couples in the case of a supreme court reversal of a previously passed law... anticipatory in other words.   Here, I would say that the law to protect is a farce.  Prior abortions are not crimes since Roe was overturned.   Prior marriages are not going to become illegal after the fact either.  And here's a point that I think was missed in this Yahoo piece.... those who overturned Roe specifically indicated in their writings that this was not a precedent to be useful in same sex marriage being reversed by the court - as one example.   Fear mongering happens at all sides.   Plus this kind of morally charged, politically charged stuff distracts the citizenry from focussing on other things: people being able to pay their bills, why health insurance is not preventing medically related bankruptcies, why education is not free to people,  how come food insecurity is rampant,  why banks are thriving when most are living one check to the next and why the simplified tax code is now at 77,000 pages and growing.   I'm married and I'm protected.   I'm glad about that.   But largely this whole thing is a distracting idea that government is working for its people.   And it's not.

Thirteen Mass Shootings a Week in the USA

         PHOTO CREDIT: Collin Lloyd, Unsplash

600 mass shootings in the USA so far this year.   That number means at least 4 people at any of the 600 shootings were shot - excluding the shooter.   While this story focuses on an LGBTQ+ club,  in a largely progressive and what some might call a forward moving state - the one liner in this CNN story that is telling: "according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, there have been more than 600 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, defined as an incident in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter." Here is a bit of math to look at the numbers a bit more micro like.   

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We are at 46 weeks of the year having past,  as of 11.20.22.  600 (mass shootings - and really it's more) divided by 46 weeks is 13(+) shootings.  

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Look at that number: 13 mass shootings a week in the USA with 4 people shot each time,  excluding the shooter.  More micro centered math...

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13 (weekly mass shootings so far this year) multiplied by 4 people each equals a bit more than 52 people a week shot (not counting the shooters).  

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Today in the USA we have more than 52 people a week shot in mass shootings.

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This number also does not include any other shootings.   And this number does not include how many lived and how many passed away.   And again,  it excludes the shooters themselves. 

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https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/20/us/colorado-springs-shooting-gay-nightclub

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Lottos and Elections Break All-Time Records: Where's the Change?

                PHOTO CREDIT: JustMe!

Old news in how we act... but this time we broke two records with some old behaivors. It's worth a re-think though.  Americans buy lotto tickets with hope for themselves.  We broke a global record with PowerBall 2022 in just 3 months - 1.6 billion dollars in the pot!  2022 midterm elections spending broke a US all time record too - 16.7 billion dollars! The politicians have some hope for themselves it seems.  What if the voters went to the polls with hope, like they do the lotto?  And what if politicians raised money for the people the way they do for their elections?  Sure, the lotto is predictable - it's a government program that works as promised.  So the people go.  And political promises are predictable too - very few come true.  In history, and maybe more now than ever, most political promises get tied up in the courts: the Executive Branch, the Judicial Branch, and the Legislative Branch are locked in legal wrangling in 2022 potentially more than in prior times.  These 3 branches, ironically called "checks and balances", are dropping miilions and millions for maybe 6 plus years and running - where more dollars are just disappearing.  Here's an alternative thought about real "change": 1) Vote like you play the lotto (unless your conscience or your faith do not permit them), 2) Raise money for the people the way you do to run for office, 3) stop the duplicated court hearings and the re-appeals of the former appeals and settle your hate in your living rooms or your offices, 4) Put all of that wasted money into programs for people who need it and 5) If you can afford it and your moral code agrees buy a $2 chance at hope which seems to really work - get a friggin' powerball ticket.  PS (couldn't resist): Take note of the photo credit too (it kind of fits the topic you know?).

Prefer some snarky audio about this stuff?  Perfect!  Here's a podcast about the old news and world breaking records in duplicated patterns. And it's an alternative in some Random Thoughts From a Therapist!

A sleeping State: when being right could be wrong

PHOTO CREDIT: Zulmaury Saavedra, Unsplash
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"Hastings sought DNA testing in 2000 but at that time the DA's office denied the request. Hastings submitted a claim of innocence to the DA's Conviction Integrity Unit last year and DNA testing last June found that the semen was not his."
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https://news.yahoo.com/dna-evidence-frees-california-man-213727536.html
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While this gentleman is not bitter and while he is not pointing fingers at anyone and while he only wants to enjoy the time he has with whatever life he gets to live - a very wholesome and healthy view for him to have - the DA's office in this story should be looked at very closely.   In 2000, 22 years ago,  when DNA could have freed this gentleman,  his request for it to be tested was denied.   This man has spent 38 years of his life in prison - innocent.
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The justice system did not work in this case.  We have nothing to be proud of here.  That Mr. Hastings has peace in his thought and feeling about it all, that his prayers and long suffering were both answered and ended speaks to him,  his resilience, his mental health and his persistence in his goodwill - it however does not extend to the DA or the "justice system" - It failed - again. Had Mr. Hastings resigned in 1983 (let that year sink in for a moment) to what was indeed his 38 year destiny he would have depressingly, angrily and hopelessly never have made it to what, as of 10/22/22, is his freedom.
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I remain convinced that winning and appearing right are what drives our legal system, political system,  educational system,  systems of faith, economic systems and many other "systems" (large and small). Winning and being right are driven by biases. Biases create a refusal to look at other options.  Here the DAs refusal to test DNA 22 years ago (already after Mr. Hastings was in prison for 20 years prior in 2000 when his legal team asked for it) is a tragedy.
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Abandoning being right and winning, driven by a fear of being wrong (usually about how we judge others) shows insecurity, ego anxieties and a sleeping consciousness that would be counted as actual denial.
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I love,  as a mental health professional particularly and as an author regarding the biases of life in PsychoBabbleJabble, that Mr. Hastings is literally and psychologically free.  His life offers much to learn from in regards to the 38 years in prison as a rapist and murderer, convicted and re-convicted and re-convicted - so free as he is and has been in persistence alone.
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That the DAs office in this case is not under investigation for their mistakes,  that they are not being forced to dole out millions to Mr. Hastings, that they are not being considered as criminals themselves may too go back to Mr. Hastings, the gentleman and the man so free as he.

When hurting people is hurting people. Period.

          PHOTO CREDIT: Jair Lázaro, Unsplash

This quote,  in reference to the hammer beating of the husband of Nancy Pelosi may provoke a "pause" to reflect, consider and then change something about a system so flawed as ours:

"There’s no room for violence anywhere, but we’re going to send her back to be with him in California.”

Those words are spoken on a campaign trail speech to voters by a person seeking a top re-election office.

I recall living in DC passing the National Cathedral where John McCain was lying in state and protesting signs were being held up as the motorcade drove by ... this where a spouse and child of their loved one would have to read or be exposed to damning words of their family member.

Police are killing citizens and citizens are killing police.

Lawyers are bringing down lawyers and dirty laundry is flying about everywhere.

Our country is so divided that even the lives of humans are sacrificial to supposed winning and losing causes.

When will the sides stop and the people become a we?
Have "we" ever really become a "we" in the US?
How is it that winning is the goal - almost only?
How is it that hating is justified - to counter hating?

Real people - hurting real people is hurting people.

These words, regardless of what side you're on or what race you're in or what top office you hold are not >the< problem - to be clear.  They are definitely wrong.

A moral judgment here?  Yes. Wrong, as I am calling it, is the right word, when the spouse of an attacked 82 year old spouse is flying home to a brain operated attack victim - and a governor wanna be simultaneously speaks about "...sending her home to be with him in California" in election jargon which was not endearing at all.

Not sure you agree? 

Read the Yahoo story and look at the context with which these words were spewed ... during a life and death kind of day for a married couple in the US.

Burnout or moral Injury?

A phenomenal read...burnout is not the only issue impacting mental healthcare.... here the concept of "moral injury" is addressed... not for patients,  but for providers.  A disconnect is noted between payors, administrators and providers - trickling down to patients.  This author highlights the micro and macro perspectives that intersect in both hope and change.... and mostly in change. 

 

PHOTO CREDIT: Jackson Simmer, Unsplash.

https://www.socialworker.com/feature-articles/practice/moral-injury-broken-system/

Research discussing healthcare debt ...

Photo Credit: Towfiqu Barbhuiya, Unsplash

The healthcare and health insurance debate in America seems to overlook this very significant detail.    I've said it for years,  in my podcasts,  in my blog,  in my book,  in many posts for many many years the insurance debacle is making people sick.   Something must change.

https://news.yahoo.com/1-5-households-medical-debt-173420850.html

Mental health and law enforcement - slowing down will be part I ...

       PHOTO CREDIT: Josh Couch, Unsplash

This story is an escalation if it's own - readers will jump in and pick sides....but the last 8 words of this one quote is worth a second take:

"De-escalation tactics are no longer suggested or preferred — they are mandatory prior to using force to effect an arrest unless it would be unreasonable to do so..."

Mental health professionals on the ground with crisis phone calls makes sense but this mental health and de-escalation campaign (and again, I'm all for it) must be grounded in the reality of science.   The brain takes over when death or the threat of death is real ... for all humans.   You cannot untrain an automatic trauma take over of the logical brain when adrenaline,  cortisol,  and norepinephrine take over during life threatening events.  This is not trainable.  What is trainable is slowing down.   I'll say that again ... what is trainable is slowing down.   

That slowing down thing is about all humans,  particularly in the US.  High stress is a disaster for everyone.   Now add unsafe careers to the mix of high stress.  Then add a 911 call for the police.   Next add a grab for a gun.  This is a horribly tragic tragic story.  And it saddens me immensely. 

To summarize this event,  by media,  political action and/or by race is only a few factors that,  to me,  makes this story even more depressing (to an already very depressed culture).  To call it a mental health only thing,  a de-escalation only thing is also yet another factor. 

In my own training of de-escalation to schools,  teachers,  to patients going back over a decade... this technique works where the safety (and the safety perception) is present. If someone, even a well trained de-escalation seasoned professional is unsafe - or perceives being imminently in harms way - deescalation techniques will fail as the literal (not fear or scared or uncertainty or even bias) biological hijack of fight/flight hormones splashes the logical brain making it largely - well - kind of dumb if you will.  

The only if I can see time and again in these kinds of stories is that ... IF EVERYONE COULD SLOW DOWN A BIT IN ALL HUMAN INTERACTIONS  this stress response will drop.  

Bias training will help.   De-escalation training will help.   Mental health will help.  

This is not an all or nothing thing.   And the saddest thing of all is that people are dying. 

https://news.yahoo.com/police-video-fatal-encounter-shows-233117194.html 

Insulin price caps - making the news: the argument is wasted money frankly.

For the past week there has been this ruckus over price caps on insulin.  The two party system is blaming the other as bad.  And the masses seem to be on board with the two party blame game.  Here's a different perspective .... there was a report that the pubs voted to block a $35 cap on insulin. Presumably the good idea here was the price cap and presumably it was from the other side ... the dems. Now consider this two party solution for a moment.  $35 for insulin isn't a really a cap; it's still a rip off.  If the pubs voted no,  and the dems put this on the table,  neither set of "representatives" were intending on making a change here.   You see,  $35 isn't the item that should have been in the law ... $8 would be reasonable (and still high frankly).  When the pubs are pushing for change and when the dems are too (#workingtogether) then real laws will be voted on.   It seems like we're continuing to look at the two parties as if they (either one) are really helping the people.     That's not a dem or a pub debate you know?  Helping people; that this is even a debate is telling too, isn't it?  Think about it... people are arguing about a cap that is not affordable for the most vulnerable and most in need... as if excluding some people from needed medical care is reasonable?!?  It's time for real change - like we the people seeing us as allies, not foes.  Narratives are just that ... pitches to convince and sway.  If you had a job for two years and you couldn't improve things ... would you still have that job?  If you had a 77,000 page tax code as your direction manual - could you even begin to get something done?  The ping pong of one side or the other bashing it out closer to elections where billions (read that again - billions) are trashed (into "the other side sucks" marketing) could be changed. Billions into people programs would destroy a BS price cap argument by both parties. Idealistically, we the people could consider that what is being placed into the media narratives continues to divide us as we lash out at one another.   Help is only helpful when it helps.  Can you and I and help? PHOTO CREDIT: Towfiqu barbhuiya, unsplash.

Equality, idealism, mysticism - the law and politics

Equality is so much simpler than our country - myself included - make it.   As PRIDE  and protests abound on this very day -  I simply long for equality.   For you,  for my neighbors, my friends, my family - and for me too.  Idealism, a personality trait that at times seems to hinder and feed my passions of care, and then the nostalgia of my high school youth studying constitutional law and things like indepedence and revolutions for freedoms - I have come to realize how sacred mysticism can blind a soul.  As you and I post hate messages, as we say divisive words against one another we overlook our majority power - caused by a few.  Let that sink in a moment ... "caused by a few" I said.  You see privileged, seasoned, lifetime positioned lawyers and lifetime positioned men and women of wealth on any side of the aisles - a few unaware people of power who cause our collective and cyclical divides. Equality is too too simple - even if some document of anitquity espoused that all are equal - all have inalienable rights ...  The problem is that "all" with any exceptions (and there are so so many exceptions in the rules of law and in the rules of politics - ran by a so very few people) makes equality a falsehood - not an ideal - not a passion - not a truth. And we continue to divide.  Our hate spewing, our side taking and our rock throwing enables the few to continue.   Ideally, we,  the majority would gather in hand holding,  in equal judgements for the greater collective -US- and being to tell the few that they no longer have the power.   We do - as a majority of equals - who when blame is quieted - can begin to see our role in creating change. #equality

~Kurt LaRose

In Her Words and Not Theirs; A Supreme Court Justice Speaks

      PHOTO CREDIT: Anna Sullivan and Unsplash

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These words are so powerful...[I have tried to do my] “best to stay in my lane and to reach a result that is consistent with my understanding of the law and with the obligation to rule independently without fear or favor.”  Supreme Court Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson.  

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Note: I did not hear these words myself ... I read them in an online article that I chose not to reference due to its political spin.  I do believe these are her words however ... that was credible enough.   I also found these words powerful ... while the slant in the media article tragic.

Courts, Cases, Costs and Care: What about that Care Thing?

This legal case started in 2015; that was 7 years ago.  Get this - this case is said to be heading "back to the supreme court."  I'm curious about the money spent,  the time spent,  the stress of all involved.

         Photo Credit: Eric Mclean and Unsplash.

Americans continue to give away money over terms like "Republican, Democrat, Christian" and in supposed "principled arguments" standing on some ground - to limit previously decided laws.  And then to change a word or two,  to retry cases and attempt to hair line tweak cases to find the next precedent on which to stand.
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Do you know that we keep spending money to fight over freedom - supposedly in the freest country in the world?  Has anyone considered how expensive our divisions are?
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A Christian believed that God needed help in a court room?  4 people who wanted to be married had to go to court to get the system to anti-sanction, religious freedom, sexual freedom and marital freedom laws? 
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Does any of this make any sense?
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Look I know that many things in life must be fought for.  
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But you and I remain palpably divided.  Why?  Who benefits when these divisions distract us from liking each other and us simply getting along?
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Our country has the high honor of more covid deaths in the world than any other country.   We are arguing over gender and race and education.  The number one cause for bankruptcy in the US is healthcare costs.  Homeless people need housing.   Retired people need actual healthcare.  Schools need money to teach.  We have gazillions of folks in prison for non-violent crimes.  We argue and continue to perpetuate laws rooted in racism, oppression and inequality - in a democracy where 51% supposedly is considered sufficient cause to establish anything as "legal."  Our foods are soaked in carcinogens and our water is so cloudy we can see things floating about.  The tax system is a mammoth 70,000 pages (where more lawyers are needed).
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We are not divided solely by principals.  We are divided by nearly everything we read and the talking points we grab onto.
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Nearly every article I read labels the republican or the democrat in the one up and one down (opposing and binary) arguments.  Nearly every story I read talks of the next legal implication about to unfold.
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One day,  idealism will shape reality.   The idea that you and I, as a majority, really do care - and can care - about each other will begin to sink in.   The idea that love is unconditional not conceptual - but practical - where actions to drive love first will be in the communal consciousness. One day,  any reason to justify the non- caring and the non-protection of another human being will become the rejectable - instead of the cause.
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I hope even in dismay.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/kim-davis-lawsuit-violated-rights-of-same-sex-couples-ruling/

Kids talk. Teachers teach. Laws might just make them both very very sick.

Kids, teachers and so many others are going to seek help to find a safe place to just be - and a counselor's office will quite possibly be the next best stop (in some states anyway).  But should it be?

     Photo credit: Wesley Tingey and Unsplash

Imagine a kid, 4 years old, who has two dad's ... or a kid whose aunts are married.  At school this 4 or 5 year old kid does what kids do ... starts talking about an everyday dinner event with Dad or with "aunty" at school.   And the hush that is legally mandated overtakes the 5 year old as this little kid discusses a funny moment at home last night.   Here in this moment,  a sanctioned legal policy enacts secrecy, ostracization, bullying and potentially creates a criminal if the teacher acts in any way to address the very natural and normal conversation of the child.

I have written about this topic in many different ways and a number of times, in a number of places for a number of years .... on the talkifuwant website .... in the book Psychobabblejabble, on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook (personal and professional)... and many many years ago I was interviewed in Florida regarding reparative therapy and treating children ....I've posted things in a podcast too ... all with various angles and takes looking at what  I guess is controversial.

LGBT is not a moral issue, it's not a legal issue ... it's not a political issue ... it's not a prohibitive one ...  it's not something to be protective of or about ... it's not taught, it's not contagious, it's not a fad or a phase ... it's a human thing.... it is a scientific reality - and nearly all components of LGBT (however you attempt to classify or judge) are biologically grounded - like real and hard sciences kinds of stuff.

So I'll say this ... again ... But. The. Children.

When that child just talks .... she and her entire cohort, teachers included will be faced with an actual > created < crisis.  And when the dust settles (weeks or months or even years later) allot of harmed people will seek mental health care - because the stress alone will lead them to need it.  And, to get treated ... a diagnosis must first be added to the insurance billing system (a whole other podcast) to effect care.  Because a kid just talks.

Missouri, Florida and DC are all mentioned in this article - Montana, Kentucky and others...a poll is mentioned where in one example 51% of the public support this legal criminalization... the split is palpable. 

The damage and harm and the societal and cultural trauma inflicted upon the children and the adults as these traumas will no doubt occur is a hidden iatrogenic affect of laws that prohibit talking and teaching. Trauma created by laws and courtrooms... impacting the places of learning at the most impressionable times.  

The mental health business is about to grow again ....because of laws that ban things like talking, teaching, being open,  honest and respectful....directed to one people ... lgbt.  Laws contradicting science, academia ... creating criminal teachers and soon to be secret keeping 4 year olds.

And some laws are now regulating if and how counselors might talk to or with lgbt identified youth and their parents.

Read this ... please. Think about this one little kid having a simple conversation at school.  Think about this one teacher in that moment.  Then consider the counselor's office next. 

My heart aches a bit ...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teachers-florida-parental-rights-in-education-dont-say-gay-bill/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17

Prejudicial trauma induced by helpers...

Florida and Texas are front runners in hurting children, parents, teachers, doctors, mental health professionals... these two States are adding to a prejudicial stress that literally is traumatizing a society. 

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One day, a little ... a very very very little bit of science will hopefully enter the threshhold of this gazillion years long trajectory of hurting people "in the name of good" - aka in the name of some religious ideaology or one up and one down judgment (the "I know for you,  what you need,  more than you do" principle).  

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Texas and Florida are among the front runners in States who are taking actions that will lead to more deaths of children and more child abuse....suicide among transgender is off the charts high (as it is in lesbian, gay and bisexual) ... child abuse and oppression and  of these same suiciding folks (lgbtq) is correlationally very high too.   

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Lawyers, child welfare professionals, doctors, parents and children themselves have rights, ethics, moral, sexual and social codes...again, just a very little bit of science can help .... to separate the mystical from the biolgical.  Without a bit of common sense, even, people are going to be killed - indirectly suicides will go up is what I mean - by these very kinds of rules.

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Fortunately, I suppose if that's even fair to say,  some folks have the power (and this is key) to resist and withstand a harmful  position - some. But many do not. Many,  especially children, do not have their own voice. Many parents grapple with finding their vouce too ... telling the righteous that maybe it is THEY who are wrong is hard for anybody.   

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So the elite take to the causes of justice - instead of sitting down with the people and having real face to face conversation.  All the while more and more children will be harmed.  These DA's are smart and brave.... but know that they have a lawyers ability to say no.  They have power.   A mandated reporter in Texas and possibly soon in Florida too (their House just passed the "don't say gay" bill) can lose their careers over this stuff.  

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Counselors,  teachers ... these ones are being asked/ordered/mandated maybe to not help those most vulnerable - and those seeking help.  

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And like many in the US who know it as experientially true ... prejudicial stress is a societal trauma ... done to itself by perpetrators and levied upon victims - in the name of the law, or God or ... whatever. 

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But this ... just this ....

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The children.

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~Kurt LaRose

Overdose Prevention Centers Allow Drug Use?

Overdose prevention centers, where people go to safely use drugs?  This may be the turning point in practical rehabilitation by first preventing deaths.  Mind you first that the estimated weekly drug overdose numbers in the US are nearly 2,000 people a week.... think about this...285 people died today of drug overdose.   Today.   What we are doing is not working.   So why not overdose prevention centers?  

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I understand the controversy in opening overdose prevention centers in terms of "enabling."  But the reality is, abstinence only doesn't work for many (and it may be nearly impossible without gradual - years long reductionist steps with some drugs - the ones most quickly killing folks. Inpatient treatment centers cannot keep patients long enough and recidivism is very high - with low long-term success rates. 

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Across so many different data sets and populations, when people are supported in "healthier options," when care is comprehensive in multi/interdisciplinary teams, when substance use interventions are not specialty limited/targeted, when insurance does not limit services (this happens in part because insurance simply cannot cover all that is needed in drug addiction cases), when patients are able to find life satisfaction (via the life satisfaction model), and when basic needs including food, clothing, housing, water and electricity are not in the day to day crises' of dependent people  - users leave drugs and thrive.  

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I hope you will read the entire article here regarding overdose prevention centers ... and then after you've read the full article, give the last paragraph a minute or two to resonate. A drugs only,  people only,  abstinence only,  specialists only approach ... none of these are the "only anything" in finding a practical solution to the people who are dying if an overdose right now,  as I write.  

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The final paragraph of this article adds things that patients will better hear when they are no longer neglected, punished, shamed, looked down upon and morally "held accountable for their 'choice'  ... and when users learn that they can be free to live (and not die) they can begin to walk. In this story, the heart of the matter is not only overdose prevention. It is the full bio-psycho-social provision included as an 'ancillary service' in the OPC approach that is the magic. Oddly, allowing safe use, opens minds to seeing a way to live - paradoxically in OPCs where 100% of overdoses are stopped before death.  From here, lives, from the bottom up, can move to living, as more valuable than buzzing away.

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Thank you Yahoo News, for giving this story the full report!

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 https://www.yahoo.com/gma/why-opioid-overdose-prevention-programs-151445902.html