An open love letter to healthcare professionals
I express profound gratitude for 62 years of remarkable support from multi-disciplinary teams, urging healthcare workers to communicate clearly, involve patients in their care, learn from all experiences, and continue offering compassionate care that has been a vital source of hope and healing for me.
The empathy-psychopathy spectrum
Empathy, defined as the ability to understand and share another’s experiences and emotions, is a fundamental human capacity that contrasts sharply with the lack of empathy seen in psychopathic individuals, illustrating the wide spectrum of human emotional experience.
addressing the system of mental un-health
In one of my previous jobs, I had frequented psychiatric wards, high-level group homes, and institutional settings that housed the people on the fringes of our society. Many of these souls had lost their voice to a system that saw them as nothing but numbers and diagnoses in a system largely devoid of grace. The patient’s “pathology” preceded their humanity, which somehow justified their prolonged imprisonment in these places of limbo. In 2012, California issued a moratorium on all non-forensic developmental centers. What that means is that people with developmental disabilities that did not commit a crime would be released … More
Changing the Language of Mental Health
Outcast. Bi-Polar. Crazy. Schizo. Anti-social. Disabled. Broken. Delusional. Words. How powerful. And equally sinister. It’s no wonder that we call the act of constructing words SPELL-ing. Language is truly a spell – an incantation that controls virtually every aspect of life, from media to politics to everyday interactions. The world of mental health is no exception; it seems to be suffering the same illness as the rest of modern society, but perhaps with more damaging outcomes. It’s not common for us to think about how mental health labels are often used as a weapon against a person who’s struggling just … More
The Alpha Male and Empathy
How often do we say the words alpha male and empathy in the same sentence? Chances are, we often think the two ideas are like oil and water. However, according to premier primatologist and researcher, Frans De Waal, modern society has been misinformed about what an Alpha Male really is. Our current view of the alpha male seems rather myopic — it tends to highlight caricature-like strength, large stature, and bully-like behaviors. It’s no surprise, then, that we normally reserve this social label for those that we deem juvenile, if not downright obnoxious or intimidating. Oddly enough, we readily accept that the … More
The Final Limit of Self-Discovery (Hello, Weird World)
There are the times when every fiber of my being is challenged beyond its normal container, stretched and emaciated like the clear yyut candy I used to enjoy as a kid during my month-long trips to the outskirts of Seoul. In those moments we may revel as two people join hands and dive into their co-created stew of self-inquiry, discovering the little pieces of pleasures, ideas, and dark fantasies, just to realize that the separation between us is…well, a divine gift AND a necessary hallucination. In the past, before I really understood what this meant, I had become a special kind of … More
