May we see the big picture

I came across this some days ago. I certainly don't know everything and every day I strive to gain a better understanding of the world, but I have come to trust and appreciate my wisdom and the gift of discernment that God has blessed me with. I have never been in therapy, but I am a supporter of everyone being introspective and working on their own growth in some form or another. We all need healing.

Many times I would come across a friend, acquaintance or stranger, asking social media for advice on ways to cope with certain stressful, harmful and downright toxic situations. I have read many ideas- don't worry about it, ignore, practice self- care, but not enough do I see encouragement to remove oneself from the environment altogether.

There are so many situations that we cannot easily remove ourselves from. I know that very well. However, I have found that so many people put things in that category that do not belong there, simply because of limited vision and the lies they tell themselves about where they are and where they would like to be.

We spend so much time telling people to get therapy or compensate for a toxic environment so that they can stay in it, but the source of the problem is never dissected and fought against.

As a doctor, I believe in the existence of biochemical deficits that cause mental illnesses, and there are those with "everything going for them" who suffer just the same as someone with a tough life. I also believe that sometimes we interpret depression or anxiety as a stand alone problem, instead of looking at what may have triggered that response in the body in the first place. Even though the medical community agrees that therapy paired with medications work better than medications alone, we often fail at investigating the deep root cause of what is troubling people and we fail to do our part at extracting them from the harmful environment or making that environement less toxic. Not only that, but there are so many doctors who will watch their patients be damaged by harmful systems and go straight to the polls to vote for the mainentance of those very systems!!! A fact that baffles and disturbs me.

I remember a Family Physician who told me the story about her first appointment with a 19yr old Black man who was no longer young enough to stay with his pediatrician. On reviewing his medical history, she saw mention of diagnoses such as depression, attempts at self harm and other mental health struggles. She asked him about it and he said to her that he may have exhibited those things as a teenager, but what he was actually suffering from was the trauma of living amidst his white adopted family who gaslit him his entire life about his experiences as a Black man in the world, and who never tried to understand what he was going through and who never advocated for him. He told the doctor that once he was able to leave that household and speak with other Black people and understand what he was experiencing, he no longer required his antidepressants and he no longer harbored the self hate and the feeling like he couldn't trust what he was seeing or hearing; he was able to trust his own lived experiences.

The medical field- dominated by whiteness, failed this young boy who was simply a victim of the dangers many transracial adoptees encounter. But, the weight was on him to get therapy, to take meds and endure hospitalizations, only to return each time to the same environment that was harming him.

I implore anyone who reads this to think outside the box. We must all advocate for a better world. We must look at the root causes. We must always ask WHY. It is one of my life's missions to continue to do all that I can to help dismantle unjust systems. I just don't believe that I have to stay surrounded by them in it in order to do so. Any factor that I can eliminate for myself and my family that interferes with our ability to thrive, I will. I make no apologies for that. It is the goal and responsibility of every parent.

How much easier would it be to cope with life's struggles if you don't have institutions and systems designed to prevent you from reaching your full potential, learning all that you should learn, or having autonomy over your body? Therapy has its limitations. We must dig deeper and look wider.

May we see the big picture.