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Hard to believe this could happen, but we are in the US...
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/news/021803_NW_slaverydisorder.html
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/news/021803_NW_slaverydisorder.html
Slave Disorder???
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A group of African American psychologists have defined a new disorder which they call 'post traumatic slavery disorder.' They say when African Americans have struggles in society today, it's because of slavery.
When Omar Reid sees pictures from the days of slavery, he thinks about his great grandparents held in bondage on a plantation in Reidsville, North Carolina. "It was a lot of depression and sadness because you couldn't control your life."
Omar is a clinical psychologist who believes that depression has been passed down through the generations. He and two friends who are licensed social workers, Sekou Mims and Larry Higginbottom, have coined a term for it: post traumatic slavery disorder.
"It's the effects of slavery, it's the origin of some behaviors we see today."
They believe the way their ancestors were treated explains the problems they see among some people in the African American community today, like the large number of single mothers. "The breeding process still affects us today. For example, there were men who were bucks who made children, and that insensitivity, that numbness, still carries on today. That's why in most cities today black men have child after child because there's no emotional connection."
They say all the hard work on the plantation is reflected in the work ethic of some people today. "You worked for no gain. People say blacks don't want to work hard; well, when we worked hard it meant early death."
And they say some African Americans fail to embrace education because of treatment in the slave days. "If you knew how to read or spoke a language they would kill you, because in order to control someone you have to keep them ignorant."
And that, they believe, can lead to a life of crime. "I can't make it through education because I know I don't have the educational attainment or the academic stuff need for higher education, but I can sell drugs, pimp a woman I can go steal."
Based on those observations, they've written a book to help people overcome post-traumatic slavery disorder. "We talk about cultural detoxification, we have to get them out of that negative culture of being a slave and detoxify them into putting on a new personality, almost like making over, so we're doing mental surgery," Reid said. "We're going in, we're taking out the old way of thinking in the brain and putting in a new process of how to be an American."
The men arrived at their theory in their hometown of Boston. They were working as counselors with young African American men in the Boston Pubic Schools. Now they all have their own private practices where they're diagnosing and treating post-traumatic slavery disorder.
One of their first patients was Sekou Mims' teenage son. "His major complaint was racism. Everybody's trying to get me, all these white people trying to get me. He was hearing voices and felt like he wanted to die."
Through counseling, Sekou helped his son recover. "If we try to ignore the past and we try to ignore what's happening today, then how can you heal and move on."
Larry Higginbottom put the advice in the book to change his own life. "You get mad like I did, and say I'll be damned if I'm going to die black and poor with all that money out here. So I took myself back to school understanding the purpose and understanding capitalism."
"I understood now that I could do more than sing, dance, play ball, entertain the white folk, now I could develop my intellect and get paid handsomely to do it."
These three counselors are hoping their theory will help others improve their lives. "In order for you to free yourself and move into a state of wellness, you have to culturally detox that poison you've been fed over your lifetime," Higginbottom said.
When Omar Reid sees pictures from the days of slavery, he thinks about his great grandparents held in bondage on a plantation in Reidsville, North Carolina. "It was a lot of depression and sadness because you couldn't control your life."
Omar is a clinical psychologist who believes that depression has been passed down through the generations. He and two friends who are licensed social workers, Sekou Mims and Larry Higginbottom, have coined a term for it: post traumatic slavery disorder.
"It's the effects of slavery, it's the origin of some behaviors we see today."
They believe the way their ancestors were treated explains the problems they see among some people in the African American community today, like the large number of single mothers. "The breeding process still affects us today. For example, there were men who were bucks who made children, and that insensitivity, that numbness, still carries on today. That's why in most cities today black men have child after child because there's no emotional connection."
They say all the hard work on the plantation is reflected in the work ethic of some people today. "You worked for no gain. People say blacks don't want to work hard; well, when we worked hard it meant early death."
And they say some African Americans fail to embrace education because of treatment in the slave days. "If you knew how to read or spoke a language they would kill you, because in order to control someone you have to keep them ignorant."
And that, they believe, can lead to a life of crime. "I can't make it through education because I know I don't have the educational attainment or the academic stuff need for higher education, but I can sell drugs, pimp a woman I can go steal."
Based on those observations, they've written a book to help people overcome post-traumatic slavery disorder. "We talk about cultural detoxification, we have to get them out of that negative culture of being a slave and detoxify them into putting on a new personality, almost like making over, so we're doing mental surgery," Reid said. "We're going in, we're taking out the old way of thinking in the brain and putting in a new process of how to be an American."
The men arrived at their theory in their hometown of Boston. They were working as counselors with young African American men in the Boston Pubic Schools. Now they all have their own private practices where they're diagnosing and treating post-traumatic slavery disorder.
One of their first patients was Sekou Mims' teenage son. "His major complaint was racism. Everybody's trying to get me, all these white people trying to get me. He was hearing voices and felt like he wanted to die."
Through counseling, Sekou helped his son recover. "If we try to ignore the past and we try to ignore what's happening today, then how can you heal and move on."
Larry Higginbottom put the advice in the book to change his own life. "You get mad like I did, and say I'll be damned if I'm going to die black and poor with all that money out here. So I took myself back to school understanding the purpose and understanding capitalism."
"I understood now that I could do more than sing, dance, play ball, entertain the white folk, now I could develop my intellect and get paid handsomely to do it."
These three counselors are hoping their theory will help others improve their lives. "In order for you to free yourself and move into a state of wellness, you have to culturally detox that poison you've been fed over your lifetime," Higginbottom said.
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