LESSON 13

SCHOOL STRUCTURE AND NOT BRAIN CHEMISTRY IS THE OF CAUSE TEENS’ ANXIETY, RAGE, AND

DEPRESSION IN SCHOOL

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Presented by

THE NATURAL SYSTEMS INSTITUTE

SCHOOL STRUCTURE, NOT BRAIN CHEMISTRY, IS THE CAUSE OF STUDENTS’ ANXIETY,

DEPRESSION, AND RAGE

STRUCTURE SCHOOL DISCIPLINE: EMOTIONAL EFFECTS Model of the Transformations From ANXIETY TO FEAR TO RAGEAs pressure in school is increased, the disadvantaged increasingly feels there is no recourse, no way out, cornered and consequently goes through the transformations

below.

I have this awful feeling that

something is about to happen that is going to make me look

really bad!

My room is on fire! My room is on fire! I’m going to be I’m going to be

killed!killed!

You are deliberately

trying to keep me from getting out of the fire!I’m going to kill I’m going to kill

you!you!

G

THE DYNAMIC INTER-CHANGEABILITY OF RAGE AND

DEPRESSION

SUPPRESSED RAGE TURNED AGAINST SELF OR ROUTED INTO PARANOID AND REVENGE

FANTASIES

RAGE AND DEPRESSION ARE HELD IN A VOLATILE, IMPOTENT, PRESSURE-FILLED BALANCE ABOUT TO EXPLODE, A FEELING OF BEING ABOUT TO EITHER BURST OR DIE.AS VALENCES IN THE ENVIRONMENT CHANGE, ONE OR THE OTHER - RAGE OR DEPRESSION - GETS THE UPPER HAND.

Feeling that the source can not be attacked because the source is someone whose approval, love, regard, and support is desperately needed, the rage is suppressed. The suppressed rage does not go away, but rather leaves the person with the hurt and in addition with frustration and humiliation over being powerless to express the rage. As a result, the person turns against their own self and begins to feel the hurt was justified. At its lowest point, feeling hurt, unloved, powerless, humiliated and disgusted with the self, depression becomes a wish that one were not alive. Depression is covering rage which is covering hurt. At the point of deepest depression is an immobilized, smoldering rage oscillating between first being turned against the other and then the self.

The extremely rejected, alienated, ostracized, ridiculed and punished student takes an attitude of extreme impersonal hostility toward self, others, and system. Depression can be acted out with suicide or drug abuse, while rage can be acted out with violent attacks on peers, the school, or property. Rapid transformations from one extreme to the other are likely.

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DEPRESSION AND RAGE MASK A DEEP, PAINFUL HURT. The rage wants to get back at the source of the hurt.

The depression wants to eliminate the self.

PSEUDO-EXPLANATIONS OF EMOTIONAL-BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS: Psychiatric Labels and Brain Chemical Imbalance.

When students exhibit extremely negative behaviors and poor performance and disciplinary actions are not working, one alternative is to refer to psychiatry.

• What is the Role of Society’s Helping Systems, Agencies, and Professionals in helping to prevent Stigmatizing and Ostracizing and helping the youths whose lives are crushed by it?

• How do we avoid mistaking symptoms to be causes?

• Structural explanations are not immediately obvious.

• Symptoms are easily treated but prevent the person from learning to cope and result in the perpetuation of structural causes.

• Structural causes are only overcome with serious thought, consistent effort, and strength of character.

They say they want to commit suicide or kill someone. My tests show it is their brain chemistry and they must be put on medication. Click Underlined for Slide Shows

Xxxxxx

Frank

Karl

Environmental Structures and Systems in Interaction with Person Structures and SystemsBrain Chemistry is a Reflection of the Environment

Encompassing Environments

Institution or Organization

Setting within Institution

Situation

Dyadic

Interaction

Role/Relationship

Physical/Verbal Behavior

Cognition

Emotion/Feelings

PerceptionBackground: Prior Schemata and Schemes

Environment A Environment B

Right Front Right Back

Left Front Left BackFocus

Brain of Person A in Environment A Brain of Person A in Environment B

The structure of environment A encourages people to use their own judgment, make their own decisions, plan and execute future plans, cooperate with others, bond with others, be responsible for themselves, share a desire for mutual facilitation, share tasks and promote the good of the community.

The structure of environment B takes care of people, assesses their needs for them, makes decisions for them, plans and executes activities for them, makes cooperative efforts with others unnecessary , assumes responsibility for the welfare of the community, assumes responsibility for all aspects of their lives, health, and well being. Unwittingly, makes it impossible to form bonds with others.

Symptoms: Focused on self, dependent, depressed, time drags, aches and pains, fears, anger, suppressed rage, or acting out rage, health degenerates, low self esteem, poor performance.

Symptoms: Concern with others and tasks, cooperative, socially responsible, time flying, unconcerned with body and health, active, healthy, happy, and successful.

Right Front Right Back Focus

Left Front Left Back

For a Special Slide Presentation on Neurochemistry,

Click Anywhere on the Hyperlink Below

Under construction

I. RUNNING THE ONEROUS, BATTERING, DEMORALIZING GAMUTS OF LIFE The PATH

Factors Inducing Alienation, Rage, and Despair Untutored, Unwittingly Destructive Parenting. The Rugged, Unkind Road to Emancipation and Un-relinquishing Degrees of Freedom Inauspicious Family Conditions Embroiled Parent-teacher Relations

Forces Instigating Self Betrayal Parents Peers The Opposite Sex

Targets for Invidious Comparisons Age Physique Appearance in Physical Features and Cloths Ethnicity Gender Deviations Socio-economic Status Academic and Extracurricular Standing Romantic Relationships

Societal Factors Inducing Angst, Anxiety, Confusion, Cynicism, Rage and Despair Transitions by Age/grade and Their Emotional Crises Societal Value Conflicts Culture of Invidious Comparisons and Social Darwinism

Institutional Factors and Characteristics Inducing Alienation, Depersonalization, and Revenge Opportunistic, Inconsistent Selection of Polarized, Conflicting Cultural Values Urban and Suburban Communities Each With Their Own Brand of Depersonalization Formal Traditional, Unwitting, Stereotyping and Labeling by Organizations, Institutions, and Informally by Institutional

Representatives Inequities of Treatment by Institutions for Ancestral and Residential Origins Unwitting Negativistic School Discipline Policies, School Structure and School Procedures Traditional Negativistic, Non-reparative Posture of the Justice System Health Professions’ Denigrating Diagnosis, Labeling, and Disempowering Prescription for the Emotional-behavioral Effects or

Symptoms Resulting From Societal, Structural Dysfunctionality

II. EFFECTS OF RUNNING THE GAMUTTeen Inscapes Seek Matching Characteristics in the Outside World Youth in mental turmoil seek avenues in the external environment that match their inner turmoil. The angry swirling explosive inner turmoil seeks complementary music, music that is loud,

hostile, rebellious, forbidden, jangled. Youth can find a wide variety of sanctioned and unsanctioned societal avenues that can

complement their inner turmoil. The path chosen may be more a matter of the external structure which readily available for each

individual youth.

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INSCAPE

AVENUE

MATCHES

The RESULTS Identity and Life Style Adopted by Social Rejects Extreme Polarization of Public and Private Selves Sense of Self Betrayal, In-authenticity, and Loss of Value

as a Person Pursuit of Societal Avenues for Malevolent and Violent

Self Expression Extreme and Unconventional Road to the Kind of

Violence Expressed at Columbine and Conyers

III. RUNNING THE ONEROUS, BATTERING, DEMORALIZING GAMUTS OF LIFE

Pathways to Deadly Violence Deadly violence most probably is a matter of happenstance. The conditions spawning deadly violence are diffuse and

enmeshed in our whole society. The threshold from rage and despair to homicide and suicide may

be crossed very gradually or suddenly. Prior to crossing that threshold, youths can not conceive of

themselves nor anyone they know committing such an act. Once that threshold is passed, the public-private split in the

personality prevents them from sharing this change and these thoughts with anyone unless they happen to find some peer whose life situation and inner life approximates their own sufficiently that they can, to a sufficient degree, relate to the transformation. This person becomes the alter ego, soul mate, and co-conspirator.

Otherwise, the veneer of the public personality makes it virtually impossible for an outsider to fathom their inner transformation.

Societal Avenues for Malevolent and Violent Self Expression When Avenues for Positive Self Expression Are Closed.

Official and Unofficial Competitive Sports World’s of Music World’s of Art, Graffiti, Doodles World’s of Fashion, Tattoos, Piercing World’s of TV, MTV, Movies Truancy and Running Away World’s of Computer Web Sites on Hate, Pornography, Violent Computer Games Interpersonal Cruelty, Practical Jokes, Pranks Dare Devil Stunts with Cars, Motorcycles, Skateboards World’s of Parties, Clubs, Concerts Consensual and Predatory Sex Revenge over Frustrated Romance World’s of Guns, Explosives, Make-shift Weapons Property Destruction, Random and Planned Pushing Drugs Substance Abuse World’s of Planned Crimes: Robbery, Car Theft World’s of Gangs, Gang Warfare, Hate Crimes Explosive Reaction Killing Planned Massacre

Fantasies of Suicide and Mass Annihilation.• In the midst of running the awful gamut life has set out for them, certain youths, we shall call

anti-heroes, develop a sense of despair and resignation. They are unable to see a decent future for themselves. Their future looks like a bleak, terrifying, never ending road ahead of them. They are completely unable to see that the dismal present could some day pass away and be replace by something more livable, even enjoyable. Their perspective is hemmed in by menacing gatekeepers everywhere they look. There is no place for them. They feel trapped in a living hell. There is no one who cares who will rescue them. They feel they are ostracized, unsalvageable, isolated, and completely emotionally abandoned. They feel they were born to be rejected and to suffer a miserable life. They dwell on a vast accumulation of injustices, humiliations, failures and rejections and conclude that ‘Fate’ itself conspired to stigmatize them and doom their whole life. This was their ‘Fate’. Since there is no way out, no recourse, the only alternative is to not exist, to die, and that requires some form of suicide.

• Then, suddenly, all of these same factors generate and opposite feeling and desire. Now they want to retaliate. The menacing gatekeepers now appear to be persecutors who deserve retaliation. From being trapped and cornered by ‘them’, with nothing to lose, their despair turns into rage and is directed to all of those individuals who have taunted, tormented, and persecuted them, then to specific individuals who were principal offenders, then to institutions or society, then to parents, then to the world and life and Fate. Ruminating furiously, they begin to imagine massive destruction of society or life or play out in their minds a horrendous slaughter of an individual or group.

• Behind these malevolent fantasies there is a motive ‘to send a message’ to them, to the world to let them know that the magnitude of the destructive act signifies the magnitude of the injustice done our anti-hero.

• Similarly, with their fantasies of suicide, there is an underlying motive of paradoxical retaliation. In killing themselves they ‘send a message’ to their persecutors and those who have abandoned, betrayed, or tortured them. They are saying, “When I blow my brains out, then you will realize what you did to me and be forever sorry”.

Finding an Alter-ego, Soulmate, Co-conspirator.• When our anti-hero is all alone, lonely, feeling isolated, deserted and full of swirling emotional

thoughts alternating between suicide and mass annihilation, he is also desperately in need of someone to tell it all too. He needs someone who can commiserate with him, but not dominate the conversation and wallow in his own misery. He needs someone who can agree with him about his beliefs about life, fate, and the vengeance due his persecutors. He needs someone who also can not act out the rage but who can get vicarious satisfaction by listening to flights of fancy masquerading as plans. He needs someone who feels powerful when the anti-hero is blowing away his enemies and feels vindicated when the whole city guiltily mourns their suicides because life and everyone was so ruthless, heartless, unjust, and unappreciative of what they could have had to offer. This person is the soul-mate, alter-ego, and co-conspirator.

• The two of them can take unlimited flights of imagination into scenario of wiping out their enemies and mass annihilation. They readily find music, TV and MTV shows and videos, computer games, and seek out web sites that explain a multitude of ways to blow up the enemy.

• They can spend endless hours denigrating and laughing at insiders who think they are so great and are really so stupid. And, they can spend endless hours developing and running through lethal plans to destroy parents, teachers, peers, police, stupid people who prided themselves in thinking they could cure these pathetic young men, the whole city, buildings with symbolic importance, uppity girls who turned them down and on and on.

• But, one day an offense occurs against them that makes them feel they must put up or shut up. The alter-ego looks to the anti-hero to be the courageous vindicator and they are locked into their own dare-devil compact to make it really happen. Now serious planning begins. This could go on indefinitely were it not for the likely possibility that some new unforgivable transgression against them will occur. Then, with paralyzing fear, they wheel resolutely into action and the dye is cast.

• All of life was dismal for them. Playing games, carrying out pranks, taking flights of fancy elevated them out of that dismal world and those moments they could gleefully relish their imaginary victories and the devastation of their enemies. But when mother or dad called or they had to go back to school or be taunted in hallways or walking back home, the dismal world flooded and the poisonous barbs painfully pricked their consciousness and once again set them in front of terrifying peers or teachers.

• But, as the began to plan in earnest it seemed to no longer be just about vindication and elimination of the sources of threat and humiliation, but became a higher cause, a mission, a sacrifice of themselves for the greater good of all mankind.

• They were sending a message to the world that could not be missed. They were champions setting things right for all the unappreciated underdogs who were so much more worthy of honor than all the snobs and bullies. They were Ghengis Kahn and Joan of Arc all in one. These thoughts truly carried them out of their dungeon of despair. For once life was really and truly meaningful.

• For once they would truly be heard. For once they would not have to dread the future after their deed was done. For once they would be real champions in real life. They were finally finding meaning for their existence by seriously planning the annihilation of existence.

Finding a Meaning for Existence Through Planning the Destruction of Existence.

EXERCISES