An Intro to Open Letters: Purpose
By: Open Letters
Tags: Open Letter, Mental Health, Sexual Assault, Systemic Racism, Survivor

An Intro to Open Letters: Purpose

I am sharing these open letters because they are in essence truly disheartening experiences of a survivor along with the candid experiences with the local entities that she engaged with after being sexually assaulted. I am writing them to provide a glimpse into her stories as it sheds light on various problematic institutions and behaviors that further dehumanize individuals already in immense pain. I have too often seen articles and documentaries of individuals who’ve survived an attacked, but despite all intents and efforts receive no justice and are treated like nuisances and criminals themselves while the perpetrator continues to function as if everything were “normal” likely planning and preparing for the next attack. During this time, many survivors are alternatively facing the reality that their entire lives may be uprooted, they are questing who they can trust and forced to rediscover who the are again, are reassessing for potential threats/retaliation and are concurrently digesting the reality that while seeking help their voices may be diminished and their bodies further dehumanized by the very professionals and systems (laws included) that were supposed to advocate for them, protect them, and ensure that no one else succumbs to the same or similar fate. These future letters will be “themed” in that those that are to come will be specific to the entity and the crucial role that they played in a survivor’s life.

Within this introductory letter I’d also like to bring light to this pervasive juxtaposed response to the survivor who eventually dies by suicide as the media indicates that everyone was so “surprised” and “shocked”, that they almost verbatim repeat the same message encouraging “you or someone you love to seek help”. No one, however, wants to talk about what happens when we actually do SEEK HELP and the systems in place fail us. No one wants to talk about the truth of the human condition and just how susceptible we are to tragedy and pain; we all want to pretend that only “those people” have certain problems and perpetuate thousands of false ideologies that maintain the dysfunctional micro experiences of society as they inform rape culture, our criminal justice system and the entities that exist to help them. Researchers, mental health practitioners, and politicians, in particular, are the worst when it comes to continuing to play ignorant to the rapidly increasing suicide rates amongst varying demographics to include our youth and minorities. They get away with playing ignorant because we are all pretending to care by posting awareness memes, hosting webinars, walks and campaigns that donate to nonprofits that don’t really give a fuck about the communities that they serve, It’s rare that we use this time to alternatively question why mental health care and law enforcement is so expensive, yet so inadequate and often inaccessible to the variety of conditions that one may have and why so many rapists go free let alone are never investigated. Their negligence is to blame for the unknowing woman who believes she’s met the man of her dreams, yet has no idea that he has gotten away with raping multiple women because of our existing criminal justice system and the tyrants who were assigned to his cases. There is no excuse for the school who ultimately hires predatory and abusive employees subjecting innocent children to the uncontrollable evil of a predator that was never caught because no one believed his/her last victim(s). We don’t collectively question how it seems like every other day a new nonprofit fighting the same cause pops up, yet the causes that they “fight for” still maintain antiquated approaches and relative statistics don’t seem to swing in a positive direction. Couldn’t they have joined to be more effective if the consumers that they are trying to reach are indeed more important than their individual egos? Shouldn’t there be some intentional regulation to ensure that these spaces aren’t unethical, racist, and are actually using funds for the reasons that they state? Where are the checks and balances to ensure you privacy and involvement with these entities are automatically considered protected information and who holds them accountable when they do more harm than good to their own communities?

Our voices only matter when it’s too late.

As it stands, there are many grey areas when it comes to these issues. The issue that plagues me the most is the fact that $millions are placed into research efforts and yet these studies rarely, if ever, trickle down to front line workers and those who should be responsible for implementing these new findings. It’s as if most research is done just for clout, shits and giggles and will only be considered in the event that: one can actually AFFORD these new advancements; one needs to validate why certain measures were taken or considered in real life scenarios i.e. in the court of law — most often when it’s far too late. It’s a really complex scenario for me to personally express, but in short: A LOT of institutions are paid A LOT of money to research random shit. They have these great discoveries and even more are pending review and funding by diverse professionals, yet unless you are personally curious, wealthy, and aware enough to dig deeper for yourself, the shit will not be available to you. Thus, in order to be “compliant” in present spaces you must succumb to what one particular institution or treatment team has suggested (no matter how outdated it may be along with the burden of your state/local laws who may also have antiquated legislations). Though, as a patient, you are never implicitly made aware of any suitable alternatives, potential kickbacks the facility or doctor will receive for your compliance, you are not informed of what “new” treatment methods may exist if your facility is limited in their own functioning and capacities, and you will never be directly told of any preexisting biases or even concerning performance/behavioral activities of the staff members that serve you. In essence, at our most vulnerable state we are expected to blindly follow entire entities despite the evidence that presents that many of these institutions are later publicized for malpractice, harassment, abuse, negligence. Within this perspective, there exists no mandate to ensure that patients are truly able to make informed decisions about matters that have the potential to permanently change their brains’ chemical make-up and thus the trajectory of their lives.

The institutions are left blameless as you, if never “healed”, go about your lives questioning whether or not that initial misdiagnosis is the reason why you continue to struggle in certain areas of your life. Or whether the drugs that were blindly introduced to your body are to blame for other physiological or psychological issues that you have that are not genetic in nature. There exists no consideration for providing patients strategically developed correspondence efforts once seen by a provider to not only protect but warn them of pending new discoveries that may cause potential short- or long-term complications. Providers thus provide pamphlets and treatment plans naively assuming that this is ENOUGH, when we should be provided some on-going communicative tool that is connected to our treatment and medications while also connected to the ongoing medical changes and discoveries, recalls and potential advancements so that our bodies and minds remain holistically nurtured versus temporarily considered.

Photo by Jakayla Toney on Unsplash

On your road to recovery, experimental medications may still be prescribed even though (unbeknownst to you) new studies are developed incessantly that also question their effectiveness and serious concerns for the side effects. In one personal case, secondary trauma is heavily researched to include suggestive plans for professionals who engage with this population, yet when engaging with many public service institutions and even mental health professionals none of these motherfuckers were trained nor care to be sensitive to this heavily detailed aspect. Another huge one is the incidence of misdiagnosis and malpractice by psychiatrists who were actually getting kickbacks for prescribing medications that their patients didn’t even fucking need. They get away with these fucked up things and as everyday citizens we are the ones left to figure things out and are left having to advocate for ourselves against professionals who should have already had our best interest and should have known better, yet inherently neglect our voices.

It’s really fucked up how uninventive you all are and the lack of sincere strategy that is implemented when it comes to treating your patients and helping your communities. There are so many yet-to-be-addressed ways to innovate the continuum of care that will ensure that you are able to save countless lives by NOT continuing to see mental health, sexual assault and DV the way that you do: rushed, linear, traditional and riddled with prejudgments and personal biases. How can you not see that the tragedies that cause one’s mind to hurt as more complex and in need of more cultural considerations and advanced technologies? How can you not require truly individualized and innovative practices in an effort to heal minds and save lives? You have all collectively become so lackadaisical and this shows in the rise of suicides and concerning increases in assault and domestic violence cases; including those that have resulted in police brutality.

Photo by ActionVance on Unsplash

So, when the media expresses the rises in suicides as they relate to each victim’s individual livelihood and last days, while concurrently neglecting to address nor hold the existing continuum of mental health care and public service entities accountable; in addition to the historical societal dysfunctions that should be considered and held responsible — it pisses me off. If the existing services and resources were wholly effective, then those suffering would have (likely) had a better chance. What the fuck are ya’ll really doing if the mental health industry is worth approximately $300B and potentially more given various forms of funding available? What the fuck are you really doing with this money if approximately 50+ million American citizens need your (honest) help? 123 individuals will die by suicide every day in the US. As of Nov 30, 2020 864 people have been murdered by the police this year and this number is steadily rising.

From Mental Health Statistics Myth: There is no hope for people with mental health problems. Once a friend or family member develops mental health problems, he or she will never recover.

Fact: Studies show that people with mental health problems get better and many recover completely. Recovery refers to the process in which people are able to live, work, learn, and participate fully in their communities. There are more treatments, services, and community support systems than ever before, and they work.

- Even if given a completely holistic and culturally appropriate treatment plan, how can minorities successfully achieve this if they are unable to live, work, learn and participate in safe environments (free from assault, abuse, racism, bullying, and harassment) as they are treated as CRIMINALS and not victims when speaking up? They are often further marginalized and attempts to silence them prevail. If they do not resolve to being silent, their advocacy and protest efforts are treated as criminal acts further diminishing their humanness in their honest petitions for equal rights and respect. Surprisingly, I could not immediately locate statistics on the number of Black and LGBTQ+ Activist that have been MURDERED in 2020 alone, often conveniently after leaving a protest. Due to the intentional lack of media coverage I am able to count at least 7 lost souls with more than 6 individuals currently pleading to the public to watch for their safety, sharing concerning footage of unmarked cars and marked police cars following them, and assuring them that they are not suicidal nor combative in the event that they do get arrested. This shit is not normal nor is it ok and it is surely by design.

Rather than encouraging and protecting these leaders who DO NOT PROMOTE VIOLENCE, our own law enforcement and certain community members see them as “threats” and their humanness irrelevant. This is juxtaposed to the fact that they are only using their voices BECAUSE they’ve been personally threatened, attacked or witnessed the merciless killings of other human beings of color. Why would they NOT be enraged?!

From Mental Health Statistics Myth: Prevention doesn’t work. It is impossible to prevent mental illnesses.

Fact: Prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders focuses on addressing known risk factors such as exposure to trauma that can affect the chances that children, youth, and young adults will develop mental health problems. Promoting the social-emotional well-being of children and youth leads to:

Higher overall productivity

Better educational outcomes

Lower crime rates

Stronger economies

Lower health care costs

Improved quality of life

Increased lifespan

Improved family life

- The historical nature of abuse of Blacks and African Americans at the hands of our own government, leaders and police force is no secret. I am aware of a story in which a child witnessed domestic violence in the home and when the police arrived, they did nothing and no follow up was done to ensure the safety of the child nor a referral to allow the child to process the dangerous event that she just witnessed. If such instances are expressed along with any future traumas during your treatment, there should be no denying that appropriate measures should be taken to assist the patient. Alternatively, this particular patient was repeatedly condescended, judged, and patronized by one counselor who neurotically said “well it [the rape] could have been worse” and later put her hand to her head as if she was pointing a gun and saying “boom” while validating why she (WW counselor) felt it would be understandable for someone in the patients (BW) shoes to commit suicide given the tragedies that they’ve experienced. This same counselor also blankly admitted to never having reading her file and seemed to force the patient to “prove” to her just how fearful she was versus validating the fears, actually insinuating that she was too smart for her own good and never offered to help her to navigate through them.

- Stronger economies and lower crime rates are also most laughable considering the current state of the world. Yet, we are individually expected to “figure it out” while our government (a collection of hundreds of degreed, experienced specialists in charge of an entire country) is unstable, in surmounting debt, and continuously in public conflict never knowing how to professionally perform their own duties at hand. Yet, as American citizens we are expected to know (verbatim) all laws and statues in all realms while lacking the legal representation, mental capacity, and funding to do so. As human beings we are not graced with having failures without them diminishing our character and our livelihoods. Our government, public officials, and public service entities, however, receive a cloak of exclusion and consideration for making the same or worse mistakes as everyday citizens despite their targeted training, education and professional responsibilities

There are many more issues to unpack as it relates to education and healthcare, but these will surely be addressed at a later date. Feel free to add your concerning realities and epiphanies regarding just how complex and inefficient these existing systems really are.