Page 58 of The Broken Places

“So you believe many of the diagnoses are bullshit?” a man near the back asked.

“To put it bluntly, yes.”

The young man let out a short laugh but appeared mildly uncomfortable. “Lots of professionals would disagree with you, Dr. Sweeton.”

“Indeed, and they have. But show me one who’s helped a previously homeless drug addict with ten mental diagnoses live a full, rich life. Or one who’s assisted an incest survivor experience satisfying sexual relationships absent fear or rage. If you can, I will wholeheartedly considerthat person’s professional opinion and enthusiastically inquire as to their treatment methods.”

Shifting and murmurs all around. Was the doctor saying that complete mental health for people like the ones he was describing was an impossibility? If so, why was he in this business?

A woman raised her hand, and the doctor tipped his chin in her direction. “You mentioned mental issues pertaining to a history of trauma. But if the body itself seeks to protect the individual, are there vestiges of that later in life?”

“Absolutely. Victims of prolonged trauma experience many similar physical phenomena. I have seen patients who are numb in many areas of their bodies, specifically where trauma occurred. Some can’t see themselves in mirrors. They are far more vulnerable to experiencing long-term health problems. Chronic muscle tension creates migraines, severe back pain, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and other pain conditions. They cannot concentrate and often lash out violently at the simplest of provocations. Speak to any victim of chronic and prolonged trauma, and they will list their physical ailments. But these ailments are only symptoms of their underlying torment. And once again, the drugs they’re prescribed may help temporarily, but are ultimately bound to fail, leaving them that much more desperate.”

The entire audience seemed to be as rapt by the doctor’s passion as Lennon. He looked pained himself, as though the torment of these traumatized patients and the lack of treatment they experienced was a deep personal wound. Maybe it was. Maybe he’d been a victim once too. Or loved someone who was.

“These people are statistics to most professionals. They overwhelm our welfare system, they fill up our prisons, and they flood our medical clinics. What can we do? We must do something. Not only for them, but for the children they will produce—the ones who will almost certainly experience trauma as well, after being raised by emotionally deficient parents who, more often than not, expose their children to the same types of trauma they themselves suffered.”

“Other than the traditional protocols, what can be done for people like that?” a girl asked after raising her hand. “People who almost literally need their brains rewired?”

“As of now? We have some promising treatments,” Dr. Sweeton answered. “EMDR is one, though it’s controversial within the field. I, however, believe it’s a worthy area of study and have used it in my practice. It stands foreye movement desensitization and reprocessing.” All around Lennon, students were jotting in their notebooks. “It’s a psychotherapy treatment that involves moving your eyes in a specific way while processing traumatic memories. Holotropic breathwork is similar—though, as the name suggests, it involves breathing techniques to influence your mental and emotional states.”

“And those things help?”

Dr. Sweeton paused for a moment. “They can, depending on the depth of trauma.” He looked around again. “I realize I have presented a problem that seems to have a lack of solutions. What I would encourage you to do, future doctors, is to think outside the box. An unprecedented problem requires an unprecedented solution, not only for the institutions I mentioned but for the human beings affected by trauma. Push forward with new advances as they arise, and if mental health is the specialty you choose, be dogged in your pursuit of treatments that make a real difference. Don’t fall into the trap of medical complacency. And until the problem can be addressed in a meaningful therapeutic way, never stop asking ‘What can we do?’ We must do something.” He looked around the room, almost beseeching. “I leave you with that.”

The audience applauded, and Dr. Sweeton gave a small, humble wave before leaving the room. The students began to gather their things, and the chatter grew louder. Lennon scooted out of her seat and made her way down the center aisle, and then through the door where the doctor had gone.

She caught up with him in the lobby near the front door. “Dr. Sweeton?”

He turned, giving her a mild smile. “Yes?”

“Hi. I’m Lennon Gray, and I’m an inspector with the San Francisco Police Department. Do you have a minute?”

“Oh. Yes, of course.” He stepped off to the side, and she followed. A stream of students who’d been in the presentation started filing out.

“Thank you.” She removed her phone and pulled up the photo of the pills from the crime scene with the “BB” logo and held it up to him. “Have you ever seen this medication?”

He leaned closer, studying it. “‘BB’? No. It looks more like a homemade medication than a pharmaceutical-grade product.”

“It is. It’s related to a crime, and we’re trying to trace its origins.”

“Ah. I’m sorry to hear that. And sorry I can’t be of more help.”

She nodded. “I listened to your talk. It was ... depressing.”

He gave her a fleeting smile as the last of the students walked by, the door right in front of them closing, quiet descending in the open two-story entryway where they were standing. “It can be, yes. But there are breakthroughs happening every day in the study of mental health. And human beings can be extremely resilient if given the right tools.”

“As a former beat cop, I related to a lot of what you said. I’ve driven plenty of eight-year-olds to the mental ward who have all the diagnoses you mentioned listed on their forms.”

The doctor sighed. “Children. Yes. It’s the hardest part, isn’t it? Trauma is one thing, but treatment becomes that much more challenging when the child hasn’t formed an attachment to their mother, or another caregiver. An understanding of self is formed through such a relationship.”

“The mirror thing?”

“Yes. To themselves, they do not exist.”

“That’s awful.”

“It is awful.”

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