We Need to Have Empathy for Tea Partiers

These tea-party folks seem to most liberals-well, to most of us who live in the "reality community," or, as I like to call it, "reality"-like crazy [expletive deleted by Mod].

As a recent NY Times article reports, this hodgepodge of people and groups spout frankly paranoid beliefs as received wisdom, e.g. the Federal Reserve is our enemy and should be abolished, citizens should stock up on ammo, gold, and survival food in anticipation of an impending Civil War, states should "nullify" federal laws and even secede, medical records are being shipped to federal bureaucrats, the Army is seeking "Internment/Resettlement" specialists, Obama is trying to create crises in order to destroy the economy, convert Interpol into his personal police force, and create a New World Order. Conspiracy theories involving shadowy elites like the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations have resurfaced. Self-defense and armed resistance are frequently called for. Racist stereotypes, innuendo, and hostility run rampant. The Constitution is its sacred text and Glenn Beck its most beloved prophet. They don't usually wear aluminum hats but perhaps they should.

I hate these folks but I also understand them. And, well, uh, I also empathize with them. They share the same psychology as the paranoid patients I treat every day. The only difference is that the paranoid beliefs of the tea-party movement are political while those in my consulting room are of a more personal nature.

The causes and dynamics, however, are the same. And so just as I have empathy for my patients, I have come to have empathy for the tea-party'ers, even as I despise their influence and work hard to defeat their ideology. It's crucial that progressives do likewise because if we don't understand the ways that decent, god-fearing, and victimized people can come to espouse such a dangerous ideology, we won't be able to fight them effectively.

I treat people who are paranoid all the time. Sometimes they're only mildly paranoid. For example, someone I treat can't tolerate blame of any kind, can't take any responsibility for failures, and can't really be optimistic about the potential goodness in others. It's always someone else's fault. Other times, they're more severely paranoid. A patient I saw spun tale after tale of slights, interpreted innocuous events as malignant, saw conspiracies everywhere, and always imputed malevolence to others' motives. The most extreme cases can be found in the delusions of schizophrenics.

There isn't one cause of paranoia. Tomes have been written about it. Individual variations and exceptions abound. A few generalizations, however, can be made. Paranoid people are trying their best to make sense of and mitigate feelings of helplessness and worthlessness. Their beliefs are attempts to solve a profound problem, albeit in ways that distort reality.

People can't tolerate feeling helpless and self-hating for very long. It's too painful. It's too demoralizing, too frightening. They have to find an antidote. They have to make sense of it all in a way that restores their sense of meaning, their feeling of agency, their self-esteem, and their belief in the possibility of redemption. They have to. They have no choice. That's just the way the mind works.

The paranoid strategy is to generate a narrative that finally "explains it all." A narrative-a set of beliefs about the way the world is and is supposed to be--helps make sense of chaos. It reduces guilt and self-blame by projecting it onto someone else. And it restores a sense of agency by offering up an enemy to fight. Finally, it offers hope that if "they"-the enemy, the conspirators--can be avoided or destroyed, the paranoid person's core feelings of helplessness and devaluation will go away.

Take an extreme case. Someone I saw years ago had a paranoid delusion that orbiting satellites were trying to control his mind. He went to great lengths to insulate his apartment so as to repel these psychic assaults. When I got to know him better, I discovered that he developed this delusion as a way to make sense of an on-going but terrifying experience--the genesis of which lay in his childhood--that he wasn't a separate person and didn't have the right to his own thoughts. This terrifying feeling of helpless vulnerability was rendered comprehensible to him by his delusion about orbiting satellites. In a paradoxical way, his delusion reduced his terror even as it generated its own fears and dangers.

Another patient I saw had a daughter who was mentally retarded. When the daughter's disability was discovered, he felt so helpless and guilty (normal feelings that were exaggerated by experiences from his own childhood) that he slowly developed the belief that the daughter had been the unwitting victim of sexual abuse by relatives, that this abuse had led to various cognitive arrests, and that treatment for the abuse could and would restore her to normalcy. In this way, he negated his guilt, and momentarily overcame his helplessness through a heroic search for a therapeutic "cure."

While extreme cases, these vignettes illustrate the core truth about paranoia, namely, that it is an attempt to lessen unbearable feelings of self-blame and powerlessness. In this special sense, psychotherapists understand paranoid beliefs as attempts at adaptation and self-healing, even as these beliefs compromise the ability to test reality and invariably create suffering of their own.

Paranoid beliefs about Obama and the government promulgated by the ultra-right have a similar genesis and meaning. In the Times story about the tea-party movement, the writer describes how most tea-party activists are not loyal Republicans. "They are frequently political neophytes," he writes, "who prize independence and tell strikingly similar stories of having been awakened by the recession. Their families upended by lost jobs, foreclosed homes and depleted retirement funds, they said they wanted to know why it happened and whom to blame."

They began listening to Beck, reading the Federalist Papers, books by Ayn Rand and George Orwell, and started visiting radical right wing websites. The Times writer then makes a crucial observation: "Many describe emerging from their research as if reborn to a new reality." In other words, like my patients, the tea party folks find in their paranoid views about politics a narrative that "explains it all," that reduces their sense of helpless confusion, and that channels their feelings of victimization into ones of self-righteous militancy. They go from passive victim to active agent, from guilty to innocent, but all at the price of distorting reality into one full of malevolent conspiracies.

The payoff is that they are no longer confused. They are reborn and now, thankfully, have the "answer." And that answer is that big forces are hurting and enslaving them.

And while these forces include the banks and large corporations, the main culprit is, of course, the government. People don't have a direct and immediate experience of Goldman Sachs. The do, however, experience government every day, not only on television news shows, but via laws, taxes, public services (or the lack thereof), law enforcement, etc.

Lots of people feel guilty and helpless, of course, and most don't become paranoid. Some become simply depressed or resigned, others turn to strategies of distraction or addictive self-medication. Others might face their feelings more directly, tolerate them, and find alternative solutions, e.g. turn to friends, therapists, or various communities of support. Still others may find relief for painful feelings by projecting all meaning and agency onto God. And some simply fight back against "reality," despite long odds. The psychological reasons that one person turns to paranoia and another seeks a healthier solution are not generally known.

It is also obvious that left wing conspiracy theorists share much of the same pathology as those on the right wing of the spectrum.

For new tea-party members, however, the drift toward paranoia is facilitated by the right-wing media machine that offers several ready-made narratives perfectly designed to help its consumers clear up their confusion, understand their helplessness, absolve them of any blame, and offer a way out. The conspiratorial alliance of business and government, a growing tyranny intended to disenfranchise, disarm, and exploit ordinary citizens, secret pacts to overthrow the constitution, etc. all currently led by an un-American, godless, colored, elitist, contemptuous, foreigner--Barack Hussein Obama. A grim and frightening picture of the world to be sure.

Psychologically speaking, however, it offers relief from helplessness and a sense that things are falling apart. It offers a sense of cohesion and identity based on certainty, a commonality of interests, innocence, and even martyrdom. While the world of the tea-party'ers is filled with danger, it is a danger mitigated by moral certainty, clarity of purpose, and a definable external enemy.

The "problem," then, is not the paranoid story line but the anxiety, helplessness, and pain that generate it. And that pain is not irrational or crazy. It's real. We all feel it. Most of us do feel helpless in relation to the most important aspects of our lives, from the nature of our work to its security, from our politicians who are on the corporate dole to those perpetuating gridlock through their narrow ideology, from the quality of our health care to its availability, and from the isolation and loneliness of everyday social life.

The pain of self-blaming is also ubiquitous in the cultural assumption that our lot in life is determined primarily by individual ability, not by getting help from others. Confusion, anxiety, disconnectedness, and a sense that "things are falling apart" are not crazy feelings. They are accurate and valid responses to a highly alienated and often abusive social world.

The "problem" is that tea-party activists move from legitimate feelings and normal longings to paranoid political positions that are dangerous and cruel. But because these positions serve an important psychological function, because they resolve an emotional dilemma, they can't be changed by rational argument. I have never been able to help a paranoid patient even a little bit by arguing with his or her view of reality. Not one bit. The only way I have been able to make any headway is use our relationship to provide real experiences that have a shot at providing an alternative and more satisfying "solution" to their underlying fears. Only then can I begin to offer a counter-narrative, one that acknowledges their pain and innocence, but enables them to more accurately identify its sources and, therefore, its antidote.

Perhaps the progressive movement shouldn't waste its time dealing with the tea-party movement except as a spur to get our own house-and movement-in order. A legitimate argument can be made that these people are, simply, the enemy and that our challenge is to build progressive majorities immune to their sabotage and interference. But I would argue that to the extent we want to reach people who are drawn to tea-party, patriot, libertarian, and other right wing movements but are not yet hard-line ideologues, or prevent others from becoming so, we have to begin with empathy. We have to get inside their heads, figure out how their choices are reasonable from their point of view.

It would help if we found ways to get into relationship with them, to demonstrate a genuine curiosity not about their paranoid theories but about the underlying pain and fear that is the source of them. In this way, perhaps we can figure out how to speak to that pain and fear in ways that are both authentic and comforting. Perhaps we can figure out what experiences they might need to have in order to feel safe enough to at least listen to another narrative-ours.

Michael Bader is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in San Francisco

Bader was also a founder of the Institute for Change, a progressive think-tank focused on leadership development and currently associated with the Service Employees International Union

I've always thought that most of these shrinks get into the business to try to figure themselves out. They're not infallable, i.e. the Ft. Hood terrorist was a shrink.

Anyway, DOC...there is such a thing as "cause and effect"...the "effect" in this case would be concerned citizens of the United States, standing up for their country and Constitution...and the "cause"...well, he lives in the White House.

Now I'm sure as a shrink you could find something wrong with everyone in the world, given enough couches and time, however, the EU-wannabe's out there have already tried to paint the TEA Party participants into their own little definitions, and it ain't working.

Then comes liberal nuts like yourself - wearing the mask of officialdom - to try and convince everyone that everyone who doesn't agree with you, is somehow nuts.

I admire doctors for the time, work, and dedication it takes for them to become doctors...but, underneath the diploma are still flesh and blood humans with their own interests and agendae. There are Conservative doctors - many of whom marched in the last TEA Party gathering in Washington; and there are many liberal/progressive doctors...no doubt you are of THAT bent.

But your long-distance, millions of patients at once "group" theropy if full of holes, and your diagnosis is a little slanted to the left. Doctors obviously attend some classes with journalists to learn to do "spin". Determine and diagnosis first, and then look for the symptoms to match it.

But now, your hour is up.....goodbye.

The government taxes away half my income, runs up trillions of dollars in debt, encourages dependency, punishes hard work, and takes over industries its policies have caused to fail. Then it enlists the support of helpful doctors to tell me I’m paranoid. Take your medication, citizen; it’s almost time for the Dear Leader to speak.

They are and one of the reasons we have seen increasingly liberal views coming from the “profession”. There are also far too many radical homosexuals in the profession which explains a lot about shifting “scientific” opinions. The whole of science has been shifted not by science but by liberal ideology.

Michael Bader, D.M.H.

Michael Bader is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in San Francisco with over 30 years of experience. He is the author of Male Sexuality: Why Women Don't Understand It-and Men Don't Either and Arousal: The Secret Logic of Sexuality Fantasies. Bader has written extensively about the interaction of psychology, culture, and politics in both academic journals and popular media such as Alternet.org and Tikkun Magazine. He has appeared as an expert in numerous documentaries, as well as radio and TV programs. In addition to his clinical work and writing, Bader was also a founder of the Institute for Change, a progressive think-tank focused on leadership development and currently associated with the Service Employees International Union.

"I treat people who are paranoid all the time. Sometimes they're only mildly paranoid. For example, someone I treat can't tolerate blame of any kind, can't take any responsibility for failures, and can't really be optimistic about the potential goodness in others. It's always someone else's fault."

Well, at least he's treating Obama.

Michael Bader, D.M.H.

Michael Bader is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in San Francisco with over 30 years of experience. He is the author of Male Sexuality: Why Women Don't Understand It-and Men Don't Either and Arousal: The Secret Logic of Sexuality Fantasies. Bader has written extensively about the interaction of psychology, culture, and politics in both academic journals and popular media such as Alternet.org and Tikkun Magazine. He has appeared as an expert in numerous documentaries, as well as radio and TV programs.

In addition to his clinical work and writing, Bader was also a founder of the Institute for Change, a progressive think-tank focused on leadership development and currently associated with the Service Employees International Union.

His PT blog is What Is He Thinking?

In my experience, psychologists are more crazy than the general population.

Completely true. A former psychologist once told me that he went into the field because everyone around him was crazy and he wanted to find out why. He said it turned out that he was the one with problems.

He realized that there was something wrong with him after about 3 years in prison for burning his ex wife's house down. He said that he had felt justified in burning the house as a psychological lesson in "choices". She made a choice of dumping his crazy ass and he was teaching her that it was a bad choice.

Michael Bader, D.M.H. has issues that need to be addressed by a qualified professional. Paranoia being one of them.

Now, now, haven't you read his article, Tired of Being Cool: Understanding my Love Affair with Barack Obama

I think I must have a low pain threshold as I couldn't get past the third sentence...I might even vomit.

Sheesh...the wizard of smart isnt even smart enough to edit his Bio...

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/bloggers/michael-bader-dmh

Michael Bader, D.M.H. Michael Bader is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in San Francisco with over 30 years of experience. He is the author of Male Sexuality: Why Women Don’t Understand It-and Men Don’t Either and Arousal: The Secret Logic of Sexuality Fantasies. Bader has written extensively about the interaction of psychology, culture, and politics in both academic journals and popular media such as Alternet.org and Tikkun Magazine. He has appeared as an expert in numerous documentaries, as well as radio and TV programs. In addition to his clinical work and writing, Bader was also a founder of the Institute for Change, a progressive think-tank focused on leadership development and currently associated with the Service Employees International Union.

He’s a frickin moonbat himself...

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-is-he-thinking

http://www.reasonandrant.blogspot.com/

Blind and moronic, spouting the party line without any consideration of the facts. He patently refuses to see the evidence before him, but wants to be the good guy, so he claims to "empathize" with Tea Party-goers. Who's more the crazy?

He, like many people I have met in the psychology profession, knows there is something wrong and doesn't go any further into the root cause of the "malady." His opening use of the word "hate," combined with the terribly unprofessional use of the words "crazy" and "fuckers," tells us a great deal about him. He is emotionally attached to the subject matter, a big no-no in psychology. He assumes that any departure from his personal world view must be mental illness. He is not capable of an objective assessment. He even goes so far as to hint that the Constitution and conservative values are irrelevant.

Something I have found that they really hate: analyze the analysts. They really hate that.

Apparently, posting your condescending hatred for your patients on the Internet is considered acceptable behavior in this community of “doctors”. Great ethics there, you fruity headshrinker. If that doesn’t convince people to stay the hell away from this “reality based community” when they need help, then I don’t know what will. As far as I’m concerned, this guy is no better than a cult leader. He preys on people with mental and emotional damage in order to “progress” his radical agenda.

For example, someone I treat can't tolerate blame of any kind, can't take any responsibility for failures, and can't really be optimistic about the potential goodness in others. It's always someone else's fault.

Ah, Doc, might I suggest you focus on YOUR Phony, Narcissistic, Fascist, Man-Child, Community-Agitating, Dear Leader, as that description fits the Messiah to a "T!"

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.