En savoir plus
The entire world was shocked and saddened by the premature death of Robin Williams, and especially by his own hand.
His struggles with alcohol and drug addiction are widely known and have been attributed to a lifelong battle with bipolar disorder.
As an only child, he was emotionally neglected and lonely. His inner voice became his primary companion. After a relapse in 2006, he talked about that voice. " You're standing at a precipice and you look down," he said. "There's a voice, and it's a little quiet voice, that says 'JUMP!'"
We all have that voice - it's not a thought but a self-denigrating voice. This voice echoes, "You're not good enough, you'll never be perfect, who do you think you are? You're a failure!" That is self-talk. It's never kind and represents all the toxic, negative and traumatic exposures experienced during the vulnerable and innocent periods in a child's life.
Gerald Loren Fishkin, Ph.D., psychotherapist and author, has spent the past three years researching the literature and available research regarding shame and shame effects. He concludes that there may indeed be a neurological foundation for shame and its sequelae - morbid and profoundly negative - self-talk. In his new book,
The Science of Shame and Its Treatment (2016), Dr. Fishkin examines the relationship between early life trauma, abuse and shame-based behavior, mood disorders and addiction. He concludes that children exposed to trauma, abuse, neglect and violence often display the same characteristics as PTSD, often using alcohol and drugs to self-medicate and quiet the inner voice, resulting in chemical addiction and emotional despair. The self becomes the object of ridicule and scorn.
A propos de l'auteur
With fine academic credentials and an outgoing personality, Dr. Fishkin is an articulate professional and straight talker who believes in sharing his experiences and insights about human behavior without the need for cliché, "psychobabble," or statistics to reinforce his words. His clarity of thought and speech are immediately related to by any audience, as are his amusing and illuminating anecdotes collected from years of professional experience.
Gerald Loren Fishkin, M.S., Ph.D., has been focused on helping people for most of his life. He has been a practicing psychotherapist and author in southern California since 1970. For more about Dr. Gerald Loren Fishkin, M.S., Ph.D., visit http: //drgeraldfishkin.com
