Click Here to View: Ask Me Anything: Is Psychoanalysis Worth Trying? by Andrew Sullivan.
Comment by a Reader on Andrew Sullivan’s Video:
I just wanted to say thank you for that video. I had a very traumatic childhood; I grew up in a British-style boarding school in India where I dealt with homesickness, arbitrary cruelty of teachers, even sexual molestation by other boys – standard boarding school fare, I think you’d agree, but nonetheless deeply scarring for a sensitive kid.
99% of the time, I am quite normal, highly functioning, deeply compassionate and so on. 1% of the time I’m a complete fucking maniac. Depending on the cause, I either have a debilitating panic attack or fly into a rage. Recently I got so angry over some pile up of pent-up frustrations that I completely destroyed an old laptop. It was just lying there. This was the first time I have done something really outwardly destructive (until then I would scream my head off, give myself a near-aneurysm, and then stew for hours). Thank God I don’t have kids – talk about paying the trauma forward.
My long-suffering wife has now demanded I seek psychoanalysis to work through those childhood issues. I woke up [Friday] morning resolved not to do it, but open for signs from the universe, so to speak. Then you showed up on my screen. Your candor and warmth totally removed my trepidation. My first appointment is next week. Wish me luck.