EXPLAIN, NOT CONDONE

Victor Bloom MD

Many people seem to not differentiate explaining (understanding) and condoning (forgiving). This fact has been a source of misunderstanding of psychoanalysis throughout the 20th century. Freudian psychoanalysis has shed light on the causes of emotional disorders, looking into early family and developmental influences in the shaping of the personality.

It is now well known that children who have been abused tend to be abusive later in life, and that children who have been neglected might not have much of a conscience. Not all emotional conditions relate back to early environment. Serious mental disorders often have a genetic predisposition www.replica2u.me. So mental illness is always a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Variations in personality type and creative talent are due in large part to genetic endowment. Some people are geniuses; others not quite so bright. Each person is unique, even each identical twin.

Once we understand that human behavior is motivated and caused by numerous factors, many of which we are unaware, aberrant behavior is understood in other dimensions than between good and bad, right and wrong, responsible or irresponsible. Freud showed us that much of what we do, how we think and feel, anäd the choices we make, are unconsciously determined. We think we are making thoughtful, rational decisions, but often they turn out badly, because there were motivations and factors not available to our consciousness, and so the choice was not entirely free.

This fact accounts for the many bad marriages that end in divorce. People are young, they think they know, they are wearing rose colored glasses, they 'fall in love with love' and when the honeymoon is over, the couple finds, sooner or later, that they are not compatible. And in about fifty percent of cases, the marriage ends in divorce, even though the memory is fresh that in the wedding ceremony the couple has pledged undying love and fidelity, a sacred bond.

In contrast, sometimes unconscious forces bring together a couple with 'true love', a love grows with time, where there is no interest in breaking up the relationship or being unfaithful. These lucky couples have unconsciously found their heart's delight, their perfect counterpart and life partner. They cannot explain their lasting mutual attraction. It is beyond rational understanding. Still, t'is a consummation devoutly to be wished.

People get angry with explanations of why some women want to get an abortion. Abortion is simply murder, they say. The woman who wants to abort a child out of wedlock, or a child not wanted for various reasons, including severe genetic defects, is not looked upon as a complex person with complex problems. These people over-simplify and call the mother a murderer, and irresponsible. This is the purely judgmental view--- one that is simplistic and narrow. It is easy to pass judgment.

People who try to explain rape as a complex combination of unconscious and genetic factors, in addition to psychological ones, are accused of condoning rape. Nothing could be further from the truth. If there is something bad in the human condition, behavioral scientists want to understand the problem better, in all its depth and complexity, in order to be better able to deal with it. It serves no purpose to repeat the mantra that rape is bad, rape is wrong, the perpetrator is bad, the victim is innocent and blameless. It is well known that sometimes unconscious factors lead a person to dangerous situations and self-defeat. Some suburban people will drive into the inner city looking to buy a bag of marijuana. That is asking for trouble. Women can better protect themselves by knowing the propensities of men and the power of their instincts to overcome conscience, civility and responsibility.

Historians, psychoanalysts, political scientists and political psychologists have tried to understand the basis of WWII and the Holocaust. It was determined that the victory of the Allies in WWI and the terms of the Versailles treaty punished the Germans severely, to the point that they needed a wheelbarrow full of paper money to buy a loaf of bread. Being forced to abject submission and poverty aroused the resentful rage of a proud populace, who were quick and eager to respond to Der Fuhrer, who promised them power, glory and redemption. The intrinsic problems of the German people and nation were projected onto a scapegoated minority.

Although we understand what happened and why, still we cannot condone it. To explain it is not to explain it away, but to learn from what happened so that the horrors will not be repeated. To explain is not to condone, but to understand. Understanding is what the Enlightenment is all about.

Dr Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and on the editorial board of the Wayne County Medical Society. He welcomes comments at his email address--- vbloom@comcast.net