Ramon Diaz | CPTSDfoundation.org

Digital Media and Sexting Leads to Psychological Death

Ramon Diaz — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 11:40:28 +0000

Digital devices have evolved throughout the years, mainly in their function. The way children and adults engage with digital devices is interesting in the 21^st century. Today, digital devices are referred to as “smartphones.” How are digital devices “smart” today? Can algorithms be smart? What seems apparent is that algorithms have been trained to capture the attention of as many people as possible. How attention is captured is becoming a more important question that must be answered. The methods that algorithm developers are using to capture attention have led children to act on impulses that is leading to psychological death.

Sending messages that are nude, partially nude, or that present sexual acts has been normalized by algorithms. Developing an identity for children, adolescents, and young people is an important milestone that must be completed to maintain well-being (Doyle et al., 2021). Identity for many young people is made up of sexualized impulses. When I am told that I am sexy, I have an identity. Psychological death is the result.

Identity is made up of characteristics like honesty, open-mindedness, kindness, and assertiveness. This is not an exhaustive list, however. Identity cannot be developed when someone’s dopamine systems are hijacked. Screens plus sexual behavior create “black holes” in a child’s identity. The hole is filled up with “likes”, “emojis”, creating the necessary cognitive foundation for future psychiatric disorders like antisocial personality disorder. Psychological death is the result.

Sam Altman, one of the major tech gurus of ChatGPT, has recently announced the development of “AI porn.” Sam recently said in an interview with Forbes Magazine that AI porn is not addictive. Sam has clearly taken the “blue pill”; the reality that Sam has created is not supported by robust Child Developmental Psychology. AI Porn will further accelerate the dopamine hijacking in a child’s brain (and the brain of an adult!). Sexbots that are more childlike can create opportunities to destroy a child’s identity, as well as undermine sexual health. Sexual disorders often co-occur with trauma experiences in children who are experiencing identity issues.

The situation looks bleak for our young people. Making friends by sharing nude pictures and/or other sexually related pictures undermines many developmental stages in children. Sexting is the equivalent of handing a bag of cocaine to a child after telling the child the cocaine is not addictive.

Reference

Doyle, C., Douglas, E., & O’Reilly, G. (2021). The outcomes of sexting for children and adolescents: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Adolescence, 92, 86–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2021.08.009

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

Guest Post Disclaimer: Any and all information shared in this guest blog post is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in this blog post, nor any content on CPTSDfoundation.org, is a supplement for or supersedes the relationship and direction of your medical or mental health providers. Thoughts, ideas, or opinions expressed by the writer of this guest blog post do not necessarily reflect those of CPTSD Foundation. For more information, see our Privacy Policy and Full Disclaimer.

Ramon Diaz

Ramon Diaz, Jr., PhD candidate: Developmental Neuropsychology, LPC, NCC, CCTS, CDBT, CADC
Clinical Complex Trauma Specialist (CCTS-1),
Certified Dialectical Behavioral Therapist (C-DBT),
Certified Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counseling (CADC)

License Number: 178.018904

A Child Making Friends with Chatbots: What’s the Problem with That?

Ramon Diaz — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 09:39:36 +0000

The smartphone phenomenon has been impacting the milieu in the United States for well over 15 years. Some of us can remember what life was like before smartphones were put into the hands of Americans. Many of us were in college or had just graduated from high school. However, many Americans, especially parents, could not have predicted how behavior was going to be shaped by smartphones. Smartphones paved the way for software developers to create what is now referred to as “apps.” Although smartphones, apps, and social media have their merits, the adverse outcomes due to this technological revolution can no longer be ignored.

One of the main concerning outcomes of the smartphone revolution is what some psychologists refer to as “AI empathy” (Hansen-Staszyński, 2025). Empathy is created by chatbots. A chatbot is a computer program that simulates human-like conversations. Software engineers, originally, to my knowledge, developed chatbots to help make customer service departments more efficient. Some of you have encountered chatbots when visiting business websites. They are appearing on your computer and smartphones more frequently in 2025.

Chatbots are using keystrokes, biometric data, and data mining engineers to create sophisticated chatbots to engage children and young adults (CYA). Hansen-Staszyński points out that empathy AI/chatbots are distinct in many ways from empathy that CYA experience when engaging with their peers in real life (2025). Hansen-Staszyński explains that empathy AI-bots create identity fragmentation in CYA. Identity fragmentation creates unhealthy forms of vulnerability. AI-empathy-bots do not grow with remorse, healthy guilt, and/or social repair when their empathy misses the “mark.”

Identity fragmentation can develop other clinical symptoms in CYA. The main symptoms that will develop are low self-worth, negative self-talk, and dissociation, i.e., avoiding intense emotions when stressed. Identity fragmentation can impact relationships with peers over time. When these clinical symptoms appear in CYA, they will not have the mental “headspace” to develop long-lasting human relationships. Empathy with other humans will appear too painful to experience; a CYA will not be able to bear the pain of normal human mental pain that comes from building authentic relationships. Loneliness is inevitable for these generations of CYA.

AI empathy chatbots can also create “liquid relationships” (Hansen-Staszyński, 2025). Liquid relationships are relationships that do not possess any emotional risks. Healthy vulnerability can build resilience and strong emotional regulation skills. Ending relationships with peers is hard; friendships were meant to end throughout the developmental period for children and young adults. Healthy vulnerability also creates stronger self-awareness skills, e.g., “I wonder why _______ didn’t want to be my friend anymore?”. Liquid relationships offer “warmth without commitment” to CYA (Hansen-Staszyński). The internet and social media apps help children dissociate from all social and emotional identities. All apps and smartphones become the new extension and whole identity of CYA (Harkin & Kuss, 2021).

You are your phone. Relationships no longer have any social benefit for CYA. Human connections are a burden for CYA, no longer worthy of pursuing. AI empathy-bots are more like dolls rather than CYA. A relationship with a “doll” only meets the narcissistic-like needs of CYA without having to process the challenges that come with human feedback that is necessary to build authentic relationships. CYA and developing brain patterns that teach them to expect empathy always without any cost (Hansen-Staszyński, 2025). These patterns are creating clinical acute symptoms in CYA, which are deteriorating and creating traumatic experiences for entire generations. Friends, connect with our CYAs to retrieve what has been taken from them by tech-billionaires. To be a child and feel like a child must be retrieved today.

References

Hansen-Staszyński, Onno. (2025). The Case Against AI Simulated Empathy. https://saufex.eu/post/48-The-case-against-AI-simulated-empathy

Harkin, L. J., & Kuss, D. (2021). “My smartphone is an extension of myself”: A holistic qualitative exploration of the impact of using a smartphone. Psychology of Popular Media, 10(1), 28–38. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000278

Photo by Yeon Li on Unsplash

Ramon Diaz

License Number: 178.018904

Grooming Under the Guise of “Sport Development”

Ramon Diaz — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 13:15:24 +0000

Many more children get “lost in the machine.

Identifying children early who may show potential to become elite athletes one day is a growing social phenomenon. This growing psychology and sociological movement of “talent identification” is not only influential in the United States. Across the world, this movement influences all sports of all types. Some children do go on to play at a professional level in their respective sport. However, many more children get “lost in the machine.”

This blog captures an important premise from my new book, which comes out in May of 2025. The title of that book is A System Designed to Fail: Football and Its Oligarchs. In my book, I lay out the leading causes for why a sport like football has created a psychological and sociological machine that only exploits, abuses, and grooms children for monetary gain. This machine uses virtue signaling to cover up what goes on behind closed doors with children identified as talented athletes. Grooming begins with the gatekeepers, who the football Oligarchs train and coaches turn the machine on.

Grooming is a psychological method that is used to manipulate, desensitize, and create inescapable power dynamics that result in sexual and non-sexual exploitation of victims (Collings, 2020).

Grooming is often not reported because the behaviors that relate to sexual and non-sexual grooming are not seen by the public as harmful when they are disguised well (Jeglic et al., 2023). The goal is to avoid “detection” when grooming a child by an adult, Jeglic et al. argue. One way that adults avoid detection that grooming is taking place is by not acting on groom-like behaviors while parents and/or family are present with the children. Grooming environments will often be created when an adult interacts with the child in private.

Psychological manipulation within grooming tactics is designed to shape behavior to develop trust in the child towards the abuser. The only goal with this type of manipulation is to advance the selfish and narcissistic goals of the abuser (Collings, 2020). The psychological turmoil that a child experiences as a result of psychological manipulation lasts a lifetime, sadly.

Desensitizing a child to grooming-like behaviors creates trauma bonding in children with the abuser. Desensitizing effects are connected to physical experiences for a child. The child’s physiology changes as the trauma bond continues. The child may no longer be able to detect sensory nerves throughout the body. These nerves send signals to the brain, alerting the child that there may be a threat in some cases.

Instead, the child cannot detect whether the abuser is a threat or not. The dissociation due to the emotional trauma that results from trauma bonding and grooming behaviors cuts the child from his body. Along with not being able to detect threats by recognizing signals from the body, emotional trauma can also result in hypervigilant for dangerous signals and magnifying non-verbal signs at the cost of verbal signals, nightmares, and somatic triggers.

Coaches desensitize players by creating trauma bonds with them. Coaches often say, “Our team is like one big family…we trust each other.” Coaches also say, “We will not allow our family to be hurt by anyone else.” Although statements can appear innocent and harmless, coaches rely on virtue signaling to give the public the impression that their children are in good hands. The cycle of abuse continues for these kids through high school. The coaches maximize their profits with these children by maintaining the trauma bond.

Once finished, these athletes are abandoned as adult children. These athletes are emotionally infantile and become victims of abuse from others. They are left wondering if anyone in the world cares about them. The effects of trauma bonding leave athletes emotionally numb, mentally ill, and hopeless. How many children’s lives must be ruined due to society’s unwillingness to hold coaches legally responsible for their egregious behaviors? One athlete said to me, “I have never forgotten about the abuse I suffered by coaches to this day. I know these same coaches have not given much thought about how they ruined my life.”

References

Collings, S. J. (2020). Defining and delimiting grooming in child sexual exploitation. Child Abuse Research in South Africa, 21(1), 1–9.

Jeglic, E. L., Winters, G. M., & Johnson, B. N. (2023). Identification of red flag child sexual grooming behaviors. Child Abuse & Neglect, 136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105998

Photo by John Fornander on Unsplash

Ramon Diaz

License Number: 178.018904

Feelings are Real…Right?

Ramon Diaz — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 10:22:00 +0000

I grew up like many of us believing that emotions are not essential to human functioning. My understanding as a young man was that emotions only would make me “weak” if I associated myself with them. Although not one person directly informed of my view of emotions, the society at large in my context shaped the way I understand what emotions are. In the 21^st century, the study of emotions has evolved in some helpful ways.

Dr. Lisa Barrett, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University, has had a big impact on our study of emotions. During a recent interview, with Dr. Huberman-Professor of Neurobiology at Stanford University-Dr. Lisa discussed what her scientific view of emotions is. Dr. Lisa pointed out that emotions are not real. She explains what this means for viewers. She explained that an emotion is not “in your head.” You will not find a mental state that reads “sadness” inside the skull of a person. She goes on to say that an emotion is a biological process; the body receives signals from its environment; the body’s systems like the nervous system create a model of what these experiences mean; the brain translates these signals to predict what type of movement patterns is necessary to adapt to the environment. The model created by the body is expressed along with the brain that a state of “sadness” may be emerging. Sadness is a biological process. The self is a prediction machine, in some sense.

Dr. Lisa further argues that emotional expressions are not absolute. Dr. Lisa explained that emotional expressions do not always tell the “real story” that is going on inside the material body. She points out that emojis that you find on many social media apps today use these computer-generating memes to convey a simple category. Dr. Lisa argues that a person may use expressions that do not convey the entire variety of physical states that a person experiences when an emotion arises “to the surface.” The state is physical, not mental, Dr. Lisa claims. A category most of the time cannot capture all of the physical and brain states that a person experiences when faced with a difficult situation. Situations create physical states to motivate survival; we refer to this complex process as “feelings” Dr. Lisa reasons.

Dissociative states support this idea that emotional expressions do not have absolute emotional states. Dissociation is the brain’s way of adapting to chronic stress, anxiety, and emotional and physical abuse. The body keeps the score over the years Dr. Bessel van der Kolk maintains. Dr. Lisa says the body keeps a “scorecard” of what the body experiences over the course of a person’s life. The brain cannot forget how it avoids the stress due to abuse in whatever form it experiences to survive through life; the brain does not forget because the person does not want to feel the same mental suffering again. One patient told me once that I am tired of “feeling anything.” Physical and mental suffering are real-the goal is to identify how to manage and overcome this suffering to live a life that is worth living.

Feelings are real, and they are not meant to overwhelm us. Dr. Lisa concludes her interview with Dr. Huberman by saying that each person can manage physical and mental suffering, i.e., sadness and/or anger, by evaluating his “body budget.” Each person has a budget of glucose, sugar, and other protein cells in their body. The body does not operate the same way when a person’s glucose levels are down. When your budget is running out, you may experience sadness differently than you would when your body budget is high. Dr. Lisa says this simple biological fact about body budget supports the reality that emotional expression is not absolute. Expression evolves as the body changes throughout your day. Glucose also helps with dissociation: A person will have less energy to not dissociate when faced with a stressful situation when the body budget is low. The body needs energy to remain “present” each day.

Feelings are real in some sense and the body is capable of managing them well.

Barrett L. F. (2016). How emotions are made: the new science of the mind and brain. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Dawkins R. (2016). The selfish gene (40th anniversary). Oxford University Press.
Van der Kolk B. A. (2015). The body keeps the score: brain mind and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books.

Ramon Diaz

License Number: 178.018904

Sports and Hazing: Athletes’ Lives are Ruined Daily

Ramon Diaz — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 09:04:00 +0000

Recently, a sporting scandal broke out at a prestigious university in the US, Northwestern University. To this point, more stories are coming out to the public that suggests the scandal is bigger than what reporters originally thought it would be. The psychology behind hazing is what I plan to focus on in this short blog. During one of the biggest sports scandals in college history, I stand in the trenches for many athletes who need advocacy. As a former player at Northwestern University, I watch this scandal unfold and I am in utter shock. The shock does not come from what I am witnessing at this moment. The shock comes from what people in power are willing to do to remain in power. One major feature of this scandal is the long-term effects hazing will have on all the athletes that suffered abuse, sexual exploitation, and racism while playing at Northwestern University.

The psychology of hazing impacts the way the brain perceives a threat.

An athlete is forced, without her consent, to participate in an activity that violates her personal values and morals. Confusion begins to occur within the brain of the athlete. An athlete begins to develop an internal emotional and mental struggle; a coach, trainer, and/or administrator with a certain authority is placing an athlete in harm’s way. The person in power becomes the point of terror and safety at the same time (Van der Kolk, 2015). The person that an athlete was told to trust, rely on, and confide in becomes a threat. The mind of a 17-, 18-, or 19-year-old is only beginning to develop moral tools to discern between personal morals and a group’s moral compass. In most cases, the morals of the group take precedence over the athlete’s morals and values. Hazing almost always begins with the perpetrator identifying what athlete he wants to coercively control.

Coercive control is a pattern of forceful behaviors that create unequal power dynamics within a relationship.

For coaches, the controlling behaviors can come in the form of verbal and emotional abuse, extra reps, and deprivation-related techniques. Coaches can stop providing any feedback at all to an athlete; the athlete begins to interpret these behaviors to mean that his performance on the field is poor; coaches can use volatile language as critical feedback in an effort to sharpen an athlete’s performance; lastly, a coach can present degrading and devaluating comments towards players when they are injured to “motivate” the athlete to return to play soon. All these behaviors are condoned by athletic programs under the guise of “good coaching”. These intentional and aggressive behaviors slowly begin to develop emotionally dysfunctional relationships between the athlete and the coach. The level of behavior conditioning alters the brain and enables the athlete to perceive that she has one option: compliance breeds safety and dread at the same time. Coercive control leads to the fracturing of the self.

Repeated exposure to coercive control leaves an athlete’s identity fractured. As you can see in the infographic up above, exposure to verbal and emotional abuse leads to brain splitting. The term split does not refer to the brain physically splitting, however. The brain’s awareness of pain and suffering is suppressed, and the other part of the brain remains “online” to ensure basic survival behaviors. The pain and suffering come from the constant violations of the athlete’s morals and values. The power dynamic is well intact at this point and maintains complete control of the athlete. She wants to play her sport so she forces her will to comply, conditioning her brain to think the abuse is “worth it” to play her sport. An athlete begins to survive through life-she is no longer living her life as she wants.

Sports institutions continue to maintain a system that creates dynamics between coaches and their athletes that leaves them vulnerable to racism, bigotry, abuse, and psychological trauma. It seems like sports scandals from the high school level all the way up to the NFL appears in the news every month. Have we become desensitized to the atrocities that occur in the sports world because we have, without realizing it, normalized that abuse will always be part of sports culture? What is our moral responsibility when we read about a coach yet again abusing one of his players? In all reality, what can one person do? Without hesitation, the reality of this attitude only brings about a similar attitude in the majority of Americans in the US. More and more Americans feel like they cannot truly make an impact against powerful institutions like Northwestern University. In the 21^st century, this attitude among the public indirectly enables powerful institutions to create strategies to exploit athletes to profit from them. Friend, I hope that is not you. Resist the pressure to comply with the “thought police”-as George Orwell so wonderfully put it- and rediscover the common cause. The common cause is pursuing the dignity of all people; all people deserve to live a life that is worth living. Lies will never become truths.

References

Van der Kolk B. A. (2015). The body keeps the score : brain mind and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books.

Ramon Diaz

License Number: 178.018904

Trauma Impacts Adolescent Development

Ramon Diaz — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 12:14:33 +0000

Adolescents throughout the U.S. face psychosocial challenges they may not even be aware of at this point in time

The stage of development in primates we refer to as “adolescence” sits in between the stages of childhood and adulthood. The COVID crisis has contributed to discomforting symptoms we see in adolescence today. Adolescents throughout the U.S. face psychosocial challenges they may not even be aware of at this point in time. They experience mental issues like emotional disorders, self-harming behaviors, and key symptoms we find in clinical depression. Researchers, therapists, and psychologists are working tirelessly to identify strategies to help support adolescence as they embark on their healing journey. I want to contribute to this effort in this blog by sketching out major signs that show us an adolescent is moving through the adolescence life stages in a healthy manner.

[1]Adolescence is the stage between childhood and adulthood. Normative adolescent behavior is sensation seeking, researchers tell us. The environment that helps move an adolescent into this stage is important to note. An adolescent must experience an environment that reinforces higher cognitive abilities. Examples of higher cognitive abilities are working memory, reflective thinking, response inhibition, and performance monitoring. One way to measure whether cognitive abilities are improving is by performing cognitive tests on an adolescent. The tests may show whether a person’s performance on cognitive tasks improves. This shows that a person’s cognitive ability is improving; the improvements in this area of the brain help adolescence pursue other important goals like sensation seeking. Feeling requires critical thinking skills. The specific areas of a person’s brain that improve when critical thinking improves are the prefrontal cortex (PFC), posterior parietal cortex, and superior temporal cortex. Mental health challenges can begin to surface at this biological stage due to events, i.e., COVID, emotional or mental abuse, etc.

One major critical period an adolescent brain undergoes is when neurons begin to multiply and connect rapidly

Critical periods have been identified when a brain of an adolescent matures significantly. One major critical period an adolescent brain undergoes is when neurons begin to multiply and connect rapidly. When neurons fire together and often, the brain can send messages quicker to other parts of the brain. This matters because critical thinking is only possible when neurons are firing together frequently. The road to well-being begins when neurons connect daily. This critical period that is found in adolescence begins when she experiences an event that brings about excitement. This event can be receiving an award at school, performing well in a competition event, etc. Certain brain parts activate to “stop” brain functions that do not allow a brain to mature; the parts of a brain that help it mature turn on at the same time also. The major “glue” for these connections to occur in the brain is called myelination. Myelin is made up of proteins and lipids and creates a “tube” for messages to travel through to send messages throughout the brain. Critical periods like these give way to healthy brain functioning, creating the opportunity for an adolescent to overcome challenges that may be stressful like the COVID crisis. Many of our kids were not prepared for this crisis which had negative effects on brain development.

The brain of an adolescent is distinct from the brain of an adult. The brain of an adolescent will manage impulses if the brain matures successfully. The impulses that are normal for this biological age are yelling during an argument, lying, fighting at school, etc. The adolescent brain must have the skills to manage these types of impulses to move on to different biological brain stages. The critical period of development (CPD) is what this stage is referred to by neuroscientists. The brain of an adult is not growing as rapidly, in contrast. Neurons paired together are difficult to uncouple inside an adult brain. The brain of an adult matures to full optimal growth once a person is approximately 30 years of age. The adolescent brain continually is coding the social world around her, and a healthy adolescent brain is shaped positively by the social world, according to Dr. Casey, professor, and researcher at Yale University. [2]

Behaviors have been documented by the CDC that show that developmental stages are not being completed

Adolescence requires emotional support to help them through the biological stages of development. Anxiety and stress due to events like COVID brought about mental challenges for many adolescents. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) provides evidence this is the case. Behaviors have been documented by the CDC that show that developmental stages are not being completed, creating large deficits in cognitive abilities. Communities, parents, and schools are being affected severely because children need an expensive level of support to reach normal developmental stages. The virtues of the US depend upon the funding of necessary programs to ensure the well-being of the next generation of humans in the U.S.

The emphasis often is on creating policies that invalidate the experience of millions of American citizens: creating more policies does not reflect the nightmare of an experience children face daily

To close, policymakers must pay attention to the trends of biological development and those barriers that inhibit the completion of these stages. I watch congressional hearings often to identify those elected officials that focus on the root issues that contribute to the mental health challenges children are facing today. However, I find it disappointing what I discover when I listen to congressional hearings. I cannot imagine that people do not find themselves traumatized when they listen to these same hearings. The focus is not on identifying root issues for mental health issues in children. The emphasis often is on creating policies that invalidate the experience of millions of American citizens: creating more policies does not reflect the nightmare of an experience children face daily; I can list example after example of what children face daily that limits their developmental growth. Children speak and people in authority are not listening.

[1] Larson and Luna, 2018

[2] Casey, 2019

Ramon Diaz

License Number: 178.018904

How Virtue Signaling Can be Traumatic to You

Ramon Diaz — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 10:45:04 +0000

The news and social media are some of the major ways that people are informed of current events, crises, and the latest social phenomena influencing ideas in society. Currently, the news is reporting on how Twitter, a major social media platform, colluded with federal government agencies to suppress the 1st amendment rights of people who identify with “conservative” values. The American people, according to Forbes magazine, became the victim of one of the largest censorship strategies ever developed by an institution of power in the US. Regardless of your view(s) of how censorship should be done, the autonomy of a human must not be removed from her. Many people value how Twitter gives them an outlet to evoke their 1st amendment right by expressing their views about social or political ideas. However, many people may have experienced trauma after learning that Twitter attempted to alter the way people receive information. All people must have the right to choose what they believe once reviewing all available information. Virtue signaling can cause trauma.

Virtue signaling is a term that was coined by James Bartholomew who writes for The Spectator. The Spectator is an online magazine that partners with the independent press regulator (IPR). James writes that virtue signaling, in an article published in 2015, is a form of expression to suggest that you are a good, virtuous person even though you may participate in unethical behavior in your personal life. James is not suggesting, however, that people should not be good, virtuous humans. People who possess virtuous qualities benefit society by maintaining ethical behavior that promotes people’s mental health and quality of life. The intent of James that he is after is that people, companies, and other professional entities may present misleading messages to the public. The message presented to people may shift the attention away from what companies and/or people intend to do “behind closed doors”. James, therefore, suggests that authenticity may be challenging to find among entities with power. Dishonesty can traumatize people.

People experience trauma often by being gaslit. Gaslighting is a defense mechanism that people may use to gain psychological control over another. That other person can be a sibling, partner, peer, or employee. Psychological control slowly and surely removes the felt experience of autonomy of a human. Autonomy is a basic psychological need for a human that helps a person pursue happiness and contentment. Virtue signalizing can be seen as a form of gaslighting. The National Domestic Violence Hotline suggests that gaslighting can happen in various ways. People can lose hope and trust in people or organizations once they find a form of deception was used on them. Diverting is one technique that may presuppose virtue signaling.

Diverting is when a person changes the focus of a discussion by questioning another person’s credibility.2 James insightfully points out that people can be observed using this form of virtue signaling, i.e., gaslighting, when one person accuses another person of being racist. James suggests by accusing a person of being racist you put yourself in a position as the good and virtuous person. Hence, you are virtue signaling. Executives of Twitter during the deposition period were presented with their own posts on Twitter in 2020 that explicitly referred to people who are more conservative as Fascists. Evidence of virtue signaling is seen clearly here in posts like these. People may not agree with your values and that does not give any entity or people groups the right to create polarity and unsafe spaces to express their 1st amendment rights. Twitter may partner with many important human rights agendas, however. Distorting reality for people by using virtue-signaling tactics causes trauma.

Virtue signaling can create safe places to promote health and quality of life, not trauma. One phrase that I walk my patients through is identifying values they want to identify with. Values can create authenticity in humans. Authenticity is a characteristic that psychologists-many but not all-suggest promote a person’s mental health. Virtues and values go together. I wonder what our communities would reflect if humans used virtue signaling as means toward a positive end. Virtue signaling can point people to a person’s character, integrity, and sense of self-worth. People can stand for views that in fact, they believed in. The behavior of a person can then align with their values and virtues. Authenticity can produce a community that desires to pursue the common good; the pursuit of human dignity by a community erases spaces where people may experience trauma. Virtue signalizing without authentic intentions leads to possible traumatic experiences.

Guest Post Disclaimer: Any and all information shared in this guest blog post is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in this blog post, nor any content on CPTSDfoundation.org, is a supplement for or supersedes the relationship and direction of your medical or mental health providers. Thoughts, ideas, or opinions expressed by the writer of this guest blog do not necessarily reflect those of CPTSD Foundation. For more information, see our Privacy Policy and Full Disclaimer.

Ramon Diaz

License Number: 178.018904

Eudaimonia and Mental Health: Finding Your Purpose is Essential to Human Thriving

Ramon Diaz — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 11:07:41 +0000

Organizations like the United Nations and additional related U.S. organizations have recently been focused on identifying factors that are negatively and positively impacting a person’s mental health. Funding the police and related organizations, the war on poverty, and defending the country against world opponents generally have been key ways to determine how people were feeling about their safety and mental health. The psychological community has been advocating for many years now for a more helpful way to measure a person’s well-being and quality of life. One of the ways that psychologists and clinical therapists suggest how to measure a person’s quality of life, i.e., mental health, is to measure their eudaimonic well-being (EWB).

Eudaimonic well-being (EWB) refers to a person’s perception of meaningfulness, a sense of purpose, and value of their life.[1] A colleague of mine insightfully brought to my attention that mental health is not simply the absence of disease or illness. The absence of illness may not bring about human thriving. I am often shocked when a patient begins to improve with their symptoms and informs me they are ready to end treatment. I am not advocating that patients need to stay in therapy for years, however. Reducing symptoms does not suggest, always, a person will maintain their mental health status. I often witness people regress in functioning after a few months; people with dissociative states may often believe that normal functioning is not dissociating all the time. EWB must be the new baseline to determine human flourishing.

EWB helps a person satisfy basic psychological needs that are universal. Scientists have reviewed these psychological needs in depth over the last few decades. Basic psychological in general are autonomy, competency, and connectedness. I want to highlight one major psychological need in this section of the paper. The need to be autonomous is vital for human thriving. Autonomy does not mean isolating yourself and not relying on others to help you throughout your life. Rather, autonomy is a psychological construct that represents an experience of self-confidence in completing normal tasks daily. Self-confidence does not come from acquiring educational degrees, certifications, or self-comparing. Self-confidence is best understood through a first-person perspective; a person must believe in herself that she possesses the innate ability to complete a task, regardless of difficulty level. EWB can be the missing link to bringing about human flourishing. EWB researchers suggest that autonomy grants people the opportunity to seek EWB.

Adam Smith, an important social and political writer in the U.S., many decades ago declared that a government system’s effectiveness must be determined by the wellness of the people these systems govern. In comparison, government bodies can miss the mark in taking notice of the general well-being of their constituency. Special interests can taint governing bodies to promote political agendas that leave American citizens vulnerable to exploitation. Governing bodies create conditions that bring about coercion, not human flourishing. EWB-informed strategies and ethical governing bodies create policies and elect officials that prioritize the quality-of-life people. EWB can minimize trauma symptoms even when the nation fails to support its well-being.

EWB-led initiatives may allow people to pursue contentment and joy again. I have patients that I meet with each week who experience hopelessness, lack of meaning, and cycles of depression. These experiences largely stem from mental health illnesses related to trauma. One major result of these experiences is their perception of the future appears dreary. A major reason for cognitive decline in adulthood is the lack of activity in the prefrontal cortex. Feelings of dreariness minimize activity in this area of the brain. When the brain remains inactive in the cortex for long periods of time, a patient can experience severe states of sadness among other negative effects. Excitedly, however, international government bodies are responding to mental health disparities they are seeing among their constituency. In 2011, the UN General Assembly declared the pursuit of happiness and joy is a “fundamental goal”[2] for all humans to pursue. In 2022, policies continue to be discussed that may allow conditions to be set in societies to bring about EWB. Amid the chaos, EWB emphasis can be the missing link we are looking for to bring about true healing in communities. Human dignity demands action.

[1] Martela et al., 2023

Guest Post Disclaimer: Any and all information shared in this guest blog post is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in this blog post, nor any content on CPTSDfoundation.org, is a supplement for or supersedes the relationship and direction of your medical or mental health providers. Thoughts, ideas, or opinions expressed by the writer of this guest blog do not necessarily reflect those of CPTSD Foundation. For more information, see our Privacy Policy and Full Disclaimer.

Ramon Diaz

License Number: 178.018904

Unresolved Trauma Can Ruin Relationships

Ramon Diaz — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 10:30:05 +0000

The Impact

Unresolved trauma can impact people’s lives in many ways. It creates challenges for people in how they engage with the world. People often feel trapped because the fear of experiencing a trauma-related trigger can leave them frozen with fear. People can even lose close relationships due to unresolved trauma. Although relationships and developing deep connections with friends are essential for our well-being, unresolved trauma can leave us feeling disconnected from these same friends; people often are left to manage their trauma memories by themselves.

Terry Real, MSW, LICSW describes two parts of someone’s mental state who suffer from the aftereffects of unresolved trauma. The first part of someone’s mental state is referred to as the “wound child” mental state. The wounded child’s mental state may be caused by experiencing emotional, abuse, and/or sexual abuse when she was a child. This child experienced, Terry tells us, the abuse occurred about the time when the child was pre-verbal or just beginning to speak words. This mental state often attaches to emotions like the desire of connecting with loved ones and is overwhelmed by the idea of getting too close to them. Being close to another is comforting and frightening at the same time. Unresolved trauma has the potential to ruin relationships.

Terry identifies the “adaptive child” as the next mental state a person may be in when they experience unresolved trauma. The adaptative child’s mental state is the child’s version of an adult that was created by the mind of a child to protect the wounded child’s mental state. The characteristics of the adaptive child’s mental state are the person is often perfectionistic, harsh, and unforgiving. Often, she sees the world as black and white: decisions are not based on grey areas. She often has difficulty learning new skills as she grows up; she may often only care about self-preservation; and views intimacy as a threat. This child may see aggression towards others to protect herself in any context. Closeness will seem impossible for this child to see as non-threatening. Unresolved trauma can ruin relationships.

The Functional Adult

In contrast, Terry introduces a mental state that is related to a person who processed unresolved trauma. The term he uses is called the “functional adult”. The functional adult mindset informs a child as they grow up to make thoughtful decisions. She is mature, thoughtful, nuanced, and usually competent in how to show forgiveness. She remains in the present moment when under distress and does not avoid emotionally intense experiences. She understands imperfection and ambiguity and is comfortable with these thoughts. She can make sense of trauma and its impact on her relationships. Lastly, she may be adaptable which is unlike the previous child’s mental state; the functional adult mental state allows a child to learn new skills. Relationships can be ruined by unresolved trauma and relationships can be repaired and thrive when a person processes personal trauma. I tell my patients the healing journey is worth it.

Guest Post Disclaimer: Any and all information shared in this guest blog post is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in this blog post, nor any content on CPTSDfoundation.org, is a supplement for or supersedes the relationship and direction of your medical or mental health providers. Thoughts, ideas, or opinions expressed by the writer of this guest blog do not necessarily reflect those of CPTSD Foundation. For more information, see our Privacy Policy and Full Disclaimer.

Ramon Diaz

License Number: 178.018904

Dual Awareness – The Body Has a Story to Tell

Ramon Diaz — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 10:11:25 +0000

I often work with patients who have a difficult time thinking about what they feel as well as having the felt experience of emotions. I often encounter patients who are more than willing to share their mental health struggles. The stories they share are painful to listen to; the type of resilience my patients have had to possess goes beyond what words can describe. The felt sense of emotion is challenging to identify for some of my patients. The detachment from your felt experience when telling a traumatic story has been studied for quite some time in the trauma field.

Alan Schore-leading Neuroscientist who studies emotions-tells us that identifying with emotions and having a felt experience begins to develop at an early age. Identifying what a child feels in their physical body is modeled to them by their caregiver(s). The caregiver may reflect on the child and what type of emotions the child may be feeling. The child learns how to contain their emotions in their physical body by identifying words that attach to their emotional experience. Dr. Schore refers to this behavior as Dual Awareness.

Parents, however, can provide a different picture of reality for their children. Some parents may have limited ability to access their felt experience of their emotions. The child observes the behavior of their parents, even when the parents are managing their emotional experience in a way that impairs their mental health. Dr. Schore argues that children out of fright develop ways in their physical body to avoid the felt experience of watching their parents not handle their emotions in a helpful manner. Children develop coping skills throughout childhood to help them avoid events, people, and situations where they may have similar felt experiences they had in the past. Dual awareness creates tremendous challenges for children as they emerge into adulthood.

Adults who behave with dual awareness often struggle to manage relationships, especially romantic relationships. The felt experiences of all emotions are necessary to have a rich sexual experience. Patients of mine may struggle with intimacy before and after sex with their partner. The felt experience of intimacy involves experiences like vulnerability and need-first communication. Need-first communication is statements that are used to share with another person what your physical, mental, and emotional needs are. I have patients who disclose that their partner, at times, just “get up and go shower after they have sex”; this partner is left feeling intimately disconnected; although sex helps with physical satisfaction, emotional connection brings about a more fulfilling experience of the sexual encounter. Dual awareness may increase strain on personal relationships.

Dual awareness-related behavior can be managed by working with therapists in an individual therapy setting. I recommend that a person identifies a therapist with some of the following skills. I suggest the therapist is skilled in dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). The skills found in this style of therapy help people develop the emotional skills necessary to manage dual awareness-related behaviors.

Second, I suggest the therapist is skilled in helping patients manage emotional and felt experiences during therapy in real-time. The therapist should be able to help a patient “ride the wave” of their emotions. Relationships heal dual awareness. Lastly, I suggest a therapist has some background in the study of the emotional part of a person’s brain. This information informs therapists about how dual awareness impacts negatively a person’s brain. Psychoeducation also is beneficial for patients so they can learn what is happening to their brain when dual awareness is present. Dual awareness can be treated

Guest Post Disclaimer: Any and all information shared in this guest blog post is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in this blog post, nor any content on CPTSDfoundation.org, is a supplement for or supersedes the relationship and direction of your medical or mental health providers. Thoughts, ideas, or opinions expressed by the writer of this guest blog do not necessarily reflect those of CPTSD Foundation. For more information, see our Privacy Policy and Full Disclaimer.
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Ramon Diaz

License Number: 178.018904