Knowing that mental illness results from normal adaptations to unhealthy situations became clear to me when I read “The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog” by Dr Bruce Perry. Trigger warning for this book – it does contain harrowing stories of people’s lived experiences.
For me, it showed me how people who come from seemingly ‘normal and loving homes’ can do terrible things. It changed how I thought about murders, sociopaths and severe mental illness.
How does the human psyche survive inhuman situations? It has to adapt. It reminds me of Charles Darwin’s phrase “adapt or die”. Dr Perry talks about proven healing pathways for severely traumatised children/people that don’t involve medication. His book touched me deeply.
You might enjoy his book if you love psychology and human development.
If you’ve read it, let me know what you think and if it had an impact on you?
Love Jen
