Re: anti-social behavior

["Perry E. Metzger" <pmetzger@lehman.com>]

T. William Wells says:
> The old saw about sticks and stones is absolutely false and
> typically is used (I'm not presuming this of you) as a cover for
> behavior that is intended to cause harm.

So the person intends harm? Words cannot cause physical damage. They
can always be ignored.

> The vast majority of abusive behavior, defined in terms of the harm
> it causes its victims, is done with words, not by direct physical
> action.

Bill has spent too much time in the recovery movement, and has dealt
with people who are nearly completely deranged so long that he no
longer understands what is expected of normal people.

> Without getting into a long discussion, the thing is that
> emotional responses are not chosen, they are automatic. One can
> no more avoid responding with emotional pain, which is just as
> real as physical pain, to a hurtful word, than one can avoid
> responding with physical pain to a punch in the face.

Thats false. Everyone has the capacity to decide whether or not to pay
attention to words. Force, on the other hand, provokes a physical
reaction (such as bleeding, or perhaps dropping dead) that you can't
help.

Read Thomas Szasz's (sp?) "The Myth of Mental Illness" for a critique
of modern excuses like "he couldn't help it". Also read "I'm
disfunctional, you're disfunctional" to learn about the sort of cult
the recovery movement has turned into.

Perry