Respect

Those who have read some of my earlier posts will know that in general, I don’t have a high opinion of most mental health professionals. Thankfully, there are always exceptions. Over the past few weeks, I have been watching Jordan Peterson videos. Jordan Peterson is awesome, and The most awesome thing about him is that he knows whereof he speaks. He has experienced depression, he has experienced anxiety, he has struggled with finding the right medication, and he has struggled with being addicted to the wrong medication. And he isn’t afraid to talk about it.

It is impossible to quantify how much of a healing force in the world someone like Jordan Peterson is. A psychologist who will admit to having a few mental health problems of his own is worth his weight in gold.

When I was 19, I discovered Scott Peck. He wrote a book called “The Road Less Traveled” and he was also willing to admit his own struggled with depression. Peck died some years back. He was a lefty in most respects. When I look back on his writing, I actually disagree with most of what he said, and his opinions on the military were horrific: really, really bad. He hated the military. He was also a serial adulterer. But, he saved my life. Even though he was wrong about almost everything. Scott Peck was the military hating philanderer who was wrong about almost everything, who saved my life. He saved my life simply by admitting that he had his own problems. He saved my life by treating those who struggle with depression with respect. Scott Peck didn’t have many or necessarily any answers, but he loved the people he was trying to help. In the field of mental health, that is rare.

Jordan Peterson also loves the people he is trying to help, and he is right far more often than Scott Peck (God bless him) was. I have been advised to stick with watching his videos, because apparently his books are kind of boring and not nearly as compelling as his videos, but however you choose to learn from Jordan Peterson, check him out. He is awesome.