It was announced on the news today that the body of Dr. Teleka Patrick was found in an Indiana lake not far from where her car went off the highway. She had been missing since December 5. During that time her private life and tweets were put on public display, raising questions about Internet privacy and security.
It looks like that her death was due to accidental drowning. It is thought that she might have seen the lights of a nearby truck stop and set off across country not knowing the lake was in the way, and fell down the steep berm in the dark.
Before she disappeared Dr. Patrick apparently mentioned struggling with "demons". We will never know if she meant this in a metaphorical sense (it appears that she may have been battling mental illness) or whether she meant that literally. There are many, many people even in this day and age that still believe in the existence of physical demons. I don't know if the church that Dr. Patrick belonged to believes this. I do wonder, however, if this belief may have contributed to or worsened her apparent mental illness.
In many ways, mental illness and other brain disorders, including autism and epilepsy, are the less-favored stepchildren of the medical field, in that their study is very much in its infancy. I believe that one of the reasons for this lag has been the belief that certain conditions are caused by demons. For thousands of years the only treatment for such conditions has been exorcism. I think the record speaks for itself as far as exorcism's effectiveness. If exorcism really worked, there would be no need to develop modern psychiatry and other fields. Dr. Patrick's chosen field was psychiatry, which shows that she too valued the efficacy of modern medicine despite her personal religious beliefs.
If actual physical demons led her to her tragic ending, then we are all helpless indeed. For there is no reliable, guaranteed protection against such, no matter what various faith traditions may claim. There is no "cure". We are at the mercy of forces we cannot see or control. This is not good news. It means that the money and energy spent on researching mental illness is a waste of time, that the treatments we come up with are merely illusions. That we are just guessing in the dark. I don't think Dr. Patrick believed that, not on a rational level, or she wouldn't have chosen such a field. But mental illness is in a way unlike other illnesses; it takes away who we are. On a subrational level, and especially if one has been primed for it by one's upbringing, it is easy to believe that there are literal demons.
There are many people who are urging others to learn from this tragedy and to break the silence regarding mental illness. "Talk to your loved ones before it is too late." Maybe some families will do so, but I suspect most won't--until the next high-profile tragedy or it hits their family. We need to break the culture of silence and especially start talking about the elephant in the room--the role religious beliefs play in feeding mental illness.
Rest in peace, Dr. Patrick.
It looks like that her death was due to accidental drowning. It is thought that she might have seen the lights of a nearby truck stop and set off across country not knowing the lake was in the way, and fell down the steep berm in the dark.
Before she disappeared Dr. Patrick apparently mentioned struggling with "demons". We will never know if she meant this in a metaphorical sense (it appears that she may have been battling mental illness) or whether she meant that literally. There are many, many people even in this day and age that still believe in the existence of physical demons. I don't know if the church that Dr. Patrick belonged to believes this. I do wonder, however, if this belief may have contributed to or worsened her apparent mental illness.
In many ways, mental illness and other brain disorders, including autism and epilepsy, are the less-favored stepchildren of the medical field, in that their study is very much in its infancy. I believe that one of the reasons for this lag has been the belief that certain conditions are caused by demons. For thousands of years the only treatment for such conditions has been exorcism. I think the record speaks for itself as far as exorcism's effectiveness. If exorcism really worked, there would be no need to develop modern psychiatry and other fields. Dr. Patrick's chosen field was psychiatry, which shows that she too valued the efficacy of modern medicine despite her personal religious beliefs.
If actual physical demons led her to her tragic ending, then we are all helpless indeed. For there is no reliable, guaranteed protection against such, no matter what various faith traditions may claim. There is no "cure". We are at the mercy of forces we cannot see or control. This is not good news. It means that the money and energy spent on researching mental illness is a waste of time, that the treatments we come up with are merely illusions. That we are just guessing in the dark. I don't think Dr. Patrick believed that, not on a rational level, or she wouldn't have chosen such a field. But mental illness is in a way unlike other illnesses; it takes away who we are. On a subrational level, and especially if one has been primed for it by one's upbringing, it is easy to believe that there are literal demons.
There are many people who are urging others to learn from this tragedy and to break the silence regarding mental illness. "Talk to your loved ones before it is too late." Maybe some families will do so, but I suspect most won't--until the next high-profile tragedy or it hits their family. We need to break the culture of silence and especially start talking about the elephant in the room--the role religious beliefs play in feeding mental illness.
Rest in peace, Dr. Patrick.
