Evening Exchange; Inner Search

The path to inner peace by finding that wounded inner child. Up next an evening Exchange. Good evening and welcome to evening Xchange. I'm Kojo Nnamdi. All week we have been searching for ways to heal ourselves. We have tackled our collective relationship with God our individual relationship with the Supreme Being our money and our bodies. Last night noted therapist and teacher John Bradshaw revealed the need to search deep inside to find what he calls the wounded child that he believes lives within all of us. Bradshaw said the childhood pains and frustrations play themselves out in our adult lives. Everything we do including choosing a spouse and a career. Tonight we're going to show you ways to find that inner child to get in touch with the pain that may be hindering your happiness. Joining us tonight

is Dr. Henry Duff. Dr. Duff is a psychiatrist with Howard University Hospital. Also joining us Ken Kaiser and Renee Kaiser they are both birth coaches. They practice a technique called rebirthing a way to travel back to your childhood. Welcome to all of you. Please explain to our viewers what rebirthing is. Thank you. Rebirthing is a breathing technique. It is connected. What we call connected breathing where you connect to inhale and exhale and you take a deep breath than you normally would which produces a semi altered state of consciousness where you're more relaxed as the body gets more oxygen it relaxes and it begins to release memories memories that may be from your birth from your womb even your conception and sometimes you make decisions at birth that can lead to how you act in your life.

Now as an adult Kim the last time I was involved with a breathing technique was during natural childbirth my sons. And my wife I was the labor coach she had to breathe properly. Is this similar in technique anyway. Well breathing definitely relaxes you. In this particular way of reading is the most effective I've seen it allowing people to release held in feelings. What happens is when people have negative experiences that are are hard to bring up consciously as long as we hold those feelings in our body then we will continue to act out that stuff compulsively unconsciously. And what rebirthing does is it allows people to clear that stuff out of their body so they quit acting compulsively. Dr. dove we have been talking for the last two nights about finding the inner or a wounded child and it has been reported that 96 percent of us come from dysfunctional families and that very often that wounded inner

child can reflect what the nature of the dysfunction was what I have. Is a question that turns that upside down. If 96 percent of us come from dysfunctional families what is a functional family a functioning family is a family that is able to come together and I guess create a unit that's able to reach kids and fulfill the other goals that are sort of set for families by society. I think most families have dysfunctional elements within the family as a whole but because of family because one aspect of a family is not functioning does not in and of itself make it a totally dysfunctional family. So I think the task that we have as a therapist is to find and identify those aspects of the

family unit that are functioning maximize that and then help the individuals find ways that they can turn around or change the dysfunctional elements within the family. So there are no perfect families so there can be dysfunctional elements within the family. Let us assume that one dysfunctional element within the family is an individual. Is it useful for that individual to seek the experiences of childhood and to try to discover within those experiences where his or her own dysfunction arises. I think it's useful for the individual it's also useful for the entire family if in fact the individual is still within the household that might be useful for the family as a unit to come in for therapy. But certainly if the individual is an independently living self-supporting adult then yes through psychotherapy

one can go through a process of uncovering that in effect would allow you to discover certain patterns of behavior that have their root in certain relationships from one's childhood. And psychotherapy basically would facilitate that process of discovery and uncover. You seemed to suggest that there are other aspects of dysfunction that men not have to do with childhood is that what you're in fact saying. Yes. Because I mean when you're talking about a dysfunctional individual you have to consider certain constitutional factors and these are factors that are related to. Two. So you would say prenatal development. I mean suden and I mean individuals are born with certain innate characteristics. That has very little to do with postnatal or

after the birth process. For instance mothers often talk about individual infants being hyperactive in utero or an individual might have been very quiescent during the Natal phase. And these individuals once they are born sort of act or carry the same imprint throughout their lives whereas they were hyperactive in utero they go on to be hyperactive. Once they are functioning infants or adolescents so it's a it's a it's a phenomenon that we've know about. We are attempting to correlate it more with adult behavior. But yes there are other determine that and can obviously your focus though in rebirthing is on the wounded inner child. How do you feel about what Dr. Duff has just said about those problems that may have been in existence

in the prenatal stage. I absolutely agree with him I have no argument with that. In fact I'm excited psychiatry is now going into the prenatal research and the case studies that we're doing and that we have seen and read and been taught are showing more and more that these innate characteristics are starting sometimes at conception people are absolutely remembering there at conception. So it's I agree with them. I think it's very exciting. A lot of our viewers may be wondering OK you've told us about the breathing technique but just how does this rebirthing thing work. What you are about to see is a videotape involving Ken and Renee and a local woman who agreed to have this rebirthing session taped. You will see a small portion of that two hour long session. I would like to hear when I hear the things you love and obviously you're here because

you feel something is lacking. Can you identify that. What's lacking. What's lacking. OK. Two things come to mind. One is having the autonomy to do the things that are mine. And this being your own boss. Right. An. The reason that you didn't ask me this really but the reason that's lacking is because. OK. So we're going to do with the truth process and it's real simple remember we just repeat what we said before we try to get back to where did this first start having this fear that we're focusing on today. So the reason I have created fear in my life is. The reason I created fear in my life is that that's what my parents taught me. OK. Take a breath.

And just let the thoughts the first thought that comes at the top of your head is really probably the most important part. Even if it doesn't make sense. So my parents taught me to be afraid because my parents taught me to be afraid because they were afraid. My parents were afraid because my parents were right because they married in the middle of the Depression. OK. So when you think about your parents just close your eyes for a minute. And look at your parents as you remember them. And I want you to tell me. How old are you as you look at your parents how do you feel right now. Preschool early school age. Tell me about your parents. What are you feeling when you're around you take a deep breath

and feeling love. I see. Them as loving parents and I also see them wanting to protect me. And the reason you need protection is the reason I need protection is because it's a hard cruel world out there. And I have to be able to. Survive. You. Said let the scientists be here I want you to read into that. Because that is what you heard from your parents and that's evidently what you learn what it stands for a lot of.

So I'm going to suggest to you that the sadness. Is probably what's blocking you getting. The job you want or the autonomy and the fear that it's a cruel world. And also that sense this incredible sadness. So why don't we go ahead and keep breathing and you know we've already talked about how to do this. But let's get you comfortable and relaxed on the sofa. So the reason so much sadness is coming in and the reason so much sadness is coming up when I remember my parents is. I could feel their fear. They were terrified. How. Roughly five six.

Was anything else that scary was just here. Well. The only other thing that comes from mind is. I became an aunt at age. 20. But. I did. It. I didn't like it. OK. Read and. Read here. She still doing. Her. Letters.

I hear you. Not a. Whole lot. I didn't like reading them. Like get into bed early because it felt like a lot of responsibility it. Was. I felt like I wasn't really able to be. A child. Yet when you decided that she couldn't be. Keep reading you been around a long time. That's good. So being grown up having your own job being out there on your own

back to being a five year old who was forced to grow up before you fly. And my my parents told me whenever I presented an option to them about doing anything creative with my life. Every time I presented that to them. OK. We were doing great. Every time. No no you got to do something productive with your life. You got to go out there and earn a good living and have something that's stable and. You say OK pay me to be who you are. It's also OK. To agree that even the speak. Sometimes we get throat things tightening up. But because as a child it

was safe to speak. We will be seen and not heard. So you and the kind of job right now you have to sit there and be quiet. Yes I see that board. Maybe it's. Good girls don't speak up. Right. Just be a nice girl and do what you're told and keep your opinions to yourself and you may always get a little bit scared. I think if you keep surrendering to these feelings you had a child. You'll be able to move through them. And. Get on with your life and you won't feel so block he'd move in it and he's around in. Lots of areas. That's why you see those two men in their last year.

Great. So if your mom were here in the room right now you think I love you. But I've got to be my own person. EXPRESS So what also is turning these negative thoughts around into something positive to have something like how wonderful you are as a creative person. People love me for being different. Take that in the body and I help other people when I am

I deserve to be sad. Can I say that I help other people. When I help myself. OK. Does I feel good do you like that one. OK. Read it in the read. Well I'm sure that you like me have a zillion quadrillion questions about what we just saw there but first we have to thank the courageous woman who allowed us to invade her privacy in order that we might all learn a little bit more about her pain and about how she may heal the pain that she had. So let me start with the questions immediately first it seems to me that she had to overcome a lot of the fears she had just to do this in the first is that not many people would do that is that correct. That's correct. I can't think of many people to so that is a very courageous and brave woman and obviously is moving through her fears. So is this a

service for her. Second question could you tell us all of you what we just saw. What we just saw is a woman who started using the breast with the breath does is that it literally dissolves the suppression mechanism in the body. So what you were seeing there were memories that were in the soula but were not conscious to her. And that's part of the value of the rebirthing process is it put her in touch with decisions that she made very early in life that are have a profound effect on her now but are not conscious to her and they started to come up and she started to realize oh these are old thoughts about how life works that are the truth but they are how I have been living my life. And that starts to break the spell and free her from those old erroneous belief systems. It is my understanding that when she first came to you she described herself as having a great job and a very good life. And you said then why are you here.

Exactly. And she started crying when you sat here. And at that moment I realized there was a lot of sadness and so we began to explore her sadness. And as time has gone on she has become training to become a rebirth. It has meant so much to her and she is changing her life and she's having tremendous effect on our co-workers. That was my next question. Did it work to the extent that she has now taken control of or is in the process of taking control of her life getting rid of the fear of speaking out in board meetings and deciding that if she wants to she can change professions completely. She's taking charge that's what she's doing. And she's turning her particular work situation around to ways that she feels are more positive and more effective. Dr. Duff most of us think that when we go to see a psychologist or psychiatrist or any type of therapist we simply lay down on the couch and everything comes pouring right out. It seems that there are a lot of things that are in the subconscious that don't come pouring

out unless you have the kind of technique like rebirthing. Well I am not sure that won't I should say. There are a number of techniques that one can utilize to get at the type of effect that you saw the patient exhibiting rebirthing just happened to be one of those processes. But what you were observing is an individual coming to coming in touch and coming to grips with a lot of emotion. A lot of feeling that in psychiatry or in a more psycho analytic approach we would call coming to terms with repressed feelings and fag's and this basically means that there are feelings that an individual are unaware of. They have a sense that something is not right. They know that their lives are not being maximize but they're not quite sure

exactly what forces are operative. And through the reverse birthing process that you just saw through psychotherapy one can come or gain some control and get in touch with those feelings or those forces that are in fact operative. OK and we will get in touch with you when we come back. That is we'll be taking your telephone calls. We know that a lot of you want to talk to our therapists here. So stay right there. We'll be right back. Welcome back. We're back with art therapist Ken Kizer and Rene Kyser and Dr. Henry

of Howard University Hospital. Department of Psychiatry. And we're anxious to take your telephone calls. We know you are anxious to make them so let's go right to you. You're on the air. Caller go ahead please. Yes hello. Good evening everyone. I had a question. I have been I've noticed that I've been really alienating myself from people distancing myself and I feel that it's because of things that happened to me in the past five years that had made me really afraid. And you know I look back to earlier times say 10 years ago and think things like I was so happy then but you know I've been mugged twice robbed at gunpoint. You know the woman that was killed in the apartment underneath where I live. And you know I just have so much fear of everything that those sounds like things that would give anybody a little bit of fear in their lives. Please let me have our therapist respond to what you're saying here. Obviously

those are real incidents that occur in adult life that give people fear. And then obviously that fear is well-grounded But how does she deal with that fear. Well it's important to not close down to feeling those fear feelings. What happens is any feeling at all that we suppress or hold into our bodies we will either compulsively act that out ourselves or people around us will act it out and there is a psychological term for that projection or reflection. And what I've seen with people who have those kinds of events going on is that they do have tremendous held in fear so rebirthing is specifically designed to help people start clearing that stuff out of their bodies so that they don't have that experience anymore. Got to get it out of you in some form of therapy. Let's go back to the telephone caller. Assuming you're on the air go ahead please. Good evening. I would like to find out if it's important for me. I feel I need some type of therapy is for me to pursue with a psychiatrist a therapist or

take a course such as rebirthing PVC I'm from New York was was of course my. I just get it right. Stay on the line for one second because we might need a little more information from you. OK please. And turn your television set down please. I think that it's important that the individual educate themselves initially about psychotherapy. And I think you can do that by going to a number of different people going to a psycho psychologist to a psychiatrist to have a rebirth to a social worker or any other licensed mental health profession. No. And talking with those individuals about your problem and seeing whether or not you feel comfortable with the approach and whether or not there is a match in terms of personality. So. So it's really a process of exploration and

education. Yes. Caller are you there. I am. Oh this is the new call or let me let me finish the previous caller's question because it could be very expensive if she just picked up the yellow pages and started going from one therapist to what I would like paying for every day to shop around. And I agree. It's it's. Educate yourself. Get to know the people because this is someone you may be working with for a long period of time maybe maybe not. And it's like a friend. OK. You want to get to know them. Like I say a good place to start would be to talk to friends who may have been in therapy themselves or to call your local medical society or to call a rebirthing society. I mean if if you can sort of hone down your. Your scope in terms of what you want to do you can actually tap into organizations that would be able to provide information about the particular therapy that you might be interested in.

Thank you very much. Let's go back to the telephone caller you now on the air. Go ahead please. Yeah my question is for an individual who has who have had the kind of upbringing that has given that individual very restrictive type behavior such an individual may not be able to come out of his or her show the way that they would like to. How could that individual enjoy his or her own life without those types of mental barriers mental blocks. Allow me to tell you the story of watching this tape that we just saw before the show along with two or three of our other technicians and us saying to ourselves we didn't think we could do that on camera. We didn't even think we could do it. Period. We are not sure that we could that our behavior is not so restrictive that we could just smoke like that. Same thing the callers ask. My feeling is first of all I would like to say to everyone take deep breaths

breathe deeper. Start putting more oxygen into your body. It automatically relaxes you and when you're relaxed you think clearer. You begin to get your thoughts clear and as you relax you may have a memory come up and that gives you a focus. OK. This happened this event happened in my early childhood. That's why I'm failing unable to communicate with people like this particular call or restrictive upbringing. It's not about making that wrong so much as it's making yourself comfortable with who you really are. Well part of this seems to be gender related that that women as a general rule find it much more easy to be honest about their emotions than men. As a general rule of course our last caller was just a male. Is that really gender related. And we have found that to be generally true. Yes. Culturally men are supported more in being assertive and aggressive and part of the role of a male is to be able

to close off your feelings to handle difficult situations and women are more encouraged to be open emotionally and express themselves that way. And we definitely see that in our work is that almost without exception the percentages are more females more women show up at our workshops than men do. But when men do show up they have the same kind of experience that women do often absolutely back to the telephone caller you're on the air go ahead please. Hi. Hi good evening. This is Mr. and Mrs. Kaiser. And I wanted to ask a question about a psychic or a consultant or a therapist. I am a psychic and that does not make me necessarily special because I believe everyone is because psychic means intuitive. I consider myself a rebirth. I'm also a professional astrologer and a teacher woman of many things. Let's go back to the telephone call here on the air go ahead

please. I have been through a lot of Accomack. I have gone a lot of different arguments for you and I are so rude. I'm. I would agree on a lot. A lot of comfort in my life right over feelings and I would never be happy. You feel as though you will never be happy. I'm not really depressed. I'm very honored because I know what drugs in my life were hurt from your it. Right. But I get out of it. All tried once right. Thank you. Well I think that. We all have to accept you know the reality that certain psychiatric or psychological conditions can have biological etiologies.

And in those particular cases it might be necessary to in conjunction with psychotherapy that an individual may have to be treated with medication particularly and disorders that impact on one's mood such as depression or manic depression. Psychotherapy by itself and a patient that has a true biological illness gives mixed results at best. And so it might be that you might have to go beyond just a talking type of therapy and combine that with medication. Is it possible for someone to be to self analytical she says I'm very self analytical person. Absolutely. Yes. Sometimes you have to take some time out and just relax and enjoy yourself and not try to figure everything. It could be her compulsion that she wants to keep figuring it out. And I agree with Dr. dove in that sometimes if you've never felt really happy you come from a depressed

family and you've never had the experience of happiness. Sometimes a Prozac or one of those drugs can give you that sense of well-being inside say you know what you're going for. I ask her if she knows what she's going for. Does she know what happy feels like a lot of other thing I would suggest to you is it sounds like she's halfway through the process. What she's doing has value and keep going with it. Now she says that she's doing the breathing exercises on her own. People report themselves. Get it. Yes. That's the point is that it can be a self-help type of thing. However I believe you should be with a professional rebirth for at least 10 individual sessions before you go on your own. Not enough to say something. I think with people who are worse overly analytical that sometimes it might be useful to in effect bring in a second party. I think sometimes what we do.

Those of us who spend a lot of time pondering is that we tend to ponder while we ponder the same thoughts and ideas we always end up with the same solutions we always utilize the same defense patterns. So what a second party can do is to begin to help you identify and define alternative ways of looking at the particular problem you want to avoid a self-fulfilling depression. Callie you were on the air go ahead please. Good evening. I would like to make a comment and then a question on the comment that I wanted to make is that I think we all need to realize that the brain is an organ just like the heart liver etc. and the way we take time to go to the hospital or the doctor when our organs are not working properly that we have to take time out to take care of our brain. And the question I have is anyone can answer. What relationship does nutrition

have upon the brain rot properly the brain properly functioning and the toxic chemicals from the air the water and the food that we eat and how it would affect us. Why is depression anxiety or what have you because I believe a lot of people have hidden food allergy and chemicals in it. It produces anxiety and depression and they're not aware of it. Thank you. Thank you very much. It is not a straightforward relationship. I've seen many people who are not affected by eating fast food. I've seen a lot of people who don't who are not physically healthy even though they are putting extraordinary amount of time into eating the correct food. How we feel about the food we eat has as much effect on our bodies as the actual ingredients that are in the food. What do you mean by how we feel about the food we want to see films that unless one

is too impoverished to be able to buy the kind of food that you like that that's what people do. They eat what they like. Well for instance people who are in the natural foods feel like white flour is something that has a negative effect on the body. And for those people I believe that is a self-fulfilling prophecy that they will have some problems with their win. What I've learned personally is that I will pretty much eat what's put in front of me and most of the time I don't have problems physically with the food that I eat. I don't eat a lot of red meat. I found that I don't respond well to that but it's not the eating taking care to eat specific ingredients is not all of the picture as far as nutrition and how nutrition affects the body. It's also emotionally based too and it takes some time to unravel that that is not a straightforward question to answer. Dr. dove you have heard it before. A lot of nutritionists have criticized medical

schools around this country for not emphasizing nutrition enough when it comes to healing the body. To what extent is it important when it comes to healing the psyche and the mind. Well I think that nutrition or good nutrition rather plays an important part in good mental as well as good physical health. I think a lot of it depends on the individual constitutional makeup of the person that you're working with. I mean there certainly are people who have glucose intolerances who become very hyper when they in fact have glucose or individuals that can consume caffeine and become very hyper or individuals. Who. Because of alcoholism and vitamin deficiencies get into trouble because of those things. But nutrition certainly is important just in terms of overall health maintenance color and texture on the air go ahead please.

Yes. Good evening. Quickly I would like to find out if anyone on your panel is aware of a particular course a Course in Miracles have to call a book about earlier. I had some high points in my life points in my life. I feel that there is some pain that I'm aware of pain that pain I try to work on a pain. I'm not aware of. And if I was to take rebirthing along with the miracle course that helped me and also quickly can I take the bridge in New York and culture. I'm from New York where are you from. Where am I from. I hear an accent and I'm I don't know where you're from. I am a citizen of the world. No no. I'm from Guyana South America. I have done the course in miracles and then doing it again. It's a very powerful positive thinking course. And yes I know many people who do the course along with rebirthing and have just amazing results in their life. Again we'd have to know her individually to find the best way to to handle that. But doing of course I don't believe would

hurt anyone. What is the course all about. Oh boy in 10 words or less. It is supposed to be a correction of the Bible. And it was channeled through two Jewish scholars and it is supposed to be from Jesus Christ and that is supposed to be a correction of the Bible. It is very powerful teaching and it involves being channeled through to Jewish scholars. That's where it initially came from. They were inspired to write this down under the inspiration of Jesus back to the telephone calling you on the air go ahead please. Hi. Hi. I was asking about. I was in a room with a lot of friends that I grew up with. And at this time we was all you know sitting around and talking and talking. I was just sitting there being very quiet all through the night and because of this my friends were starting to like just get a bit upset or something. I was doing drugs by any chance. Go ahead. Go ahead. So I'm trying to understand that that's why I called it maybe why they would

get upset at you not talking. Yeah. Do you usually talk. Yeah. When you were among friends. But usually lately I have been talking very much although I'm going to want to stay on the line for a second. Sounds like it sounds like he's pretty self-absorbed like something this happened he hasn't fully understood it yet or something's changing inside of. He has gotten introspective. Caller are you aware of any recent occurrence in your life that could have led you into this kind of silent behavior. Not really. Maybe something that's beginning to come up that is that you've suppressed for a long time it's hard to know what I would do is to ask for your friend's support while you're being internal. Instead of having not explaining it to him just say you know I just feel like being quiet and love me while I do that and ask for their support. And you may find it just takes care of itself. That's what I was about to ask I think I think if it continues and if it

is of concern to you then you should seek some professional counsel I want to be reading a book about you or by the guy who was silent for 15 years or some such thing. Back to the telephone call you on the air. Go ahead please. Good evening. This is about my sister. She has always been the type of person like my older sister she's always been the type of person that had a sense of direction and what she wanted and went away and if the top five years back and she's a totally different person. You have trouble making decisions things to me in the past. Probably the family feels to seek counseling but she doesn't feel that she has a problem. I think they are in denial and she's acting totally different from her her her personality that we are all grown up with. When you say Wendy when you say the family do you mean several members of the family. Yes. If you ask me. And when you say act I mean you say personality do you mean that she's

acting badly towards you. No. Actually she's alienated herself from her. Her friends are a lot of her close friends. It things that she has some type block aspect to it. You know I'm having trouble finding a job. And it just seems like she really doesn't want to get on track. Yes. But you cannot foresee. You can't force it. No. The person has to want to get well on their own or they're probably just repeating a pattern being forced by. The one thing that you might consider doing if in fact your sister. She gets a sister. Yes. If your sister doesn't want to go alone one of the things that you might want to consider is going into a family unit and that might in a sense take the burden off her as being identified as a patient and as a family unit you could

work towards resolving the issues that she have with the family and she might at that point become motivated to then do some work individually for herself. I thought a good first step was that the family had discussed and had come together. I think that had a great. And why did they say as the family were going today that she may be rebelling against the family. It's entirely possible we do have to take a short break but we will be taking your telephone calls once more when we return. Stay right where you are. Welcome back as you know all week we've been talking about healing and this evening in particular we are talking with

rebirthing therapist and the psychiatrist from Howard University Hospital but frankly mostly we've been talking with you and we will continue to do that on the telephone lines around on the caller. Go ahead please. Yes good evening. I'd like to direct my question to Dr. dove it's concern with the cultural insensitivity in and homogenized homogeneous approach that is taken to psychiatry and it's really not effective or applicable to African living in America. There is a school of African psychologists that have come up with a diagnosis called the Basic African-American mental disorder. But I wanted to ask Dr. dove if he's familiar with that diagnosis and diagnosis by the way is being espoused by such as people like Dr. Joseph Baldwin Naeem Akbar and others I

have heard and I am Bharath length speak on this. I don't know if you're familiar with the doctor that I am familiar with his writings. I am not familiar with the diagnosis. I can say that I think that psychiatry has grown since its initial practice and Inception in North America. I think that as more black clinicians are going into psychiatry I think we are in a particularly good position to begin to sort of reinterpret a lot of the theories and concepts that currently exist in psychiatry and make them more applicable to the African-American experience. So I would just encourage an individual that is looking for a psychotherapist. And you have that concern that you look for a

African-American psychiatrist who. Has a history of treating other African-Americans. You are involved with Concerned Black Men incorporated. I have to assume that you feel that this is not because there are individual dysfunctions in these young men but that there is a social basis for some of the problems that they're having. That's correct. And as a psychiatrist how do you address that. Well I think that you can address some of it through what we do at Concerned Black Men is to provide mentoring for young adults or young men who might not be getting that type of male role modeling that they need in the homes or in the school systems. And I think some of the one on one mentoring that we do is concerned black men basically will foster better development in these kids back to the telephone you're on the caller.

Go ahead please. Yes I have a year. I've been in my home my 22 years but I will not sleep in the house by myself when I'm in my bed. Here is your thing. Make up the staff and into my room. He's taking on the body of someone now. But if I say I'm relieved that I'm in quite of brain don't know what it is. Are you able to sleep after you've said Jesus three times. Yeah. Well one thing that's true that I've seen Israel come in is particularly young adolescents who are just starting to grow and open up their energy sometimes draws in the sort of thing. And what I'm hearing is that it's time for her to get out of the house. And for her to start expressing herself more to the world it sounds like there's a lot of pressure in that house a lot of energy in there.

Maybe she could find a service I don't know if Washington has this where she could have this teen mental health. People come to the house until it's safe enough for her to leave the house. Understand what she was saying or like it's time she's it's time to get born. It's time to come out in the world. And we as psychiatrists would say that she probably has a variant of a social phobia or maybe agoraphobia. And there are specific behavioral techniques that could help her to come to terms with the anxiety that's associated with her phobia. And also there are pharmacological agents medications that also could facilitate that process or a phobia being the fear of going outside and being exposed exactly. Caller you're on the air. Go ahead please. Yes I'm calling. I have a problem with I'm always thinking about death. I mean this has been as far as I can remember and I can

be doing something I could be in a very happy situation and all of a sudden I just think of death. I mean can you someone you know have a on that I don't understand. You know why that I'm happy you know and then I could just think about it. Thank you. One thing I would ask her has she had relatives die. Has she had a lot of death around her. Sometimes that kicks you into maybe being a little obsessive about it. Caller have you. Well yes I have I had a friend who died recently. And I also have a sense of that if I try hard enough that I can say this person I don't know is just a feeling that I have that you know that if I try hard enough that this person will live with it. If she has she died yet the person has die. And you're praying for so well.

I don't know what I'm praying for. I mean like is there something that I can do I just have a feeling I don't know what it is. Well one of the things that we're seeing a lot of in the African-American community is an increase in the amount of. What we call it OCD obsessive compulsive disorder. And it's not that I don't think we're seeing an increase. I think we're basically seeing an increase in the number of cases that are being diagnosed as African-American clinicians are becoming more aware that this is a disorder that exist within the black community. This lady also I like to say this may just be her regular normal grieving process. I I I understood her to say that this was a lifelong pattern that indeed the fear of death is so universal that this could be some aspect of that but we don't have time to discuss that right now even though we will be right back.