I worked in the residential vocational rehab field for over 13 years and observed many professionals in the field sweeping reported traumatic events and such under the rug very comfortably, or simply dismissing it as something someone "should be able to be adjusted to by now that they're an adult ready for the working world, or what they often referred to as "the real world"", in their ignorant and highly scripted words and assessments.
Even the mental health professionals I was directed to seek help from outside of that organization for my own needs after speaking up in trying to hold them accountable for several unethical things I had observed through the years didn't acknowledge ptsd as even a remote possibility. I openly and freely discussed my childhood sexual abuse, teen rape, and multiple domestic violence situations that almost ended in death and at least 6-8 professionals (ranging from psychiatrists down to the talk therapists) actively avoided those topics and went straight for the diagnoses of severe depression, severe anxiety, severe adhd, severe insomnia, etc., etc. along with multiple prescriptions to "start off with" until we could figure out what works best.
They never once mentioned or even somewhat acknowledged the things I discussed regarding potential ptsd. However, they worked diligently at getting many different meds in me that seemed to always serve to complicate things instead of making things better. Eventually finding a shelter that offered counseling services for free to survivors helped me better realize what I was wrestling with inside and helped me better understand cptsd. I can't help but to think of all the stories we see in the headlines each day that read, "We don't know what happened, but they were seeking mental health services.", and the person gets automatically labeled as unfit/unstable/criminally insane/etc. Then I realized how easily that could have been me had I snapped under the pressure of their expectations and misinterpretations instead of handing in a letter of resignation. Grrrrrrrrr.......
Then I decided to change my lifestyle of consumption to eliminate animal products and artificial stuff in an attempt to find even more relief after learning how deep the deception goes in that arena, too, regarding what we've been told is safe and healthful and necessary and all. That's been a whole new level of uncovering addiction that no one ever seems comfortable discussing or acknowledging....food/drink/external hygiene and cleaning products, etc. Hardcore addicts, we are, with highly marketed pushers on every f'n corner convincing us we are simply "treating" ourselves, even in the hospitals supposedly meant to nurture us back to hell-th. It's maddening, really.
You're absolutely right on target in your assessment, I feel. Until the higher institutions of learning feel it's necessary to teach up and coming professionals that many rely on these significant details that could actually help us help ourselves, I'm afraid we'll be stuck with more of what we've currently got. It's always interesting, I find, to see who all is funding these various places and studies, too. Then there are times I wish I was still uncomfortably unaware as the blatant f*ckery of it all infuriates me as I watch those I love suffer needlessly.
