Customer Reviews

Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student

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1 star:		(6)

 

 

The author of this book is a psychiatrist at a university health clinic. She has written the book anonymously because she is still working and what she has to say is politically unacceptable to the current mental health establishment. If she stated this openly she would risk her career. However, I am very glad this book has been printed and hope that the author can come out openly and speak on this important topic.

We are taken into the way a student clinic at a typical university runs and how their policies work against the values of students with religious faith and beliefs that run contrary to the politically correct environment of today's colleges and the mental health profession generally. The author shows us how the profession of psychology has become the promoter and enforcer of a certain belief system around sexuality that is antithetical to most mainstream religious faith. She even quotes one past president of the main professional organization saying that his profession needs to help rid people of their religious faith.

The basic idea of the book is that we teach young people to be very particular in what they eat, how they exercise, to be ridiculously frightened of the dangers of second hand smoke, and to flee in terror if a teaspoonful of elemental mercury is spilled in a classroom, yet we are not honest with them about the dangers of casual sexual practices and that safer sex is no such thing. We don't teach young women that sex is biologically, hormonally, and emotionally different for them than it is for men and they are more likely to end up with depression and anxiety issues than the men they have casual relationships with.

We don't teach them that even with condom use they are vulnerable to many kinds of STDs that are still easily transferred. That there are millions of new cases of STDs that can have a permanent effect on a woman's fertility because of the way they set up the woman's immune system to fight the disease it will also fight a newly conceived baby.

And we are not honest with them when we say that AIDS is an equal opportunity disease. HIV infection has more to do with the kinds of sexual practices engaged in and the use of IV drugs than anything else. We do not tell them that young people who postpone sex until marriage and are monogamous and avoid IV drugs or partners who use them that they will be most unlikely to become infected with HIV.

She also takes apart the ridiculous notion that abortion never causes a woman emotional difficulties afterwards. We are shown how something on the order of 20% of women have something akin to post traumatic stress syndrome from these abortions. That is 1 in 5. Can you imagine any other health issues that had such a high incidence that would be denied as occurring or admitted to as happening only very rarely? Given the ridiculous attention paid to second hand smoke (the notion that if you can smell a cigarette within 100 feet of you your health is being damaged) it cannot be that something with actual mental health implications could be missed in an honest and serious way. No, it is suppressed because of the politics of sexuality.

There is a lot of great information and illustrative anecdotes that make her points well. I particularly like these paragraphs in her concluding chapter:

"To our colleagues and Universities: Stop the normalization of behaviors that many therapists - not to mention parents of your students - consider depraved. Again, that this even needs to be said is indicative of the sad state we are in."

"Admit the trauma, to some women and some men, of abortion. Reach out to those for whom the experience has not been an opportunity for `growth and maturation'. Provide a support group; at the very least ask about it!"

"The exaggerated place of sexuality is grotesque and destructive. We are not defined by our urges - straight, gay, lesbian, or bi. What sort of message is that to our youth? We are defined by something more essential, uplifting, and transcendent. I fear this ideology that enshrines the body (health, appearance, physical please) and abandons the soul (meaning, self-sacrifice, family, church)."

"Recognize that for many students, faith may be a tool to promote mental health. In sorting out the dilemma of suicides on campus, consider if perhaps the soullessness and angst among secularism contributes. When patients struggle with suicide, discussion of ultimate issues like meaning, purpose and God are imperative. Acknowledge the benefits of self-restraint in areas other than diet, tobacco, and alcohol. Self-discipline exists outside the cafeteria and the gym."

Recommended strongly.

This book is excellent. It made me cry. The stories are filled with facts - scientific evidence - that back the author's claims. She did her research! What made me cry was how such emotionally and physically harmful acts can be so intentionally neglected in our public health and education systems....due to fear of losing jobs or being sued by a small number of people (with lots of money) trying to change America. This book gives you information everyone needs to know. You can't read this book and then forget about it. This book will move you!

As a clinical psychologist, I have nothing but praise for this book. Political correctness became more important than patients somewhere in the late 1980's and the truth hasn't been seen much of since. This is a must read for anybody who is in therapy as well as all psychotherapists. The author was meticulous in her research. She is one person I would recommend as a therapist. It's too bad she has to remain anonymous,which is a prudent choice because her peers would harshly criticize her for daring to question the liberal agendas of unrestrained sex, abortion on demand, and maintaining the illusion that women and men are psychologically the same.

I am a typical shaved head, weight-lifting, football-loving, jock. I try to keep life simple and not let much get to me; however, I am also a father of a beautiful daughter. Even though college is many years off, I felt I owed it to my daughter to read this book. I am so glad I did. This book is profoundly sad but necessary. I found that women need to understand their uniqueness because if they don't they face grave consequences.

It is sad that ideas have become more important that actual people but that is politics. What Dr. Grossman does very well is show how her profession has been handcuffed by public policy and the consequence is the health of young people becoming in jeapordy.

A few highlights, although there are many more than I list here:

I learned that oxytocin is brain chemical that is invovled in maternal attachment. However, it is show to be released during sexual activity. Therefore, females can have a very strong emotional bond to a man, even though initially they agreed to just be "friends with benefits". The protocol on college campuses is to promote "safer sex". As the book says, you may practice safe sex but there is no condom for the heart.

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease that medicine combine with the immune system seems to have overthrown. But, some women can develop scaring in the fallopian tubes that prevents their ability to become pregnant. Or, a woman's immune system can make antibodies to a protein called hsp when she gets chlamydia, to remove the foreign matter. However, years later, after she's tested postive for pregnancy, her own immune system can be responsible for attacking her embryo. In early embryo development, an hsp protein is created and the immune system thinks its foreign. On college campus student health facilities, STD like chlamydia is no big deal, almost a bag of honor, but, for a few women, especially if they want children, contracting the disease can be lifechanging.

Bottomline is people's sexual behavior has grave consequences. (The obivious one here I didn't mention but it is in the book is HIV.)

Remind women they have a limited window of time if they want children. There is a sad chapter showing very powerful career women who missed out on their own children because of age and declining ability to get pregent. As powerful and rich as these women were, their money and power couldn't turn back time. If they did get pregnant, their testimonies told stories of going through an emotional hell with processes like IVF.

I don't cry at movies. I usually only get emotional at football games. However, I truly felt saddened for these women in these tough situations. I think Dr. Grossman is a heroine for writing this book. I don't know what kind of backlash she may get but I would stand beside her and protect her if need be.

The two naysayers in the earlier Amazon reviews simply care to ignore the facts. That is just what this book is about correcting, by using personal case studies backed up by voluminous facts. The facts speak loud and clear; the critics just speak. This is a small (8" x 6"), short (151 pages), substantial (twenty pages of almost 300 detailed footnotes), smart, special book. It is also insightful and admittedly politically incorrect. Most of all, it should give parents pause before they send their sons and daughters to a college "health" center. A cursory review of brochures in the centers and of some of their web sites can be a sobering experience.

Anonymous offers eight case studies that demonstrate the daily, routine, almost unconscious professional biases of the so-called "helping" professions. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and medical personnel underestimate the value of religion (a past president of the APA cited religion as one of the major sources of social injustice in the world; Anonymous calls it "theophobia", pp. 44-45) and abstinence, as well as the psychological effects following an abortion. They imply that trying to start a family after forty is relatively easy to do biologically. They downplay or overlook the lingering effects of treated STDs. And they overestimate the preventive value of condoms, of heterosexual transmission off AIDS. The public is under the false impression that heterosexual transmission of AIDS is common, or at least as easy as homosexual transmission.

A patient showing tuberculosis signs must be reported while another patient, engaging in high-risk sexual behavior can barely receive an admonishment. To satisfy special interest groups, professionals are unlikely to say or disallowed from telling college students the real threats of AIDS transmission.

I have a particular interest in books, written from a secular perspective, that say the same things Christians have been saying for years. I enjoy finding these little pears of wisdom, these little bits of common grace, that I can only hope will lead people to see and understand the the Bible truly does present the way humans can live best. One of these books is Unprotected, a book dealing with the problems inherent in campus counseling.

In this book, according to the subtitle, "A campus psychiatrist reveals how political correctness in her profession endangers every student." Because she fears the consequences of her stance, the author has chosen to remain anonymous and is known only as Anonymous, M.D.. She claims that her profession has been overrun to the point that she can no longer do what she feels is best for her patients. She contends that a radical social ideology is to blame for this. "I once assumed campus medicine and psychology had one priority: student well-being. I'm no longer so naive. Radical politics pervades my profession, and common sense has vanished." In place of common sense is this ideology, this political correctness, which seeks to "destabilize a truth of science and civilization: that the sexes are deeply and essentially different." In the author's view, turning a therapy session into an instrument of this agenda corrupts the profession.

In this book she argues as a scientist, not as an adherent to any religion. She argues that, as a doctor, she is responsible for her patient's total care and should not be forced to stop at anything less.

Through eight chapters, the author attacks eight aspects of the ideology. This doctor has seen how our culture's attitude toward gender and sexuality is reaping havoc with college students. "Why are students inundated with information about contraception, a healthy diet, sleep hygiene, coping with stress and pressure--but not a word about the havoc that casual sex plays on a young woman's emotions?" The reason is simple: "To acknowledge the negative consequences of the anything-goes, hooking-up culture would challenge the notion that women are just like men, and undermine the premise of 'safer sex.' And in our ultra-secular campuses, no belief comes so close as these to being sacred." Ideology in this profession is destroying the very lives it is sworn to protect.

She moves on to discuss the shortcomings of "safer sex." The discipline of reproductive health, she says, has been permeated by an ideology promoting experimentation and permissiveness. Instead of aiming to prevent disease, the goal is now to reduce risk (hence "safer sex" rather than the less subjective "safe sex"). Women are encouraged to reduce their risk, but still countless numbers end up carrying diseases that may well last a lifetime.

The author also discusses religion, though she does so in a generic way and from a secular perspective. She believes that religion is good for physical and mental health and thus promotes religion--any religion. Of course her profession scoffs at religion (and especially Christian beliefs). Further topics include sexually transmitted diseases, the distortions inherent in what people are taught about AIDS (primarily that it is an equal opportunity disease that is as likely to strike heterosexual women as homosexual men), the idea that abortion has no negative consequences, either physically or emotionally, and the false assumption that women can become pregnant as easily in their forties as they can while they are younger.

The conclusion? "We must recognize," says the author, "that campus counseling (in fact, all of mental health) as it now stands has been hijacked by repressive, radical ideologies. Open discussion is suppressed. Those who dissent are intimidated and silenced. Ideological diversity is nonexistent."

I appreciated that this author is willing to acknowledge the great responsibility that comes with her job. The things she says, the choices she makes, may have a lifelong impact on her patients. And yet I was saddened to see that, despite her open-mindedness in some areas, she still has so little to offer in others. She still cannot point people to the place where they can find ultimate healing and where they can find an ideology that is consistent and logical and grounded in objective truth. Still, I am glad that she, and few others like her, are seeking to provide guidance and counseling that goes against the grain, that goes against the evil ideology so prevalent in her profession and in our culture. This is an interesting book, and one that provides a sobering glimpse into the mental health profession. I'd recommend it for those with an interest in the subject matter.

I enjoyed this book immensely; I couldn't put it down. I am the mother of 2 daughters, and I want them to read this when they are of age. We are a family of faith, and are raising our daughters in our faith, but we don't know what they will do when they leave for college. This book gives scientific facts of why promiscuity is bad for our children, but especially our daughters. It talks of the emotional damage of "hooking up", physical damage of STDs, and exposes the fallacy that women can put off child-bearing until they are in their 40's.

I have sent copies to my friends with college-aged daughters. This is a must read for anyone who cares about their daughters, nieces, granddaughters (that is just about everyone, I hope).

I am a grandmother who bought this book for my granddaughters and their mothers. The mothers read it first and think it should be in middle schools! It is very readable and gives information none of us knew about. The granddaughters (both high school students) agree with us that the schools should teach it.

Since this book has been published, Anonymous, M.D. has revealed herself as Dr. Miriam Grossman, a psychiatrist at UCLA. That the author felt the need to write under such a moniker - out of fear of losing her job - attests to the controversial nature of her message. Yet it is one that should be read by college students everywhere.

Through a series of case studies, Grossman brings to light the harmful PC practices that endanger both the mental and physical health of students across the country. In one chapter, she shares the stories of young women who have fallen into depression as a result of casual sexual relationships. Though they protected themselves in all the ways the campus recommended - with condoms, birth control, and an army of STD pamphlets - their version of "safe sex" wound up harming their emotional health because, as Grossman explains, sex triggers the release of hormones that promote intimacy and bonding, much more so in women than in men. Yet this information is rarely revealed, as it counters the notion upon which radical feminism is based: that women are no different from men. As one young woman put it, "Why do they tell you how to protect your body...but they don't tell you what it does to your heart?"

In subsequent chapters, we hear about a young Catholic man who is alienated by the campus health system because of his strong religious beliefs, as well as several young women who are not taught how to adequately protect their fertility until it is too late. Religion, marriage, and family, Grossman explains, are not the focus of on-campus health care, and students who value these elements are often treated with indifference; meanwhile, clinics focus most of their efforts on distributing prophylactics and normalizing fringe (and often risky) sexual behavior.

The most disturbing chapter is one that focuses on the emotional trauma caused by abortion. While mental health professionals provide extensive resources for victims of trauma incurred by everything from war to hurricanes, car accidents to child abuse (all legitimately traumatic events), there are very few resources available for women who have had abortions. Instead, as Grossman explains, institutions like Planned Parenthood (a mainstay on many college campuses) simply insist that trauma rarely occurs after abortion, as admitting so would jeopardize the highly political pro-choice agenda. Grossman's evidence to the contrary, however, is quite convincing - and quite sad.

Rather than just relying on her own personal experience as a therapist, Grossman also steps outside her clinic in order to more thoroughly research the trends observed on her campus. The result is a well-supported argument that draws upon a balanced combination of experience and fact. Although her voice at times takes on an angry, almost inflammatory tone - something she willingly admits - this rarely detracts from her argument and often adds to its sense of urgency.

My only frustration with Unprotected is that, as a woman with such strong convictions, Grossman offers no solution to the problem she so clearly delineates. Though drawing attention to the problem itself is a crucial first step in solving it, I would have liked to hear Grossman's insider take on what must be done to reform the campus health system. Hopefully, her courage in dropping the Anonymous pen name is a sign that we will be hearing more from her, as her message is highly relevant and much-needed.

This book was originally published anonymously because the author feared she would be committing professional suicide if her fellow campus psychiatrists knew she wrote it. I have since heard her speak on talk radio, and although her name escapes me, she is a very strong voice of protest against the anti-religious, hedonistic atmosphere at most college health and counseling centers. She talks about the theophobia of the vast majority of counseling personnel on our campuses today, whether they are medical doctors (psychiatrists), or PhD. or MS. psychologists and social workers.They refuse to even inquire of their huge numbers of depressed and anxious students whether they are interested in faith, God, religion, spirituality, etc. Yet studies have shown that a majority of students ARE seeking answers to loftier questions than what birth control method to use and whether second-hand smoke might kill them. Studies have also shown a definite, undeniable positive impact on students when they embrace and practice a religion. The neglect of this important topic when counseling students is both shameful and stupid. The author has given parents of college students an eye-opening view of the values that most institutions of "higher" learning are actively promoting--physical health, sex, amorality, denial of the differences between men and women, self-absorption, and much more that most parents will find revolting, and the values they take great care NOT to promote--religion, faith, God, self-respect, moral responsibility, consideration and respect for others, etc. The author also points out that what is being pushed on campus regarding health can still be helpful, but leaving out any mention of faith and whether or not a student needs or wants it makes no sense.

Whether or not parents are interested in having their children practice a religion or at least consider his or her spiritual life and well-being, the statistics on and attitudes toward the epidemic of STDs on campus should give them pause. Twenty-five STDs are available for contracting these days. Does anyone (other than campus counseling center geniuses) think there is no connection between the current approach to sex, as well as alcohol and other issues, and the number of STDs students acquire? And does the behavior that causes them to acquire such lovely afflictions as genital warts and chlamydia also contribute to the depression and anxiety that are ALSO epidemic? The author will, I suspect, convince the reader that it does. She quotes a pamphlet from once school which more or less states that "everyone gets STDs," inferring it is essentially a rite of passage. Untrue, and definitely leaving out the gory details of these awful, and often incurable, diseases.

The reader will also find interesting the studies showing there are actual neurological functions which seem to lead the brain to search for meaning and spiritual fulfillment. The author makes a convincing and very readable case for a sea change in the methods and madness of the current trend in campus counseling.