American Sniper: The Danger of Armchair Psychology

Let me start this piece by stating that I have worked with many veterans battling a wide range of emotional and psychological hurdles, and I have given away many free hours of therapeutic support to wounded warriors.  I admire the high price many vets and their family’s pay for their service to this country. I have no doubt that these two patriots had very good intentions, but the decision to take a mentally unstable individual to a gun range in order to expose him to his PTSD triggers should have been better thought out.  It can be very dangerous to think that any of us, myself included, know exactly how someone is going to react to unprocessed painful and emotional memories.  Pain from our past can be unpredictable and is best managed slowly with carefully planned out psychological interventions.

There seems to be a prevailing school of thought suggesting that anyone is capable of helping someone with how they think and feel just because they have gone through what the other person has gone thorough.  If we follow that line of logic, then anyone who has had a toothache is now qualified to help you with your tooth?  While it’s true that not only psychologists can help people with how they feel, it’s not true that most people know how to manage the complexities of how someone else thinks.  Many people have trouble managing their own thoughts and emotions, let alone helping someone else with what’s in his or her mind.  You may think I’m being self-serving, but that’s really not my only intent, I’m trying to encourage you to think about utilizing a group of trained and experienced professionals who know how to help you navigate the intricasies of your thoughts and emotions.

People who are struggling need a much deeper and sustained process than merely being given life advice or unrealistic expectations about accepting it, getting over it, letting it go, putting it behind you, or eliminating their negative thoughts and emotions.  Reading a book or listening to a speaker is not bad, but it’s not enough for most people to make lasting changes in how they think and feel.  If you are not talking out and processing what you’re thinking and feeling, you’re holding in the majority of your change potential.  Would you tell someone who is feeling bad to hold in how they are feeling and keep it to themself?  If you personally knew Robin Williams and how he was struggling, would you tell him not to talk about how he was thinking and feeling?  

We all need to decide what changing would personally mean to us and actively work on achieving that process.  Yes, achieve the process of change because change is never done or complete, it’s only practiced.  I have seen many people just like you access a wider range of emotional acceptance.  Is the fear of weakness holding you back?  What would feeling better feel like?

Dr. Steven C. Walker
Licensed Psychologist

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