This is a pretty incredible post. Lots of information here to digest. Fits with a lot that I know. I have always had a problem with psychology, psychologists and the whole notion that there is something wrong that must be fixed. Have always been suspicious of pop culture as well but there is a lot more here than just that. Since I was young and living in a very dangerous NYC, I have always believed in psychological self protection and it has worked well for me. I think too few people ever consider the need for protecting your mind from dangerous influences that try to sway you, try to control you etc. But you do need to be strong in your own mind--and one way to stay strong is to entertain possibilities while questioning everything. Wanted to add--in WWI they of course called it shell-shocked and in my more cynical moments, I ask myself if WWI wasn't a mass psychological experiment as one element of the design. Social, as well, in that it completely gutted the existing order and stole the youth of hundreds of thousands, and that's not even counting the deaths of those poor poor soldiers.