How I Became Dysfunctional

Origins of Family Problems Conditioning passed on. My family problems and my problems began when the first group of foreigners set foot on the shore of Africa over 10,000 years ago. The problems continued with slavery. In slavery my ancestors were unable to develop their economic, social, political, and educational situation. My ancestors had problems because of this history. Such conditions were passed on to my parents, and they then passed some of it on to their children. My parents are the way they were because of their family’s history. I am the way I am because of my parents’ history. Societal Conditioning in the Black Family Effects of history. The Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome, in our society, has historically and currently affected my own family and subsequently many other Black families. Pre-slavery, the Middle Passage, post slavery, and modern-day conditions contributed to Black family dysfunctions. Some of these specific problems in my family have been caused by these historical conditions. The past continues to write on the slate of today. A pathological condition. The Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome can be a pathological condition. This condition resulted in many of the negative behaviors of African Americans—caused by treatment prior to, during, and after slavery. It consists of both conscious and unconscious behavior and can range from rather innocuous behavior to serious pathological mental issues. The Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome refers to the treatment of Blacks many years ago and their continuous treatment and conditions many years later. Thoroughly conditioned. Blacks were conditioned by chaos, confusion, mistreatment, abuse, and disorganization; and this in some cases likely resulted in psychological problems such as lack of trust, lack of loyalty, lack of love, lack of unity, social and psychological impotence with respect to family, abandonment of family, inability to consolidate resources, excessive use of drugs, and many of other problems in the Black family. A deleterious impact. These conditions can be traced directly to the Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome. It is inconceivable that anything other than the Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome could have had such a deleterious impact on the Black family. Even after all these years this syndrome is still blatantly demonstrating its power in the African American family. This syndrome will likely continue to influence the Black family into the near and distant future. Conditioned to negativity. There are reasons for all the problems that exist in the Black family, community, and society. The reasons can be found in the fact that we were conditioned to negativity during the pre-slavery, Middle Passage, slavery, post-slavery, and present-day periods. This syndrome has caused us to have self-hate, inferiority feelings, ashamed of our physical characteristics, to lack self-esteem, to lack self-worth, low self-image, lack of self-confidence, perform below standards, seek out demeaning relationships, fear disapproval, become alcoholic, sink into depression, have severe emotional problems, lack a sufficient level of motivation, and to be destructive toward self and others, etc. Our conditioning has caused us to exhibit dysfunctional behaviors that can be presently observed in our families. Can’t blame every problem on society. I realize that you can’t blame every problem in the Black family on these conditions, but I can’t help but believe that this syndrome contributed to my family’s dysfunctions. Other groups have inflicted every manner of deprivation, genocide, discrimination, racism, prejudice, and bigotry that could be perpetuated upon a people. Family as the basic unit of society. It has been noted all over the world that the family is the basic unit of society. This being the case it stands to reason that for either the individual or the community to be strong the family must be strong. If the family is dealt a severe blow, then the individual and the community will feel the effects. Efforts to destroy the Black family. It can be said that every effort was made to destroy the Black family. Being told you are inhuman for many generations and treated like an animal can have a definite psychic impact on one’s behavior, impacts that are passed from generation to generation. Most Blacks bear the burden of our ancestors to some degree. Some of us bear it more than others; most of us have been impacted in some way. Many years of slavery and oppression certainly has affected many Black Americans. Predisposed to be destructive. This syndrome is partially manifested by the fact that no matter what individuals may achieve educationally, psychologically, economically, socially, or politically; these individuals are predisposed to act at some point, in a manner that is destructive to themselves or others. Few individuals who are affected by this syndrome escape this detrimental process. Programmed. Blacks were unconsciously programmed from our first contact with other groups to become vulnerable to the Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome. We have continued to be programmed to manifest this syndrome. After having been programmed by this syndrome, many blacks will either become negative in their behavior in some way: seek out a relationship with someone who is likely to extirpate them or find a specific vice that will ultimately prove deleterious. In many cases these behaviors can occur separately or simultaneously for any one individual. We must also realize that this dysfunctional behavior can be manifested in many ways: suicide, drug abuse, homicide, destructive relationships, ethical and professional problems, gambling, perverse sexual behavior, and a variety of other dysfunctional behaviors, are just a few of the many ways in which this behavior can be displayed.