The article is available at: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/25/america/25ellis.php
I’d never heard of Ellis until I read this article, but the first thing that caught my eye was his reckless and negligent comment: ‘Neurosis is just a high-class word for whining’. Anyone with any experience of neurosis (including borderline schizophrenia and bipolar) and/or psychosis will tell you that trivialising mental illness in such a manner is pure madness; that bandying around such ill-conceived notions of mentational instability in a pathetic attempt to come across sounding ‘cool’ is foolhardy, childish and extremely unfortunate for someone regarded with such esteem and reverence. Having been personally familiar with LSD-induced neurosis and THC-induced paranoia, it isn’t mere whinging or sympathy-mongering that is at the heart of the matter, for when the mind unleashes itself upon itself and is engulfed by its own inadequacies, no amount of behavioural psychology can help. at the point where all communication breaks down and synchronicity sweeps you up, no psychologist can offer you any recourse from the desolation and hopelessness that enfolds itself around you. i really shudder to think of ellis’ contribution to neuropsychology if his entire modus operandi were based on the impression that patients need to stop wallowing in self-indulgence.
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