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Former editor here. This is a really interesting story, but if I were Greenstone's editor I would feel really conflicted about running it. There's the elephan

by jawns 8y ago

Former editor here. This is a really interesting story, but if I were Greenstone's editor I would feel really conflicted about running it. There's the elephant in the room -- mental health. What did the reporter get on record? "She did not want to discuss mental health but feels it should be treated more seriously in Washington." Then there's her family. What did the reporter get on record? "Her immediate family in the Seattle area, including her 18-year-old daughter, declined interviews for this story." So now you have to weave a tale while dancing around the fact that she's likely got mental health issues that she won't talk about, and you've got important people in her life who also don't want to talk. I'm not saying the story is bad as-is. It's fascinating. But it feels like there's a lot missing.

mindgam3 8y ago
The elephant in the room isn’t “mental health” - it’s severe developmental trauma. As described in the article: “Twigg was still a child when she became homeless. A prodigy in academics and athletics, she started at UW at the age of 14... At this time, she was living in Seattle in a basement with her mother and sister. Twigg’s sister says their mom kicked Twigg out; Twigg remembers being offered the option to leave and taking it. She was a few months from turning 16.” I’m sorry, I don’t need to “weave a tale” about anything other than the fact that this person has been subject to abuse since childhood. And yeah, of course her family doesn’t want to talk. Nobody wants to talk about abuse in the family. If anything is missing, it’s our collective blind spot where we can read a story like this and make it about “mental health”. Until we get better as a society about recognizing clear signs of abuse, we won’t make a dent in these kinds of problems.
- JustSomeNobody 8y ago
  This! Anyone who has had any trauma informed care training would have zeroed in on this instantly.
DoreenMichele 8y ago
The article does detail a history of a head injury that required stitches. Most homeless people have either medical or mental health issues. The older I get, the more convinced I am that those two things are not so neatly separated.
docker_up 8y ago
Agreed. Those were the things that I spotted instantly. The first thing when you think of for homeless people is mental health. You don't have to be full-on crazy to have mental health issues that bring you down the wrong path of bad decision-making. The fact the family doesn't want to talk, that she was asked to leave by her parents, that she kept losing her job, these all speak volumes. It's terrible, but it happens: I've learned anyone can suffer from mental health problems. I have a decades-old friend who was gifted and brilliant. He succumbed to schizophrenia in his 30s, lost his job as a patent lawyer and broke off his engagement to his lovely fiance, and started murmuring about evil. He stopped answering my calls and moved around so much I have no idea where he is now, or if he's even still alive.
- mindslight 8y ago
  Because abstracting one person's story to "mental health" is extremely dehumanizing. In fact, the article does address the topic head on: > "What (Twigg) has is a great trait," Thompson said. "Unless you get into the workforce." The truth is that personality traits aren't really considered disorders until they affect your ability to lead a normal life, the chief aspect being to "hold down a job". So we lauded her when these traits helped her be exceptional in her field, but now that she's used that up and didn't pivot it into some more lasting form of wealth, she's left to the shitty support structure.
  - RcouF1uZ4gsC 8y ago
    It not just "hold down a job". When your own family can't stand being around you, I would say that qualifies as a serious problem.
    - mindslight 8y ago
      Yes, I did acknowledge it was only one metric. There are many people who can't stand their families and/or vice versa, yet if they were characterized as mentally ill it would effectively nullify the term. So this is also subjectively condemning personality traits that are celebrated in other contexts, veiled with impartiality. And while this is a contributing factor to her actual situation (if she were on better terms with her family, that would be another support structure), that doesn't really have a bearing on what I said in the USian individualist paradigm.

by jawns 8y ago

mindgam3 8y ago

The elephant in the room isn’t “mental health” - it’s severe developmental trauma. As described in the article: “Twigg was still a child when she became homeless. A prodigy in academics and athletics, she started at UW at the age of 14... At this time, she was living in Seattle in a basement with her mother and sister. Twigg’s sister says their mom kicked Twigg out; Twigg remembers being offered the option to leave and taking it. She was a few months from turning 16.” I’m sorry, I don’t need to “weave a tale” about anything other than the fact that this person has been subject to abuse since childhood. And yeah, of course her family doesn’t want to talk. Nobody wants to talk about abuse in the family. If anything is missing, it’s our collective blind spot where we can read a story like this and make it about “mental health”. Until we get better as a society about recognizing clear signs of abuse, we won’t make a dent in these kinds of problems.

JustSomeNobody 8y ago
This! Anyone who has had any trauma informed care training would have zeroed in on this instantly.

DoreenMichele 8y ago

The article does detail a history of a head injury that required stitches. Most homeless people have either medical or mental health issues. The older I get, the more convinced I am that those two things are not so neatly separated.

docker_up 8y ago

Agreed. Those were the things that I spotted instantly. The first thing when you think of for homeless people is mental health. You don't have to be full-on crazy to have mental health issues that bring you down the wrong path of bad decision-making. The fact the family doesn't want to talk, that she was asked to leave by her parents, that she kept losing her job, these all speak volumes. It's terrible, but it happens: I've learned anyone can suffer from mental health problems. I have a decades-old friend who was gifted and brilliant. He succumbed to schizophrenia in his 30s, lost his job as a patent lawyer and broke off his engagement to his lovely fiance, and started murmuring about evil. He stopped answering my calls and moved around so much I have no idea where he is now, or if he's even still alive.

mindslight 8y ago
Because abstracting one person's story to "mental health" is extremely dehumanizing. In fact, the article does address the topic head on: > "What (Twigg) has is a great trait," Thompson said. "Unless you get into the workforce." The truth is that personality traits aren't really considered disorders until they affect your ability to lead a normal life, the chief aspect being to "hold down a job". So we lauded her when these traits helped her be exceptional in her field, but now that she's used that up and didn't pivot it into some more lasting form of wealth, she's left to the shitty support structure.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 8y ago
  It not just "hold down a job". When your own family can't stand being around you, I would say that qualifies as a serious problem.
  - mindslight 8y ago
    Yes, I did acknowledge it was only one metric. There are many people who can't stand their families and/or vice versa, yet if they were characterized as mentally ill it would effectively nullify the term. So this is also subjectively condemning personality traits that are celebrated in other contexts, veiled with impartiality. And while this is a contributing factor to her actual situation (if she were on better terms with her family, that would be another support structure), that doesn't really have a bearing on what I said in the USian individualist paradigm.