A ‘Psychological’ Skeleton Key
What it is, Why it helps . . .
How can it be that a person dealing with the most serious of challenges finds himself, simply by virtue of accessing some lectures on YouTube, possibly reading a book, able to architect dramatic change. It’s a phenomenon that is worth looking into.
Take Danny Taylor-Smith as a case in point. He tells us about his history:
“About five years ago, I was a bit of a nobody. I was diagnosed with Autism at an early age, and had barely passed a Bachelor Degree in Film and Television. It was interesting, but I could never be motivated. I found it difficult to connect with others. I didn’t have the greatest view of women either. I was searching through pick-up artist books to get women to like me.
After a bad relationship, I remember finding a self-help book that said something I’d never seen before — — “the reason nobody likes you is because you’re a slob with no passion, no job, no income and you’re a man-child.” Horrified with myself, I decided to study Psychology at university. While not a definite fix, it was a start. I was surrounded by 18 year old girls fresh out of high school, and middle age women. I felt really out of place.”
Then, as the story goes, this fellow discovers Peterson on YouTube. What unfolded? It’s a story we keep hearing:
“Everything changed. I neglected my studies to watch [Peterson] speak for hours in the university library. I read every self help book I could find — though quite quickly realized a large amount of self-help culture was quite unhealthy, and so I dodged a bullet. On the day of my exams, I quit Psychology, and instead enrolled in a Masters of Education course.”
Why did he switch?
“I wanted to learn what had gone wrong with my own development. I was encased in shame — — with my autism diagnosis, my lack of money, job prospects, and inability to connect. And so I began my Masters studies. I took responsibility for my life, made loads of friends, and even became the Digital Marketing Manager to a business for helping children with their emotional development.”
Fast-forward: Taylor Smith has been identifying weaknesses in the curriculum for special needs students, gotten involved in the messy work of advocating for change, taken the plight of those with autism diagnoses a step further by preparing and presenting a TED X talk and is currently sorting out his next steps, intent to be a change agent and a role model. His life is a work in progress, a young man who has awakened to a mission. He credits Peterson with helping him get on track.
Do we conclude that Peterson’s insights might have some special relevance for those struggling with autism? Maybe. But then the story of Brett Anderson takes us in another direction.
Anderson recounts an active, normal childhood, sports, friends, the usual. After his first year at college, though, he had an “anomalous experience” which threw him into a psychotic episode requiring hospitalization. Anderson suffered from delusions for months. Once he was better, he went back to school, immersing himself in drugs, video games and other distractions to cope with difficult feelings related to his sudden descent into a shocking illness.
At the end of the school year, Anderson had not caught up with the schoolwork that he had missed. His teachers granted extensions. He worked intensively over six days, using stimulants so he would not need much sleep. He completed his assignments. Unfortunately, he did not know that those with a history of psychosis must avoid stimulants. Another psychotic break. More months to recover. He lost his scholarship, forfeited a year of school and, sadly, had broadcast many of his delusions on social media. At the close of that episode, he was humiliated and isolated, needing to start over somewhere else.
He moved in with his mom, started another degree, but found himself nihilistic, discouraged, depressed and given over to distractions. Back to video games and pot, the year was a write off. He took another year off, there was another psychotic break. Once again, he broadcast his delusions on Facebook. Once again, it took him months to get his mental health back. Looking for yet another new beginning, he moved in with his grandmother. He got a job he didn’t like, continued with what was becoming a steady lifestyle of video games and drug use and was, to quote him, on a path to being “the wretched loser” that he was.
Anderson was in the habit of listening to podcasts while playing video games. When he initially came upon Peterson, he was mildly interested in the political issues he discussed but was more captivated by this person with great convictions. Anderson didn’t have any of his own. Curious, hungry for more, he listened more regularly. As he says, “something clicked.”
One thing led to another. Anderson ‘cleaned his room’.
“I established routine. I established some discipline. I established some goals. I went back to school to study psychology.”
We sometimes hear that those influenced by Peterson become interested in psychology. In the past, Anderson struggled with school. Now he had a 3.9 grade point average. He published scientific papers then got accepted to graduate school. He’s doing a Doctorate in Evolutionary Psychology at the University of New Mexico.
Anderson notes:
“I didn’t just get a little better. I didn’t just get back to baseline. I’m clearly better than I was before any of this happened. I’m on a better path now than I was before.”
Curious about what Jordan is doing that has helped him and others, Anderson has been doing research, including two reading of Peterson’s Maps of Meaning, to better understand how Peterson’s ideas help many make needed changes.
And what is it? What is Peterson’s skeleton key that helps people with bona fide problems make changes that had evaded them until that point? In Anderson’s case, the success he achieved was clearly against all odds. Once a young person has had several psychotic breaks the likelihood that he or she will succeed in high level academics is very slim, indeed.
My best hunch: the skeleton key is called Truth, an accurate worldview which is shared in exquisite detail, a map or framework that others can use as a pivot; then, with better footing, they are finally able to execute change. Peterson points out,
“If you have a comprehensive explanation for everything then it decreases uncertainty and anxiety and reduces your cognitive load. And if you can use that simplifying algorithm to put yourself on the side of moral virtue then you’re constantly a good person with a minimum of effort.”
Peterson’s detailed frame of reference allows people to understand where they are and what they need to do. Having resolved doubt, having found the North on their compass, much is settled. A person can thrust forward with confidence. Armed with knowledge, it’s time for the next step. Peterson says: “Work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing and see what happens.”
These two young men, alongside many others, are doing exactly that.
Annette Poizner, MSW, Ed.D., RSW, is a clinical social worker in private practice who is compiling stories for her book: Lobster Tales: Stories of Lives Transformed by the Work of Jordan Peterson, a living document which is regularly updated with new tales of transformation. Her books, published by Lobster University Press, explore and unpack the teachings of Dr. Jordan Peterson as they relate to psycho-spiritual development and mental health.
