This week, when I was talking to my therapist about one of the more hurtful things I’d experienced since last seeing her
"one of the more hurtful things" ➞ Vague, mawkish.
where a family member said something absolutely unspeakable
"a family member ... something ... absolutely unspeakable" ➞ Vague, hyperbole
➞ Paranoid
Her suggestion was that I should e-mail said family member about it, because I “seem to express myself better in writing than when talking to people.” There might have been some low-key contempt for me in that
"might have been some low-key contempt for me" ➞ Paranoid
but it is true, and there’s something to be said for explaining why that is.
I have a really hard time ever opening up about the problems I’m dealing with, to anyone. For reasons I’ll get into in a moment, at a very young age, I developed a defense mechanism to never, ever, let on that anything is wrong, and I swear, every time I have ever made an exception, it has lead to further trauma.
"ever opening up ... to anyone" ➞ Hyperbole
"never, ever ... anything ... swear ... every time ... trauma" ➞ Hyperbole
Hmm, definite theme in terms of style. Now let's consider the substance for a it.
My mother has a lot of mental health issues, including one where seeing me upset has always made her unreasonably angry. The logic seemed to be that if I was ever upset, it was because she was doing a bad job as a mother. And since she was doing her best, damn it, that’s an unfair criticism I needed to be punished for. Her go-to being threats.
Now on the face of it this seems like a genuinely unfortunate situation. But because this is Jake talking, who is a histrionic paranoiac, it's safe to assume that this is a wildly exaggerated distortion, if not a total fabrication.
If she ever caught me crying, or frowning, or moping, or being too quiet, or any of a dozen other things, real or imagined, that indicated to her that I was insufficiently happy and content, she’d insist I improve my attitude, or else she would send me off, either to live with my violently abusive father, or to a mental institution, or that she’d take my cats to an animal shelter. Terrifying things to say to any child, and I absolutely believed she meant it.
Here we get to the heart of the matter. We know Jake is totally uninterested in anything except his own navel so it's not surprise he was like that as a kid. Most kids are a bit like that. But... most kids tend to grow out of it. They learn that relationships are a two-way street. They learn to put in a little effort. Jake never did. Instead he withdrew further whenever his mom tried to cheer him up or suggested some kind of activity, like going to camp or visiting his father. Because that would mean having to negotiate and genuinely interact with other people, to be mindful of others and not put your own needs front and center all the time. And Jake feels threatened doing that.
To avoid having to come to terms with his helplessness and his neediness, Jake decides to simply reverse reality. I'm not talking a bit of hyperbole or a bit or paranoia: no,
a complete reversal. In the real world, Jake is a sullen, inconsiderate asshole. In Jake's world, his mother is the asshole.
I worked out such a poker face that when my best friend was having a crisis and I tried to offer sympathy, I was told “you wouldn’t understand, you don’t have any emotions!”
Again, the Jake reality-reversal: when someone tells you to your face they perceive you as a weird, non-emoting creep, that becomes
proof you
actually are very sensitive and have a vibrant emotional life. Other people just don't see it because you're so
good at hiding it.
~~~
And with that, I think, the analysis comes full circle. Because even though I'm not a therapist, for me this fully explains Jake's crazy troon fantasies.
The more we laugh about Jake's sad-sack existence as a slovenly internet addicted man with no social life and no ability to engage with people or the world at large, the
more this proves how good Jake is at hiding the fact that he is
actually an exuberant, beautiful woman, who is loved and trusted by all, and also fights Nazis.