We are living in a time when legal, medical, and governmental systems are increasingly used to silence dissent, pathologize difference, and destroy the very essence of the human spirit.

In point of fact, I left the world of psychology and psychiatry in my very early twenties — when I saw, with clear eyes, what was truly happening behind the scenes. I walked away — unwilling to lend my life to systems that harm.

Never could I have imagined that decades later, I would be dragged back into this world — not by choice, but by force — through events that unfolded beyond my worst nightmares.

I resisted touching this realm again — for years. But the Creator had other plans.

In time, I came to see that what I had endured was not only personal — it was emblematic of a much larger story. A story that continues to harm countless lives. A story that has been spoon-fed to us through every medium since the dawn of the 1980s — woven into culture, policy, and public belief.

And so I speak — not because I seek to, but because silence is no longer an option.

This must change.

And change begins with voice — with those of us who have walked through the fire speaking what we know to be true.