Many people assume mental health clinicians are immune to mental health concerns. In reality, therapists experience stressors and emotional struggles just like anyone else. Some of the most effective healers are those who take the time to do inner work on their own trauma history. "But you're a therapist, so you probably won't understand," she said with a sideways glance in my direction. "You probably have everything together." I still laugh when I remember that moment.
Zarutska was fatally stabbed by a fellow passenger who sat behind her in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack. Police have since arrested DeCarlos Brown Jr., who reportedly had a history of violent crime and whose mother said he had began acting "aggressive at home" following a recent schizophrenia diagnosis. (Experts emphasize that the vast majority of people with schizophrenia never commit violence, and are in fact 14 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than its perpetrators.)