The manipulators and the profiteers that have fomented the trans contagion have largely been successful because they have expertly exploited emotional blackmail.
Emotional blackmail is a style of manipulation where someone uses the feelings of another as a way to control their behavior or persuade them to see things their way.
Confused and needy young people are being coached by their peers and unscrupulous ideologues to use emotional blackmail on their parents, their teachers, their psychotherapists, and their doctors to convince them to do things they would otherwise not do. The favored method is to threaten suicide if they do not get what they want. This can be a subtle clue or a direct threat. Both are terrifying and highly effective for different reasons. Parents are rightly petrified that they could lose their sons or daughters, so they often give in. Professionals are scared as well but often also afraid they will be sued if they make a wrong move, so they act defensively.
The emotional blackmail training occurs on Reddit groups, Facebook, Instagram and in real life settings. It is now standard operating procedure. The trans cult true believers justify their manipulation by claiming it is necessary to force the “non-believers” into reluctant compliance because they have convinced themselves, not only that theirs is a virtuous cause but that it is a life-or-death struggle. It is not.
We know for sure that the psychic pain and the rate of suicide does not diminish for children after they transition, so there is no long-term benefit to taking drastic action. This is a phase of psychic turmoil parents and professionals must help children navigate. The task is to address the real reasons children are crying out for help while diminishing the power and influence of the manipulators.
Note. My evaluation of the human sexuality literature leads me to conclude there may be rare instances when transsexual transition may be advisable, but those transitions should only occur with adults after a long process of psychiatric evaluation and psychotherapy for all comorbidities.
I believe this awful social contagion is a product of a dysfunctional, individualistic age and fomented by powerful cultural anarchists, hell-bent on destroying civilization. It is a sign that western nations are in decline.
I am not going to cover all of the other dynamics of the trans contagion phenomenon. Other writers have done that well. My focus in this article is this insidious weapon.
How do parents, teachers, therapists, and doctors respond to emotional blackmail? First, recognize this is a tactic. Second, develop a support system around you that can help you get through the dark times. Third, get advice or training from someone who has been there. Fourth, never act in isolation. Always work in conjunction with a team (for parents that may mean a spouse, friend, or parent). Fifth, implement a plan consistently and do not back down when the manipulators turn up the heat.
This will be one of the most difficult things you ever do but you have no other choice.
Here are my suggestions for parents. Psychotherapists, doctors and teachers have a different set of challenges and professional responsibilities to consider.
This assumes enlightened parents who are not blindly following the popular affirmation protocol. That has failed. History will show that the affirmation admonition destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives.
My advice below is not a substitute for a trusted professional in your own life who knows your situation.
Let professionals know you love your child, but you do not support his/her transition plan and you plan to fight for their recovery.
Help them get involved in non-trans social activities that make them feel good about themselves.
Limit their time on the internet but do not connect it to their trans activity.
Always convey unconditional love even while disagreeing with their plans.
Keep your cool at all times, even when your child is volatile.
Acknowledge your child’s pain. Over and over. This is easy to do because the psychic turmoil is great.
Convey respect for your child’s autonomy and decision-making.
Never deny your child’s experience. Ask him or her to explain it to you. When they inevitably say, “You do not understand”, agree with them.
Never shift gears to things you want to talk about.
Ask questions about their specific trans plan but not as a Devil’s Advocate. Make it real for them. Look at pictures together.
Stall for time. This is the most important thing you can do.
Never commit to doing anything.
When they volunteer their feelings about any non-trans matter run with it.
Acknowledge the universality of not fitting in.
Self-disclose about the times in your life when you were not fitting in but do not assume your pain is as great as their pain is right now.
Tell them you are doing the best you can to understand and help them.
When the child inevitably says, “If you loved me, you would do what I want” tell them it is your job to listen and get information before doing anything hastily.
When the child inevitably says, “All of my friends have done it” tell them that your job is to help them regardless of what anybody else has done.
When the child inevitably says, “If you do not let me start the transition, I might kill myself”, convey that you care for them and you will not let that happen. Take protective action as required. Tell them you would be devastated if they were gone.
Relentlessly monitor the hard warning signs of suicidal intent.
Return to what you were doing above. Do not let the drama disorient you.
Stay with the plan for as long as it takes.
All people have a deep need to be seen and loved. See them and love them.
Children feel out of control internally much of the time. Contain them with presence, strength, and words.
Be the same person all the time.
Recognize that you are doing important work.
The Trans Emotional Blackmail Weapon
This is exceptional!! Thank you so much for posting this. A very clear and present danger in our culture, just another example of the insanity that seems to be trying to overtake us. This post is not just a warning, but also solution focused. The suggestions here are right on (I too am a psychotherapist, and am very happy to become more knowledgable after reading this). Good job!!
I too appreciate that you have offered some down-to-earth and mature approaches, attitudes, and principles that parents can use to navigate the vise-grip that so many children and parents have been put in by brazen and scheming ideologues. A theory I read, which makes sense to me, as to one of the multiple reasons so many youngsters are pulled into this insanity is the concurrent indoctrination of CRT-based ideas. When young white girls and boys, particularly girls, are taught that they belong to an oppressor racial group, that there is no way to ever transcend their innate racist tendencies, it is an understandable reaction when they consciously or subconsciously look for a way out. That can be to enter into one of the most celebrated "oppressed" and "victimized" groups by declaring themselves transgender. Of course the only ones who celebrate this are unhinged progressives and all the institutions into which they have inveigled this mind-boggling and body-altering craziness. Even children's hospitals are participating with "gender affirmation" treatment that typically ends up with puberty blocking drugs, hysterectomies, mastectomies, surgical and chemical castrations -- all on the healthy bodies of children and teens. Such disordered thinking on the part of all the adults involved!
The website Parents with Inconvenient Truths About Trans (https://pitt.substack.com/archive?sort=top) shares story after story and each is pretty heart-wrenching. And there is a fascinating email exchange between Abigail Shrier, author of "Irreversible Damage, The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters" and Heather Heying, an evolutionary biologist, https://naturalselections.substack.com/p/the-torment-and-tragedy-of-teenage.