Irrational Hatred has an underlying cause

Some years ago while bopping about in the Government Printing
Office Bookstore in Chicago I happened on a book called "Drug
Abuse and Drug Abuse Research. The Third Triennial Report to
Congress from the Secretary, Department of Health and Human
Services." This book has proved to be such a treasure trove
of information that the Department of HEW simply reissued the
same book when the next two editions were due to be published.
And now, fortunately, it is available on line for free.

You can find a description and a hot link to download the
entire book at click here

The PDF version of the book is some 20 megabytes so a high
speed broadband connection is desirable.

The reason I recommend this book is because, among other
things, it describes the prevalence of mental illness among
substance abusers, from alcohol through the really hard
stuff. The book also points out that for the most part,
those who abuse substances had an underlying mental illness
before they added the burden of substance abuse to their
problems. Not only that, but that there is a statistical
correlation between the type of substance of choice, and
the specifics of the related mental illness.

What the book doesn't cover, but I have found in a
limited number of cases I've personally observed, is that
deep seated long term irrational hatred is invariably
comorbid with a dual diagnosis of substance abuse and
mental illness. The saddest part, in my opinion, is that
such hatred only manifests in high functioning individuals.
And since this is an opinion of mine, I'll go so far as
to say that such hatred is quite simply a redirected
self-loathing that allows the individual with the problems
to function as well as they do.

I could easily name a handfull or two of such individuals
I've encountered in my lifetime, but to do so would be of
no benefit to anyone. I mention this matter here because
I've seen it in Iron County in a higher proportion than I
have in other places I've lived. I suspect this is because
there is less of an opportunity for success in this
economically depressed region.

Bill Vajk