
History, as taught in most schools, should be considered a crime against children.
If Hamilton proved anything, it proved that history can ABSOLUTELY be interesting if you serve it with a little spice. Leaving out the juicy interesting bits is a disservice to us all.
So we're adding them back in.
Hamilton covered the romance, the beefs, and the rapping - so we're going to go in a different direction.
How 'bout a side of mystery with your history? (uh-uh. Stopping myself right there. There will be no rapping.)
Reddit user Apart-Scale asked:
"What historical mystery is unlikely to ever be solved?"
True crime lovers, history geeks, awful-sh*t aficionados and wizards of weird - this article is definitely for you.
Heads up, though, we need to add trigger warnings for:
harm/death of a child
murder
war/enslavement
domestic violence
... yeah humans are awful.
"Hun, Can We Talk?"
"What Pope Leo said to Attila the Hun."
"Attila was taking over the world and made it to Rome and the Vatican. Leo rode out alone and spoke to Attila and convinced Attila to not destroy Rome and the Vatican."
"What was said, only the archives of the Vatican has any idea."
- Xikkiwikk
"Unfortunately the answer is probably really mundane and disappointing."
"Like a lot of miraculous historical events, it probably boils down to 'the story is just bullsh*t we made up later cause it sounded good.' ”
"They could’ve just bribed the Huns."
"Italy and Rome weren’t particularly rich by that time, so throwing a bunch of gold at the Huns and being like 'here let me spare you the time and energy of sacking it all' could’ve ACTUALLY worked because there wasn't enough there worth sacking for yet."
"Or no conversation ever happened and it’s a story developed later as a way for the Church and the Pope to take credit. The Huns could’ve left for any reason."
"Maybe the Pope did try to negotiate, it failed, but the Huns left after that anyway. Pope and Church still take credit."
- pyrhus626
After Alcatraz
"Whether Frank Morris, John Anglin, and his brother Clarence Anglin survived their escape from Alcatraz Federal Prison."
- onefinegander
"The History Channel has a great documentary about this."
"The two brothers families claim they survived by tying a rope onto a boat and holding on, which they used to do for fun as kids. Their friend claims he took them to Mexico and they lived to old age there with families and everything. They even offer evidence; Christmas cards they received and even a photo of them old."
"I'm convinced it's true."
- Crepes_for_days3000
"Freezing waters, rumors of sharks, handmade boat from vests that they probably had to inflate again and again throughout their trip."
"I saw a picture somewhere which was taken in or around 1985 and there were 2 people which pretty much were the Anglin brothers (you can find it if you search)."
"A body was also discovered by the Norwegian Navy, and it matched the description of Frank Morris."
"To me, the Anglin brothers made it and Morris drowned. Maybe they couldn't carry so much weight and the brothers conspired against Morris? Who knows."
"Fascinating nonetheless."
- CookieAdmiral
Where's The Prime Minister?
"One of Australias Prime Ministers just disappeared when he went for a swim in the ocean, so probably that."
- hulloiliketrucks
"There were suspicions the CIA had a hand in his disappearance because the US was royally pissed at him over his refusal to allow a US military installation in Australia."
"There were also rumours he was kidnapped by a submarine but those were most likely started by the CIA."
- Spookyrabbit
"Wasn't it assumed he was eaten by a saltwater croc?"
- Pyroclastic_Hammer
"Shark got him."
- SuperTrojan
"Probably just drowned and sunk into the ocean."
"The ocean has a tendency to completely an entirely delete corpses once they sink to the bottom. This is why it's rare to find the bodies of plane crash victims and sunken boats."
"Everything at the bottom is evolved to eat corpses with increasing efficiency. Not even bones last most of the time."
- jerrythecactus
"So the mystery is what Australian sea monster had Prime Minister for lunch?"
- CRANSSBUCLE
Not Too Neighborly
"Not a huge historical event, but one that will haunt my local history for a long time to come, I'm sure. My neighbor killed his whole family, buried them in his house, then went for a trip."
"Nobody knows if he's dead or hiding somewhere; and if so, where? The police kind of screwed up the start of the investigation, so he had a good head start on them."
"I went to the same school as the kids but we weren't the same age, so we didn't end up in the same class. He sent increasingly strange letters to family and friends before he disappeared."
"We didn't really knew them beside living nearby and frequenting the same places as a result."
"His name is (or maybe was if he is dead?) Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès. This was about ten years ago and he was since then featured in multiple TV shows and books."
- deadalnix
Before The Ancient Egyptians
"The disappearance of the Lake Fayum nomadic people that predated the pharaohs."
"They had no writing, no records of any form, and lived solely near the banks of the Nile and an ancient lake. They had a community for a long time that included bakeries, agriculture, weaving, and some precursor to religious or artistic elements."
"One day, the people vanished. But I mean JUST the people."
"They left their fish in the cooking pots, dry food stored under the floorboards of their houses, and pottery still on the wheel. It was like they were picked up and carried away or the people suddenly left in a hurry and left everything behind."
"Then shortly after, the material culture of early Pre-Pharaonic Egyptian kingdoms arose."
"Some believe the fayum people migrated north to become the early Egyptians because of unusually arid conditions - but you don't leave food cooking if you're going to migrate. They were nomads, packing up and moving on was their thing. This wasn't how it was done."
"Others say they were killed or captured, but there were no signs of struggle and they possessed and left no weapons. Also, that doesn’t make sense. Why would the invading people leave their entire culture and settlement intact and just poof the people away?"
- Squaragus_Asparagus
"I’d suggest that they may have died suddenly and were then buried by survivors or visitors. Similar to what happened at Lake Nyos?"
"Hypothetical, of course, but not impossible."
- Scottzilla90
"I'd assume some other folks came in to town, highly outnumbered them, and enslaved them all without giving the chance to take anything but the clothes on their backs."
"Egypt was built on the backs of slaves after all."
"This could have been common practice since before the pharaohs, and the people in that village knew it would've just meant their death if they fight back, so they all complied and no one died on site."
- shastaxc
These Low Effort Jobs Have Surprisingly High Salaries | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Have you ever worked one of those jobs that paid you to kinda sit there? If you have, you know the joy that comes with watching the entirety of Breaking Bad ...Read The Room
"What happened to the Amber Room."
"It was a big room in a Russian Palace that was covered ceiling to floor in sheets of amber and gold. The Amber Room was dismantled by Nazis and then all the pieces 'disappeared.' "
"Supposedly it was in a train carriage, hidden in some abandoned tunnels somewhere in Europe. The search continues even now."
"Germany helped build a replica in 2003, but the original panels and pieces are still missing."
- SweetieLove
"Sadly it was almost certainly destroyed during the burning of Königsberg Castle. It was its last known location, and a few non-flammable bits were found in the ruins."
- TheMightyGoatMan
"I had a Russian history professor at college who said that given the amount of debris from World War II in Russia that haven’t been found yet - he said that they continue to find train cars and other artifacts - he wouldn’t be surprised if it was just sitting around undiscovered in a lost train somewhere."
"I find it hard to believe, but it’s not like I have a PhD in Russian history to back anything up."
- Reasonable_Trash5928
"I think it’s just been broken down and scattered to many parts."
"They just found a sunken ship off the coast somewhere in Norway that supposedly has some pieces. On its way to South America with the rest of the Nazis stolen stuff."
- ksnizzo
Rasputin
"Rasputin."
"Even if he took the kings son off his asprin to help his hemophilia, how did he know to do that?"
"How did he even get so close with the royal family without anyone raising an eyebrow until it became completely public."
"Did Tsar Nicolas's advisories see nothing wrong with a homeless wizard being associated with the tsar?"
"How did he really die or how did he survive the shot and poison if that story is true? Just so many questions lost to time..."
- alexander_the_ok-
"The answers probably aren't lost to time; they are just ... kinda stupid."
" 'How did he know to do that?' Happy accident."
"Rasputin was a holy man who believed in the power of God over medicine, so he tried to cure the son with prayer. It's what any extremist would do."
"To the uncritical eye, it appeared he had cured him."
"How did he get so close? Alexandra."
"She was so insistent that he had healed her son and he became a confidant to her, even a best friend. She relied on his guidance and wouldn't listen to any bad words about him."
"When the Duma confronted Nicholas about how influential Rasputin appeared to be to his decision making and how bad it was making him look, he simply replied that he would rather deal with the bad press than feel his wife's wrath."
"Yes, advisors absolutely did see something wrong and speak up - but Nicholas was an autocrat so his decisions were final."
"As for the story of his death; the cyanide that Felix Yusapov had bought for the poisoning was later tested to be an inert powder."
"It's likely that a lot of the myth surrounding Rasputins death was invented by Yusapov himself as a way of making him sound like he had won some heroic battle rather than just shot an unarmed man 3 times and had him carelessly dumped in a river."
"Sadly, a lot of the stories that you hear about Rasputin are like this; tales that have been inflated over time to make him sound more like a mythical creature, rather than just a sexual predator and high powered manipulator hiding behind the fake persona of a man of God."
"There are a lot more Rasputins - manipulative predators hiding behind the persona of a man of God - out there."
- ImSigmundFraud
Mystery Men
"The missing men of Bermagui, NSW, Australia."
"Five men disappeared in the 19th century. Like completely vanished off the face of the planet, with some very confusing things left behind."
"So few people know this story, yet it's such a baffling one."
"The men, one of which was a geological surveyor, went on a trip to scout new gold mines along the coast. Three days later the boat was spotted sitting stationary with only one man aboard."
"Later that same day along the beach people found the boat and things got weird."
"From what I remember:"
"On the beach now called Mystery Bay (due to this mystery), there was a doused campfire with a meal for one, not quite finished."
"There was a boat nearby, which had been deliberately scuttled with holes made from the inside, rather than from the outside. At least some of the holes were confirmed to be bullet holes."
"The hull was also stuffed with rocks - but also pillows and clothes and everything was dry."
"Inside the boat were some papers belonging to one of the missing men, who was supposed to be taking a boat trip with a local policeman instead."
"Also inside the boat was at least one bullet cartridge and vomit, as though someone had maybe been seasick."
"The bay was right below the hilltop where two of the men had been camping, and the other three men who disappeared were boatmen."
"The problem is that there's no real evidence of a crime, so it's not considered an unsolved murder case. Five men vanished and there's all this confusing stuff, but it's not a crime. It's just... a mystery."
"Honestly, I'd believe alien abduction or sea monster over a crime, because I don't see how anyone could've killed that many men and not left evidence of it behind, even if it was a gang."
"There's a monument at the bay, but I've never been to that part of New South Wales. Would love to go, though."
- CeliaEquus
Baby Beauty
"Jon Benet Ramsey."
- lukovdolboy
"I don't remember the channel or program (I want to say PBS) but it was on child pageants and contestants. Jon Benet and another girl were the main ones because of all their wins."
"I swear it was PBS because I caught it at a weird hour and it all played back to back. It followed their circuit for maybe a year or so?"
"I mostly remember how pretty she was and learning words like 'flappers' (for hiding teeth) and just how much they go through to keep such a hectic schedule (the ones that went to lots of them) as far as school and even the practice and makeup and all that."
"It was such a blur."
"And I remember parents that didn't understand, or care, that their 4 year old had simply had enough."
"Not all were bad situations, many enjoyed it so it wasn't like an undercover or shockumentary or anything - but you could tell in some instances that being unhappy may be a norm for some of these babies."
"I remember the parents being especially cruel at times to the kids because of their frothing desire to always have winners. I remember Jon Benet saying she didn't want to do them anymore."
"It was uncomfortable to look at at times and it sure did stick with me. Next I had heard, that poor child was dead.
"I can't stop myself from believing the mom did it or had it done. I stay wondering about that baby."
- bonafidebunnyeyed
"Jon Benet and I were in pageants together."
"I knew her from age 3 til 6 and only a few things stand out from that time. Her whole family was always weird."
"We often stayed in the same hotels and her mom tried to control everything, I remember slipping her pieces of my waffle at breakfast since her mom only let her eat yogurt."
"I distinctly remember seeing her face and the words 'dead' and 'murder' on tabloids in the grocery store and asking my mom what murder meant."
"It was very upsetting and still breaks my heart."
- clarissaswallowsall
"Agreed. Whoever really knows what really happened has been keeping their secret(s) for a very long time and will likely take those secrets to their grave if they haven't already."
"I also think the truth is likely something we could never think of because it's such a unique situation."
"Web sleuths and journalists seem to have a very hard time figuring out what's important and relevant and what's not. I think many people point the finger at someone in the family, while others still think it's an intruder."
"I still have no idea what really happened but I wish someone would just come forward with the truth already."
- Hotlikessauce69
The Vault
"There is a huge ancient temple in south India with vaults full of treasure that have been locked since God knows when."
"Historians tried opening a few and it is said that those who entered the vault were never the same after they came back."
"Some people believe it was cursed. I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with superstition and everything to do with stuff that may have grown or been trapped inside coz it was undisturbed for many hundreds of years."
"I read on it and it appears they opened 5 small vaults and there is one massive one which holds around 1 trillion dollars worth treasure but it is sealed and they are not able to open it without destroying the 500 year+ old monument."
"The problem is that the temple is covered with gold so any damage would cost a fortune. I would love for someone to solve the mystery but for now government has sealed it away forever."
- Venomally
Reddit has had their turn, now it's yours.
What unsolved-something are you pretty sure we're never going to know the truth about?
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Escape Room Employees Describe The Weirdest Ways Customers Have Tried To Free Themselves
I don't see the appeal of these rooms.
Why would one enjoy being trapped in a room?
When you watch people trapped in a movie you cheer for their release.
But this activity has gotten super popular.
And people have gotten real creative in their escapes.
Redditor CaptainCatButt wanted to hear confessions from the great escapes. They asked:
"Escape Room employees, what's the weirdest way you've seen customers try and solve an escape room?"
I haven't tried these rooms yet. Not sure I want to. Highly claustrophobic. Convince me...
No touching...
"I used to work at one. I can’t tell you how many people thought that power outlets were a prop and tried to stick keys into them. Guys. There was a lamp plugged into it and a 'do not touch, not a part of the game' sticker on it. It’s not a trick, don’t do that."
brasscassette
Shackles
"A friend of mine works for an escape room and he told me one about a puzzle where the key to the next door was shackled to a desk by a combination lock. What you are supposed to do is figure out the combination for the lock from the clues around the room to free the key. What one group decided to do instead was get a guy on each corner and pick up the 150 pound desk and carry it across the room, slide the key into the lock, and then rotate the entire desk to unlock the door."
sharrrper
'Yale'
"I am not an escape room employee but I did a lot of em and talked to the employees often. One of them told me there was a simple lock (opened by a key) that had 'Yale' written on it (the name of the lock company) and a lady (not native English speaker) thought it read 'yell' and legit shouted 'OPEN!!' at it, expecting it to open."
Dorza1
searching the fountain...
"Recently went to an escape room with my co-workers. Before we started, we were explicitly warned not to touch or drink the bright blue water coming out of a fountain because it would turn our skin blue - clearly people had tried searching the fountain as part of the escape room previously and now they have to warn everyone."
babers1987
Voice of God
"I was in an escape room once where one puzzle involved some objects that needed to be manipulated inside a structure that made it very awkward."
"We were all looking at it trying to figure out how to proceed when I said 'Well, the bottom is held on with screws and I have a screwdriver in my purse, but that would probably be cheating.' Instantly the Voice of God came over the intercom 'THAT WOULD BE CHEATING!' So we didn't do that..."
Miss_Speller
Well people really do get creative at this game... don't they?
Reverse
"Had a group of engineers who were familiar with the style of the lock effectively reverse engineer the lock. They showed us how they did it afterwards."
Snowf1ake222
Smoked...
"When I was in one they told us several times that the fire extinguisher is NOT part of the puzzle. They said it so many times, I'm 98% sure someone once used it lol."
Zirael_Swallow
"I always wait to see if they say not to disassemble smoke detectors, if they have that warning, I ask about it, and every time they will always have a story about a dumby who ignored the warning labels and disassembled the smoke detector."
cleverplaydoh
Group of 4
"There was a story on here a while ago about a guy in a group of four who took a broom from the first room because 'it had to be for something.' He said it looked too out of place to not be needed. Well he was half right. It was out of place but that's because it was the broom used by employees to clean the room."
"It was simply forgotten when they cleaned last time. The guys giving hints thought it was hilarious that this guy carried a broom through four rooms expecting it to be the key to their escape at some point. I thought that was funny as hell."
PCCoatings
Damages...
"Take in a screwdriver and dismantling furniture or taking doors off hinges... all the while we specifically tell them not to use force and that furniture is just furniture. Though I don't care cause they gotta pay the damages. Also had some groups press our panic button cause that opens all the doors (for emergency cases)."
"So they can skip puzzles and be faster. Makes zero sense to us cause they are paying for an hour of playtime and to solve puzzles, not like the prize is reduced cause you solved less in fewer minutes. Especially since our prices aren't cheap."
karmasabitterpill
Idiots
"Breaking EVERYTHING. Trying to eat or drink things they should totally not be trying to eat or drink."
Radiant-Comb9058
Even though there are a million ways to escape, I'm still gonna pass. My claustrophobia won't allow it.
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Different cultures are fascinating and add color to our world.
While many cultures should be celebrated, there are some individuals who just can't help but reserve their opinions about those whose behavior and customs differ vastly from their own.
At the risk of coming off as offensive, some might even call these customs, "weird."
European culture got the spotlight when Redditor CoffeeBoy88 asked:
"What is something weird about Europe that Europeans don’t realize is weird?"

Apparently, there's never a dull moment in European nations.
"German tourists are OBSESSED with mooses."
"/A swede."
– worldkeeponspinning
No Offense
"The UK has 30 accents per square mile. And if a large man calls you duck in Stoke … that’s okay."
– InItsTeeth
Nighttime Exposure
"Norwegians don't close their curtains when it gets dark."
– judochop1
The Swarm
"The amount of mosquitos in Finland, Americans go crazy in Spring because of it."
– TheFargus
Redditors discuss what it's like traveling around Europe.
Come And Go As You Please
"How incredibly inconsequential it is to cross country borders. Cycled through France - Belgium - Netherlands and there is barely even a sign."
– sicknessandpurgatory
The Contrast
"You drive five hours in the US: you’re basically still in the same place."
"You drive five hours in Europe: everyone’s talking funny and the cheese is different."
– KaimeiJay
The Short Commute
"The first time I was in the UK my husband wanted to go to Wales and I looked at the train route from London and was like 'It’s all the way on the other side of the country! We’re only in the UK for a week. We don’t have that kind of time!' And my husband was all, 'you know it’s a 2.5 hour train ride, right?' I thought it would all day."
– KateDinNYC
Germans In Transport
"the absolute lack of air conditioning even at 40°, german transport gets sticky and stinky quite fast and nobody seems to care, many people even shut the windows to avoid the 'annoying breeze.'"
– ahorasimeaborregue
Maintaining distance was a thing long before pandemic measures recommended people to be socially distanced.
All About Respect
"Finnish people are silent, small talk doesn't exist. Their personal space larger than COVID-19 social distancing rules, and it's considered normal. Don't speak unless spoken to, and don't invade other people's personal space - it's seen as a sign of a respect."
"Those Finns, who haven't been to abroad or haven't met too many foreigners, don't often even recognize this behaviour being unusual in the global scale."
– RockNRollNBluesNJazz
The "Safety Coffee Cup"
"I'm from Finland and one European thing that all Finnish people hate is cheek kisses when greeting. Its mostly southern european thing but still. There is this saying in Finland that goes 'Everyone has their own safety coffee cup' meaning the closest distance someone should get to you should not be closer than your coffee cup when you're holding it."
– eelisonparas
Let Them Shop In Peace
"Weird at first but I appreciate and wish for it. It might be just a Germany thing but from what I’ve been told German Walmart failed because the North American style of customer service was very unliked. From the greeter at the door to clerks asking if you need help unprompted. German shoppers just want to shop and go home as undisturbed as possible."
– UnusualHospital9579
I remember being weirded out when I went to Paris and asked for some ice at a cafe.
The waiter served me coke by opening the room temperature can and poured some of the contents into an empty glass. With no ice.
When the server came back, he had with him a spoon with one ice cube on it. I thought it was stingy but it got worse.
He poured the rest of the coke over the ice on the spoon he was holding and then walked away with the ice and spoon.
I guess the coke was colder than when I had my first sip, so according to the server, it was viola: mission accomplished!
Do the French not like ice-cold beverages? Weird.
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Just because a therapist is there to expertly evaluate our emotional challenges throughout many of life's adversities and crises, it doesn't mean they always hold it together.
People tend to forget that therapists–the professional we seek for guidance when we're vulnerable–are also human and are just as prone to feeling the feels.
Curious to hear from therapists who've exposed their emotional vulnerabilities in front of their clients opened up when Redditor Unkw0n_pers0n asked:
"Therapist that have cried in a session, why?"

A patient who feels seen and understood reinforces why therapists endeavor to help people in the first place.
It Wasn't Her Fault
"I was working with a deeply depressed client who had a lot of negative self talk about how she was always a failure. We were exploring the origins of this and how young she was the first time she felt self-blame. She told me her earliest story of when she was in 2nd grade."
"Afterwards, as we were processing it, I expressed that 'it wasn't your fault' about the story. She just broke down sobbing and said 'nobody has ever said that to me before' in between sobs. It hit me and I cried a little."
– Ayzmo
Relatable Experience
"i cried after i worked with a kid who described an emotionally difficult situation with a sibling. the kid’s experience aligned very similarly to something i went through with my own sibling when i was the kid’s age and i hadn’t realized how much hurt i was carrying from the experience."
"being a therapist sometimes means being confronted with things you didn’t realize had such a strong impact on you. luckily, i have a stellar therapist of my own that i can work through these moments with."
– rejecteddroid
The Patient With A Disorder
"I was doing a cognitive assessment for a girl. We were doing tests and at one point she started crying she was unable to tell me why, she was fine just one moment before. I let her collect her thoughts, then she said softly 'I don't want to be more stupid than my friends'. She wasn't actually, she was very bright, but she didn't know that she has dyslexia, dysorthograpy AND dyscalculia. I realized that she went through THIRTEEN years of school without help. Her parents didn't want to do an assessment as they thought she was just lazy. I told her that she was very brave to decide to get help and things would get better after our assessment and I felt tears in my eyes."
"Edit: first of all, I have great empathy for parents, for most of all is just a matter of ignorance, fear and parenting is hard. If you are a parent and you see your kid struggling, PLEASE listen to professionists, we are here to help, not judge, and we will find ways to help you and your kid. Disorders don't go away, don't underestimate it, the sooner you get help, the better the outcome can be. It's ok to be scared but we're here for you and we understand you."
"Second, I'm really sorry to read so many heartbreaking stories about people that weren't believed and struggled being undiagnosed. I wish you all the best, I hope you are in a better situation and you got or you'll get all the help you deserve, because you do deserve it."
"Third, if you think 'something's wrong with me', get help if you are in a position to do so. Worst case you understand yourself better and have a chance do make peace with parts of yourself."
– ---honeybadger----
A patient who has already accepted their heartbreaking fate recalls seeing their therapist getting emotionally involved during a session.
A Mother Who Didn't Want To Let Go
"My therapist cried while 'mediating' a discussion between my mom and I. I have a neurodegenerative disease and she is my full time caregiver. Because of my severe disability, she also has legal guardianship of me, even though I am in my 20’s (this is all fine with me, I need the help, and I agreed in court to all of it. This was the first true 'disagreement' that we ever had.)"
"I am ready to die. I am in pain, unable to do anything for myself, and it’s only getting worse. I asked my mom to sign a DNR, because I have been resuscitated before, it was a mess, and I don’t want it to happen again."
"She refused. She doesn’t want to lose her child and wanted to do everything medically possible to keep me alive."
"The session was essentially me begging her to let me go, while she sobbed and said she could never sign a paper that would lead to my death. It was a terrible situation. No one was 'the bad guy', no one was trying to hurt the other. It was someone wanting their suffering to end, verses a mother not wanting to lose her child."
"My therapist agreed that I should be allowed to make this choice, but certainly didn’t think my mom was manipulative or evil, just already grieving and trying to hold on to me as long as possible. I saw her wipe her eyes several times, and they were red by the time we were done. She actually hugged us both at the end."
"The situation wasn’t resolved during the session, but my mom came around shortly after. She wouldn’t sign the DNR, but gave me legal permission to do so (so, in her mind, it wasn’t her making the final decision.)"
"BTW, my mom and I have a GREAT relationship! This was just one issue that we couldn’t come to an agreement on ourselves. But it worked out, and I’m now in palliative care and have a great team looking after me, INCLUDING my mom!"
– fightwithgrace
The following examples continue to demonstrate how therapists are more emotionally invested in their patients and clients than you think.
Responding To Tragic News
"I cried in a substance treatment group. A client’s mom had reached out via email to me to say that her daughter died from an OD. She called during my group so I chose to take the call and spoke with her briefly. I thought I could continue with the group. Ended up in tears instead."
– ChicagoOwls
She Patient Who Felt Unloved
"My patient cried and said 'there's nobody on this planet who loves me anymore.' I cried when I left because I knew she was right. For context: she was 95, her husband and son had died, she had a personality disorder that made her behaviour unbearable for her environment after her husband died and every person still in her life were paid for to be around her. She died a few months after this conversation."
It is unsurprising that therapists are compassionate people.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be in the room to help someone who is struggling internally.
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Much of the nation continues to reel from the news that a leaked draft opinion indicated the Supreme Court's ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization will move to strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision that protects a person's right to choose reproductive healthcare without excessive government restriction.
Many people remember what it was like in the days before women could seek an abortion; many innocent women died in the absence of proper medical care or were forced to birth children they could not afford, trapping them in poverty.
But could a ruling overturning Roe v. Wade signal the loss of other rights in the future, especially those decided on the right to privacy, on which Roe was hinged?
People shared their thoughts with us after Redditor thisiscubes asked the online community,
"Americans of Reddit, what are your thoughts on Roe v. Wade being overturned by SCOTUS as per draft reports?"
"It was the single most traumatizing..."
"I used to be pro-life for the most part but felt abortion was necessary in certain situations (i.e. rape, incest, whatever). I thought I would have never had an abortion myself. I thought I could always give up the baby for adoption."
"Until I gave birth last month. It was the single most traumatizing experience I've ever gone through. I'm healthy and my pregnancy was not complicated but my heart stopped working after getting an epidural. I coded."
"Once they got me stabilized again, my baby then starting decompensating. They literally had to rip him out of me because I was too far along to convert to C-section."
"I still can't control feces leaking out of me, even 6 weeks later. What a quality of life improvement /s."
"I wanted this child so having my body absolutely wrecked for the safety of my child seemed worth it, despite the pain and complications I experienced from it."
"But now, having gone through that, I cannot imagine any woman being FORCED to go through what I went through. Against their will. So I’m pretty pro choice now."
tensorfascialatte
We are so sorry you had to go through that. We agree that giving birth can be harmful and traumatic, even for a wanted child, and no woman should have to go through that.
"I am currently..."
"I am currently in an OB triage hospital room waiting for a shot of methotrexate, which is considered an abortion."
"This pregnancy was so wanted. I had a miscarriage in February. I wanted this baby. But it is ectopic and it will kill me. And I am still crying so hard."
"My doctors have been amazing and caring and made this process so much easier. F*ck anyone who thinks the legal system needs to be involved here."
DuckDuckBangBang
We are so sorry you have to go through that. It’s none of the government’s business.
"Roe wasn't the start of abortions. It was the end of women dying from abortion."
badhmorrigan
We can't clap enough for this one.
"Get our your wallets..."
"You think our social services are overwhelmed now. Get out your wallets because there is about to be a generation of babies born where moms won't have the means to feed, clothe, and care for them."
milk2317
Sadly, this is all too true. It is a crisis in the making.
"My cousin had to terminate..."
"I had an abortion at 21 that saved my life. It was a terrifying and isolating experience, and the best decision I have ever made."
"My cousin had to terminate her pregnancy in the second trimester due to the fact that the fetus developed without a brain. She described the care she received as what kept her alive through her grief."
"If abortion was not an option, she would have had to carry to term."
I’m sick to my stomach over this. Women, especially women of color, are going to die."
kates6666
Sadly, the statistics are on your side on this. Many women, especially women of color, are going to die, and many children will grow up impoverished.
"Scared."
"Scared. I work with survivors of sexual violence. I am a survivor myself. I, and many other folks, have had our bodily autonomy stolen from us before. To see it on a federal level is horrifying."
ParticularAd2645
It is indeed frightening and survivors of sexual violence no doubt feel victimized alll over again.
"My daughter will never have..."
"As a woman, I will be legally lesser than males because I have a womb. My daughter will never have full autonomy over her body. Intersectionally speaking, women of color and under resourced women will bear the brunt of this. Nothing will change for white women of means."
LadyOfTheOddNight
White women of means can fly wherever they wish and get an abortion there. That will never change.
"The foster care system is proof the government doesn’t care about unwanted children yet want to force more to be born. It’s all politics though guarantee if any of them ever got in a sticky situation illegal or not an abortion will be had available."
jessiealabama
The United States' welfare system is also awful and that seems to be by design.
"My wife had a miscarriage last year. Because we were well past the point of most miscarriages (not quite to the stillbirth cutoff, but not far away), we were told the odds of my wife passing the fetus on her own were slim and that surgery was the safest option."
"We were required by law to acknowledge in writing that the procedure would terminate the (dead) fetus and that it came at risk of infertility and death. Our doctor was required to tell us the developmental age of the (dead) fetus and which developmental milestones occur around that time, as well as offer us an ultrasound to see the (dead) fetus."
"We cried the entire time. We desperately wanted this child. Our doctor cried, apologizing every step of the way that we had to go through this insensitive BS on top of losing the pregnancy."
"This fetus was dead in every sense of the word but because the procedure in question is also used for abortions we had to jump through these goddamn hoops to avoid putting my wife's health at risk."
"And it's not like my state doesn't offer alternatives for nonviable fetuses, conception due to rape or incest, or instances where health is at serious risk. This WAS the alternative. If we were actually getting an elective abortion it would have been significantly more time consuming and soul-crushing. You literally have to take an online course."
"Abortion access in this country is already a joke. All this is going to do is get people killed."
broganism
This is a heartbreaking story and we are sorry that you and your wife had to go through that.
As you can see, overturning Roe v. Wade has significant consequences. While the actual opinion will not be released until the summer, it's safe to say that the United States is entering a new era and that an entirely new wave of activism has begun.
Have some thoughts of your own? Feel free to share them with us in the comments below!
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