2018 Plural News in Review

South Carolina shamed into better mental health patient care — Plural Wendy Newton drowned in Hurricane Florence (September 2018) flood waters along with their companion Nicolette Green while being transported between facilities in police care,  raising an outcry and pressure on the government of South Carolina to take better care of those in their custody.  Both officers were terminated from the sheriff’s office, criminal charges may be brought against them. WMBF News article overview of story.

Satanists “storm” the ISST-D conference in Chicago — Patheos author Hemant Mehta reports on The Satanic Temple Grey Faction’s protests outside the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation annual conference in Chicago (March 2018). Some of their complaints could be shared by many plurals: sessions focusing on singling out specific religious beliefs or terminology, infantilizing clients, the use of pseudoscience in treating mental health disorders, their insular community making decisions about client care or therapeutic methodology behind closed doors, and protracted treatments rather than seeking out more efficient therapies for those who turn to them. However, the main complaint the author seems to return to in the article emphasizes False Memory Syndrome, iatrogenic trauma, fabricated accusations of ritual abuse, and questioning the validity of dissociative identity disorder, which goes strongly against our community’s first-hand experiences, no ISST-D members or professionals need apply.