6 Degrees of Separation - Marshall Faulk

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Anyone who follows American football knows who Marshall Faulk is - the St. Louis Rams legend from the 2000s miracle team led by Kurt Warner. I have an interesting connection to Faulk, in a weird way that only I could. Some years after the miracle Rams team won the Super Bowl, Faulk was accused of abusing his girlfriend. He was taken to court over it and found not guilty. The star witness for his defense was a psychologist named Bayla Myer, paid for by the Rams to both counsel players and appear in court on Faulk's behalf. Myer had counseled Faulk and his then girlfriend when they were having relationship issues. Myer testified that she found Faulk's girlfriend to have two different personality disorders, which would've led her to make up stories for attention. Basically, she was saying the woman was lying about Faulk being physically abusive to her. Her testimony, if not THE thing that got Faulk off, was a big part of it. I was taken to see Myer when I was 14 years old. I was depressed and suffering from what I now know was PTSD due to years of abuse. Myer quickly diagnosed me with Borderline Personality Disorder, a diagnosis which is not to be diagnosed until age 18 because teenager's personalities are still forming. Unknown to me at that time - she considered herself an expert and specialist in personality disorders. I think everyone who walked through the doors to her office was told they had a personality disorder of some type! During the 9 months or so I saw Myer, I really got no true therapy. I wasn't taught any coping skills to help me deal with my panic attacks or self harming behaviors. There was no discussion of how I could cope with my mother's emotional instability or my dad's substance abuse. It was basically focused on what was I learning at school that week, hints of how I really should be seeing her more often, and unveiled dislike towards my mom. All I got out of therapy was that I had some personality disorder which meant I was messed up for life. Tonight, I'm watching a rerun of the Rams pre-season game and Faulk is announcing. It made me think of this and my messed up 6 degrees of separation from him.