Mental illnesses affect a good percentage of United States adults. But in reality, we’re all a little crazy and for good reason or bad depending on how you look at it.

What is a Dark Passenger?

I talked about the term ‘Dark Passenger’ on podcast #8.  The concept derives from the Showtime series Dexter.  In the context of the show, here is how ‘Dark Passenger’ is defined:

“The Dark Passenger” was a concept used within the DEXTER Universe that represented the “demon” inside of all of the Murderers that actively made them do terrible things. While it was actually being built upon as an entity in the novels, it more or less (in the tv series) was the level of “darkness” and instability in each person’s personality that could either control them or be controlled.

We are all Crazy

I use the term in a different way. I believe we are all a little crazy. Demon is such a harsh word so I don’t use that. We all have something unique about us that makes us a little off based on society’s definition.  What causes this?  It can be anything from how we were raised or something tragic we experienced early in life.

Dexter

Dexter’s Dark Passenger to kill was brought on by witnessing his mother get killed at an early age and being left in a pool of blood. Due to this, he was always compelled by blood and had an desire to kill. His father understood that his ‘Dark Passenger’ was not going to escape him. So being as though he had a desire to kill, his father taught him to manage that urge and to only kill bad people.

What makes you crazy?

Your ‘Dark Passenger’ could be that being raised without a father in your home made you scared to have a child or get into a committed relationship.  Another one could be that witnessing your parents argue all the time makes you be argumentative in every relationship you enter to. There are so many examples to choose from.

The bottom line is something has caused you to treat people in a way that prevents success in relationships.  But the moment you accept that flaws you have and manage them could allow you to have success moving forward.

Control or be controlled

The moral of this story is that, for the reasons mentioned above, Dexter loved blood and from the awful experience he had a desire to kill.  Instead of his father casting him off, he taught him how to manage his ‘Dark Passenger’.  If this is what he was going to be, try to do some good with it.  So some may say, Dexter’s dad didn’t have to turn him into a killer.

What if Dexter’s dad would have gotten help for him and worked with him to not be a killer – bad people or not. What if Dexter would have been punished for the first act of violence, instead of being cultivated into a calculated killer?  Does alternative methods of treatment help to offset a ‘Dark Passenger?’  I don’t know the answer to these questions.  I truly believe some things about us will never change but that is up for debate.

Some things you can’t change

Now I know Dexter is an extreme example, but it has to make you think.  What is the one thing about you, that is really hard to change based on either how you were raised and what you may have experienced?  If you were to accept those flaws could you be a more productive person in society?

Embrace the chaos

I think the mistake that so many people make is to try to sweep things under the rug.  The typical responsive is go to counseling or get prayer if something is a little off with you and that will solve the problem.  But I believe the ‘Dark Passenger’ inside of you stays with you forever.  Now I know everyone’s ‘Dark Passenger’ isn’t as serious as Dexter but you may have something.  What you don’t want to do is ignore it and not accept it.  Just because you are different does not make you crazy.  The best thing to do is to accept, and manage it accordingly.  You may eventually need psychological help to cope, but it’s impossible to get help if you never recognize.

Does everyone have a ‘Dark Passenger’?  I don’t know the answer to that but I believe a lot do because no one is perfect.  So if you do, reflect internally, discover why and get some help.  And if you do have a ‘Dark Passenger’ inside of you, embrace it and get the necessary help that’s needed.