Individuals with this disorder “represent the true ‘colonized mentality,’” meaning that they so desire to be part of the dominant group that they take on their very views and dispositions to the detriment of the individual’s group of origin. According to Akbar, the danger in this disorder is that individuals feel comfortable with their alien identification, and are thus unlikely to seek help. Akbar relates that the anti-self disorder is worse than the alien-self disorder, because the individual with the anti-self disorder is more out of contact with reality and is thus more disturbed. According to Akbar, “victims of self-destructive disorders are the most direct victims of oppression” because oppression is unnatural and inhuman and thus drives the oppressed away from reality. Those with self-destructive disorders try to survive in the hostile environment that oppression creates, but ultimately fail and become self-defeating. These individuals have failed to survive and grow within the society, which systematically oppresses them, and resorts to self-deprecating tactics like doing drugs or becoming a prostitute. Akbar believes that black-on-black crime is a result of self-destructive disorders, and posits that alcoholics and druggies resort to a world of chemical fantasies instead of dealing with their own realities. Organic disorders derive from physiological, neurological, or biochemical failures. Individuals belonging to this group of disorders are severely mentally defective, and overlap greatly with disorders traditionally recognized as schizophrenia. Although traditionally viewed as a physical condition, Akbar posits that organic disorders may stem in part from a disordered and defective environment. According to Akbar, “the oppressive system remains the essential cause of mental disorder within the African American community.” Akbar relates that the trend towards charging all types of mental illnesses as organic in nature is merely an effort to downplay the influence of society on mental stability. The African American practitioner must therefore consider such societal influences on mental conditions and look at the social, political, and historical contexts of the patient in considering diagnosis and treatment. Akbar concludes that the creation of an African American definition of normalcy is necessary, and until such a definition is formed, African Americans remain subjects to the power and authority of the dominant community. In this reaction paper to William E. Cross Jr.’s Nigrescence Model of African American identity development, Akbar reviews some of the limitations that he sees in the model and others articles that have expanded upon Cross’ model. Akbar notes that Cross’ theory was drafted as a reaction to the sociopolitical environment at the time, specifically his observations that African Americans in the 1960s began changing their self-perceptions and social behaviors.