Josh Duggar ‘internalizes’ the ‘fragility’ of parents behind bars, says Psych

Dr. Hafeez then specifically pointed to an email in which Josh asks his mother not to hang up on him on phone calls.

“I was talking respectfully and trying to address something important,” the convicted sex offender wrote in the May 2022 email. “This hurts me, my wife and children.”

Dr. Hafeez called the “hanging incident” a “core wound” for Josh, noting how he still started the message with “gratitude” in an attempt to soften the blow of his criticism.

“He explicitly says, ‘I don’t know if this is even worth writing,’” she recalls. “This points to someone who has historically been dismissed when trying to communicate needs. The fact that he keeps writing, keeps trying, indicates that someone is still desperate for a fix that the other party may not be able to provide.”

If Radar previously reported, Josh was found guilty of a child pornography charge in December 2021, and was subsequently sentenced to serve more than 12 years in federal prison.

Years after his arrest, his younger brother Joseph was also taken into custody after being accused of abusing a 9-year-old girl during a family vacation that took place in Florida in 2020.

Joseph was released on bail and his case has yet to go to trial.