I've worked in the field of psychiatry for thirty years. I am frightened of what research is producing. Two days ago researchers in California discovered that if they put electrical impulses into a mouse's brain they could both create or remove fear.
Sounds wonderful doesn't it? There's potential to help with PTSD as well as Alzheimers.
Or does it? Who's in charge of oversight? Who's going to protect the innocent? This could very literally lead to mind control. Watch and watch carefully. Yes it could be meaningful but until it's been SAFELY researched in depth and results replicated repeatedly we cannot jump on the band wagon. How many medical treatments and medications have we embraced wholeheartedly only to discover their damaging effects? Lobotomies. Vioxx. Statins. That's to name a few. If science is always changing (and it is) what is prudent? What can we rely upon.
What am I really saying?
It's this: we will do one of two things .... offer chemotherapy and if that doesn't work and you get into trouble - it's off to jail for you. Literally - I experienced an antidotal story about a person who went to a counselor for severe and debilitating depression. They met three times. The client made clear that, indeed, they had considered suicide and they even had a plan. At the end of the third session the client was asked did they understand their disorder of depression, the client said yes. The last session was ended and the client went home. Much to their surprise, upon their arrival home the police came to their door to check if the client was a danger to self or others. Can you imagine? You go for help and the police come to your home. It's beyond imagination to me. How can we as a society treat a suffering individual in this way? When one stops to consider the numbers of people suffering either mental illness (10-15%), 15 million alcoholics, and 14 million drug addicts it becomes staggering. Each ill person affects 7-11 people. Do the numbers. Lots of wounded people out there. Lots who need genuine effective help. I admit one cannot help everyone, but, I maintain we can do much, much better than what we are.
The second thing, we in society, are allowing or even supporting? The mind control approach - electric convulsive shock therapy and now, with the news of sending electrical impulses to our brains. Isn't this what 1984 chronicles?
And I have watched, oft in horror over the last two years as patients have been abused by inappropriate care. We spend millions but the problem isn't resolved ... and souls are suffering more by the day. In my opinion the care we are delivering falls far short of the needs. Another example, a "prostitute" killed in Maryland. Her mother crying and reporting that her daughter suffered bipolar disorder which went untreated. This disorder, by the way, often has increased sexual activity as a symptom. Or the Navy Yard Shooter; two, not one, but two psychiatrists interviewed and missed his symptoms. Now I am not a Doctor and would never profess to be. I do know however any person not sleeping is vulnerable to psychosis. The medical field is no longer trained to see the symptoms. Working with human beings is a soft science. You can research and research but the truth is: what works for one does not work for another. Without the knowledge and eclectic approach one is engaging in malpractice.
And I haven't addressed the horrible incidents of mass shootings. Each one, however, had a history of mental illness, a social isolation and fell through the cracks.
I went to school for six years, worked for slave labor, in dangerous positions for 2 years to qualify to sit the exam to become licensed ... and today I am told that all that education and expertise is null and void. Mental health no longer functions on that plane. I have been taught one must meet others where they are at; looking at the whole person, identifying strengths, collaborating information with significant others and incorporating community strengths. In thirty years of experience I have seen wounded people get well and live full lives. Not alone and not without help.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Monday, June 2, 2014
Not one more
It touches my heart that this father stands to fight the accessibility of guns for people who shouldn't have them! You go guy. Amen.
You are, however, quite sadly, fighting the largest lobby with power, position, and the money to put their mouth behind and a whole lot of people that may be questionable.
People grow more and more fearful every day. They are becoming fearful of life. Fearful of people. Fearful of crowds. Fearful. Fear fosters ugly attitudes and positions.
But
Do not presume I dislike your stance. Indeed NOT. I say build a grass roots, build it, and build it some more. Those who are heard in our society either have enough money or a loud, loud voice. Your group needs people, leaders who express themselves well that can stay focused and on topic.
Life is complex today. That shooter was mentally ill and had NO business with a gun. That said ... how does society address these issues?
1. Gun laws NEED to be changed. Guns are fine for hunting - but we're not selling hunting guns so much as guns to kill. Fear fosters one's desires for guns. All they do is kill. Perhaps we need to look at the Constitution - and that requires support. One needs to fight within our political system to do so ... one must flood both Congress and the Senate with cries for reform. Some form of crime seems to have been with us from the start of man. We can however begin to change a sick person's or criminals access to guns. Go to your law makers. Run. Let your views and needs be known.
2. I was sickened when I heard tv experts state "mass shootings are rare" as though minimizing the significance. We need to stop closing out the pain in this world and determine to do something about it for change. From my view mass shootings are becoming common. Only the poplace with numbers of people supporting change can actually affect that change. Rise! And Rise until you are heard! This violence is becoming normalized and only collaboration and hard work will change that tide.
3. Mental illness. We need to reconstruct our mental health system. We have criminalized those who suffer. Working in the field 20-30 years ago was considered and art. The rest of the medical field hated that. We stopped teaching the skills that helped professionals effectively recognize and treat mental illness. What do I mean? Well - did you know that if a person is sleep deprived that they can become psychotic? The navy yard shooter saw two psychiatrists and neither saw the danger for what it was. A person well trained in the art of psychiatry would have been far more likely to recognize the signs and symptoms. Now, in fairness not always but knowing the art of working with the mentally ill certainly increases the likelihood of identifying when a person needs help.
Society's pros have produced guidelines for identification and treatment that do not work and as the effects of the mentally ill suffering causes more and more damage to society because they eradicated the treatment that was much better at identification. Individuals were hospitalized and followed for 2-3 weeks to stabalize them on medications before returning home. Families were more involved both in problem identification as well as resource for aftercare upon release. Today clinicians ask "yes" or "no" questions - not questions that probe the experience of the troubled person. Think about this - will they reveal the truth if it gets them into trouble? No, of course not. That is where the art comes in. A skilled clinician creates rapport with a patient, a caring environment, and aids them in recovering.
Truth .... 10-15 percent of society is mentally ill, 10-15 percent are addicts at any one moment. We no longer have a system that aids those individuals in not becoming sicker.
Why? Society does not want to have to pay the costs. This has been glaringly true for fifteen years or more as insurance companies deconstructed mental health treatment provision - both publicly and private run facilities. Too expensive.
I posit this: we pay for these illnesses in one of two ways: we train professionals to effectively treat mental illness and substance abuse or we send them to jails and prisions. No mental illness/Substance Abuse is not like treating a viral infection and no amount of trying to make it fit into that format will make treatment effective. Each case may have similarities but there are always differences - this is where the art of psychiatry is indespensible. There will always be a small percent of patients who need to be protected from themselves and so does society but is prison that protection? It certainly isn't treatment and in many cases only serves to make the illness that much worse.
It's sad in our society that we treat our dogs better than we treat the addict or mentally ill. Without revamping the system the mass shootings will continue to rise. If a lobby isn't formed to make enough noise, raise enough funding to "fight the fight", with temerity unending .... NOTHING CHANGES. NOTHING. It's not enough to talk - real change needs to occur. How can it at present? Oh, an incident makes the news splash but within a week or two the fervor is over and the stage is set for a repeat.
The modern problems of society differ from the past. When shall we as a society rise to address the needs of the people?
You are, however, quite sadly, fighting the largest lobby with power, position, and the money to put their mouth behind and a whole lot of people that may be questionable.
People grow more and more fearful every day. They are becoming fearful of life. Fearful of people. Fearful of crowds. Fearful. Fear fosters ugly attitudes and positions.
But
Do not presume I dislike your stance. Indeed NOT. I say build a grass roots, build it, and build it some more. Those who are heard in our society either have enough money or a loud, loud voice. Your group needs people, leaders who express themselves well that can stay focused and on topic.
Life is complex today. That shooter was mentally ill and had NO business with a gun. That said ... how does society address these issues?
1. Gun laws NEED to be changed. Guns are fine for hunting - but we're not selling hunting guns so much as guns to kill. Fear fosters one's desires for guns. All they do is kill. Perhaps we need to look at the Constitution - and that requires support. One needs to fight within our political system to do so ... one must flood both Congress and the Senate with cries for reform. Some form of crime seems to have been with us from the start of man. We can however begin to change a sick person's or criminals access to guns. Go to your law makers. Run. Let your views and needs be known.
2. I was sickened when I heard tv experts state "mass shootings are rare" as though minimizing the significance. We need to stop closing out the pain in this world and determine to do something about it for change. From my view mass shootings are becoming common. Only the poplace with numbers of people supporting change can actually affect that change. Rise! And Rise until you are heard! This violence is becoming normalized and only collaboration and hard work will change that tide.
3. Mental illness. We need to reconstruct our mental health system. We have criminalized those who suffer. Working in the field 20-30 years ago was considered and art. The rest of the medical field hated that. We stopped teaching the skills that helped professionals effectively recognize and treat mental illness. What do I mean? Well - did you know that if a person is sleep deprived that they can become psychotic? The navy yard shooter saw two psychiatrists and neither saw the danger for what it was. A person well trained in the art of psychiatry would have been far more likely to recognize the signs and symptoms. Now, in fairness not always but knowing the art of working with the mentally ill certainly increases the likelihood of identifying when a person needs help.
Society's pros have produced guidelines for identification and treatment that do not work and as the effects of the mentally ill suffering causes more and more damage to society because they eradicated the treatment that was much better at identification. Individuals were hospitalized and followed for 2-3 weeks to stabalize them on medications before returning home. Families were more involved both in problem identification as well as resource for aftercare upon release. Today clinicians ask "yes" or "no" questions - not questions that probe the experience of the troubled person. Think about this - will they reveal the truth if it gets them into trouble? No, of course not. That is where the art comes in. A skilled clinician creates rapport with a patient, a caring environment, and aids them in recovering.
Truth .... 10-15 percent of society is mentally ill, 10-15 percent are addicts at any one moment. We no longer have a system that aids those individuals in not becoming sicker.
Why? Society does not want to have to pay the costs. This has been glaringly true for fifteen years or more as insurance companies deconstructed mental health treatment provision - both publicly and private run facilities. Too expensive.
I posit this: we pay for these illnesses in one of two ways: we train professionals to effectively treat mental illness and substance abuse or we send them to jails and prisions. No mental illness/Substance Abuse is not like treating a viral infection and no amount of trying to make it fit into that format will make treatment effective. Each case may have similarities but there are always differences - this is where the art of psychiatry is indespensible. There will always be a small percent of patients who need to be protected from themselves and so does society but is prison that protection? It certainly isn't treatment and in many cases only serves to make the illness that much worse.
It's sad in our society that we treat our dogs better than we treat the addict or mentally ill. Without revamping the system the mass shootings will continue to rise. If a lobby isn't formed to make enough noise, raise enough funding to "fight the fight", with temerity unending .... NOTHING CHANGES. NOTHING. It's not enough to talk - real change needs to occur. How can it at present? Oh, an incident makes the news splash but within a week or two the fervor is over and the stage is set for a repeat.
The modern problems of society differ from the past. When shall we as a society rise to address the needs of the people?
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