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.
No comments:
Post a Comment