Author: artsmuklermd

Art Smukler, MD was born and raised in Philadelphia, went to college and medical school in Pennsylvania, and completed his psychiatric training at UCLA. He is a board-certified psychiatrist, specializing in the treatment of adults with a subspecialty in adolescents. As a member of the UCLA faculty, he ran an award-winning psychotherapy conference for psychiatric residents and received the coveted “Golden Ear” award. He has published in psychiatric journals, and won the award for excellence in creative writing at The Santa Barbara Writers Conference. Now a full-time author, he applies his deep understanding of the human psyche to the motivations of his fictional characters.

REINVENTION IS THE ELIXIR OF YOUTH, by Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

by artsmuklermd, posted in Psychiatry, Self Examination, Uncle Bill's Place, Writing

Sometimes I look in the mirror and wonder where all the years have gone. What happened to my dark hair? Who is that “older” guy staring back at me?

A new blog follower, Deborah, related that she is going to become a social worker at the age of 59. She feels a new sense of freedom, a chance to really be herself. Deborah got me thinking. It was just a few years ago that I decided to self-publish my novels and start a blog.

I thought a blog was where the Loch Ness monster lived. Twitter was a silly social media game where people could announce what they had for breakfast. Linked-in was another name for prisoners in a chain gang, and Facebook was just another waste of time. Boy did I have a lot to learn.

It took a visit to Barnes & Noble and a bag full of “Social Media for Idiots” books to get the real picture. I was the clueless idiot, not the rest of the world. The learning curve was harder than I thought, but I figured that if I could get through medical school and a psychiatric residency, I could do this.

Reinventing ourselves is not as hard as it sounds. It “merely” entails shedding the need to be defensive and protective of what you’ve become. It’s not weak to admit that there are millions of people out there who can teach you something. The something can be anything that interests you.

My Uncle Bill received his Phd in psychology not too long before he went on Social Security. When he would visit from the East Coast, I remember him wandering the streets of Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach looking for small artifacts to add to his collection of Jungian figures. Anything that could help a patient get in touch with his true inner-self was something that excited him. He died in his eighties, a very happy, young man.

What better than my thoughts on reinvention to commemorate my 100th post…

If you enjoy being Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist, you might also enjoy, Chasing Backwards, a psychological murder mystery, Skin Dance, a mystery, and The Man with a Microphone in his Ear. All are available as paperbacks and eBooks.

WHY IS HUMA ABEDIN, ANTHONY WEINER’S WIFE, STILL SUPPORTING HIS RUN FOR MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY? by Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

by artsmuklermd, posted in Psychiatry, Self Examination, World events, a psychological view

Why should I or anyone care what Huma Abedin is doing? Normally, we wouldn’t. But, if Anthony Weiner is elected Mayor of NYC, we might have wished we paid more attention.

In a reported email, Gloria Steinem wrote that Huma might be doing it because of new motherhood, the Stockholm syndrome, or a mystery.

The reason I think her behavior is worthy of our understanding is much more practical. Even though half of all marriages end in divorce, the anguish that someone goes through to separate from a committed relationship is profound. Often, the tentacles that bind two people are like Aron Ralston who self amputated his own right arm to save himself when a boulder crushed his arm and he couldn’t free himself any other way.

Anthony Weiner is a sex addict. His drive to use the Internet to relieve whatever need he has is primitive and defies logic. Addictions are VERY DIFFICULT to master and there’s a good reason that the world is filled with AA, NA, OA etc. Logic and therapy are only marginally helpful.

Huma Abedin can’t leave for her own reasons. Most of us, if we were strong enough, would probably accept that the ‘or worse’ part of the vow is now way too worse and move on. That doesn’t mean we would. In any marriage, it’s often less painful to stay trapped by the huge boulder, than cut off your own arm

If you enjoy being Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist, you might also enjoy, Chasing Backwards, a psychological murder mystery, Skin Dance, a mystery, and The Man with a Microphone in his Ear. All are available as paperbacks and eBooks.