World events, a psychological view – Page 37 – Inside The Mind of a Psychiatrist

In the late sixties and early seventies, an amazing thing happened. It was like a warm, feel-good tsunami that spread across all 48 contiguous states.

The eerie, ghost-filled state mental hospitals were all being shuttered and the patients were set to return to live in their own communities and treated as outpatients at community mental health centers. They were scheduled to see psychiatrists and therapists to help them adjust to life outside a hospital and to live normal productive lives. Being locked up and treated like a “crazy person” was to be a thing of the past.

Well, it all started out great. The cities and states were given huge amounts of federal funds to rehabilitate facilities, hire doctors and therapists, and close down the state hospitals. Three years later when I finished my psychiatric residency and went into private practice, I got a part-time job at a community mental health center outside of Philadelphia. It was a charming rehabilitated private home with a staff of about a dozen professionals. We treated hundreds of patients, made home visits and helped a lot of mentally ill people.

Fast forward fifty years.

The government decided to save money and reduce mental health funding. Whoops. Someone forgot that we no longer have state hospitals. Whoops again. No one took the time to predict where this would lead.

Well, it led to chaos. There are now over 40,000 homeless people in Los Angeles County alone. At least 15,000 of them are mentally ill.

Once a week, a large hazmat crew dressed in white protective gear, disinfects large areas of the Venice ocean walk and other popular mentally ill habitats in and around LA. The streets smell of waste material and everyone is placed in jeopardy from infections. Think 50 states and think of the thousands of mentally ill who roam in our midst. Many of these people are treatable…

The warm tsunami has turned into a cold, bacterial filled avalanche. Now it will take billions of dollars to house and treat these people, who by no fault of their own are mentally ill.

The good news is that a tax bill just passed designating billions of dollars to solve this problem. The bad news is that communities understandably don’t want the mentally ill housed in THEIR neighborhoods.

The answer… Build new state hospitals on the VA grounds that will combine the old and the new — a safe place to treat the mentally ill using our new medications and newly developed methods to teach social skills. This would be in an environment filled with warmth and loving feelings. Then, when patients are more capable and mentally stable, they can be moved to a more independent facility (Also on the VA grounds). That’s where job training and the possibility of eventual treatment in a community mental health center will become available.

Full circle from the seventies, but this time, each stage of mental illness will be carefully delineated and supported.

I’d donate my time and efforts to a place like this…

If you enjoyed reading, Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist, you might also enjoy Dr. Smukler’s novels, 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. Also, please visit Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist — mystery and romance meets psychology.

In my last post, a number of followers soundly disagreed with my criticism of Donald Trump. Some disagreements came from groups that I belong to, and some from blog followers. Many of the comments focused on how Hillary and Obama are both liars; others focused on how I am out of touch with what is happening out there in the real world and am simply another left-leaning liberal. All the negative comments came from bright, articulate people.

Criticism isn’t fun, but part of my job as a psychiatrist is to really listen and do my best to set my own beliefs and prejudicial thinking aside. It’s also what I try to do when I’m just hanging out and living my life.

So; here’s what I think and why I think it.

Recently, I travelled down south and had the opportunity to visit Memphis, Tennessee and Natchez, Mississippi. Two things struck me. ONE: There are no jobs outside of the tourist industry! People are sick with worry about how to support themselves. TWO: The Bass-pro-sport hotel devoted to hunting and outdoor sports in Memphis is amazing. Shooting ranges, little ponds with boats on them and a whole indoor forest of trees would make most anyone consider learning how to shoot a gun. The NRA is VERY POWERFUL. The lure of the outdoors and our “call-of-the-wild” roots is alive and strong.

Survival and passion are deep-rooted and for most people inviolate. Donald Trump heard these people and his words reverberated. A pro-business and pro-NRA president is what they believe in and are willing to fight for.

Also, there are millions of people who absolutely hate the Clintons and the Obamas. They fear that Hillary’s lies about Benghazi and the Clinton Foundation are examples of who she is as a person, and that Obama’s negative stance on Israel was a horrible mistake and would be repeated by Clinton.

They felt and still feel that Trump will help business and his shaking up of Washington is a good thing.

I agree that we need change.

Please consider that the way Trump is handling security, his impulsive behavior and arrogant, omnipotent views are very dangerous for us as a nation. It doesn’t mean that you have to agree with Clinton or Obama. It only means that you observe that the current person, Donald Trump, who was elected to foster change is not going about it in an adult manner. He is endangering our country by his belief that he knows more than our intelligence agencies and military. He said these things — They are not fake news.

Thank you for reading my blog and offering your comments.