Writing – Page 56 – Inside The Mind of a Psychiatrist

THE MIND OF THIS PSYCHIATRIST IS ONCE AGAIN SHOCKED, by Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

June 9, 2012June 9, 2012 by artsmuklermd, posted in Bullying, Psychiatry, Self Examination, World events, a psychological view, Writing

Maybe I need some Prozac or Xanax? Better yet, maybe just a little more reason…

Once again, the “religious right” is marching against the right of employers and government to medically insure women who desire birth control. The catholic church doesn’t believe in unnatural means to prevent pregnancy; so it’s only logical for them to foist their beliefs on everyone else.

It almost ruined my morning coffee ( a wonderful pleasure plus caffeine is now supposed to prevent heart disease) to read how the religious right is enraged that pro-choice people are taking away THEIR rights. As I understand this, the pro-choicers are trying to stop THEM from having the right to jam their beliefs down everyone’s gullet. That’s just what we need, more control freaks trying to control people who believe in letting people choose for themselves.

Listen, I’m not holding it against Tom Cruise and John Travolta for believing that Xenu brought billions of people to earth in spacecraft resembling DC-8 airplanes. The Thetans (souls) then clustered together and stuck to the bodies of the living. Yep, the Thetans are still doing it today. I still enjoy Cruise’s and Travolta’s movies. See, I’m not trying to force them to believe the way I believe.

It’s not easy to think for yourself, to actually evaluate what our parents, peers and religious advocates have programmed us to believe. But, it’s doable. Actually evaluating what we’ve been force-fed from the age of 1 day, is brutally hard, but if you succeed, the relief to finally be free is enormous.

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CAN A SIX YEAR OLD CHOOSE HIS OWN DESTINY? by Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

May 16, 2012May 17, 2012 by artsmuklermd, posted in Psychiatry, Raising Children, Self Examination, Writing

“Who’s the boss?” six-year-old Jason asked me, as he watched waiters and patrons milling about the busy Italian restaurant.

Across the room, a man dressed in a suit and tie was writing in a notebook and directing a waiter to clean and set up a table that was just vacated. After a few moments, I got his attention and he came over to our table.

“Jason has a question,” I said. “Do you have a moment to answer it?”

“Sure. What is it Jason?”

Jason hesitated, looked at me, then back at the man. “Are you the boss?” he asked, a very serious expression on his face.

“I am the boss,” the man said with a smile.

Jason nodded. “How come you don’t work as hard as everyone else?”

The boss laughed and shot me a smile. “No one ever asked me that question before… Well, I work hard, but as you can see, it’s a different kind of work. My work is to tell everyone else what to do.”

Jason nodded again. “Do you make more money than everyone else?”

An even bigger smile stretched across the boss’s face. “I do make more money. That’s why you have to work hard in school; so one day you can be the boss.”

Jason nodded, his little brow furrowed, as he brushed his hand across his short blond hair.

“Thank you very much for spending time with us,” I said.

“Thank you,” Jason said.

“You’re welcome,” the boss said, and returned to his duties.

We each took a bite of pizza and sips of our drinks. Then Jason looked at me, and with utter sincerity said, “When I get big, I want to be the boss.”

“What kind of boss?”

“The boss of Doctors.”