Tag: depression

Locking Up The Mentally Ill – Good or Bad? by Art Smukler, MD, author & psychiatrist

by artsmuklermd, posted in Writing

Back in the early seventies we still had plenty of homeless people bunking out over subway grates and sleeping in doorways. But, not nearly as many as we have today – all over the US.

Thousands and thousands of the homeless are mentally ill or suffering from an addiction.

As a first year psychiatric resident in Philadelphia, at PGH, Philadelphia General Hospital, the mentally ill were brought in for evaluation by the police. To place someone on a psychiatric hold, the law was clearcut, two psychiatrists needed to sign the admission papers. Once that was done, the patient was admitted to the inpatient unit and treated, most commonly for psychotic thinking secondary to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, paranoid disorder, addiction etc.

Then what happened?

After treatment, they were discharged to return to their families, homes, or given appointments to attend sessions at a community health center. Their psychotic thinking was under control.

Yes. You read that correctly. THEY WERE DISCHARGED.

Then we closed the state hospitals, lost funding for Community Mental Health Centers and ignored the problem.

Well, you see where that got us.

Liberals who think that placing someone who is overtly psychotic in a treatment center is unfair and wrong don’t sufficiently understand the problem. When a psychotic person is adequately treated, they are often no longer psychotic! They can return to being a productive member of our society.

If Prop 1 doesn’t pass, and it’s very, very close to whether it will or not, we’re back to watching our mentally ill sleep under freeways, yell obscenities, and even attack innocent people. Delusional thinking can’t be reasoned with. More about that in another post.

Thanks, Art

#Prop1, #Delusionalthinking, #homelessness, #mentallyill

VIRTUAL FITTING ROOMS AND DEPRESSION! HUH? by Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

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

With new technology a person can enter a scanner, like one in an airport, and emerge with a number of definitive recommendations for which clothes will help them steal Brad from Angelina. Keep in mind, the winner gets to watch all the kids every other weekend.

So we have a plan to buy the perfect jeans, but we’re still somewhere in the sixties when we search for the perfect treatment for depression. Not a paltry challenge when you consider that almost 10% of the population suffers from sadness extreme enough to cause them insomnia, decreased concentration, inability to function or even suicidal thoughts. 21 million people in the US alone complain of being depressed.

So can buying the perfectly sized jeans reduce depression? Sometimes. Sometimes just looking better not only reduces depression, but can improve self-esteem and that can improve our personality which can make us more interesting which can then cause people to be more attracted to us which can then lead to more happiness… Ok, you get it.

BUT, what if the new perfectly molded jeans, that make your not so perfectly molded butt look terrific, just don’t reduce your depression?

That’s where all the self-help books that recommend searching within, going for it, and Even Good People Suffer, kick in. If they don’t work, don’t be afraid of seeing a therapist. Most of us are trained to help you figure out what’s really going on.

Gotta stop now, I’m off to the scanner to find the perfect see-through T to show off my six-pack, just like Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte have. OMG, I forgot! I don’t have a six-pack.

Don’t forget to subscribe to Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist. Do it before Brad and Angelina. It’ll make you feel better.