How far can you run from your own mind? – Page 13 – Inside The Mind of a Psychiatrist

Monday the stock market plummeted over 600 points. Tuesday it went up over 400 points. Wednesday it went down over 500 points.

Yes, there is unrest in the world — wars, financial issues abroad and at home, and intense political conflict. What else is new? This has been going on for years. If it is business as usual, why is the financial community so labile and unpredictable? From a psychological standpoint, and I know that I’m simplifying a very complicated problem, I think there is one overriding factor that has contributed to this worldwide chaos.

President Obama, who I deeply respect and joyously voted for, has made an error. What comes to my mind is analogous to a parent trying to have a reasonable discussion with an out-of-control two year old. You can’t bargain or negotiate with a screaming, immature little being. What’s needed is simply to take charge, set limits, and understand that you are the parent. Our president could have done that. He could have invoked executive power and assured the world that we would pay our debts. He could have stated, “I WILL NOT LET THE US DEFAULT. NOT ON MY WATCH!” He had the power to do this and then let the immature politicians grow up and do what they were elected to do — TAKE CARE OF THE COUNTRY INSTEAD OF THEIR OWN SELFISH INTERESTS.

Everyone is frightened. Buy stock. Sell it. There is no rationality to all this lability. We need our president to stand up and be the same man who stood up against invading Iraq. Walking this terribly dangerous middle-road isn’t working. President Obama is a courageous, brilliant man. He needs to be the solid, reasonable parent that the country needs.

Thanks!

Listening with the Third Ear (using intuition and a sixth sense to intuit what’s really going on in the minds and hearts of my patients) also applies to me.

Sitting in Starbucks this morning, I began to wonder what I was really doing — starting a blog, taking classes on Social Media, writing and publishing a book. The whole process made me anxious and not centered. Why not just see my patients, spend time with my family and friends, read the novels that I enjoy, play tennis and bike ride? Last week my son wanted to know if I was going through a mid-life crisis. My wife laughed and said that I’m too old for a mid-life crisis.

If not a mid-life crisis, then why am I so anxious? I started thinking about how the summer was half over and in just three weeks the college football season would start. That led me to think about Penn State’s head football coach, Joe Paterno. JoePa is 84 years old and still going strong. He is active, fought his way back from a recent fractured hip and leg, and is determined to only quit when he can’t function effectively anymore. According to Black Shoe Diaries by Chris Grovich, JoePa is planning on coaching another four or five years. Some in the sports world think he’s stubborn and hurting the program. Others, like myself, applaud him and his convictions. I also applaud his intellect and philosophical view of the world. Recently at Big Ten Media Day he said, “The kids today ought to go back and read Socrates. Socrates, 400 BC said, ‘The kids today are terrible tyrants. They don’t pay attention.’ That’s 2500 years ago. Ok? Anyway, I’m shooting my mouth off too much. Let’s go.”

Why even write about JoePa on a site that is allegedly about psychiatry and psychological issues? Because this, in my mind, is a great example of how Listening with the Third Ear works. Once my thoughts switched to football and then Joe Paterno and the risks that he’s taking, I realized that publishing my writing, something that I’ve loved and done for many years, is also a risk. It is a change in my everyday life, a change that might leave me vulnerable to criticism. Currently, I’m a successful and respected psychiatrist. What if this new endeavor is a bust and I’m exposed — the wizard hiding out behind his couch?

What’s the worst that can happen? People won’t like my writing. What’s the worst that can happen to JoePa? He’ll lose more games than the fans want. What does it mean? It means that exposing myself is anxiety producing. If the end result is that some people won’t like my writing and Joe will lose some games… We’ll both survive.

Once I figured this out, my anxiety actually went away! In its place is even more excitement and commitment to this new project. Now, if only Penn State can beat Alabama!

Letting your mind wander and then examining why it went where it went is how Listening with the Third Ear works.

Thanks!