Tag: The Man with a Microphone in his Ear

WHY DO WOMEN ACCEPT SHARIA LAW? by Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

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

To challenge centuries of religious teaching is very difficult. Since we have no substantiated alternative theory as to how life really began, all we have to go on is that there is a God and “he” started it all.

Accepting evolution doesn’t negate God. Even evolution can’t explain the first cell that became a molecule that EVOLVED into a human being. So what are we supposed to think?

Theory has it that maybe there was always “something”, that maybe that first cell didn’t need to be created, it was always there. But that’s not logical from the standpoint of how most of our minds work.

Europeans are more likely to be atheists, because they lived through the perils of World War II and god didn’t do much to help them or their loved ones. “He has his reasons”, just didn’t work when your wife or children were murdered by Nazis and your possessions were taken to supply the dwindling fascist coffers.

Since the easiest way to explain creation is by the existence of god, and for centuries, that’s been the explanation, questioning that truth engenders a lot of passionate feeling. Most evangelicals, whether Christian, Muslim or Jewish become extremely defensive when their beliefs are questioned.

But, it is only Muslim extremists who are willing to kill others if their doctrine is challenged.

Why aren’t moderate Muslims speaking out more? Why is there a general belief that Muslims are trying to inundate us with their strict religious concepts? Why do women accept Sharia law? It is a law that places men in charge of them, a law that allows the husband to have multiple wives, and a law that allows the husband to unilaterally divorce his wife. (Sharia law is quite inclusive of all aspects of life, and I’m just limiting my comments to a very small part of it.)

Why? Centuries of indoctrination and fear have created a belief that it is a sin to think differently. The word of God should never be questioned. The fear, in terms of Muslim women, is real. If you are a woman in Saudi Arabia, your life is in danger if you actually think for yourself and express those thoughts publicly.

But what about here in the US? Our country was founded on free thinkers. Let’s hear more from them. Not only will you be respected, you will be praised by those of us who believe in fairness, women’s rights, and democracy.

If you enjoy being Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist, you might also enjoy, The Man with a Microphone in his Ear. On his 1st day of psychiatric training, a clueless resident is assigned to treat a dangerous paranoid man. It’s now available in paperback and as an eBook.

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PARANOID KILLERS AMONG US? by Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

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

Back in the flush sixties, the federal government provided millions of dollars to support community mental health programs. The eerie, dark, cavernous hospitals for the insane were bulldozed or turned into condos, and the care of thousands of mentally ill patients was shifted to local community mental health centers. Graphic visions of schizophrenics chained and screaming was now going to be a thing of the past.

Since Hahnemann (now Drexel University School of Medicine) had a terrific, community-based program and psychiatric residents had the opportunity to treat all forms of mental illness, I decided to do my residency there. My first six months were spent at Philadelphia General Hospital (PGH), an ancient psychiatric fortress with a unique treatment program. During the morning meetings everyone had a vote. Doctors, nurses, art therapists, psych techs and patients would vote on all sorts of things, including discharges. No chains, no demonic ECT toting psychiatrists, just young enthusiastic psychiatric residents wearing bell bottoms and colorful shirts.

It all sounded great except for one “little” problem; most of these patients were psychotic! They heard voices (auditory hallucinations), thought people were after them (paranoid delusions), and without medication were impossible to reason with. Some even became violent and very dangerous. Not a fun experience for a clueless 1st year psychiatric resident who was assigned to treat a violent paranoid man — but more about that in my novella, The Man with a Microphone in his Ear.

Fast forward fifty years to 2013. The government’s money stream has diminished from a mighty river to a trickling creek. Thousands of mentally ill patients have chosen to wander the streets of our cities begging for food, mumbling aloud to themselves, and pushing all their worldly belongings in a battered food cart. Like the patients I treated at PGH, they refuse medication and refuse help.

Most are just hungry and needy and mean no harm, but some believe, really believe, that they are under attack, and without provocation will attack first. They aren’t in psychiatric hospitals, but still suffer from a profound psychiatric illness. Now their illness is simply visible to anyone who takes the time to look.

Should the state hospitals be reopened?

I think so.

Very sick people need structure and treatment. Their impulses to attack, because they feel under attack, need to be treated. If they are too sick or too dangerous to be among us, they will at least have a safe, comfortable environment in which to live until they get better. It doesn’t have to be like in the primitive days of the screams and chains. New therapies, new medications, and an enlightened approach to mental illness is needed. Just because people have rights, doesn’t mean that mental illness will just disappear.

How many Cruise missiles will it take to rebuild our hospitals and care for our mentally ill street people? Would it really cost more to have this sick population in a hospital rather than all the money we spend on police work, social services, cleaning crews and a flawed community mental health concept?

Art Smukler MD is the author of Skin Dance, a mystery, Chasing Backwards, a psychological murder mystery, The Man with a Microphone in his Ear, and the blog, Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist.