abuse

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My medical career has so far encompassed training in multiple specialties (general and orthopedic surgery, neurological surgery, neurology, psychiatry, and psychopharmacology). I have practiced in France, Canada, the United States Army, and more States of the United States than I can name.

I have been sexually assaulted and harassed more times that I could count. “Bullying,” is common in medicine, often viewed as a necessary process of “toughening up” to deal with the all too frequent tragedies lived with by patients. Read more on Me Too…

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A new patient came in this week, referred by a trusted therapist. She had been sexually abused at approximately age 7. She was depressed.

She was on a combination of an antidepressant and a sleeping pill. It seemed to work as well an anything would. The medications were the same kind of medications that I would generally use. Older, reliable, out of patent (more than 7 years old) and thus available in cheap generics.

When I asked her how much of her depression it had made go away, she said “50%.” I ordered my usual list of blood tests. They seemed exotic to her.

We couldn’t even tell if they were things she got ordered in her “annual physical.” She had some kind of blood tests done a month ago. She was reluctant to have more drawn, so I told her we could get the old ones. She looked relieved.

?Relieved?
She was visibly overweight. She had paid a well-known diet center to follow their plan. She had gotten down to her “target weight,” then gone on to gain back most of what she had lost.

She was plagued by seborrheic dematitis. This is not usually a difficult thing to control. She could cut her hair (which went down past her shoulders). She could wash it daily with the prescription shampoo that her primary doctor had (correctly) prescribed. She could wear a little cap, perhaps like the sequiny little one that I showed her I had worn that day.

It was plain to see on her face that I was frustrating her, I just seemed to have more solutions than she had problems.

She asked me if she could return for her next appointment in a month.

She was not suicidal.

I made it clear that if I waited one month I would not increase her medication, for she would have to stay on the same if I were to wait so long until seeing her.

She didn’t mind.

She was not alone among my patients to feel as she felt. I have always failed to understand patients such as she.

Her previous psychiatrist and her previous therapist, had dragged her along for approximately two years.

She had contributed to paying their living expenses, with her fees. Maybe they had improved her status some. I mean, to be fair, I had not seen what she had been like when she started.

Depression is common. Far and away the most common of psychiatric illness, no matter what measurements or statistics you believe.

There are aspects of it that clinical trials of medication have shown, time and time again, get better. Things like sleep, appetite, mood, concentration.

Enjoying life, living your dreams, and such do NOT respond to medication.

Having the desire to correct things than annoy you and make your life better; that is somewhere between spirituality and magic for many of my wide-eyed depressed patients.

Sometimes I am angry at my colleagues. They seem to have accepted the limitations put upon them by government and insurance and economics.

This does not much help the patient.

It takes more than a couple minutes in my office to pump up these things.

I have said “stay tuned” before, but now I must try to bring this message to more media.

Science exists, and ought to be serving humankind.

Stay tuned.

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She had been one of the angriest patients I had ever seen. Yelling and screaming so much and walking out of my office so often that I had figured she was out of my practice.

She had been traumatized — not only raped, but abused in other ways — which she had been unable to detail.

Her husband had brought her back, and I gave her a little bit of medicine, slowly, then, I had been finally able to speak with her directly. Read more on Kindness Can Cure, Too…

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I’m not exactly drunk with power, being a psychiatrist. I fight with insurance companies on a daily basis, — begging for one generic brand the patient can take over one that makes them sick as a dog, and such.

I don’t pretend to have control over everything that happens inside my office. I have a basic idea of the territory that should be covered, but the reactions to what I bring up are rich and individual and creative and tell me the essence of my patients’ spirits. Read more on Unhappy? Go Outside And Play!…

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I taped two interviews on Rev. Meri Crouley’s program “Now Is The Time” on The Cross TV network.  This airs via satellite for those who have dish antennae and is also archived on YouTube. Read more on Now Is The Time Interviews…

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I have been putting together a new project to help victims of human trafficking.  During this effort I have made many new friends and gained some powerful allies.

One is a Christian evangelist named Meri Crouley who hosts a show on the satellite TV network The Cross TV.  Her programs are archived on YouTube.

Meri wanted me to come on her program “Now Is The Time,” but we had so much to talk about that she has actually extended me to two episodes.  The first one already aired last Thursday and is available at this website:

Now is the Time Meri Crouley 12-14-2017 – YouTube

The next one will be broadcast next Thursday and available online by Friday.
In addition, Rev. Crouley wants me back to talk in the future, so I will keep you posted when I’m scheduled to go on again.
This horrible predicament of human trafficking amounts to slavery.  Most of the victims are females forced into prostitution, but there are others (men and women) who are laborers in various trades and industries.
This is a topic I will revisit.  We need to raise the awareness of the public that this is going on in our own cities.

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Sexual harassment has been making the news lately.  Dozens of powerful men in Hollywood (especially) and business and government are being accused of misconduct by vulnerable young women (and men in some cases).

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can result from any trauma. Car accidents, animal attacks, a bad fall — not just sexual assault or war.

A high-school student doing a report for school recently wrote to me asking about PTSD.  I thought my answers might be of interest to others, so I’m sharing them with you. Read more on Student Questions About PTSD…

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There is something very funny going on with substance abuse.  There is less of it among teens. Less since — it has been suggested — teenagers are increasingly occupied by the amusing complexities of cell phones. Read more on Teens Favor Phones Over Drugs?​…

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What you have been through makes you who you are.
A man abused by his father told me he all too often finds that he has abused his own son.  He did not want to.  He did not mean to.  He realized he was becoming his father and he trembled.

Read more on Breaking The Chain Of Abuse…

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I remember a supervisor from the past whom I never thought had the right personality to be a psychiatrist.  I mean, he was a little angry and domineering for my taste.  But heck — I gave him a “bye” since he worked in a prison context.

I was never attacked by a prison patient through my tours-of-duty through four (all-male) California state penal institutions.  I had a couple who ended up on their knees, crying, stroking my hands, or even asking permission to kiss me (denied, of course).

They said I was “nice” to them.  I guess I treated them like human beings — something pitifully lacking in the prison system where everything seems oppressive and depersonalizing. Read more on Assaults On Psychiatrists…