The first person I remember who approached me telling me clearly and articulately that uncertainty was his problem was Dr. W.
Not that he was (or ever could have been) a medical doctor. He was an engineer who had been laid off for being somehow “supernumerary” from Boeing Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas.
Very stable, very “establishment, a former president of the synagogue (where we had met) the late Dr. Larry Weller was the kind of guy who wore a necktie around the house, just because he was more comfortable that way. His wife was a sharp-as-a-tack social worker. He was continually thankful for this, as his two adult children were living and working elsewhere and the two of them could keep their home and live fairly well (with the occasional flight to New York to visit relatives) on her salary. Read more on Uncertainty Is A Tough Mistress…
Filed under medicine, News, Psychiatrists by on Sep 24th, 2014. Comment. 
When I first saw in a headline somewhere that the earth’s population of honeybees was diminishing, I actually thought it might be a good thing.
Less bee stings.
I cannot count the number of patients I have seen (particularly males young enough to harbor delusions of their own vulnerability) who list bee sting allergies as a problem. Read more on Let Me Tell You ‘Bout The Bees (Maybe The Birds Later)…
Filed under News by on Sep 11th, 2014. Comment.
Although I am an “adult psychiatrist” on paper, in reality I have seen plenty of young men who fit into my criteria of 18-or-over but to me are functionally children.
They usually think I am functionally — well, grandmother-like — so from the moment they see me they have very little interest in listening to what I say.
Granted, since I see folks who have already done something to get themselves into the mental health system, the young folks of whom I am thinking may not be an accurate cross-section of young human male humanity.
Still, they all say almost exactly the same thing.
“All I need is a job.” Read more on Boys in Late Adolescence Looking For Jobs…
Filed under Government, News by on Sep 4th, 2014. Comment.
Animal mummies from ancient Egypt are featured on banners flying from poles here in middle-to-upper class southern California and I realized something significant but not earth-shaking.
I didn’t care.
I was fascinated with Egyptology back in the 4th grade when I built a model pyramid out of cardboard and made little mummies out of clay. I knew back then that some people mummified pets, and that was fine, but I didn’t want to model little dogs or cats, just humans.
I have nothing against animals. I just think that sometimes they are valued, and their rights valued, and their alleged “feelings” valued more than those of human beings — and that is concerning. Read more on Pets Are Okay, But I Love Humans…
Filed under Family, News by on Aug 21st, 2014. Comment.
I first found out about Dr. Cialdini and his work through a TED talk.
You know TED, don’t you? If not, you’ll stop and browse that wondrous site for a good long time while following up my included link.
Plowing through the internet I learned about his company’s seminars on “the science of persuasion” and it is not hard to find his six principles of “the science of persuasion.”
Reciprocity is far and away my favorite of the six. Read more on Reciprocity — It’s Not Just Arithmetic…
Filed under News by on Aug 8th, 2014. Comment.
I am not a particular fan of beer.
My family certainly did not have it in the house.
(Control freak that I am, I even had trouble with Passover wine. I never — and I mean never — managed to imagine how anybody made it through the allegedly requisite four glasses.)
I really don’t remember tasting beer until I was working Mme.Mareschal’s Cafe “Les Arcades” in Amiens, France, — a quaint village where I attended medical school — where beer was a staple. In fact, it was pretty much a staple everywhere in Northern France. Read more on Alarmism vs. Real Worries About Beer…
Filed under News by on Jul 19th, 2014. Comment.
I love men.
I mean, I actually went and married one, and I am delighted.
I understand their senses of “maleness” are sometimes a bit more fragile with women challenging them on absolutely every front imaginable.
But they still do quite well. I absolutely love them. Read more on Cialis, OTC, and Men…
Filed under News, prescription drugs by on Jun 26th, 2014. Comment.
People are not wired the same.
Individual differences are the spice of life and medicine. I love people, their verbal discourses, because they are so delightfully individual.
To me, the biggest problem with medicine is something I actually never heard anybody else discuss. I call it “norming.”
Maybe there is no other way to get started on developing a new treatment that could help many people who have similar afflictions.
But people are so different that what is life-saving for one may be poison for another. Read more on Dangers of Energy Drinks…
Filed under End Of Life, News, Stimulants by on Jun 24th, 2014. 1 Comment.
I found this one in the general plumbing of news that is the delight of the internet.
If someone in the U.K. thinks that DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide) is safe, then somebody is clearly worried that it is not.
Mosquitoes are very dangerous, and DEET is one of the most powerful ways we have to get rid of mosquitoes. Read more on Deet As An Insecticide…
Filed under Brain, Disease, News by on Jun 23rd, 2014. Comment.
Humans are … well, strange. A fixed problem can become unfixed.
First, let’s take it on good authority this problem really has been fixed.
It has been fixed with vaccination.
Nobody wants problems. So why? Why is the number of measles cases suddenly rising? Read more on Rise In Measles From Lack Of Vaccination…
Filed under medicine, News by on Jun 11th, 2014. Comment.