Psychiatry is an imperfect science at best. It is by no means a “pseudoscrience,” although it is frequently blamed for being same.
I have known LOTS of honest, decent people who have (I think, sincerely) seen psychiatric research as a difficult attempt to elucidate truth about the human animal. Read more on The “Crazies” are not very violent…
Filed under Diagnosis, Doctors, Government, Mental Illness, News, Psychiatrists, Violence by on Oct 27th, 2019. Comment. 
Nobody, but nobody, including a president of the United States, can tell a doctor what to ask about in an assessments.
Assessments are supposed to be in the strictest confidence, for openers. Anything else would be against the rules of medical confidentiality. Patients have a right to be seen alone. The doctor has a right to decide what needs to be said.
I can imagine the 2nd ammendment rights activists bursting a blood vessel if doctors are reqiured to survey patients about the guns they own and how they use them. The requirement to have doctors do this would be — most everyone will agree — anti-American.
This being said, a question about firearms is and should be standard psychiatric practice. When you are dealing with suicidal patients, which happens all too often in psychiatry, and the patient says that he or she is thinking about this, then it is absolutely essential to know if that
Filed under Government by on Jan 23rd, 2013. Comment.
I’ve had it with photo opportunities — the kind of superficial and symbolic action that politicians do as election time approaches.
I’ve dealt with street-people in various clinical settings over the years, and it is great when there are resources for referring them to get food, clothing and even shelter. The holiday season usually means cold weather no matter if you are in New York or Los Angeles, and it is even more critical for people to get shelter from the elements during the cold months.
But isn’t it the height of cynical politicking to have the President to show up at such a facility and “work?” Even worse, to bring his wife, children, mother-in-law and the brother-in-law (an athletic coach) and his entire team? Read more on A Cynical Thanksgiving Photo Op…
Filed under News, politics by on Nov 25th, 2011. Comment.