State of the Union (in my opinion)

As a loyal, patriotic American I feel it is my duty to offer my two cents on a periodic basis...

I think our country has become the most divided it has been since the civil war. Some may wonder why. As a country we have become like two siblings having an ongoing disagreement. Freud developed a term known as neurotic transferrence in the context of an individual undergoing psychoanalysis. An individual's behaviors and beliefs are merely manifestations of the impressions made by the parents and all ensuing personal encounters with others during the child's formative years. Developmental Psychology experts would unanimously agree that a direct correlation exists between adults with severe personality disorders and problems with early parental bonding and relationship building during the developmental years. It is common that grown men and women spend their adult lives reliving their childhoods and attempting unconsciously to resolve oedipal and paternal conflicts. People with such issues act them out in all sorts of ways. Usually, the consequences are confined to small family or social units. On occasion, impaired people end up in places where they have great responsibility for the welfare of others.

Some people cannot think in abstract terms. The world is always interpreted in a concrete manner. They are more likely conform to fundamentalist religious doctrines and literal biblical interpretations. The modern Republican Party is a haven for such a mentality. A Myers-Briggs or MMPI will easily identify such personality traits with features of strong judgmental tendencies toward others, easy to anger if disagreed with, inability to experience an evolution or useful growth of their knowledge base. Hypothetically speaking, if such a person were the leader of a great nation that somehow became mired in an unwinnable war, such an individual would probably continue to ignore advice from knowledgeable people and insist on doing things his way despite the costs in lives and human suffering. Men of such character historically have fought 'till the bitter end. Remember General Custer. Thinking and truly moral individuals must pray that the next two years end at record speed. There is not a lot of faith remaining for our legislative branch to save our country for in the recent past there has been little support for dissenters showing back bone. Just like the average government employee most Congressmen and Senators think of saving their own skin before anything else. Constituents don't really matter except during election years.

The current administration is a behavioral scientists dream. After this is over there will be scores of books written and movies made on the years America slept. Most who would speak out now are too intimidated to risk reputation and even life to take risks that won't profit them at all in the current political environment. The power of the NSA, CIA, FBI, IRS, DEA, Secret Service are obvious to informed individuals. It is not science fiction or paranoia that these agencies can and do literally get away with murder. The safest policy for citizens remains one of total ignorance and fear. If you are an ignorant coward your government will protect you.

I have developed into what has been labeled a liberal, which I take pride in. Lately, I have developed a respect for true conservatives. Neo Cons have a way of changing any persons thinking. I draw the line at Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, Jerry Fallwell, et al. To me they are intolerable extremists. But now I will listen to even Pat Buchanan and find common ground here and there.

I have lost all trust and faith in the current government. All my hope lies in 2008. I hope our country will continue to awaken from this seemingly never ending nightmare we have allowed ourselves to slip into. Many people who read this will see me as the one lacking an understanding of reality. I ask that you file the page away in a safe place and come back and read it in five years. I am confident your thinking will have changed greatly by that time.

       

Time for Change

 

No resolutions made, so no resolutions will be broken...

Rather than New Years resolutions that I know I will break a better solution is to make a simple commitment to change my attitude. By doing so it won't be necessary to itemize the multitude of things I need to do a better job at. The perceived enormity of the changes one may feel pressured to undertake can often lead to more procrastination which is a motivation killer.

 Denial, I have found to be the trademark of many behavioral problems. Effective change becomes possible only when the state of denial ends. One behavioralist proposes a model that illustrates how effective change occurs. The initial stage is one of contemplation or conscious acknowledgement of existence of a problem. During this stage the individual can verbalize that they own a certain behavior that they no longer wish to possess. This stage may be brief or may linger on indefinitely, depending on how much motivation the person has and whether the environment is conducive or not.

The next stage is the most crucial, known as the putting the plan into action stage. The challenge here is maintaining motivation to follow through. Positive feedback is the key to success. This feedback originates internally and externally. A sense of achievement and pride in progress made encourages the individual to continue the desired behavior. The support people offer praise and encouragement in the form of compliments or other reward. This is a key principle of child rearing and parenting. Many psychiatric and psychological cases are a direct result of parental failure here during the developmental years.

The action stage takes the individual to the last stage which too relies heavily on the support system and self esteem. Many patients I have seen have difficulty reaching or maintaining this final state of a sense of well being due to co dependency traits. If they have a partner who is lagging or resistant to their own change, support is often withheld by that partner. The person then must choose to develop more independence and self esteem or to drift back under the influence of denial. It can be reasonably assumed when a person  of normal intelligence continues to engage in self defeating or non productive behaviors that make no sense to an observer, that person is in the grips of denial. In the deepest denial one denies that as being the case.

Final Ramble '06

       

Well, another year rapidly draws to a close...

I know I should count my blessings but that isn't the way I feel inside. The main reason I'm afraid to complain about 2006 is that it is clear that 2007 holds no guarantees. It's all relative though. At least I don't have a major disease and I'm not dead. The present time presents a golden opportunity for me to practice what I preach about the yen and the yang and the karma and optimism conquering the pessimism and self creating the future.  I must rise to the occasion! 2006 was without a doubt the most unpleasant 12 month period of my life in every aspect. If every negative thing imaginable happens in the New Year I doubt it will be any worse.

If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger, according to Nietzsche. One thing clear to me is that we must stay focused on life and not death. The fact that tomorrow isn't promised gives the maximum value to our lives. AOL posted a photo list of over 30 celebrities that passed away over the past year. Popularity of those lost was so great that Gerald Levert and Bo the coach weren't even recognized. Then I thought of  the friends, relatives, and patients that died in 2006. Adding to that list are the hundreds of young American soldiers, thousands of Iraqis, and those in Africa who aren't even thought of by most. Face it, one has to almost be insane in order to convince themselves that the world is not a depressing place.

There is, however, a time and a place for everything. Or is that really so? I used to think so but now I'm not so sure how accurate that Biblical cliche' is. There is never an appropriate time and place for crack cocaine, at least not in a sane world. I truly believe this drug will be the fall of humanity as we know it. There has never been anything in recorded history similar to the psychosocial damage inflicted by this compound. In my opinion, the effect seems to have surpassed the destruction caused by the HIV virus and AIDs. Crack is like a virus that attacks the morality and value system while slowly diminishing the mental and physical health. Socioeconomic losses are probably unprecedented. It is much more infectious than HIV and insidiously changes even those who would never touch the stuff.

I have never even seen crack but it has changed my life by interacting with those who have chosen to let it into their lives. As I have written before, it is the denial that is deadly. I've never met a crack addict who admitted to the actual severity of their condition before actually losing close to everything. Denial of this magnitude removes the addict from the world in which the rest of us live. Somehow, their problems are more important and more frequent and they are never to blame. Those who would enable their behaviors can be devoured over the course of the addict's existence. For a while the addict appears normal externally before the weight loss, agitation, and paranoia take over. Further into the disease the user's brain has been biochemically altered to a degree that they most likely will never recover from. The dopamine and other neurotransmitter levels of the brain has been distorted to a degree that the addict may experience the symptoms of every major psychiatric condition known to man on a given day. The hallucinations and paranoia of the schizophrenic are common, as well as the mania and depressive behaviors of bipolar disorder. The denial of their condition has isolated them to the point that some think they have superior knowledge to any psychiatrist about what could make them better.Their relationships are usually damaged beyond repair. All major bridges are burned. No credibility remains. In the severe stages of the addiction the user has lost all ability to parent or be a reliable spouse or friend. This person is only accepted by another in just as bad shape as they are.

I have no compassion left for people addicted to crack cocaine. This is how I have been infected. Seeing mother's neglect and lose their children is not acceptable to me. Seeing women sell their bodies didn't seem as bad when we watched it as part of the depiction of the TV ghetto.That is no longer the case since the drug has moved to the suburbs and the farms.Nothing disturbs me more than to be lied to my face. This is a major part of the training of fighting this epidemic.The only way to really help is to not enable. It saddens me to say that a self destructive gene seems to be triggered by this drug, usually in an irreversible manner.These individuals are much sicker than they appear and are much more dangerous than you would think. If you care for or love an addict, there is a rough road ahead. Until you learn to cut loose and save yourself, you too will perish with co-dependency.

One success in 2006 was initiating a system to help rid my practice of close to 50 cases who, unfortunately, could not be helped. The goal of the future is to never let them get through the door in the first place. Many doctors go to the extreme of never prescribing controlled drugs. I think a better policy is selecting patients as appropriately as possible. This is something that must be learned over time. Fixing the world is an unrealistic expectation for any individual. I think the Serenity Prayer of asking God to grant the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference says it best. To those who have supported me, I wish you the Happiest of New Years. To those who may dislike me, for whatever reason I say life is just too short so lets try and find some common ground.