The failure of Psychiatry…
It’s a little like the Seinfeld episode wherein an angry Jerry didn’t get his rental car and proceeded to chide the reservationist behind the counter, “See, you know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to *hold* the reservation and that’s really the most important part of the reservation, the holding.”
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It seems to me, modern psychiatry is facing a similar dilemma, “They can diagnose a disorder, but they can’t do much about it.” Or, “They can diagnose a psychopath, but they can’t hold him for treatment.” Or - the or’s can go on and on.
Today it comes to light that the killer in the Virginia Tech killings had been previously diagnosed as mentally ill. This from ABC News:
April 18, 2007 —- A Virginia court found that Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho was “mentally ill” and potentially dangerous. Then the state let him go.
In 2005, after a district court in Montgomery County, Va., ruled that Cho was either a danger to himself or to others — the necessary criteria for a detention order — he was evaluated by a state doctor and ordered to undergo outpatient care. - ABC News
Some will say it is the State’s fault, or blame the legal system. Although, many are unwilling to admit there are flaws in the psychiatric profession and the mental health system in our country. The professionals get the part involving diagnosis - but what’s the treatment?
The “easy button” for treating mental illness seems to be handing out medication - and that’s pretty much it, save for an occasional check up to see how the meds are working or to get the dosage adjusted.
A woman who worked for me, diagnosed bi-polar, was on so many meds that I was astounded. Not too long ago her regular psychiatrist retired from practice, sending her on the hunt for a new compatible psychiatrist. Most of those she encountered would not hear of seeing her on the regular basis her former doctor had scheduled her. Their greatest concern seemed to be in getting her medications adjusted so she could function on her own - without the needed office visits. (Office visits take up a lot of time, which equals fewer patients, which equals less money.)
It’s pretty much SOP in the mental health field nowadays - get them on meds and maybe into a self-help group, then shuffle the patients through - ka-ching! Hence my conviction, “They can take the patients, and they can diagnose the problem, and they can even prescribe the medication, but they are not able to take care of the problem.”
Try seeing a Doctor for depression, or panic attacks - everyone I know who has, tell me they were prescribed anti-depressants - and that’s about it - little or no counsel, much less followup. By the way - once they are on the meds - they say it’s like kicking heroin to get off.
April 19th, 2007 at 8:03 am
Excellent reflection!
April 19th, 2007 at 9:24 am
I’m not going to speculate about Cho; only God knows all the ins and outs of him, but about meds, only this, in the event it helps another. My daughter suffered a couple of anxiety attacks right out of nowhere, tho’ there were some tremendous pressures on her (family economy, child custody, support and maybe even endangerment issues, an unfair sacking, new move into a metro area, health worry), so perhaps the attacks were long overdue! There’s only so much sustained stress the body can take. She went to the ER that first time, as she had no idea what was going on. ER sent her to a doc.. basically for meds. She tried some and they zonked her out, thereby causing new-job stress, so the alternative (thankfully) has worked. She prays hard, avoids stimulants and depressants of any kind, eats a well-balanced diet low in sugars, exercises, rests when she’s tired, gets real sleep, and while holding on for that “can only go up” day, she seems to have defused her panic system.