More on Paranoid Schizophrenia
I posted about Jared Loughner's paranoid schizophrenia on Tuesday, and several people expressed an interest in the topic. Washington Post blogger, Jennifer Rubin, called around to psychiatrists and compiled a more comprehensive view of the illness. I am not sure why she thinks that no one has been discussing the topic, but that is neither here nor there. Since the best psychiatric opinion correlates reasonably well with my views, I am happy to link it. Actually, if it did not correlate to my views, I would also link it. Link here.
TO: Dr. Schneiderman
ReplyDeleteRE: Speaking of 'Paranoia'....
....how about THIS!!!
When a college student complains about secret surveillance — as Tyler Clementi did last year — I’ve said before that they should be offered other housing arrangements. Eze did get new digs, but they weren’t very attractive ones. When she went to the Brooklyn College Campus Security and Safety Office to complain about her suspicions, they offered her an involuntary two-week stay at a psychiatric hospital.
Therein lies the proverbial 'rub' about 'committing' people to institutions....just on someone's say so.
My arg....
....I've been using such camera technology to provide security in my household for the last six years. That's four years ahead of THIS 'case'. And I've seen this technology available for SIX years ahead of MY use.
So HOW is it that someone can be 'institutionalized' when this technology was around for so bloody long? After all, if you were on the web in 2000, I'm confident you saw all those ads from the people at X10 who made such cameras readily and economically available.
Personally speaking, I've been trained by the BEST in 'paranoids'. After all, on the modern battlefield they really ARE 'out to get you'. Furthermore, over all the 60+ years I've spent in this venue, I've noticed that there ARE such thinks as 'conspiracies'. Look at organized crime, e.g., the Mafia and their 'Code of Silence'. Then there's former SecDef MacNamara and how he and LBJ twisted facts about the Gulf of Tonkin Incident(s) to get US involved more deeply in Viet Nam. [Note: I know of a retired Naval officer who was working in CINCPAC Operations when those events occurred. He and EVERYONE ELSE in such organizations knew that what LBJ and MacNamara told Congress were lies. And what was the result? How about 58,000 Americans and between 2 and 4 MILLION Southeast Asians dead.]
So, people may call such as this lady, or so many others 'paranoid', but who's to say they aren't right? But then again, institutionalizing them can be a quick way of getting them 'out of the way'....on more levels than one.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[The Truth will out....not that many really care....until it's too late.]
Most psychiatrists I know are more than aware of the possibility of a mistaken diagnosis. We do not really know how the woman in Brooklyn was committed involuntarily.
ReplyDeleteObviously, we want to ensure against false commitment while at the same time ensuring that those who are paranoid schizophrenics get the treatment that they need.
There's no such thing as foolproof in these matters, and I am not sure that we have advanced civilization by emptying out the mental hospitals indiscriminately.
TO: Dr. Schneiderman
ReplyDeleteRE: 'Fool Proof' Safety
There's no such thing as foolproof in these matters. -- Stuart Schneiderman
Preaching to the choir?
After all these years—and especially after last Wednesday's Planning & Zoning Commission Public Hearing, I've developed the truism....
The only place on this Earth where you can no longer be 'hurt' is....six feet on the wrong side of the grass.
However, in the cited case, it's pretty obvious that one person—man, woman or moron—can put someone in a mental ward against their will.
What does this have to do with the case of Jared? Well....that's hard to say. Maybe, when multiple people complained about his multiple instances of being VERY STRANGE, they should have at least told the sheriff to put a ban on his purchasing a firearm until AFTER a reasonable evaluation.
Maybe they could have done the same for this woman as well. Instead of the arbitrary interment at the decision of one person.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Psychoceramics: The study of crackpots.]
P.S. With regards to the Jared case....
ReplyDelete....it seems that the Leftists are praising the sheriff who failed.
However, as it is being put on the web....
JAMES TARANTO: EASY RIDER IN BIZARRO WORLD: “Back in the 1960s, who’d have imagined that a septuagenarian white sheriff from Arizona with a hostility to free speech would one day become a hero to the left?”
UPDATE: Reader Neil Sorens writes:
Old narrative: dissent is patriotic.
New narrative: dissent is dangerous.
P.P.S. Thinking further on it....the Left's duplicity/hypocrisy....
ReplyDelete....I'm reminded of an old adage about such....
Yesterday's 'truth' is tomorrow's 'lie' -- motto of information management at Pravda
Pretty effective material, much thanks for your article.
ReplyDelete