Monday, May 14, 2012

Response to Dr. Wessely

Response to Dr. Wessely


Last Update: 12:25 PM 5/14/2012

Normality or psychopathology of belief or belief system is determined first of all by the intrinsic qualities of belief in question. It is not determined by the fact that belief is shared or not shared: "Delusions are beliefs that are not only wrong, in the sense of not corresponding to the world as we know it, but they must also not be shared with others of the same cultural background."
There are many delusional beliefs that are or were shared, and some of them on a rather large scale. For example, the precolumbian Maya believed, that for the sun to rise they had to offer human sacrifices (of their best and brightest) every day, otherwise all kind of life on earth would come to a halt. This belief was shared very widely in precolumbian Maya culture, which does not make it less delusional.
Breivik's ultra nationalist anti-immigrant ideology is shared by great many people of various cultural backgrounds. The goal of his forensic psychiatric evaluation is to assess his own particular belief system, with all its peculiarities and idiosyncrasies, in order to determine its nature, qualities and psychopathological aspects, regardless of other similar beliefs. In the end, it was him, not others, who took these ideas to their logical (or rather illogical and "sick") extreme, although the (possibly facilitating) role of "significant others" in his case still has to be determined.
Neither the "monstrosity" and "grievous consequences" of his actions nor "popular misconceptions" should cloud the picture. The most important factor in his forensic psychiatric assessment is the presence or absence of identifiable and diagnosable mental illness and the degree of its causal relationship with the crime. In my opinion, whatever it is worth, psychopathological qualities of Breivic's beliefs: their highly systematised, structured, all embracing "world view" quality, along with their unshakable, messianic conviction and "call for action", indicate with high degree of probability the presence of Delusional Disorder, mixed, persecutory-paranoid type, and the direct and overwhelming causal connection of his psychopathology with the criminal act.
The cognitive aspect in psychopathology of Delusional Disorders (abnormalities and/or dysfunctions in concept selection, elimination and confirmation), indicating possible subtle but decisive organic involvement is much under-researched area, probably due to our neglect or inattention to biological aspects of these disorders and overestimation of its psychodynamic aspects. Delusional jealousy, secondary to chronic alcoholism (a very discrete and specific syndrome) is the case in point.
"The... misconception... that the purpose of psychiatry is to “get people off”" might be as wide spread as any other misconception, which does not make it any less of a misconception.
The historically formed legal concept of "NGRI: not guilty by reason of insanity" is a witness to humanity and rationality of a Social System, not to mention other, less important but present factors, such as political and social convenience, expediency and cultural traditions. (E.g.: Disraeli to Queen Victoria: "Only a madman can think about assassinating your Majesty...").
Modern psychiatry, very likely, was born out of the M'Naghten rules, as some psychiatric historians suppose.
And last, but certainly not least, is the difficult and complex subject of "Schizophrenia", its clinical concept (and/or misconcept) and diagnosis (and/or misdiagnosis). The diagnostic label of "Schizophrenia" became so wide spread and all encompassing (because it is so easy to apply, and is applied almost indiscriminately), as to loose its meaning and clinical value. In our rush to nosological (and reimbursement) parity with the rest of medicine we jumped over our heads too soon, introducing the (man made) diagnostic criteria based "nosological" system, which leads to premature ossification and codification of clinical concepts and experience, impeding the independent minded research greatly and precluding the normal development (albeit slow and lagging) of psychiatry as a medical science. Is it not more correct and probably clinically more productive, especially in the field of psychopharmacology,  to return to syndromologically based classification system and to try to define, refine and research these historically formed clinical syndromes further, before rushing to judgements about their pseudonosological "pigeon holes"?
This is what Breivic trial, along with other issues, brings to the front. And these issues deserve a deep and long thought.

Michael Novakhov, M.D.

References and Links

Anders Breivik, the public, and psychiatry : The Lancet


Anders Breivik, the public, and psychiatry : The Lancet

The Lancet, Volume 379, Issue 9826, Pages 1563 - 1564, 28 April 2012
<Previous Article|Next Article>
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60655-2Cite or Link Using DOI

__________________________________________

Sanity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In The Sane Society, published in 1955, psychologist Erich Fromm proposed that, not just individuals, but entire societies "may be lacking in sanity". Fromm argued that one of the most deceptive features of social life involves "consensual validation."[3]:


“ It is naively assumed that the fact that the majority of people share certain ideas or feelings proves the validity of these ideas and feelings. Nothing is further from the truth... Just as there is a folie à deux there is a folie à millions. The fact that millions of people share the same vices does not make these vices virtues, the fact that they share so many errors does not make the errors to be truths, and the fact that millions of people share the same form of mental pathology does not make these people sane.[4]

Fromm, Erich. The Sane Society, Routledge, 1955, pp.14–15.

sane society - Google Search


Erich Fromm - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Social System - Google Search

Social system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_systemCached - Similar
Social system is a central term in sociological systems theory. The term draws a line to ecosystem, biological organisms, psychical systems and technical ...
Characteristics of social systems - Approaches of Parsons and Luhmann

  • Social structure - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_structureCached - Similar
    On the micro scale, it can refer to the way norms shape the behavior of actors within the social system. These meanings are not always kept separate.

  • social system - definition of social system by the Free Online ...

    www.thefreedictionary.com/social+systemCached - Similar
    Noun, 1. social system - the people in a society considered as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships; "the social organization of England ...
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    Social System Theory - Google Search

    Scholarly articles for social systems theory

    Sociology and modern systems theory. - Buckley - Cited by 1963
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    Reflections on the Mothering Experience - Selected Blogs

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    via Psychology, Philosophy and Real Life by Dr Misty Hook, PhD on 5/14/12
    Photo by Ravenelle - http://flic.kr/p/LiQze
    Mother's Day has turned into a commercial bonanza lauding the work of mothers. Instead of focusing on the chores mothers do, we need to emphasize the mothering experience and how it can bring about fundamental change.
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    Robert Whitaker on Imagining A Different Future in Mental Health, Philadelphia May 6, 2012 - Selected Blogs

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    via ISEPP Blog by isepp on 5/14/12
    Published on May 7, 2012 by jimgotts Robert Whitaker, author of the acclaimed books, Mad in America, and Anatomy of an Epidemic, speaks about how the data shows, we could have far better outcomes for people diagnosed with mental illness by going to a selective use of medications, rather than putting everyone on this very [...]
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    Introduction to the Special Issue: Treatment Considerations for Aggressive Adolescents in Secure Settings | Complex Trauma and Aggression in Secure Juvenile Justice Settings - Behavioral Forensics

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    via Criminal Justice and Behavior recent issues by Langton, C. M. on 5/10/12
     

    via Criminal Justice and Behavior recent issues by Ford, J. D., Chapman, J., Connor, D. F., Cruise, K. R. on 5/10/12
    Youth in secure juvenile justice settings (e.g., detention, incarceration) often have histories of complex trauma: exposure to traumatic stressors including polyvictimization, life-threatening accidents or disasters, and interpersonal losses. Complex trauma adversely affects early childhood biopsychosocial development and attachment bonding, placing the youth at risk for a range of serious problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, oppositional defiance, risk taking, substance abuse) that may lead to reactive aggression. Complex trauma is associated with an extremely problematic combination of persistently diminished adaptive arousal reactions, episodic maladaptive hyperarousal, impaired information processing and impulse control, self-critical and aggression-endorsing cognitive schemas, and peer relationships that model and reinforce disinhibited reactions, maladaptive ways of thinking, and aggressive, antisocial, and delinquent behaviors. This constellation of problems poses significant challenges for management, rehabilitation, and treatment of youth in secure justice settings. Epidemiological and clinical evidence of the prevalence, impact on development and functioning, comorbidity, and adverse outcomes in adolescence of exposure to complex trauma are reviewed. Implications for milieu management, screening, assessment, and treatment of youth who have complex trauma histories and problems with aggression in secure juvenile justice settings are discussed, with directions for future research and program development.


    via Criminal Justice and Behavior recent issues by Connor, D. F., Ford, J. D., Chapman, J. F., Banga, A. on 5/10/12
    This article examines issues related to adolescent and young adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in juvenile justice treatment settings. Characteristics of ADHD are first discussed including diagnostic criteria, gender, and prevalence in both community and secure settings. Next, the importance of adolescent ADHD to the juvenile justice system is examined, including risk for psychosocial impairments, antisocial problems, and aggressive behavior while in secure treatment settings and the issue of psychiatric comorbidity in ADHD youths. Recommendations for assessment of the ADHD adolescent are discussed. Evidence-based treatments are next reviewed and suggestions for modifying extant ADHD evaluation and treatment criteria for use with juvenile detainees are presented. Finally, we discuss issues pertaining to ethnicity in adolescent ADHD and how these issues are of importance to the evaluation and treatment of adolescent and young adult ADHD in the secure treatment setting.

    via Criminal Justice and Behavior recent issues by Doran, N., Luczak, S. E., Bekman, N., Koutsenok, I., Brown, S. A. on 5/10/12
    Substance use disorders (SUDs) in youth are strongly associated with aggression, delinquency, and involvement with the juvenile justice and mental health systems. This article reviews the relationship between aggression and SUDs and discusses evidence-based approaches to assessment and intervention, with a focus on youth in secure settings. While evidence indicates etiological overlap, SUDs also confer risk for aggression and delinquent behavior. SUDs and aggression are each influenced by executive functions that develop as youth transition toward adult roles. Additionally, the effects of substance use on the adolescent brain impair neurocognitive function and increase the risk for aggression and further substance use. In terms of assessment, it is important to identify function and form of aggression in order to understand motives and associations with substance use and to select appropriate interventions. Evidence-based screening and assessment of aggression, substance involvement, and related domains is also critical. In terms of treatment, youth with SUDs tend to be underserved, particularly when they are also involved with the juvenile justice system. Multiple modes of evidence-based treatment for substance use are available. Approaches that address risk factors common to SUDs and aggression across multiple domains (e.g., family therapies) have been found to be most effective but may be difficult to adapt for use in secure settings. Individual therapy approaches also have empirical support and may generally be more practical in secure settings.

    via Criminal Justice and Behavior recent issues by Novick Brown, N., Connor, P. D., Adler, R. S. on 5/10/12
    Youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are in a perilous circumstance. FASD is associated with a high rate of self-regulation problems and trouble with the law and is underdiagnosed. Standard juvenile corrections-based interventions often do not meet the needs of these vulnerable youth. This article describes what is known about conduct-disordered adolescents with FASD and the neurocognitive deficits that directly affect emotional and behavioral self-control. The authors propose guidelines for the assessment of FASD within residential treatment settings and analyze interventions that show promise for inpatient treatment of youth with FASD.

    via Criminal Justice and Behavior recent issues by Munoz, L. C., Frick, P. J. on 5/10/12
    This article reviews the current research literature on the development of aggression and callous-unemotional traits. Research suggests there are two functions to aggression, reactive and instrumental, and each has concomitant cognitive and emotional factors associated. Furthermore, callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., an absence of empathy and guilt) have been shown to be associated with the instrumental type of aggression. Research on CU traits suggests that there are distinct developmental mechanisms operating in the development of aggressive and violent behavior for youths with and without these traits. These distinct developmental mechanisms have important implications for the assessment and treatment of aggressive and violent youths.

    via Criminal Justice and Behavior recent issues by Worling, J. R., Langton, C. M. on 5/10/12
    Some adolescents who have committed a sexual crime are placed by the courts in secure residential settings. Given the heterogeneity of this client group, it is important for clinicians in these settings to complete comprehensive assessments to determine the course and content of specialized treatment, if necessary. With a focus on residential care, suggestions are provided for the assessment of strengths, risks, and needs. Particular attention is paid to issues related to informed consent, interviewing, and risk assessment. Also reviewed are various treatment issues with implications in secure settings, including the delivery of therapeutic services, use of manuals, therapeutic relationships and context, and self-care for providers. The growing evidence base for cognitive-behavioral treatment for adolescents who have sexually offended is outlined, and common treatment goals for youth who have offended sexually are critically examined. With an emphasis on treatment tailored to the unique needs of each adolescent, suggestions are offered regarding goals such as increasing accountability, recovery from posttraumatic distress, developing offense-prevention strategies, and enhancing awareness of victim impact, prosocial sexual attitudes, and healthy sexual interests. Additional issues that are considered with implications for clinicians working in secure settings include sibling sexual abuse and offenses involving child abuse imagery.

    via Criminal Justice and Behavior recent issues by MacKay, S., Feldberg, A., Ward, A. K., Marton, P. on 5/10/12
    Firesetting by juveniles results in billions of dollars of property loss, thousands of burn injuries, and hundreds of deaths each year. A review that specifically focuses on adolescents’ role in this devastating and costly behavior is not available. To address this gap, the current article reviews the past 30+ years of literature on adolescent firesetters, examining topics such as models of firesetting behavior, risk factors and correlates of adolescent firesetting, diagnostic issues, assessment tools and approaches, and current interventions. The article concludes with a discussion of goals for the field, including the development of relevant criteria for pathological firesetting.
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    Prison minister Khatuna Kalmakhelidze orders Georgia's prisons to raise the limit on number of inmates, despite a warning from the country's ombudsman that overcrowding is causing serious problems - Prison Psychiatry News

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    via prisons - Google Blog Search by DFWatch staff on 5/13/12
    Prison minister Khatuna Kalmakhelidze orders Georgia's prisons to raise the limit on number of inmates, despite a warning from the country's ombudsman that overcrowding is causing serious problems. TBILISI, DFWatch ...
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    Peru prison: from pot smoke to pottery class - GlobalPost | Tear gas at Venezuela prison after gunfire erupts - Las Vegas Sun - Prison Psychiatry News

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    via prisons - Google News on 5/14/12

    GlobalPost
    Peru prison: from pot smoke to pottery class
    GlobalPost
    There's nothing quite like Lurigancho, Peru's largest prison, reputedly one of the toughest in South America. GlobalPost gets inside, and finds some surprises. LIMA, Peru — Salsa blares from the cells and the pungent smell of cannabis smoke hangs in ...


    via prisons - Google News on 5/14/12

    Tear gas at Venezuela prison after gunfire erupts
    Las Vegas Sun
    AP Gunfire erupted at a Venezuelan prison on Tuesday, prompting National Guard troops to use tear gas as they sought to take back control from armed inmates. Venezuela's government is trying to close La Planta prison following two escape attempts and ...

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    In Venezuela's prisons, inmates are the wardens - GlobalPost - Forensic Psychiatry News

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    In Venezuela’s prisons, inmates are the wardens

    Prison riots in Venezuela. Jailbreaks in Mexico. Prison fires in Honduras. Latin America is displaying violent cases of the ails of its prison systems. Overcrowded and rundown, many of the region’s jails are out of control and ready to burst. In this in-depth series, GlobalPost gets inside some of the most violent jailhouses of the Americas to figure out what’s gone horribly wrong.

    Venezuela 

    There’s always a party, everyone is armed, and prisoners sometimes engage in gladiatorial fights to the death.

    May 14, 2012 06:22
    Subscribe to Girish Gupta on Facebook
    CARACAS, Venezuela — A cloud of marijuana bounces along with the bass line from a stack of six-foot high speakers in the corner of this large hall, its smell infused with that of urine.
    Through the darkness, noise and the bustling crowd, it takes a moment before you notice that everyone here is carrying a machine gun, a rifle or pistol — not slung over their backs or tucked into their pants, but menacingly prone. Others toss grenades up and down or sharpen knives while enjoying the cocktail of drugs and music.
    Outside the makeshift club, the Venezuelan sun bathes a small soccer field. Supporters are armed and one player even goes in for tackles with a pistol in hand. Corridors in the building are lined with gunmen, smiling and joking, seemingly unaware of their own terror.
    Prison guards are nowhere to be seen here at La Planta, a typical Venezuelan jail that often sees gunfights and riots.
    “If the guards mess with us, we shoot them,” says one prisoner, asking not to be identified. “I've seen a man have his head cut off and people play football with it.” Others who have spent time inside, as well as videos that appear online, corroborate his stories.
    Last year, about 500 people were killed in Venezuela’s prisons, according to the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory. Inmates frequently clash with each other, prison guards and soldiers who are sent in to maintain control during riots.
    And now the guns inside La Planta are going off. The government is now trying to shut down the prison, though a group of inmates refusing to leave have kept authorities at bay for nearly two weeks. Troops are gathered outside along with hundreds of worried relatives.
    Read more: In-depth series on Latin America's prison problems
    An identical situation took place last June when more than 5,000 troops spent a month trying to quell an uprising at El Rodeo jail, just outside Caracas.
    “We face a truly serious prison crisis in which the state has not shown up with solutions and this has led to chaos,” said Carlos Nieto, a lawyer and university professor who runs Window to Freedom, a local prison watchdog.
    “There are huge problems with the prisons here in Venezuela,” he said. “The inmates do absolutely nothing; they don’t study, work or anything. On top of this is the access to weapons, drugs and alcohol.”
    A deficient and corrupt staff as well as severe overcrowding, Nieto added, contribute to an “explosive cocktail,” which detonates frequently. Indeed, the day GlobalPost visited the human rights specialist, the front page of the country's national newspaper, El Nacional, published a story about 18 deaths that took place the previous weekend inside several jails.
    The country’s 30 prisons are designed to hold 12,500 inmates. But in reality, they house just under 50,000, according to Window to Freedom. In La Planta — built to house 350 in 1964 but now housing about 2,500 — many inmates sleep in the corridors, with rats scurrying in between them.
    “The conditions are deplorable, inhumane,” Nieto said.
    There are reports of gladiatorial contests in the country’s other complexes, fights organized by gang leaders in which contenders battle to the bloody end for the entertainment of inmates. It was one of these bouts that left two dead and 128 injured in February at a jail in Uribana, western Venezuela.
    La Planta itself saw a fire break out in 1996 after authorities fired tear gas inside. Local newspapers reported that 25 prisoners burned to death, their bones glued to the prison furniture. Two years earlier, 130 inmates were burned or hacked to death at a prison in the country’s western state of Zulia.
    More from GlobalPost: Peru prison — from pot smoke to pottery class
    It is not only weapons that are easy to obtain within prison walls. Mobile phones and computers, hooked up to the internet, are commonplace. With such access to the outside, inmates can control and partake in gang activities that no doubt exacerbate Caracas’ already troubled streets — with one of the highest murder rates in the world.
    Gangsters, who have worked their way up the prison hierarchy, control the sites and therefore the flow of weapons. Nieto blames “functionaries of the state” for the weapons inside, adding that it is a “big business run by an internal mafia.” The type of weaponry, Nieto said, indicates a high level of corruption. “They have the types of weapons that can only be obtained by the country’s armed forces. ... No one else has these.”
    Last year, after President Hugo Chavez went silent before announcing that he was suffering from cancer, the El Rodeo riots became a major political issue for the country. On the president’s return to action, Iris Varela was appointed as new prisons minister and she quickly came up with a quick-fix solution.
    Some 20,000 inmates would be released onto the streets of Caracas, which already has a murder rate comparable to that of Baghdad during the Iraq War.
    “In prison, there are people that do not pose a danger to society,” she said. “They can be handled outside prison.”
    The murder rate in Venezuela last year averaged 67 per 100,000 people, according to the Venezuelan Violence Observatory, which labelled it “the most violent year in the nation's history.”
    Nieto blames the country's prison problems on Chavez, who has not succeeded in his pledge to revamp the system.
    More from GlobalPost: The Argentine economy’s fuzzy math problem
    Chavez himself was locked up after the 1992 coup attempt that launched his career. Despite failing, the coup turned Chavez into a national icon, standing up against what many saw as the corrupt rule of then-President Carlos Andres Perez.
    In his biography of Venezuela’s president, author Bart Jones writes that Chavez was horrified as guards failed to intervene when a man was raped and murdered in a cell above him.
    “Today, the prisons are much worse than before Chavez arrived,” Nieto said.
    In the long line to leave La Planta, visitors are numbed to the horror of what they have witnessed inside. They see it every weekend.
    Going the other way are two young men, carrying duffel bags and — no matter what their crime — an innocence they will almost certainly lose in order to survive inside.

    Watch Video:

    via prisons - Google News on 5/14/12

    In Venezuela's prisons, inmates are the wardens
    GlobalPost
    There's always a party, everyone is armed, and prisoners sometimes engage in gladiatorial fights to the death. CARACAS, Venezuela — A cloud of marijuana bounces along with the bass line from a stack of six-foot high speakers in the corner of this ...
    Tear gas at Venezuela prison after gunfire eruptsLas Vegas Sun

    all 2 news articles »

    Read More

    In Venezuela’s prisons, inmates are the wardens
    There’s always a party, everyone is armed, and prisoners sometimes engage in gladiatorial fights to the death.
    Peru prison: from pot smoke to pottery class
    There's nothing quite like Lurigancho, Peru’s largest prison. GlobalPost gets inside, and finds some surprises.
    Brazil: Rio shuts makeshift police-run jails
    With prisons overloaded, police turned anything from old buses to horse stables into detention centers. Rio de Janeiro is cracking down.
    Caging in Central America
    The region’s overcrowded prisons are deadly and churn out the real hardened criminals.
    Mexican hot potato over who controls prisons
    Some of Mexico's prisons are out of control and ill-equipped to handle the glut of inmates. While politicos fiddle, prisoners break out.
    How packed are the Americas' prisons?
    Prison overcrowding is a big concern throughout much of the Americas. GlobalPost maps out prison populations and capacity by country.


    Prison riots in Venezuela. Jailbreaks in Mexico. Prison fires in Honduras. Latin America is displaying violent cases of the ails of its prison systems. Overcrowded and rundown, many of the region’s jails are out of control and ready to burst. In this in-depth series, GlobalPost gets inside some of the most violent jailhouses of the Americas to figure out what’s gone horribly wrong.

    Incarceration 2012 5 11 j
    In Venezuela’s prisons, inmates are the wardens
    There’s always a party, everyone is armed, and prisoners sometimes engage in gladiatorial fights to the death.
    CARACAS, Venezuela — Through the darkness, noise and the bustling crowd, it takes a moment before you notice that everyone here is carrying a machine gun, a rifle or pistol — not slung over their backs or tucked into their pants, but menacingly prone. Others toss grenades up and down or sharpen knives while enjoying the cocktail of drugs and music.
    - Girish Gupta

    Peru lurigancho prison 2012 05 13
    Peru prison: from pot smoke to pottery class
    There's nothing quite like Lurigancho, Peru’s largest prison. GlobalPost gets inside, and finds some surprises.
    - Simeon Tegel
    Incarceration 2012 5 11 f
    Caging in Central America
    The region’s overcrowded prisons are deadly and churn out the real hardened criminals.
    - Mike McDonald
    Incarceration 2012 5 11 2
    Brazil: Rio shuts makeshift police-run jails
    With prisons overloaded, police turned anything from old buses to horse stables into detention centers. Rio de Janeiro is cracking down.
    - Taylor Barnes
    Mexico prison b 2012 05 13 0
    Mexican hot potato over who controls prisons
    Some of Mexico's prisons are out of control and ill-equipped to handle the glut of inmates. While politicos fiddle, prisoners break out.
    - David Agren

    Home » Regions » Americas

    Occupancy levels of prisons by country in 2011

    (All data was provided by the International Center for Prison Studies)


    Comparing 1992 and 2010 incarceration rates by country



    Comparing 1992 and 2010 prison population growth by country

    >

     

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    - Amanda Morrow
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    Necrotizing fasciitis, the rare flesh-eating disorder that has already claimed the leg of 24-year-old Georgia grad student Aimee Copeland, now looks likely to claim her fingers.
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    Macro chatter: "You're fired," love JPMorgan and Yahoo
    Need to know: Euro zone central bankers' are thinking of a post-Greece world. The European Commission won't ease up on the rules of Greece's bailout, and the country's still fledgling government doesn't want to play along. That's increasing the likelihood that Greece will have to leave the euro zone. European officials are trying figure out how the handle the fallout, Bloomberg reported. Euro zone finance ministers are scheduled to meet today in Brussels. Want to know: The casualties are piling up at JPMorgan and Yahoo. The hedge fund that’s been trying to win power by getting Scott Thompson booted from Yahoo has finally succeeded. Thompson stepped down Sunday, just a few months after he started the job. Patti Hart, the board member who helped recruit Thompson, is also gone. Daniel Loeb's Third Point is getting three board spots. At JPMorgan, one of the most powerful women on Wall Street is out. Ina Drew has resigned over the bank’s $2 billion-and-counting trading loss. Two other traders also are gone. Meanwhile Bruno Iksil, the London Whale whose bad bets led to the losses, appears to have joined Twitter. He tweets that he'll be hanging around awhile longer. Hey Jamie, Ina, before I clear my desk I'm assuming you want me to unwind this thing right? — London Whale (@TheLondonWhale) May 13, 2012 Dull but important: China, Japan and South Korea want to do more business together. The countries are planning to set up a three-way free trade area, but it won’t be easy. Each of the countries has a at least one powerful business sector that will likely have a problem with the increased competition they'll face. China, Japan and South Korea already trade a combined nearly $700 billion among them. Combined, the countries are home to 1.5 billion people. Just because: Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is renouncing the US citizenship his parents emigrated to get him. Saverin, who was born in Brazil and lives in Singapore, will likely save about $600 million by giving up his US passport, Pando Daily’s Farhad Manjoo calculated. Saverin owns about 4 percent of Facebook’s shares. While he may be among the wealthier Americans renouncing their citzenship, he definitely is not alone. Nearly 1,800 people gave up their citizenship next year to avoid the IRS. Strange but true: You too can be in charge of the Fed, at least on the Internet.
    - Meena Thiruvengadam
    NBC says new lineup is "heavy on comedy"
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    Sandwich celebrates 250th birthday
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    How do controversial revisions in psychiatry's guidebook make you feel? - Philadelphia Inquirer - General Psychiatry News

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    via psychiatry - Google News on 5/4/12

    Scientific American (blog)
    How do controversial revisions in psychiatry's guidebook make you feel?
    Philadelphia Inquirer
    By Stacey Burling When upward of 10000 members of the American Psychiatric Association meet here this weekend, they'll be met by protesters - there are always protesters - and tough questions about where their profession is headed and how it will ...
    A Major Transformation in Psychiatry?Medscape
    APA Announces New Changes to Drafts of the DSM-5, Psychiatry's New “Bible”Scientific American (blog)
    Last chance to comment on psychiatry's controversial diagnostic 'bible'MinnPost.com (blog)
    TIME -Age of Autism
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    Althouse: "D.S.M.-5 promises to be a disaster... it will introduce many new and unproven diagnoses that will medicalize normality...."

    Althouse: "D.S.M.-5 promises to be a disaster... it will introduce many new and unproven diagnoses that will medicalize normality...."

    May 13, 2012


    "D.S.M.-5 promises to be a disaster... it will introduce many new and unproven diagnoses that will medicalize normality...."

    Despite some last-minute changes, there are big problems, says Allen Frances, who led the task force that produced D.S.M.-4.
    [T]he D.S.M. is the victim of its own success and is accorded the authority of a bible in areas well beyond its competence. It has become the arbiter of who is ill and who is not — and often the primary determinant of treatment decisions, insurance eligibility, disability payments and who gets special school services. D.S.M. drives the direction of research and the approval of new drugs. It is widely used (and misused) in the courts....
    Frances rejects the accusation that the D.S.M. is "shilling for drug companies":
    The mistakes are rather the result of an intellectual conflict of interest; experts always overvalue their pet area and want to expand its purview, until the point that everyday problems come to be mislabeled as mental disorders. Arrogance, secretiveness, passive governance and administrative disorganization have also played a role....

    Psychiatric diagnosis is simply too important to be left exclusively in the hands of psychiatrists....
    Posted by Ann Althouse at 8:39 AM
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    Experts in Philly describe mysteries of polyamory: When one lover isn't enough - Philadelphia Inquirer - General Psychiatry News

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    Experts in Philly describe mysteries of polyamory: When one lover isn't enough
    Philadelphia Inquirer
    A panel of experts at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in Philadelphia last week said that open relationships between more than two people can work, but it requires a lot of talk about rules, boundaries, and time spent with various lovers.
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    A Letter From Clancy McKenzie, M.D. « ISEPP Blog

    A Letter From Clancy McKenzie, M.D. « ISEPP Blog

    A Letter From Clancy McKenzie, M.D.

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    Three of the APA’s Clinical Treatment Guidelines were developed by 20 physicians, 18 of whom received incentives from the drug companies — which they failed to disclose, and 100% of those 18 recommended the drug from the company that paid them! Each probably rationalized that the money did not influence their decision. The influence is subtle, but 20 billions are devoted to clever ways of influencing decisions, recommendations, thinking. This affects every facet of the medical community and the lay population as well.
    Journals print ads that extol the virtues of medications; the Psychiatric Times and the APA Newspaper print articles that are pleasing to the drug companies, the FDA considers the pharmaceutical companies their best customers and would eradicate all their competition; TV, radio and newspaper ads influence the general public, organizations such as NAMI and Schizophrenia Research Forum have been bought by Big Pharma. I was banned from that latter group because I asked if they were funded by drug companies. These and other seemingly helpful groups are funded either directly or indirectly by Big Pharma — and these influence still more professionals, patients and family members.
    Eighteen combat veterans commit suicide every day, and most are given medication instead of treatment. Some of these medications triple or quadruple the suicide rate!
    Prisoners, veterans, nursing home residents, welfare recipients and their children, foster children and even foster babies are given drugs, free of charge — and in ever-increasing numbers!
    This has resulted in a massive increase in mental illness in this country. Understanding has been replaced with pills — which can cause more harm than good.
    The question is what can we do to change the tide? Fads catch on. There are hit tunes that everyone hums or sings. One day when I was walking to the John, I noticed I was singing a song. It was psychopharmacomania. Over the next week I awakened with 18 more verses — but cut it down to the five best. If you have a good speaker system on your computer you can appreciate the production by the vocalist who was proclaimed by Pavarotti to have a voice that comes around once in 100 years, and accompanied by the lead guitarist for the grammy-winning group The Tramps. It is a catchy tune and well produced — with an incredibly creative story board to go along with it. This can make a difference. I would hope that each of you might help by sending it to your email list and encouraging everyone to do the same. If it goes viral then we might make a substantial impact. People must be awakened to how they are being influenced and deceived.
     
     
    We also have a 31 minute production of the song for those who wish to use it in a protest march. It is very musical and enjoyable.
    Click here to view on Youtube.
    Thank you for your help.
    Clancy
    Dr. Clancy McKenzie is one of the world’s foremost experts on Schizophrenia and mental health. As a youth and young adult, Dr. McKenzie was always regarded as a very compassionate person and an explorer. While in college he often shared his stories of counseling homesick campers when he was ten years old – and exploring the world, hitchhiking throughout Europe, into Asia and across North Africa, sometimes alone on the Sahara Desert. So it came as no surprise to friends and family when, early in his career, he embarked upon an unknown path in his quest to help others.
    After graduating from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1962, McKenzie’s life work focused squarely on the study of the human mind in pursuit of helping those afflicted with mental disorders. Following internship, he studied adult and child psychiatry and psychoanalysis with top experts in the field at some of the best institutions – to gain overview of what was known in the field at the time. He trained at the Menninger School of Psychiatry, the Philadelphia Psychiatric Center and the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute.

     
    Uploaded by on May 31, 2010
    Click here to view more videos by Dr. McKenzie.
    By isepp, on May 14, 2012 at 2:15 am, under Dr. Clancy McKenzie, Schizophrenia. Tags: , , , , , , , . No Comments
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