Owner: Quest 4 Sanity URL:http://headoc.squarespace.com Join Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 21:29:59 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Take a trip with Carolina Psychiatrist/Author as he tries to make some sense of it all in his own unique way. Site statistics:Click here
Might Wanna Skip This One 2007-01-19 13:33:58
I find that no truly original ideas or memories exist...
Chances are that in the history of man, somewhere at some time to some degree, some human brain has experienced that exact information. This realization initially crushed my ego because arrival at a truthful thought often reveals that I wasn't the first. My narcissistic injury is somewhat repaired by the knowledge that advancing our collective thinking in the context of acceptable moral and ethical standards is what truly connects us with divinity.
These words may suggest that I am stoned out of my mind with some substance of abuse but that is not the case, I can assure you. This is an example of that zone we can sometimes reach during those wee hours when the ability to sleep vanishes. All of the background garbage thinking and self judging and criticism are at the lowest possible level. Truth begins to flow through the mind. Some refer to this as a period of deep meditation. Out of a sea of many thoughts the mind must a
State of the Union (in my opinion) 2007-01-14 00:41:03
As a loyal and 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 Read more:State
, Union
, opinion
A Time for Change 2007-01-07 13:18:49
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 environme Read more:Change
Final Ramble of the Year 2006-12-29 04:35:59 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 o Read more:Final
, Ramble
Reaffirmation to Self 2006-12-26 04:49:51
Several months back I tried to change my approach to what I choose to post...
I had to face that Pollyannish thinking doesn't do it for me. My formula from day one was to write what I truly think and feel regardless of how it is perceived by others. I have to go where my conscience leads me whether I really want to or not. That was the true intended purpose of the free speech amendment. The line has been drawn at whether it is appropriate or not to shout "fire" in a building that is not burning. I have never crossed that line and have no intentions of doing so.
I have found it to be true that journalistic writing that fails to spark some degree of controversy is worthless because it hasn't challenged the reader to use their own critical thinking skills. No one individual can possibly be right about everything, or most things for that matter, but collectively enough opinions in time will illuminate the truth. That is why division of the masses is such an effective sociological
DREAMS 2006-12-18 00:54:08 . /
Boy! It has been a mental challenge to come up with an entry this week...
I thought about just saying "forget it" when I looked back at where the trend of my last few entries seemed to be going. I went to sleep earlier and was stuck in a dream where I was a homeless fugitive Negro in 1963 running from an assassin. The scariest part of the dream was not knowing what I was to be eliminated for. I finally just said to hell with this dream when my last friend abandoned me and forced myself to awaken. I have developed the unique ability mentally to sometimes use my dreams for personal entertainment, especially the bad ones. On occasion, I'll force myself to continue an unpleasant dream just to see where it's going to take me and what the outcome will be.
Those who have an understanding of dream interpretation know that a dream is a composition of suppressed emotional information from the subconsciousness coming out to play in the consciousness while
Searching for Sanity 2006-12-10 04:08:40
Not much inspiration to write this week...
I saw about sixty patients during the past week. The vast majority had either lost a loved one in the past year, been beaten or raped by a loved one in their lifetime, or wake up in pain daily from losing the battle to an addiction or co dependent relationship. There were a few cases that were uplifting. Without such this job would become unbearable. I've come to accept that my purpose is more to walk with people through the troubled times and try to educate and equip them to one day fight the battles alone. One of my mentors in residency training taught me of the three types of patients a psychiatrist will encounter; 1) Those just passing through. You may only see them once. They either get what they need at the time or decide you can't provide it. They then move on usually not returning more than a time or two. 2) Visitors are the second patient type. You may see them every few months. They are usually reliable and in general compliant. Read more:Sanity
There is no Santa 2006-12-03 08:31:58
Most of us remember the day we realized the truth about Santa
Claus...
That denial was impossible to totally let go. Most continued to pretend for a while longer waiting for our parents to explain why they had lied to us. If our parents lacked the skills to explain in an acceptable way we assuaged our grief by remembering all the nice toys we received and the euphoria we felt from the delusion we had acted out. Collectively, the tradition of lying to our children once a year has been accepted because of the greater good I suppose. Or maybe there is a need on behalf of the parent to have the child endure the same rights of passage into the real world as previous generations.
I used this analogy to describe much of how I feel about the current state of reality in America. No longer will I doubt my own imagination and sanity as I have sometimes done in the past. If it quacks like a duck and looks like a duck and swims like a duck then I say to hell with Bill O'Rielly and the likes
Conspiracy Theory Not So Insane 2006-11-25 19:24:02
By nature I am a free spirit...
To me that means that non conformity, skepticism, or dissent are no stranger. It also represents a deep sense of curiosity and desire for search of truth. Personalities like my own (free spirited) occasionally will throw caution to the wind temporarily but are in no way naive' or ignorant. I think our brains just sometimes require a little more stimulus than many other people. We need to seek a thrill every now and then to feel more alive. Some call us foolish, others call us courageous. We are much more likely to respond to conflict through anger than fear. We, however, will never fight for that for which we do not believe in. On the other hand our loyalties run deep when deserved. We know that within truth lies freedom. Death is preferable to being forced to accept untruths.
Many people misunderstand personalities like mine, thinking that we do things to make life harder than it has to be. My observation is that we are greatly disliked by those mo Read more:Conspiracy
, Theory
, Conspiracy Theory
PSYCHOBABBLE 2006-11-23 04:43:13
Boy! That OJ issue literally resolved itself before I knew what happened. America seems to be awakening in an exciting way and no longer allowing unacceptable behaviors to just automatically be tolerated. I hate it when the negative people get all the attention. We often brag about having the greatest country on earth. Unfortunately, that is not totally true. We do have the greatest potential of any civilization to ever exist but there is much work to be done. To whom much is given much is expected.
In psychotherapy, I often emphasize to a patient experiencing psychic pain that there will never be an instant cure or a magic pill to cure what ails them. I never suggest that they cannot be cured and find it crucial to inject hope and begin to lay the ground work for development of self empowerment. If the patient can develop a concept and a vision of that which they seek, cure then becomes an achievable goal.
Understanding the process becomes the key initial step. We all have uniq
Substance Abuse Update (Cocaine is a Terrible Drug...Rick James 2004) 2007-01-26 05:17:01
Today was a good day, much better than most ...
Those who follow my writings know of the growing disatisfaction and frustration I have developed toward drug addicts, in general, especially crack cocaine addicts. Despite those emotions, I continue to work part time in a detox facility. 70% of those in addiction recovery will fail within a year of starting treatment, some will fail multiple times within that 12 month period.
Who would want to bother treating a group of people with such lack of promise? I grew up around many such people which is probably where the commitment originated. At a recent CME workshop I commented to one of the presenters that I felt I could help, to some degree, any individual who was willing to comply with my recommendations and cooperate with treatment. He told me that I was grandiose in my thinking. Maybe I was. Maybe that is why I have had so many problems within my clinic over the past couple of years since beginning to treat more chronic pain cases. Read more:Update
, Cocaine
, James
, Substance
, Rick James
Substance Abuse Update (Cocaine's a Helluva Drug...Rick James 2004) 2007-01-26 05:17:01
Today was a good day, much better than most ...
Those who follow my writings know of the growing disatisfaction and frustration I have developed toward drug addicts, in general, especially crack cocaine addicts. Despite those emotions, I continue to work part time in a detox facility. 70% of those in addiction recovery will fail within a year of starting treatment, some will fail multiple times within that 12 month period.
Who would want to bother treating a group of people with such lack of promise? I grew up around many such people which is probably where the commitment originated. At a recent CME workshop I commented to one of the presenters that I felt I could help, to some degree, any individual who was willing to comply with my recommendations and cooperate with treatment. He told me that I was grandiose in my thinking. Maybe I was. Maybe that is why I have had so many problems within my clinic over the past couple of years since beginning to treat more chronic pain cases. Read more:Update
, Cocaine
, James
, Substance
, Rick James
Psychotherapy 101 2007-02-01 16:00:34
Sigmund Freud was named the Father of Psychoanalysis. . .
He coined a term known as transference and its counterpart. This principle of thought and behavior is common to the psycho dynamics of basic human relationships and encounters and can be either a positive or a negative phenomenon. Transference and counter-transference have both diagnostic and therapeutic significance in certain forms of psychotherapy.
Insight oriented psychotherapy, for example, is highly dependent upon these processes. Transference refers to the transfer of emotions and attitudes about significant figures from ones past onto another figure in the present moment. The two figures may be totally unrelated to each other. A useful example in therapy would be a young woman subject relating to her older male therapist in the same manner she would her father who happens to be similar in age and appearance. She may have been abused or neglected by her father as a child. If so, she may develop prominent symptoms of
Recognition of Black History Month 2007-02-09 05:15:54
Booker T. Washington
February is BlackHistoryMonth
...
I think the largest misconception of the majority population is that something special is being given to a select group of people. The core truth is that education is what it's really all about. It's remedial history to rectify omissions from American History. My opinions usually clash with those with more conservative views and I don't expect anything different here. Personally, I don't care to complain or whine because I'm aware that despite all things considered that I have been blessed and for the most part am quite proud to be an American who happens to be categorized as African American. I wouldn't have it any other way.
One thing that makes America great is its ability to pursue justice perpetually and to right the wrongs of the past. Our democracy is an experiment that is less than 250 years old patterned much after the ancient Greek democracy developed by wise men and scholars of a different era. Ours rem Read more:Recognition
, Black History
, Black History Month
A Look at Relationships 2007-02-16 04:42:07
According to Freud, for one to be truly happy they must first be happy in their primary relationship and with their employment...
Without happiness in these two areas there is little else that really matters in this ever changing human journey. Couples and marriage counseling is one of the areas of my work that I enjoy most. It's hard sometimes for me to understand how someone with a track record as bad as my own can counsel so well in such a difficult area. I don't toot my own horn that often but this is something I like doing and feel I am pretty darn good at. It may be the fact that clarifying and diagnosing relationship problems is the easy part that requires a short amount of time. The really hard part falls on the couple who have to dedicate themselves to looking inward and making a perpetual commitment to change certain behaviors for the common good. A national divorce rate of about 60% is evidence of what a challenge this is.
Maslow was a Behavioral Scientist that gave Read more:Relationships
Thoughts for the Week 2007-02-23 05:48:01
I really hate being the prophet of doom and gloom as the things I sometimes write about seem to represent...
It is all relative to one's overall world view I suppose. When I was a kid I still remember my older sister one day telling me that one day in the far distant future the polar ice caps will melt and the land will eventually be covered by water. That thought was frightening but I always felt it was hundreds of years into the future. Today's scientific data is suggesting that it will definitely happen in this century if we don't succeed in finding alternate energy sources to burning fossil fuels to curb the rate of the greenhouse effect and global warming. Satellite imaging has shown a section of ice the size of the United States totally melted in one arctic region after several thousands of years of stability. The Greenland glaciers of the North can be seen to be rapidly vanishing. So far Mother Earth has been able to compensate but I've learned that scientists believ
Hard Out Here...TGIF 2007-03-02 03:41:20
Just a few hours ago I found myself at a place where I really didn't want to be, but I was there...
Instead of aborting my session with a 16 y.o. girl with severe conduct disorder and oppositional-defiant behavior when it started to heat up I decided to explore a little further. She picked the wrong psychiatrist to try intimidating though anger and verbal aggression today. I think what got me going was her calling me stupid and a fake. She was the one court ordered to the care of a group home after another assault charge and repeated incidents of anger related aggression, yet I was the one who is stupid and just seeing her to get paid. She felt telling me how much she hated me would really make me go away, but it didn't. I wanted to know how could she hate me so much after only seeing me twice before today. Had there not been a chaperone and witness from the group home it would have been extremely foolish for me to take this any further.
Instinctively, I felt I needed to not let h
Search for a Silver Lining 2007-03-10 06:56:44
The past week was a week of sadness and grief...
Less than twenty four hours after the death of my nurses' husband to cancer, my receptionists' grandmother was taken off of life support and pronounced dead. One of the deceased I knew well and the other I'd never met. My practice partner and I made it through the week without support staff the best that we could. I'm glad the week has finally ended. I wanted to find another topic to write on tonight but nothing seems to inspire me. We all wish we could avoid dealing with death and grief but doing so is the greatest form of denial, for death is fully guaranteed for every living creature. It is interesting that this thing we dread and hate so much is the very thing that gives life such value. Were death not a future certainty we would have no reason to be accountable for the life choices we make. It wouldn't matter if we selected a pathway of pure evil and destruction or if we selected the very same pathway we have chosen in our cur Read more:Search
, Silver
, Silver Lining
Reboot 2007-03-18 06:09:46
For a number of reasons, personal and work related, I reached my stress limit...
which began to activate automatic shutdown mode. This requires a weekend brain reboot in order to make it through the next week. The search for mental and emotional refreshment led me to visit the old home place property I purchased last year. My early childhood and much of my adolescence was spent there beginning almost 50 years ago. It seems unreal the way time has flown by. I needed to compare the vivid mental maps from my memory and my frequent dreams to what really existed there today. I expected to look behind the heavy overgrowth and thicket and see the old house. Not a single block or brick remained. The sweet gum quartet that once provided shade for the front yard and porch stood tall after close to 100 years. Even the surface root I walked on as a toddler was not phased by time except for being larger. I noticed that the old cedar tree that was 3rd base during all those ball games had grown i Read more:Reboot
Brief Look at Partner Abuse (and Battered Bloggers) 2007-03-25 05:28:05 For the regular readers, I'm sure you notice the change in layout and graphics on the site...Nothing
is really meant by the change except an opportunity for me to play
around with something I really know very little about. Much like a kid
with a new toy I sometimes get caught up with the creative potential of
my computer. The finished product here was reached by trial and error
of things I've learned to do and things I'm clueless about and just
happen to stumble upon. A reader visiting the first time might get the
wrong idea by some of the images, colors, and hidden humor and think
that I'm either crazy or out of sync with mainstream. I usually make an
effort to write about things that curious minds will find of interest.
I'm aware that perhaps 75% of people will have no idea of what I'm
trying to say and 15 to 20% of people wouldn't find it interesting
anyway. I know that my blog journal is not appropriate for all but I do
appreciate those who fi Read more:Brief
, Partner
Fight or Flight 2007-03-30 06:27:20
I saw a patient a short
while ago who had seen ten doctors and scheduled to see the twelfth
tomorrow...
We had a good first
meeting and I was glad to hear her say she didn't think it would be
necessary to keep that next appointment. Her primary care doctor realized he was
in over his head and that it might be time for a mental health consult. She had
been diagnosed with a common but challenging to treat syndrome Known as
fibromyalgia. People afflicted by this condition frequently may also show signs
and symptoms of Irritable Bowel, Chronic Fatigue, and frequent migraine
headaches. This 55 year old married woman was starting to lose hope that the
medical profession could offer any help for her symptoms of constant burning,
aching, sore muscles and joints. Unlike the drug seekers that often find their
way to my office, she was clearly anti-medication and wanted to get by on the
bare minimum of drugs. The history collected from her showed that she had not Read more:Flight
FAITH : A Different Perspective 2007-04-07 07:50:32
In my view, there are three levels of religious faith...
No I am not ordained by any church organization but do have an opinion from my own experiences which have not been ordinary or trivial. The great thing about having your own site is that it can be used to be truthful about issues and if readers cannot respectfully disagree they are free to change the channel. I once was a big fan of Bill O'Reilly. When I learned what he truly stood for I lost respect and interest and I don't watch his show anymore because i don't see it as representing reality for most people. I won't say anything bad about him but I believe him to be too biased to be objective about serious issues. To the far right is Rush Limbaugh who is mostly a cultish figure almost to comedic proportions bordering on fanaticism. He caters to people who need something to believe in to feel better about themselves. You won't ever here me bash him but neither will I bother listening to what he has to say. He has a purpose Read more:Perspective
Imus: Scapegoat? 2007-04-14 08:37:14
Usually not much into commenting on pop culture issues but the Imus saga seems worthwhile to explore a little. . .
The perspective offered is from that of a mental health professional who happens to be of color. One thing has nothing to do with the other but chances are this perspective is not commonly heard. I think what happened can turn out to have a net positive effect. I think the punishment was a bit harsh and abrupt but also understand that he should have been aware of the consequences of crossing the line from the past mistakes of others in the business. A patient told me that Snoop Dogg had commented about how it was acceptable for him to use similar descriptions repeatedly in the lyrics of his raps but did offer some criticism of Imus' use of such language. I couldn't help but laugh. I have never been a fan of rap music but have dug the charisma of a few artists. It has been my opinion that keeping it real has often been a big pile of b.s. Art can imitate li Read more:Scapegoat
Mind of a Killer 2007-04-18 23:07:32 The tragic shooting spree at Virginia Tech on Monday was shocking to all. . .
But psychiatrists in particular are likely breathing a sigh of relief along with the deep sorrow felt across the nation and world. In our worst nightmares, mass murder is probably the one thing we dread and fear more than a patient we are treating committing suicide. No treating psychiatrist wants to be associated with being the one who could have prevented such an occurence. We know that such behavior cannot be predicted with any reliable degree of certainty and that a ball park estimate of risk is about the best that can be expected in most cases.
The notorious case of the Law student in Chapel Hill, NC several years ago is a constant reminder of the unrealistic expectations a psychiatrist can face when the worst does happen. This hits home because of actually knowing the doctor who was dragged through the courts for just being associated with the psychotic gunman who randomly shot Read more:Killer
ADHD Refresher 2007-04-27 15:59:08 Sometimes I get a little too serious in my entries here...
I then have to remind myself that few people really care about most of those more serious topics. Such ideas don't usually lead to that warm and secure feeling inside that we all seek. Much of the time reality does tend to suck. And then you die. At least once a week I find myself asking why I do the work I do when so many of the people I see seem to suffer endlessly. Without fail, someone will then come in who has responded exceptionally well to treatment to the point their life seems to be transforming. Instantly I'm distracted from thoughts of those who may seem to be in a perpetual state of hopelessness and realize that my intervention has contributed to some degree of happiness for a person in need. It then begins to feels all worthwhile again.
I find treating pediatric or adolescent patients to be most rewarding because they possess so much potential. These youngsters are in the process of being molded. I fin
To Cope with Dope Kills all Hope 2007-05-08 04:02:22
Suffering from a bad case of writer's block for the past few days...
All I know to do is keep hitting the keys in hopes that some inspiration will come. Today was not a bad day as far as the types of cases seen. The only drug addict to enter the building today was not allowed access to me after reporting the theft of medications prescribed 3 days prior. It's hard to believe they try the same old tricks over and over. It is usually a good day when there are no addicts to see. I don't dislike dealing with all people that abuse drugs but if I had to choose one group to avoid this would definitely be it.
Sometimes in the next few months the 100th dismissal mark for the past year and a half for non-compliant substance abusers should be reached. I wish this meant that something great was due to happen but it is just another reminder of a limit for helping people. Three out of ten serious substance abusers have a realistic chance of a complete and productive recovery, no matter wh Read more:Kills
Reform Update 2007-05-12 08:06:38
This week was a busy one...
Certain revelations about the delivery system I found to be most concerning and troubling to consider giving thought to. I want sometimes to be able to just say that I don't care anymore and discover a way to turn a profit and forget about the ethical and sociological dilemmas that face the future of public mental health care delivery. No matter how frustrated I become with the realities I'm faced with I expect to always maintain a certain social consciousness and not sell out. At a dinner meeting last night I was chatting with a colleague who made an insightful comment that rang so true; "our patients don't vote" meaning that they don't really matter to the politicians. I then listened to a story of a professional who organized a voting rally specifically for the mentally ill and took a bus load to vote at a recent election. For this act he almost lost his job.
Often I get tired of mentioning mental health care reform because very few people care abou Read more:Reform
, Update
Advanced Psychotherapy 102 2007-05-17 05:59:15 My last two entries have been total losses. . .
battling at Battle of the Blogs, essentially losing every battle to every genre. I'm not really sure how to take that but probably best with a grain of salt. I suppose in the blogosphere every author, self included, feels their topics are of the utmost importance. Often I recall my youth when I was totally oblivious to current world events or any topic outside of popular media culture of Hollywood tabloids and the sports world. With age my interests have changed 180 degrees and the space in my brain reserved for starting line up rosters and stats of my favorite teams have been replaced by the Democratic and Republican Candidates for the next Presidential election. I've taken interest in 9/11 conspiracy theories and have even tried the stock market and reached a point where I could care less for the Super Bowl or the Final Four. I find myself turned on by excerpts from Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Bill Mauer. I've
Life Pains 2007-05-24 22:15:44 is an unavoidable part of the human experience...
Pain is a sign that something has gone wrong and itself is not a disease or necessarily a bad thing. Pain has been a crucial ingredient of human evolution and without it we would not exist in our current form of existence. One suffering from the neuropathic anesthesia of advanced diabetes can testify to the disadvantage of losing the sensation of pain in the limbs when they suffer from burns or cuts that may have been avoided had the sensation of pain been intact to warn them of the danger of tissue damage at the time of injury. Pain triggered by sensors in the skin signal us to remove our hand from a hot object or sharp object. In the diabetic, sometimes the nerves are damaged and rendered useless by an excess of the sugar glucose in places where it doesn't belong.
My work involves the diagnosis and treatment of depressive illness which often is associated with the symptom of pain, both physical and emotional. My experiences h Read more:Pains
Failure to Communicate? 2007-05-27 17:45:06 The essence of effective communication. . .
requires a complete exchange of thought and feeling between at least two individuals. Having a mutual understanding is the key to communication. Ron Paul received criticism and applause during the last GOP debate between the candidates for President in 2008. The controversy was created because he chose to break rank and interject some basic common sense and truth into the debate.That is something the country has been deprived of for quite some time from many in leadership positions. Ron Paul was able to take this move because he lacks the multi-millions in campaign contributions the front runners will receive. He knows he cannot win because nice guys do usually finish last in American politics. The real irony is that he was making a proposal to return to traditional conservative values of staying out of the affairs of other countries, spending at home first, and considering communication before bombing the heck out Read more:Communicate
Recommend Site To A Friend
