1 Boring Old Man

It’s not bizarre, it just shows how entrenched the APA is with people I feel are antisocial.

It’s time for people to wake up and realize that as long as the behaviors of Nemeroff et al continue to go unchallenged by “colleagues” who know better, nothing will change.

Dr Nardo, you yourself posted that video by John Oliver a couple of days ago. While there was somewhat of a comic vein to the YouTube video, at the end of the day it was very ugly and hideous stuff to have to watch. And that’s the kind of press where responsible and appropriate physicians should not only find disdainful and demeaning, but start to put the colleagues who create this disdain out to pasture.

But most to read here know that. It’s just a shame that not too many people read here.

Oh, my. Those guys are the gifts that keep on giving, aren’t they? Cats must be jealous over the number of lives they apparently have.

On the other hand, for any readers who are attending, Drs. Joanna Moncrieff, Hugh Middleton, and I are going to present at a workshop on the long-term use of neuroleptics. This is being co-chaired by Dr. Carl Cohen and Dr. Stephen Marder is our discussant. This will take place on Monday May 18 at 9-10:30 am.

Ms. Steingard, I hope that there is some way that those of us who cannot attend will be able to learn more about the workshop. Would it be possible to post a link or direct us to some resources before or after the meeting?

<> I would not be so sure about that. I bet there are a surprising number of lurkers. It’s unusual to find such articulate commentary on a blog, and even very bright folks may find it a bit intimidating.
I do know that every time I time I have referred a colleague to this site, their reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.

Part of what maintains the status quo is the barrier between the medical and non-medical psychotherapies. If word starts spreading through the larger mental health community– to MFT, PsyD, LPCC and MSW training programs– it will be a struggle to keep up with all the traffic.

There are a lot of bright, angry, disaffected interns and psych assistants out there. If enough of those kids started reading blogs like this one and putting the pieces together, riot control might become a real priority.

“Were I to list entrepreneurial psychiatrists, they’d occupy the top two positions”.

They may be the most entrepreneurial academic psychiatrists, but don’t forget about Daniel Amen! The amount of money Amen makes and the influence he has on the general public probably dwarfs that of the Schatzberg/Nemeroff complex, though he does not have as much influence on the psychiatry profession as a whole.

As for your question about why they’re still showcased, I bet it comes down to personal charisma and presentation skills. It has nothing to do with the facts. That quality of being someone that John Q. Public would want to have a beer with goes a surprisingly long way (see George W. Bush). I don’t know about Nemeroff, but Schatzberg certainly has a very warm, avuncular feel to him, at least when he isn’t lambasting the press. These qualities probably lead them to get very high ratings on the feedback forms that APA attendees fill out, guaranteeing that they will get invited back in the future.

“As for your question about why they’re still showcased, I bet it comes down to personal charisma and presentation skills….but Schatzberg certainly has a very warm, avuncular feel to him, at least when he isn’t lambasting the press.”

That could be interpreted a few ways at least, to me, well , the charming disarming qualites of the antisocial? I have never met either man noted above in Psycritic’s comment, but, I have heard others note that some chairmen of Psych Depts are two faced bastards, and oh, the one I had to deal with in my residency, the textbook personality disordered slime I sense these current folks resemble.

Maybe I am off base in my opinion, but, with the way psychiatry has deteriorated in respect and responsible actions, well, how much of it is just stupidity or poor attention to appropriate detail, or, just the breeding ground of characterological impaired individuals who have found a fertile breeding ground to reek havoc? You decide.

Dr. Steingard, I hope you write a blog post or two about the reception for your workshop. Is it sponsored by the APA Radical Caucus?

“Part of what maintains the status quo is the barrier between the medical and non-medical psychotherapies. If word starts spreading through the larger mental health community– to MFT, PsyD, LPCC and MSW training programs– it will be a struggle to keep up with all the traffic.

There are a lot of bright, angry, disaffected interns and psych assistants out there. If enough of those kids started reading blogs like this one and putting the pieces together, riot control might become a real priority.”

I am one of the young non-medical/mental health trainees you are referring to. I’ve been working as a psychology assistant at a major university teaching hospital for psychiatry students over the past few years. This blog has given me an important alternative perspective to the patient care and grand rounds (delivered by many of the big names mentioned in this blog) that I’ve seen there. I’m hoping the younger generation who visits this blog can bring a different attitude and viewpoint toward the future development of mental health care.

The workshop might be taped but if it is, it would be the property of the APA. My own talk is already available at MIA and I suspect Dr. Moncrieff will also talk about topics she has covered in her excellent book, “The Bitterest Pills”. Dr. Middleton will be talking about placebo. Dr. Cohen is part of the APA Radical caucus. I may blog about this.

Timshel,

I am assuming your alias is a nod to East of Eden, if so, I like it.

There is this thing, and it is the huge unspoken but understood thing that mental health professionals who publicly criticize shoddy scholarship or studies will face wrath, not the bad scientist. Therefore, the APA elects Presidents who are publicly embarrassed in congressional inquiries, but those who dare criticize such a man are considered by the hall monitors of the APA as “uncivil”. This is also why a psychiatrist like Dr. Hasan can give a horrifying grand rounds that was a clear indication of trouble ahead, and no one dared say anything.

Because after all the “feelings” of psychiatric bureaucrats and colleagues are more important that coming up with effective treatments for our patients. And careerist logrolling means more than producing a study that can actually be replicated.

I’ve commented before that I’m sick of the thing where gold and garbage alike (to quote Meehl) are equally praised at case conferences and in psychiatric journals.

I’m also sick of this attitude where psychiatrists claim to have their professional feelings hurt so easily for producing garbage. First of all, if your feelings are easily hurt, get into another profession. You will have to deal with transference. Secondly, if your bad scholarship is getting criticized, write better papers and articles. And third, study a little Buddhism (and review Kohut), the world doesn’t revolve around your feelings, and you will make yourself miserable with that attitude.