by admin on July 28, 2011
Universal healthcare sure sounds appealing. I resent the high price that my family pays for our health insurance, and my deductibles prevent the policy from paying anything toward the occasional minor surgery or consultation. But one thing is apparent for anyone who opens a newspaper this summer– the US is struggling to pay the bills. While we once gazed at Canada or the Brits with condescension, we now look with envy at the relative soundness of their economies. Canada balances their budgets in part by tapping their large oil reserves– while the US reserves at both coastlines are buried much deeper in regulations and prohibitions than in seawater. And Great Britain has found the courage to reduce government spending to a much greater extent than even the most ‘severe’ proposed reductions in the US.
Seniors Suffer in the UK
Even though Canada and Great Britain are on more sound financial footing than the US, both countries have struggled under the weight of their own healthcare programs. For many years both countries have rationed healthcare to an extent that would shock US health consumers. In Canada, the process is called ‘queuing’, which refers to long wait lines for procedures– sometimes longer than the life-span of the person in line. A patient recently complained that his MRI for his sore knee couldn’t be done for several weeks at his local US hospital; in Canada, the same test would be done after a period measured in years, and would include travel to a regional medical center– not the trip to the local hospital as in the US.
Limitations on care in both countries are minimized by the governments, although the press, save for the most liberal publications, frequently describe the dire circumstances for anyone unlucky enough to need surgery, a catheterization, or any other procedure. As the US chooses to step closer to the British model, we should take a look at the ‘future of US healthcare’ if that model is firmly adopted.
by admin on July 16, 2011
by admin on March 23, 2011
I’ve described my approach to psychiatric care throughout my web pages. In case you’ve missed those comments, I’ll briefly summarize them below. I’m writing this post primarily so that I will have a web address to give people who ask about my practice.
Some background for the goals I’ve set for my practice:
- There are times when medication is a Godsend for psychiatric illness and symptoms, for example in treating moderate to severe depression, REAL bipolar disorder (i.e. not the bipolar label that is tossed on to every teen who is acting out), psychotic disorders, and moderate to severe anxiety disorders. Children and adults with significant ADD also do much better with medication than with treatments that do not include medication.
- On the other hand, there are many cases of over-reliance on medications. Studies have established that the best treatments are those that combine medication with attempts to improve insight into problem behaviors. Recent studies suggest that antidepressant medications do little for mild depression, and that at least some of the benefit comes from the patient feeling understood, cared for, and reassured that things will ultimately be OK.
- I find the practice employed in some psychiatric offices to be utterly deplorable, where people are seen for very limited periods of time, diagnoses are assigned, and potent medications are prescribed– without taking the time to understand ALL of the factors involved in the patient’s symptoms, and to explain all options for treatment– including the risks of each option.
- People do well when they are treated well. People want to be ‘understood’ by their psychiatrist, and that cannot happen if an appointment begins with a 30-minute wait! How, in such cases, can the psychiatrist claim empathy for the patient’s feelings– right after demonstrating the opposite? And how can someone accurately assess the personality traits of a person who has just been forced to go through a dismissive, frustrating experience?
