Nice Couple, the Obamas

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-05-2008
Nice Couple, the Obamas
199
Sat, 11-29-2008 - 4:19pm
Barack and Michelle:

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-04-2003
Thu, 12-04-2008 - 11:32am

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I'm currently working in a research lab of a university. While I'm not working with any Psychiatrists who do counseling, I am working with a couple of profs and Grad students who are specializing in doing research into cognitive psychology. The thing is, many people pursue avenues of study in which they have an interest (be it due to personal or family/friend related). It's possible that because someone has an issue such as this (eg. depression, learning disorder etc...) a person may be in that field in part to heal/understand themselves (or a loved one).

Also it's my understanding that it is often a requirement for psychiatrists to go to counseling themselves (or have a mentor, so to speak) as part of the job. There's a lot of stigma attached to mental health or seeking treatment for mental issues. The stigma would obviously be less within that field. In any event....having a few "issues" is not uncommon for almost everyone I know (and I wonder if it's any worse than your usual work environment - even the medical staff of a hospital - where a cross-section of people could have any number of health related issues....e.g. some may have high blood pressure, others asthma and allergies, someone may be a little overweight, another has anemia, someone might be a little depressed, have a learning disorder etc...). Folks in the mental health field would be no different I'd imagine....and like someone who was inspired to become a cardiologist due to a family history of heart problems for example, a person in the mental health field might be in a similar boat....E.G. A mental health issues could perhaps be a little more common (or perhaps more commonly diagnosed) among some people in that field maybe?

Also....Would it be necessarily bad of one's counselor did have personal experience with something like say....depression? Would that not make them slightly more understanding/empathetic/"expert" than someone else?

Obviously, we wouldn't want to be treated by a person who's completely looney tunes but I think mental health problems are more common among the general population that most people acknowledge or are aware of - be it due to the stigma which prevents seeking treatment or acknowledging a problem that may be treatable, difficulties in diagnosing these things....or even lack of good insurance which prevents people from seeking treatment in the first place?

I know that in Canada we have universal health coverage, but this does not really cover mental health treatment (except through a physician - who aren't really specialists rather than a psychiatrist and this is often only workable as a temporary fix particluarly extreme cases ).

http://www.longwoods.com/product.php?productid=19177&cat=499

""Income and education may act differently upon rates of service use by the type of mental health services examined. Across Canada, physician-provided mental healthcare is fully covered by our universal healthcare coverage system. This is not the case for psychologists, social workers or other mental health counsellors. While some psychologists are employed in hospitals or other specialized programs, almost 80% of consultations with psychologists occur within the private rather than the public system (Romanow 2003). On the other hand, social workers are primarily employed by public institutions, with only a minority working in private practice (CASW 2000). It is possible that our current mental health system mitigates income barriers for MD-provided healthcare and care provided by social workers, but not for psychologists. We would not expect universal healthcare coverage to mitigate barriers that are associated with low education levels.""

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2008
Thu, 12-04-2008 - 11:44am

I think you are spot on about people taking an interest in the mental health field based on their own issues or those of loved ones.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-08-2008
Thu, 12-04-2008 - 12:09pm

"Again, Obama was born in Hawaii, a state, to a mother who was a U.S. citizen.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2008
Thu, 12-04-2008 - 12:15pm

Obama was born in Hawaii.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-11-1999
Thu, 12-04-2008 - 12:22pm

Sue, in this case there were serious issues. This woman was the first person I had dated after my wife died.


There is a strip club around here called Deja Vu, I think it actually might be national. They used to have a slogan on their billboards-"100s of beautiful girls-and 3 ugly ones". M used to go off on me continually about this-wasn't it awful, shouldn't something be done?" I mean, she would REALLY go off. I finally snapped at her "I didn't put the friggin thing up! What do you want me to do?"


She had serious commitment issues. About a month after we became lovers she called me up and really went off the deep end (I hadn't held her hand in the car on the way back from a date.) She spent 10 minutes insulting me personally, sexually and every other way before she broke it off, and of course followed that a few days later with the "it's not you it's me" email. She then began emailing my brother behind my back till he told her to stop.


Ironically she's doing couples counseling in town now. I was REALLY glad to get out of that and have passed up chances to date psychiatrists since.

dablacksox


Cynic: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.---Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary.

dablacksox


Cynic: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.---Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2008
Thu, 12-04-2008 - 12:23pm

That was a really great post. You are so correct. A high school friend of mine became a PhD, it was required to go through psychotherapy. Some people think it's just so they know what it's like to be on the other side of the equation, but according to my friend, it was more so to help ensure a person has worked out any mental health issues someone might have.

Your comments about the lack of mental health care in the Canadian system is well noted. Even in the US, mental health care is lacking. 20 years ago there was not the limitations of in patient or out patient care we now see in our insurance policies, generally. I can't speak as an expert, but just from what I know. PPO's are better than HMO's, they seem to work more like your system with the care being given by MD's not specializing in psych. I am aware that a resident that is not specializing in mental health care spends 1-2 months in a psych rotation. 2 months would be generous. While there, they spend most of their time doing the physical on admits, and sitting in when allowed. The really good residents seek out opportunities for learning, unfortunately, many don't care for psych, and have no interest.
A government run or funded health system would most likely model an HMO than a PPO, as your system seems to. Through friends and colleagues I've seen how devastating it can be when you can't get the help you need, and must deal with an MD not educated on addressing mental health issues past an initial 20 question type evaluation.

**** **** **** **** **** **** "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." Gerald R. Ford
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2007
Thu, 12-04-2008 - 12:24pm

From your link:


Sopal

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2008
Thu, 12-04-2008 - 12:27pm

;-)


iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2008
Thu, 12-04-2008 - 12:30pm

I imagine there are always those that don't really address issues before or develop them after becoming a mental health professional. There are looney people out there everywhere. It concerns me to see a person slammed, questioning their mental health simply because someone doesn't agree. There's enough stigma and myths out there regarding mental health.

I believe the man being disparaged in this thread was being called out b/c he would have been paid to testify. One of the credentials sited in the article was that he is a Forensic Psychologist or Psychiatrist. I think that is what qualifies him to evaluate circumstances in criminal cases. That is the field of Forensic psychologists and psychiatrists, criminals.

**** **** **** **** **** **** "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." Gerald R. Ford
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-23-2008
Thu, 12-04-2008 - 12:31pm
I believe this issue will be put to rest soon. It can't be soon enough for me.
**** **** **** **** **** **** "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." Gerald R. Ford

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