Joe Lieberman is getting on my nerves.
First, his FOXtrot on healthcare, now Lieberman is spooking people by suggesting Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan a "self-radicalized, home-grown terrorist." Oooh, the Mohammedans are coming! Wait, says Joe, they're already here! Lieberman needs to remember that the United States is a diverse country and that includes people of the Muslim faith and Arabic descent. He oughta know better.
It's not like Hasan was in his right mind. So far, we've learned he was isolated, lonely, possibly harassed for his faith, and inundated with horrific accounts of war. All that built up inside and led to something--extreme anger, hopelessness, depression--and he exploded by mowing down innocent people. We have an understanding of what is sane and what is not in our society. It's easy when it's something that doesn't harm us, say, public nudity; or something that disgusts us, like a taste for flame-broiled human flesh. In my opinion, killing large numbers of people falls on the side of insane.
People act like calling him mentally ill is dismissing his behavior; that's ridiculous. It's trying to understand what happened so that we can be proactive rather than reactive. Clearly, the threat of surviving the shooting spree or being court martialed wasn't enough to make Hasan rethink his actions.
What's interesting to me is that he was a psychiatrist. And while psychiatrists aren't any wackier than the rest of the population, they are, it seems, less likely to seek help. Wayne State University professor Richard Baylon surveyed 567 psychiatrists in Michigan. Fifteen percent said that they had treated themselves for depression; forty-three percent said they would treat themselves for mild depression; and seven percent said they would treat themselves even if they were suicidal.
According to Psychologist Ira Rosofsky, some of the reluctance to seek help by psychiatrists is to "keep a clean malpractice insurance record." Another reason he gives is to avoid licensing problems. But the overall stigma of mental illness is even more acute for mental health professionals. So, they don't get the help they need.
Crazy, isn't it?
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3 comments:
the officers in the military, don't they have their own officers' living quarters? or is this type of arrangement old fashioned? i found it odd that he was residing in a derelict area, with bum neighbors.
in norway, a prime minister (Bondevik) took a 1 month long sickleave due to mental illness. he came back to work and completed his term. i think doctors here can seek help if they have psychiatric issues without it being used against them. if lieberman had mental issues would he be open about it?
another difference we have with the US is the obligatory military service. we all serve in the military unless you have a personal conviction like pacifism, in that case you're assigned to do alternative national service e.g. helping the community. your military is voluntary, and increasingly it has been commercialized and outsourced to private businesses. why can't a soldier resign from the military if he does not believe in it?
it is surprising when violence erupts in a civilian setting, but in the military we should assume that to be the norm. many deaths in the military occur due to 'friendly' fire. they don't like to talk about it though.
Joe Lieberman is getting on my nerves too. He's a total idiot and I would argue, un-American.
He has his healthcare paid for by the American people but he's all too happy to deny the uninsured and the under-insured, access to the same care he and Haddasah enjoy.
If he is successful and filibusters the healthcare reform bill, I hope he's removed from office.
Wow Cigaal, that is deep--I didn't know that about Norway's P.M. Maybe an openess about mental health is why Norway is considered one of the "happier" countries.
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