Sunday, May 22, 2011

Need Therapy? A Good Man is Hard To Find!



This is a complicated issue. Men find it difficult to go into therapy for many reasons. One is the relatively low number of male therapists. Should it matter? Perhaps not, but then you would have to argue that women should not prefer female therapists. Research indicates that in the long run the gender of the therapist is not significant to therapeutic outcome. It is in the decision to seek therapy that it matters. Patients believe, rightly or not, that having a same gender therapist will be more comfortable for them. This belief and the difficulty in finding a male therapist contributes, along with other factors, to the reluctance of men to enter a therapeutic relationship.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Abusing the Elderly with Antipsychotic Medication


Antipsychotics are too often used to control behavior in two of our most vulnerable groups: children and the elderly. The behavior is often an adaptation to an unsupportive, chaotic, dysfunctional, overstimulating or, in some cases, understimulating environment. I've written about the over use of medications with children before. Here is an article outlining the risks for seniors. Why is it done? Two reasons, mainly: convenience and money. If you have a depressed, unhappy, or angry resident in a nursing home, it's much easier to zonk them with meds than to address their concerns. It's easier for the administrators, staff, and physicians. It's also cheaper, at least in the short-run. So, our most vulnerable continue to be subjected to medications proven to be quite risky and not proven to be effective at much beyond over-sedation.