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June 19, 2013

Peter Grier and Harry Bruinius: In the end, NSA might not need to snoop so secretly after all

Howard LaFranchi: Taliban peace talks hold glimmer of hope, but also unanswerable questions

Warren Richey: Supreme Court: For right to remain silent, a suspect must speak
Meredith Cohn: Leeches are making a comeback as medical helpers

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to pick the healthiest breakfast cereal

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: Spicy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

June 17, 2013

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein: Black to the Future: American Apparel Gets Biblical

Patrik Jonsson: Minnesota Nazi: How did Nazi hunters miss Michael Karkoc?

Kate Irby, Ali Watkins, Trevor Graff and Kevin Thibodeaux: All the ways you're being watched
Don Lee: G-8 meeting will test NSA leaks' effect on U.S. influence

Patrik Jonsson: Fort Hood shooting: Judge nixes Nidal Hasan defense strategy. What now?

Stacey Burling: Why the stigma for migraine sufferers?

The Kosher Gourmet by Lisa Abraham: Does it work? 5 new kitchen gadgets put to the test

June 14, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget: Religious economics and being a ruler

John P. Martin: Hitler insider's missing diary found

Matt Pearce: NSA surveillance disclosure could affect court cases
Peter Tinti: US bounties changes strategy on (Wild, Wild) West African jihadis

Daniel Pendrick, M.D.: Memory loss? Old age may be the least of it

Lauren F. Friedman: But it's all natural! Should we have an instinctive preference for herbal remedies?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Streisand and Alicia Keys in Israel; "Girls" Stuff; Mel Brooks, Another TV special; Superman (who is Jewish) returns --- Israeli plays his mom

The Kosher Gourmet by Sharon K. Ghag : Bored with salad? Bling it up a bit (4 effortless recipes that will result in a 'WOW!')

June 12, 2013

Stephanie Hanes: Little girls or little women? The Disney princess effect

Fred Weir: In tweak to US, Russia would 'consider' asylum for Snowden

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: What's so special about Omega-3 supplements?
Morgan Housel: What newspapers were saying when you should have been buying

Pete Spotts: How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass 'roach motels'

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: Deep-dish cookie: Warm, gooey and a little over the top

June 10, 2013

Joseph A. Slobodzian: Faith healing and third degree murder: Thorny legal case
Lindsay Wise: Few options for online users to avoid spying, experts say

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: There are plenty of nutritional food bargains out there
Harvard Health Letters: Can bariatric surgery control diabetes?

Zach Murdock: Superglue helps doctors save infant's life

The Kosher Gourmet by Celebrated chef Mario Batali : As good as grilling gets: Rib eye with dry mushroom spice rub

June 7, 2013

Rabbi David Aaron: Beating jealousy

Caroline B. Glick: Wounded . . . and dangerous

Clifford D. May: Al Qaeda vs. Hezbollah
Harvard Health Letters: Fighting back against allergy season

Kimberly Lankford: Grandparents who use FSA to cover grandkid's braces and other must-know info

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom:J ewish Tony Nominees/Tony Awards; Jewish Teen Actor In Sci-Fi Flick; Jewish singer in "Voice" finals

The Kosher Gourmet by Anjali Prasertong: A tart filling so good it might not make it to the crust

June 5, 2013

John Rosemond: Mom, Dad: Talk More and listen less

Kristen Chick: Egypt court sentences 43 pro-democracy workers to prison

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Mushrooms Have Medicinal As Well As Culinary Value
Morgan Housel: Why you never learn from your investment mistakes

Don Lee: In China, kindergarten rivalry takes deadly turn

The Kosher Gourmet by Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan: 30-Minute Coq au Vin isn't a dream

June 3, 2013

Molly Hennessy-Fiske: Military judge to consider letting Fort Hood shooting defendant represent himself

Richard A. Serrano: Pvt. Bradley Manning's WikiLeaks trial also a test for government

Mark Trumbull: Have degree, driving cab: Nearly half of college grads are overqualified
Kim Lankford: What to do when long-term care insurance premiums rise

Deborah Netburn: Study: Adults' mouth bacteria may help babies

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Contestant on 'The Voice'; Will Smith's 'Jewish movie family'; Bravo Gives Long Island Jews the Jersey Shore Treatment; Magicians and More

The Kosher Gourmet by Bill Ward: How to be as refined as the wines at a wine tasting

May 29, 2013

Andrew Connelly and Helene Bienvenu: The Little Synagogue that Refused to Die

Dennis Prager: The 'Muslims-Killed-by-the-West' Lie

David Clark Scott: Open war on teachers?
Morgan Housel: If you know only five things about investing, make it these

Sara Reardon: AGenome detectives change the donation game

Deborah Netburn: A one-way ticket to Mars? 78,000-plus and counting apply by video

The Kosher Gourmet by Bev Bennett: CHEDDAR AND CHERRY MUFFINS --- your mouth is already watering

May 24, 2013

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: When I didn't so 'humbly disagree'

Caroline B. Glick: Thank you, Hafez al-Assad

Diana West: From the Brooklyn Bridge to London
Morgan Housel: Why spotting bubbles is so much harder than you think

Environmental Nutrition editors: NuVal labeling to the rescue?

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Memorial Day: Jews Serving and KIA in War on Terror; Liberace Bio-Pic; Jew Wins "Survivor"; Shalom, Dr. Brothers; More

The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: HIDE THESE FROZEN TREATS FROM THE KIDDIES!: Sangria pops; Irish cream pudding pops; mango Lassi pops

May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting


Jewish World Review April 26, 2007 / 8 Iyar, 5767

Peril in Unwatched Madness

By Suzanne Fields


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Psychiatrists of my acquaintance tell me they've got a lot of work in the wake of the massacre at Virginia Tech. Parents who had buried their heads in the sandbox since Johnny or Chloe were young children behaving badly are dragging their late adolescent and young adult sons and daughters in for checkups and treatment. Many of them, says one psychiatrist, lapsing into the politically incorrect language the rest of sometimes use, are "lunatics."


We've whitewashed language about the mentally ill. Labels that once got immediate attention are obfuscated with evasion and euphemism so as not to offend. Psychiatric diagnoses are couched in frilly language to obscure so we don't "stigmatize" or "victimize." Calling an illness a "personality disorder" doesn't frighten with the urgency of "paranoid schizophrenic." Sometimes new diagnoses are tailored to persuade the green eyeshade men at the insurance companies. Sometimes the professionals don't want to lower the "self-esteem" of their patients, so they make them sound more normal than they really are. Trends in caring for the mentally ill run in several directions.


For eight years in the long ago I edited a mental health magazine for professionals, called "Innovations." We featured new treatments and attitudes toward those suffering from a wide range of mental illnesses. Some of the new approaches were promising; others were useless. They all were lumped together, entangled in public policy, abetted by a philosophy that one size fits all. That was a deadly formula for cost-cutting state legislatures.


Typical was a headline on one community program: "From the back ward to the front porch." A copy editor had put into neat perspective what we all wanted to believe, that new drugs could do what Freud never dreamed of. No soul searching or long sessions on the couch. Independent living in the community was the best way to treat mental disorder. States radically reduced their patient populations or closed mental hospitals, which cost more to run than luxury hotels (without the luxury). Patients moved into rooming houses or halfway houses with poor supervision. Neighbors protested. Hallucinating bag ladies and delusional men headed for warm climates to sleep on park benches and sidewalk vents. The golden age dawned.


If they stayed on their meds (an enormous "if"), some of them could manage in group homes, but they often discarded their prescriptions because of uncomfortable side effects. For decades, society, driven by a variety of vested interests, began camouflaging the kind of mental disability exhibited by Cho Seung-hui, the shooter at Blacksburg. Parents were embarrassed to seek help. Civil liberties lawyers rigorously defended the rights of the nuts. Authorities were afraid of getting sued. Friends were protective. Hospitalization was expensive. We can't know whether psychiatry could have prevented Cho's murderous rage, but the tragedy should shake us up enough to think again about attitudes toward mental illness and how to treat it.


Parents who refused to commit their children before the massacre may be more willing to get help for them now. Commitment laws have to be examined closely and sometimes changed. Parents and policy makers as well as friends and family — including sisters, cousins and aunts — must realize that seriously mentally ill patients must be observed by professionals for a long time to see how they function on drugs and therapy. The complexities of mental illness do not often, or even usually, become apparent in outpatient treatment. Symptoms can mimic a wide range of human behavior that can pass for normal, or merely eccentric. Psychopaths are particularly clever in fooling us.


We still don't know a lot about the different causes and cures for mental illness. While Cho's "creative writing" is supposed to have offered clues to his potential for violence, many of our best writers have depicted, albeit far more stylishly, similarly violent themes. It's comforting to blame the violent messages on movies and music, but young men in other cultures who get different cultural messages — Islamic messages, for example — become suicide bombers, and many are as crazy as Cho. Culture can enable a mentally sick person to sublimate his craziness in forms that are either approved, rewarded or go unchallenged by society. It's unlikely to be the root cause of sickness.


Scientific research has uncovered parts of the brain that trigger psychopathology (including tumors) and is beginning to reveal how genetics, brain circuitry and biological predispositions play into mental disorders. But common sense is as important as science in confronting somebody who consistently seems a little "off." We don't have perfect knowledge or absolute cures, but we should at least act sensibly on what we do have. To paraphrase Hamlet: "Madness in ordinary ones, must not unwatched go."

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