Psychiatry's Reach and Scope, Mental Illness, Psychopharmacology

Recently, I read the following hard-hitting piece that touched a personal chord in me:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/magazine/25Memoir-t.html.

Subsequently, when I googled its author Dr. Daniel Carlat's name I came upon his blog: http://carlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com/.

While there, I added my own two cents' on the subject and here it is:

Dear Dr. Carlat,

Your succinct piece in the Times touched a personal chord for me. My mother had been depressed since her angioplastie (even this procedure was probably unnecessary!) in January 2006. A woman who was 24/7 active became 24/7 inactive! Indeed, she was also treated by psychiatrists.

A highly intelligent and strong-willed woman, recently, she stopped all medication, including for her heart and is doing much better. She has even begun eating much better. Up until recently she hardly ate and stayed in bed almost all the time.

A trained musician she was teaching tens of students but now, the only music she religiously listens to is mine every day at a set time. She's not normal yet, but since she stopped all medication, she certainly has come a long way and finally, as her daughter and caregiver, I'm beginning to feel hopeful. I've taken her up as a project and I'm beginning to see results. Thanks for your total honesty in talking about your profession.

With all due respect to my psychiatrist friends, I must confess that I didn’t think they could cure her (they had no idea of her belief system nor her upbringing, which in my opinion contribute much to how one deals with life’s traumas), and they didn’t. One of them (not my friend) came across as a real quack, in fact. I’m not sure if she was a psychiatrist or from one of those sub-professions.

I felt very sorry to read about your mother’s suicide.

Ro.

I am no expert on the subject, but I feel that particularly in mental illness, cure and treatment have to be highly individualized. This is what is working in my mother's case and in her case, the family's care and support trumped anything else available.

The gains for the family are untold although in the short run, the caregiver himself/herself could go insane. But if one hangs in there the rewards are multiple. It's amazing how for someone who is not known for her patience, this experience has taught me sensitivity and has fulfilled my own need to serve. Good deed came seeking me instead of the other way round.

Ciao!
Ro.

Healthy Eating, Soul Food, First Lady Michelle Obama, Jane Brody

Hi,

Based on my family's health history, I must be going to the doctor every other day to make sure all my vitals are okay and that I am not dying. Then again, the crazy person that I am, I don't although in 2008 I was forced to because, while in the garden trying to clear a thicket, I was infected with I don't know what and the pathetic condition of my skin (lots of centipede-like furrows all over my arms and legs) scared the hell out of me. The doctor thought it was poison ivy, which of course was treatable. But since I rarely go to a doctor I decided to have a few other tests run on me. A big mistake! My cholesterol was messed up. Both my LDL and HDL had headed in the wrong direction. When I returned home, I was miserable. It was if I had to pretty much stop eating. I got depressed and broke down. I had always watched my weight but lately I went just by my clothing size (6). It so happened that just then the clothiers had expanded the size. In other words, the label might say 6 but the actual size was much larger. This meant I had been overeating and the wrong kind of foods as well. Because it was August and thus the throes of summer I had really been indulging. For instance, for nearly two weeks just before I went to the doctor, I had been bingeing on cheese, eggs and ice cream. Yes, go figure as they say on Mars!

So now my LDL and HDL readings turned my whole life upside down. I had been exercising regularly but this also had made me a bit cocky about my eating habits. Pecan pies had begun to appear in my cabinet more often now. After my visit to the doctor's all this had to stop, of course. The first thing I was going to do was, increase the fiber content in my diet as per my research on the subject. This meant that my favorite cereal from Trader Joe's, the almond, cashew loaded granola had to be the first item to be replaced. Luckily I found a high fiber cereal which while could not hold a candle to my bowl of granola was still definitely the best substitute under the circumstances. Slowly I found a happy medium and also ran into the owner of a high impact gym in town as opposed to the low impact one I was going to till then.

Now, two years later, my clothes are loose on me (I even own a few size 4's; okay these may in reality be a real size 6), I have returned to my almond and cashew-loaded cereal 1/2 cup equals 160 calories; with milk another eighty calories), have a wedge of Toblerone (140 calories worth as opposed to two Hersey almond or caramel kisses from before worth a mere 50 calories; I plan to go back to the kisses) for dessert and of course, a couple of all natural cookies (no more than a total of a 150 calories) and six ounces of OJ before bed time so I can sleep through the night. My lunch is a vegetarian salmagundi sprinkled with dried cranberries and some walnuts followed a couple of sesame balls, a delectable dessert. A Nonni’s biscotti is a must with my afternoon coffee. In-between snacking includes a banana, orange and sometimes a yam and once in a while a few peanuts. Dinner is cooked cracked wheat and some grain-based or vegetable-based side dish topped with home made skim milk yogurt.

I know that some extremely health-conscious folks will not approve of the desserts in my diet but they are for my soul. If my soul is not happy, I'm not happy and I make the people around me also unhappy. Been there, done that and it was not pretty. I used to be obsessive and self-absorbed.

Healthy eating alone can go only so far. As long as I don't overindulge, I should continue to be healthy. Knock on wood. Moreover, what exactly is the point of hitting the gym six days a week at 6 a.m. and getting on the elliptical and the treadmill for half hour followed by another fifteen minutes of resistance exercises if I can't eat my favorite foods? This is my whole motivation behind my regular gymming. Even health experts like Jane Brody of the New York Times advise people not to let go of their indulgences. Apparently, she loves ice cream and she has it every day. I know that first Lady Michelle Obama will not approve of this, but much as I admire her, this is one area where I'm not going to listen to the First Lady:)

All right, enough on this subject for now.

Ciao!
Ro.

Some of my essays. columns and articles from a bunch of other sources

http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2001/02/dreams.htm (Dreams)
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2001/07/rationality-and-romance.htm (Rationality and Romance)
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2001/06/juggling.htm (Juggling)
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2001/05/looks.htm (Looks)
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2001/03/dowry-and-other-issues.htm (Dowry and other issues)
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/09/communication.htm (Communication)

http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/06/rab-se-bhi-sona-ishq.htm (B’s letter)
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/02/older-woman-younger-man.htm (Older woman younger man)
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/10/i-would-have-preferred-love-marriage.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/05/jim-and-i.htm (A love story)
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/08/a-spicy-exchange.htm (A playboy)
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/09/a-possessive-boyfriend.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/07/introduction.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2001/01/should-i-call-it-quits.htm (A dilemma)
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/10/infidelity.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/07/the-ageless-heart-and-life-with-an-alcoholic-husband.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/12/women-and-marriage.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/11/does-he-or-doesn-t-he.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/10/youthful-indiscretions.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/12/the-second-time-around.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/12/love-bah-humbug-oh-yeah.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/08/does-everybody-want-freedom.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/09/teenager-versus-parent.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/11/oh-that-cussed-four-letter-word.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/07/difficult-hubby.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/04/i-maa-tujhe-salaam-i.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/03/to-love-or-not-to-love.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/02/valentine-s-day-special-a-potpourri.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/12/perfect-matches.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/11/are-we-too-self-absorbed.htm
http://doc-dot-ro.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/08/cyberlove.htm


http://rohini-ramanathan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/02/discovering-madras.htm
http://rohini-ramanathan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2005/09/sheer-madness.htm (Sheer Madness)
http://rohini-ramanathan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2005/07/parent-as-riverbank.htm (Parent as Riverbank)
http://rohini-ramanathan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2001/10/a-trilogy.htm (The Trilogy)
http://rohini-ramanathan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2001/09/putting-humpty-dumpty-back-together-again.htm (Short Story)
http://rohini-ramanathan.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/09/new-york-indians.htm (New York Indians)
http://rohini-ramanathan.sulekha.com/blog/post/1999/05/motherhood-revisited.htm
http://rohini-ramanathan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/02/it-s-the-small-gestures.htm
http://rohini-ramanathan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/02/thanks-but-no-thanks-i-m-no-glutton.htm
http://rohini-ramanathan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2000/02/chat-room-holidays.htm
http://ihi.sulekha.com/blog/post/2006/11/india-s-maps-2.htm (About Walmart’s entry into India)

http://business.rediff.com/news/2000/dec/19rohini.htm (Brave New World)
http://business.rediff.com/news/2000/dec/19rohini.htm (Living in Multiple Worlds)
http://www.rediff.com/us/2000/aug/10us.htm (The frothies and me)
http://indiaabroad.com/us/2000/jul/27us2.htm (All About Choices)
http://indiaabroad.com/us/2000/jul/11us2.htm (America’s 224th Birthday)
http://indiaabroad.com/us/2000/jun/13us2.htm (The Indian-American Pie)
http://im.rediff.com/news/2000/oct/06spec.htm (Am American Ramlila)
http://imworld.rediff.com/us/2000/sep/19us.htm (Getting the message across)
http://www.rediff.com/us/2000/jul/06us.htm (When Indian Women Meet Across Oceans)

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P1-79283588.html (Dreams Deferred: Paid Article)
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-79280162.html (India Abroad: Assimilation Redux)

plus

A Daughter’s Welcome Duty
By
Rohini B. Ramanathan
May, 19, 1991
The New York Times


Her normally high yet stable blood pressure soared a bit, and the symptoms were not good. Her head hurt, she had no appetite, the mouth felt dry, the body weak. She panicked, and remembered how her own mother, who also suffered from hypertension and died of a heart attack, had her first stroke around age 55, now her own age. I took her blood pressure. It was indeed high. I drove her to the doctor. He examined her, prescribing stronger medication and rest.

A proud woman, my mother, in her moment of anguish, blurted out how grateful she was with her children. She further added, "Who else but with your children can you ask at liberty to take care of you when you get sick?" I, an advocate of the merits of an extended family outweighing the mutual adjustments the members have to make, was elated by this comment. For a woman who never felt any vulnerability that she could not handle herself, finding that we all need one another must have been hard.

In the last five years, I had done everything I could to prove that I valued the idea of my parents' living with me after retirement for no other reason but to be together as a family. I expressed this sentiment in every letter I wrote to them, with strong arguments upholding the logic behind such togetherness. The tribal being in me reiterated that families ought to live together. This is the way God meant it, I would insist. Modern lifestyles and ways of thinking, I believe, interfere with this yearning to stay together as family.

As part of my attempt to convince my parents that my desire to have them live with me was not for the sake of baby-sitting, I hired a full-time housekeeper who took care of the house, cooked and cared for my boy while I was out working. My housekeeper tactic dispelled any doubts my parents might have had. Moreover, my children are 8 and 6 now, in school till 3 in the afternoon, and I have started working from home.

Then, as part of the same process of convincing them how important it was for me to have them with me, I responded to their need to pursue their interests. Dad, a young 58-year-old, a retired comptroller, enjoyed accounting. I took him to job interviews, and now he is on his second career. Mom, with her music education background, needed an outlet, too, and today she is a music teacher. I thought, now I had earned the privilege of keeping them with me.

I had the added responsibility of making them feel at home in a foreign land, much as they praised this land of opportunities. I even expanded the house to accommodate their more peculiar needs, and threw in a few details that bore the flavor of their native surroundings.
No doubt, all these reminders make them happy, and at home. Yet, the emotional need to be together as an extended family was never admitted. For me, declarations of love are important. For all the love and affection they showered on their grandchildren, my children, they refused to admit any emotional ties to them.

I often wondered if it was my persuasive powers only that made them stay on. However, I never wanted to find out. But yesterday, Mom said, "Who else do I have the privilege to ask to take care of me when I am sick?" She is right. It is a daughter's privilege to take care of her parents, and I was finally awarded this privilege.


The End