Just now, very briefly, I heard on Radio 4 an elderly doctor expressing remorse that long ago when he was a naive young doctor he had recommended 17 patients for lobotomies. He said that in those days he did not know any better. I note it here because it is so rare that doctors admit their personal responsibility for the harm they do, though I remember reading in one of the excellent books by Thomas Szasz, the highly intelligent renegade psychiatrist, that a number of doctors kill themselves when they suddenly gain an insight into the terrible suffering they have caused over the years as doctors... Much of the content of Szasz's books is about the misuse/abuse of power by psychiatrists.
This http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/pickoftheweek.shtml is the Pick of the Week webpage and it contains a listen again feature for the latest edition. - 'State of Mind' must be the snippet that contained that doctor's regret.
You may like to read about Thomas Szasz and to read his books. You can read about him here: http://www.ftrbooks.net/psych/bios/thomas_szasz.htm
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment