A Plea For Smart Guns, The #MarchForOurLives Rally, and Talking with Dr. Weinstein About his Experiences With Involuntary Care

Yesterday, I was reading an article on how people make assumptions about animal motivation.  It is called  "Is This Dog Happy," and it reminded me of a post I wrote on Shrink Rap years ago called "What Max Wants," about the desires of our beloved late pet, Max.   I showed my daughter the old post from 2006, and as I was surfing around those early days of Shrink Rap, I remembered that I used to blog here a lot more.  In  2007, when all three of us were actively blogging, we had over 300 post.  Also, I realized  I used to be a lot more FUN.  Or at least I use to write about more light-hearted things.  Now I come to Shrink Rap when the world is bothering me, maybe once a month, and I have other venues for expression.  But I am also not as fun it seems, I often write blog posts about  more serious shrinky areas of distress.  Oh well, what can I say?  I am still fun sometimes in my real life, and the other day I made an emoji character of ClinkShrink.  I don't think she likes it, so I won't post it here, but I think it captures her.  

That said, I now want to point you to the more serious stuff I have been been writing and thinking about lately.  For the first (and last) time ever, my original artwork is available to be seen in a national publication.  Over on Clinical Psychiatry News, I have an article talking about the very moving #MarchForOurLives rally I attended in Washington, D.C. on March 24th.  The speakers were all children and teenagers and they were amazing!  I wanted to add one thing to their requests for gun control: a plea for Smart Guns.  The artwork, as seen above, is the sign I made and carried.  As you may be able to tell, my artistic abilities arrested somewhere in late elementary school.  That said, please do read my article here:

https://www.mdedge.com/clinicalpsychiatrynews/article/161834/health-policy/why-isnt-smart-gun-technology-parkland-activists

The other piece I would like to direct you to is is also in Clinical Psychiatry News.  You may recall that I linked to an essay in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Michael Weinstein about his experiences with involuntary psychiatric treatment and his successful journey to recovery from a severe episode of major depression.  Please do first read his article, Out of the Straitjacket.  

Dr. Weinstein's essay caught my interest, because in researching Committed, I did not find that most people who were involuntarily treated felt gratitude--especially if they were physically restrained--even if they did get well.  I called Dr. Weinstein and he agreed to speak with me specifically about his experience with involuntary psychiatric care.  Please do read about our discussion at HERE:
https://www.mdedge.com/clinicalpsychiatrynews/article/161357/depression/trauma-surgeon-shares-story-involuntary-commitment